News stories from the Philippines and all other important information about the Philippine islands.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Case Filed Against Palawan Mining Board and Engineer Baltazar Camoy
Specifically, the PMRB and Caimoy are being sued by plaintiff Salido for "breach of agreement" with nullity of report dated March 31, 2008 and injunction with prayer for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
This recent development came following Salido's failure to convince the PMRB to "partially lift" the suspension of his small scale mining operation in Barangay Aramaywan, Narra.
In his first cause of action, Salido said that in an agreement dated March 28, 2008, notarized before lawyer Nesario Awat of Kilusang Sagip Kalikasan (KSK), the services of Caimoy was commissioned by him and the PMRB to conduct a relocation, ground verification and revalidation survey of the area, the technical description of which is shown in Small Scale Mining Permit (SSMP) 47 issued by the Office of the Governor.
The purpose of the agreement, he stated, was to settle once and for all the exact boundaries of his small scale mining area as shown in his permit.
But on the day of the supposed revalidation, ground verification and relocation at the mine site, Caimoy merely conducted an observation of the discovery or observation post and of the mine pit using his instrument that can allegedly determine the global positions or the global positioning system (GPS).
Salido said Caimoy did not conduct an actual relocation, ground verification and revalidation survey because no monument was ever placed on the ground to determine the exact geographical position of the four corners of his approved mining claim under the SSMP 47, all in violation of the stipulations in the agreement dated March 28.
While Caimoy did identify the discovery or observation post and the mine pit of the mining area, he intentionally and with evident bad faith did not identify and establish the geographical position of the four corners and the point of reference on the ground and their deliberate exclusion from his observation through the GPS, creates a confusion as to the true and exact boundaries of plaintiffs' mining claim and makes it appear that the mine pit or the area explored by plaintiff is outside of his claim covered by the permit.
By allegedly conducting mere observation and only of the discovery or observation post and mine pit, Caimoy's work is incomplete and inconclusive. It also breached the agreement in which he was called to perform, not only to do observation but survey, ground verification and relocation of the whole mining area covered by SSMP 47, to the damage and prejudice of Salido.
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Palawan Philippines Files Case Against 25 Vietnamese Nationals
Commodore Danilo Vilda of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Palawan said the foreign nationals are being sued for specifically violating Section 2530, paragraphs a, d, f, r and (1-1) of the tariffs and customs code. Six Balabac's residents were also included in the cases filed with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
He said one of the Balabac residents is Rabana Ami, owner of M/L Princess Aika, which is also involved in the transport of the sacks of rice from the large Vietnamese ship to Balabac port.
The cases against the Vietnamese fishermen were filed last Tuesday (May 20), the PCG chief said, adding their ship, M/V Binh Phuoc, was responsible for bringing to the country more or less 200 sacks of undocumented rice smuggled from Vietnam. The vessel's captain was identified as Vu Van Trung.
On May 16 at about 8:30 p.m., a text message was received from the commanding officer of MCS 3009 that stated it accosted a Vietnamese cargo vessel whose crewmen were unloading sacks of rice to M/L Princess Aika without pertinent documents at Calanduran Bay.
Initial investigations conducted by authorities disclosed that on April 23, the Vietnamese cargo vessel went to Zamboanga City from Saigon, Vietnam and delivered 135,000 sacks of rice to the National Food Authority (NFA) there. The said vessel arrived in the said city on April 28.
It left Zamboanga port on May 9 supposedly to go back to Vietnam without any load based on records and clearance given by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) of Zamboanga. - Philippine News Agency
Western Visayas Adopts Batch Request Entry System (BRES)
The BRES is an off line processing by batch where applications for documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates and a certificate of no marriage using SECPA are encoded at the local government level or at the local civil registrar.
Thereafter, the requests are brought at the NSO regional office for processing, which would take about one week.
With the BRES, the applicant is spared of too much expense because the same charges apply when the document is being secured right at the NSO.
The LGU, however, is allowed to put on additional charges to defray the cost of using the town's resources and manpower.
Thirteen towns in Iloilo province namely Calinog, Balasan, Barotac Nuevo, Barotac Viejo, Bingawan, Dingle, Estancia, Janiuay, Lambunao, Leon, Mina and San Joaquin have adopted the BRES.
It is also being implemented in Roxas City and President Roxas town in Capiz; Hamtic and Lauan in Antique; and cities of Kabankalan and Sipalay in Negros Occidental.
NSO regional director Norman Julag-ay said the BRES is not exclusive to residents of a particular LGU such that those from neighboring places can also apply in towns nearest them.
"Some LGUs were hesitant at first to adopt the system but later on they recognized that it is beneficial both to the town and their residents," he said.
