China Steals Fish and Island from Philippines

The Dept. of Foreign Affairs Tuesday protested China's routine fishery patrols in the disputed South China Sea as part of it would include areas within the Philippines' territorial waters.

China's Fishery Bureau last week announced that patrols in the resource-rich waters where Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims will be a "top priority" in 2013 and 2014.

The patrols, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency, aim to safeguard the "legitimate interests of Chinese fishermen."

China's announcement came a week after it rejected Manila's initiative to let a United Nations arbitration body hear the Philippines' complaint over what it calls Beijing's "excessive" claim to waters where undersea gas deposits have been discovered in several areas.

China said Manila's case was legally infirm and carried unacceptable allegations.

"The Philippines strongly objects to the Chinese patrol of Philippine maritime domain in the West Philippine Sea. Such activities would not validate the nine-dash line and are contrary to China's obligation under international law including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," Hernandez told a press briefing.

China's nine-dash line is a U-shaped map that covers nearly 90 percent of the South China Sea.

"We again call in China to respect our territorial sovereignty and exclusive economic zone," he said.

The Philippines, he asserted, "exercises sovereignty and sovereign rights over the waters and features in the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea."

Scandal of Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co

Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co and his wife Priscilla Tuesday appeared at the Dept. of Justice to attend the hearing of the Aman Futures pyramiding scam.

The Co couple were being linked in the P12-billion pyramiding scam allegedly committed by the Aman Futures Group Philippines, Inc. that allegedly duped 15,000 victims in Visayas and Mindanao.

The couple personally submitted and executed their respective counter-affidavit in the syndicated estafa charges filed against them by the alleged victims of Aman Futures namely, Samsodin Ala, Fabian Tapayan Jr. and Norolhaya Taha.

In their separate counter-affidavit, the Co couple asked the DOJ to dismiss the syndicated estafa charges filed against them.

In his 22-page counter-affidavit, Mayor Co argued the complaint filed against him and his wife has no legal basis.

He maintained they are also victims of Aman Futures and they did not receive money from any of the investor for Aman Futures.

He was also convinced the complaint filed against him was "politically motivated."

In her 14-page counter-affidavit, Priscilla Co argued she and her husband were never involved in Aman Futures.

She also argued they did not personally know one of the complainants, Tapayan and they did not also transact with anyone in the complainants in behalf of Aman Futures.