An average of 1, 000 applications daily are being processed at the NSO regional office in Iloilo City. - Philippine News Agency
TechTeam Global and Rainmaker Asia Establish Service Desk Operations in Philippines
"After careful consideration of many potential locations, we selected the Philippines based on the availability of individuals with excellent language skills, deep technical skills, a high degree of professionalism and a strong customer service orientation," said Gary Cotshott, President and Chief Executive Officer of TechTeam Global.
"Establishing capability in the Philippines is an important step in the execution of our globalization strategy and will enable our company to offer more service options to existing and new customers. We are impressed with Rainmaker's operational expertise, and we are confident in our ability to team with them to create excellent customer-focused solutions. This agreement provides us with the ability to quickly and efficiently respond to growing customer demand while ensuring high quality service delivery. As part of our strategy, we also expect to establish a TechTeam-owned facility to meet growing customer demand," said Cotshott.
"We are excited to be working with TechTeam to provide services to their Fortune 1000 customers. The addition of new clients such as TechTeam to our recently expanded operations at Rainmaker Asia highlights the high quality services we provide to our clients and their customers," said Michael Silton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rainmaker Systems.
About Rainmaker
Rainmaker Systems, Inc. delivers sales and marketing solutions, combining hosted application software and execution services designed to drive more revenue for our clients. Our Revenue Delivery Platform(SM) combines proprietary, on-demand application software and advanced analytics with specialized sales and marketing execution services. Rainmaker clients include large enterprises in a range of industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, and financial services industries. For more information, visit www.rmkr.com or call 800-631-1545.
About TechTeam Global, Inc.
TechTeam Global, Inc. is a worldwide provider of information technology, enterprise support and business process outsourcing services to Fortune 1000 corporations, multinational companies, product providers, small and medium-sized companies, and government entities. TechTeam's ability to integrate computer services into a flexible, ITIL-based solution is a key element of its strategy. Partnerships with some of the world's "best-in-class" corporations provide TechTeam with unique expertise and experience in providing information technology support solutions. For information about TechTeam Global, Inc. and its services, call 800-522-4451 from the United States or visit our Web sites at www.techteam.com and www.techteam.eu. TechTeam's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "TEAM." - Philippine News Agency and PRNewswire and Asianet
Reject Coal: Greenpeace says Philippines at Risk from Climate Change
Philippine News Agency
With a strong message to "Quit coal, save the climate", the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior docked on Tuesday at the Legazpi City port, marking the start of a month-long campaign on climate change.
The most famous Greenpeace ship arrived from a five-week sail from New Zealand to hold an advocacy campaign, asking the people to act in combating the climate change which is the greatest threat facing the whole world.
"We are here to expose the role in climate change, the greatest threat to life and biodiversity on the planet," Mike Fincken, skipper of the Rainbow Warrior, said in a press conference on board the ship.
"We are here to highlight the urgent need for adaptation of strong mitigation and adaptation measures to tackle the worst impacts of climate change," he added.
Greenpeace study revealed that the Philippines is included in the list of countries most at risk from climate change with Albay province as most vulnerable to extreme weather impacts.
Climate change has been wreaking havoc across the world with increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and storms, sea level rise, water scarcity, decline in agricultural output, proliferation of pests and diseases and the extinction of species.
In 2006, Albay was pummeled by a series of strong typhoons, including Super Typhoon Reming, as it triggered a massive mudslide on the slopes of Mayon volcano, killing 734 people and causing agricultural damages worth P1.6 billion.
Von Hernandez, Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director, thus said "it is time for us to wake up."
"There is very little time to waste and the tide is not going to wait either. Coal causes climate change. Climate change is already here and wreaking havoc across the country," Hernandez warned.
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Philippine President visits Bacolod City Philippines
Negros Occidental Governor Isidro Zayco said representatives of the national government, headed by National Security Adviser Norberto B. Gonzales, are set to meet with local leaders from various sectors of Region VI to strengthen local initiatives and mechanisms at promoting peace and security in their localities.
Zayco, who said President Arroyo will be the keynote speaker on the second day (Thursday) of the assembly, said LPSA is the continuing consultation drive in the various regions of the country.
He said LPSA for Western Visayas will bring together major stakeholders to agree on solutions to peace and security problems through an action agenda that they themselves would formulate and implement, taking into consideration the unique features of their localities.
He said the action agenda will be presented to President Arroyo at the close of the assembly.
Zayco noted some 200 members of the Cabinet, local government officials, Army and police commanders, leaders of civil society, business groups, religious institutions, and the academe are participating. - Philippine News Agency
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Bohol Newspaper Celebrates 54th Anniversary
Bohol Philippines - The Bohol Chronicle, a local weekly newspaper and Bohol's enduring newspaper here, turned 54 last Friday as it completes more than five decades of uninterrupted service to community journalism.
We who had once worked with this paper can write an account of its life in the fist person. Indeed, the Chronicle's record of existence is the longest in local journalism history.
On May 16, 1954, its maiden issue done in hand-set first appeared in this city.
Tagbilaran, then was a fledging town. To think it could sustain a weekly was, to many, a fool-hardy attempt to defy a tradition of failure.
It has survived on hard work and patient struggle to seek the truth and print it. In turn, this has nourished a strong faith in it from its thousands of readers.
This paper started with a one-man job. Now a full staff works for the paper with an AM and FM radio stations as part of this media outfit.
Where before the first issue of the Chronicle was hand-set and later produced with a modern linotype machine, it is now being printed in off-set process back up by a laser-desk-top computer and jet printer, the latest used in modern-day publishing.
Scanning the back issues of the Chronicle is just like taking a glimpse through the past 52 years of Bohol's history.
Dr. Crispin Maslog, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, who was formerly director of the Institute of Journalism of Silliman University, wrote a case study of the Bohol Chronicle as one of the most successful community newspapers in the Philippines.
With the Institute of Development Communication of the University of the Philippines, Los BaƱos, Dr. Maslog wrote a book under a Ford Foundation grant entitled "Dragon Slayers in the Countryside" with a Foreword by Joaquin "Chino" Roces which documented outstanding exposes of seven highly respected community newspapers in the country which left great impact in their respective communities.
On the exposes published by The Bohol Chronicle against graft and corruption, Dr. Maslog in his Preface, wrote: "A few cases, however, rise above the others in significance: the Bohol Watergate of The Bohol Chronicle campaign waged by that paper against graft and corruption.
"It is perhaps not too much to think of these community journalists as the modern day St. Georges of our society. We salute these dragon slayers in our countryside."
Excerpts of Dr. Maslog's case study on The Bohol Chronicle follows.
This article was also reprinted in the book "The Rise and Fall of Philippine Community Newspapers" launched by the Philippine Press Institute and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
The Horatio Alger story of The Bohol Chronicle is an inspiration to the struggling community newspapermen in the Philippines. It shows how the dedication and talent of one man can overcome obstacles and make a success of a local paper that was predicted by a priest to die six months after birth.
When the first issue of The Bohol Chronicle came off its rickety printing press on May 16, 1954, an American priest working with the Divine Word College in Tagbilaran City predicted, half in jest and half in earnest that either the paper of its editor would die in six months. Other papers had come to Tagbilaran City before and they all eventually died.
As a matter of historical fact, the newspaper has never failed to come out with its weekly issue every Sunday during the past years. Neatly bound volumes of all its issues are displayed in the compact and near office of the paper and printing press on Mabini Street (now B. Inting Street) in Tagbilaran City showing how the paper has kept faith with its readers.
The Chronicle is now being printed in offset by its own printing press. This success did not come easily to the late publisher-editor Atty. Zoilo Dejaresco Jr., known to his friends as Jun. He had to work hard, day and night. He had to overcome public apathy to a local paper and lack of advertising support and other serious obstacles along the way in the past 40 years before he reached the prominent position where he is today.
The first issue was very timely from the newspaperman's point of view. A big typhoon smashed Bohol, killed several persons and rendered thousands homeless. This was a big story in that province where typhoons rarely visit, and the paper capitalized on it.
This was the first banner story of the paper, and the paper sold. It was one of the ironies of the journalistic profession - a misfortune for the province, but a fortune for the paper. -- published by the Bohol Chronicle
Cebu Pacific Airline Offers 150,000 Domestic Seats at 88 Pesos
The airline also announced yesterday that it has a P1.00 one-way fare seat sale for its new routes from Manila to Tuguegarao, Naga, and San Jose (Mindoro).until May 27, 2008, which is valid for travel until August 31, 2008.
Candice Iyog, CEB vice president for marketing and product, said, "We are very happy to continue offering very low fares to the Filipino public. We hope to stimulate travel and domestic tourism in various parts of the nation. This will enable more people to travel by for the first time."
Fare is non-refundable, and is exclusive of taxes and applicable surcharges.
"We encourage the riding public to avail of this limited offer. Passengers may book flights via Cebu Pacific website."
CEB flew 5.5 million passengers in 2007. It has a fleet of ten A319s, eight A320s, and two ATR 72-500 aircraft. The airline flies to 14, soon to be 16 international destinations with the addition of Kaohsiung in June and Kota Kinabalu on July. It will also fly to 24 domestic destinations in the coming months.
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
GRP-MNLF Joint Press Statement drafted in Tripoli, Libya
Under the auspicious of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, a fruitful meeting was held today 19/5/2008 in Tripoli, between the leadership of the MNLF and H.E. Jess Dureza, the presidential advisor for the peace process in Mindanao.
During the discussions the leadership of the MNLF expressed their concern regarding the slow pace of the implementation of the final peace agreement of 1996, and called upn the government of the republic of the Philippines, to enable the MNLF the governance of the autonomous region of Muslim Mindanao ARMM, and expressed their appreciation on the initiative of the government of the republic of the Philippines on its plan to establish a federal system, and urge the GRP to involve the MNLF in this political exercise.
They also welcomed the good offices of the foundation which resulted in the release of Nur Misuari, and called upon the government of the Philippines to issue a general amnesty for all member of the MNLF, which were accused of rebellion.
On this part, the presidential advisor emphasized the commitment of the president of the republic of the Philippines government to continue of the peace process and full implementation of peace agreement 1996, and promised to convey their concerns to the president and government of the republic of the Philippines.
Thanks and appreciations were expressed for the continues efforts of the great leader of the revolution Muammar Gaddafi, and chairman of Gaddafi International Charity and development foundation Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi for their sustained efforts for the resolution of the MNLF leadership issue, and their continued support for the just cause of the Bangsamoro People, and realizing peace and development.
Tripoli Declaration on Unity and Reconciliation of the MNLF Leadership
Tripoli 17-18th of May 2008
On the kind invitation of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, the leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) met in Tripoli, Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from May 17th to 18th 2008.
The sole purpose of the meeting was to reach consensus and final agreement to resolve issues of contention among the MNLF groups with the noble aim of achieving unification, reconciliation, and solidarity.
The leaders agreed on the following:
1. To form a transition leadership and unification committee to be composed of the following:
A – Nur Misuari B – Muslimin Sema
C – Dr. Parouk Hussin D – Mujahab Hashim
E – Alvarez Isnaji F – Yusop Jikiri
2. This committee is the sole legitimate body of the MNLF and the only one authorized to enter into any negotiation and agreement.
3. This committee shall be the one to agree on the appropriate way of resolving leadership crisis through democratic process before the end of June 2008.
4. This committee shall prepare a manifesto and a programme of action that shall focus on the political, socio-economic, and other concerns of the Bangsamoro people.
5. This committee shall undertake discussions in order to consolidate the peace process between the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MNLF, including the issues of empowerment, both economic and political, particularly the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governance.
6. This committee shall enter into dialogue with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with a view to cement the unity and solidarity of the two fronts as agreed in previous meetings, with H.E. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Chairman of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF).
7. The transition committee shall convene the Bangsamoro people's congress that shall finally decide on the issue of leadership and adopt a programme of action before the end of August 2008.
8. The leaders of the MNLF committed themselves to solely focus their attention on advancing the cause of unity and solidarity, and abide by the decisions of the transition committee.
9. Furthermore, the leaders of the MNLF committed to refrain from taking any actions, and making my announcement contrary to this declaration.
10. The leaders of the MNLF call on the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to reactivate the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) in order to perform its functions as mandated under the September 2, 1996 Final Peace Agreement.
11. The leaders of the MNLF call upon the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to grant general amnesty to all MNLF members who have been charged with rebellion.
12. The leaders of the MNLF express their appreciation on the initiative of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on its plan to establish a federal system, and urge the GRP to involve the MNLF in this political exercise.
13. The leaders of the MNLF urge the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to involve the MNLF in the GRP-MILF peace talks.
The leaders of the MNLF express their sincere appreciation and gratitude to the great leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Chairman of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, for their sustained efforts for the resolution of the MNLF leadership issue, and their continued support for the just cause of the Bangsamoro people, and realizing peace and development.
Issued and signed by the leaders of the MNLF on the 18th of May 2008, in Tripoli, Libya.
Mujahab Hashim Hatimin Hassan
Muslimin Sema Parouk Hussin
Yusop Jikiri Thambeyapa Manjoorsa
Abdul Sahrin Sharif Jain Jali
Alvarez Isnaji Samsula Adju
Typhoon Kills 29 Filipinos in Pangasinan Philippines
Paterno Orduna, PDCC executive officer, said the latest fatality was three year-old Tisoy Cayabyab who drowned in Portic, Bugallon.
Orduna said the reports of fatalities, including on damages are received by the PDCC in trickles due to lack of electric supply and communications.
Three others were reported dead in Bugallon, four in Dagupan City, one each in Aguilar, Mabini, Mangaldan and Mangatarem, three each in Infanta and San Carlos City, four in Lingayen, and two each in Sta. Barbara, Sual and Urdanedta City.
The PDCC said the number of totally damaged houses has now risen to 19,538 and the partially damaged houses to 40,902.
Total crop damages were placed at P1.8 billion. Of these, P987 million were lost on crops and P854 million on fisheries. - Philippine News Agency