Earthquake shakes buildings in Manila

MANILA, Philippines – An earthquake shook Metro Manila Wednesday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).

The earthquake which occured around 10:07 a.m., had its epicenter in Dona Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan.

It was said to have been tectonic in origin and had a magnitude of 3.8, Phivolcs said in its report.

Intensity III was felt in Quezon City, Pasig City, Makati City, and Taguig City. No damages were expected from the quake that had a depth of 13 kilometers, the report said.

No aftershocks arre expected, the report said.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/299124/earthquake-shakes-buildings-in-manila

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Floods Paralyse Philippine Capital, Manila

At least eight people have been reported dead as torrential rain caused flooding that paralysed most parts of the Philippine capital, Manila.

The flooding - neck-deep in some areas - forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, closing schools, offices and the stock exchange.

Eight members of one family died after a landslide hit shanty houses in Quezon City, reports said.

More than 50 people died when Typhoon Saola struck more than a week ago.

Widespread flooding has been reported in the capital and the surrounding provinces, according to a statement from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

It said "the south-west monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm 'Haikui' located 300km [184 miles] north-east of Taiwan" was expected to bring more rain.

"Expect landslides and flashfloods in mountainous areas and floods in low-lying areas."

President Benigno Aquino met civil defence officials to discuss the situation.

"Everybody who is supposed to do something is doing what he is supposed to do," he said.

The severity of the rain since Monday afternoon - in an already saturated city - has led officials to issue the highest level of alert, says the BBC's Kate McGeown in Manila.

Children were reportedly among the victims of the landslide in Manila's Quezon City.

"This is where my house used to be, this one is the end of our fence," Jessie Bailon, one of those affected by the landslide, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

He said that his wife, two children and one grandchild were still missing.

Another resident said that "the ground was shaking" and that he barely made it before the landslide hit his home.

Aside from the landslide casualties, a local police official was also quoted as saying that four people had drowned in another province, but this has not been confirmed.

Weather officials warn that the floods could get worse as the overflowing La Mesa dam, which holds back Manila's main reservoir, spills more water.

"If we put it in a percentage, at least 50% of Metro Manila is flooded," Jean Navarez, from the state weather service, was quoted by AFP as saying.

Residents living in slums and shanty-towns on low ground have taken shelter in community buildings, reports said.

Several key roads were impassable and power had also been cut in some areas, mostly as a precaution, officials said.

Dams and waterways in affected areas are also being closely monitored. Rescue efforts are now underway to help stranded residents.

"As of now, it's difficult to rescue the trapped residents, as we are battling strong currents with our life crafts," police rescuer Eric Baran told Reuters news agency.

"It's been raining continuously for over 24 hours now," resident Justin Robertson told the BBC from Quezon City in Manila.

"We live on a hill and at the bottom of the hill there is a junction which is covered in water. Most offices and schools are closed today and we've decided to remain indoors as the main roads are either flooded or blocked with broken down vehicles."

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/floods-paralyse-philippine-capital-manila/121796/

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Philippine army clashes with Abu Sayyaf; 12 killed

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Soldiers attacked al Qaida-linked Muslim militants at an encampment in the Philippines' volatile south Thursday, and eight government troops and four rebels were killed in the fighting, the military said.

Army Maj. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz said government forces struck in the morning after the military pinpointed an encampment of Abu Sayyaf militants blamed for past attacks in Basilan Island's Sumisip township.

Sporadic fighting continued until afternoon, with reinforcement troops deployed.

Cruz said seven soldiers and four militants were initially killed.

Three government troops and two rebels also were wounded but one of the soldiers later died while being evacuated, raising the military's death toll to eight, said army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc.

Officials said the militants belong to the same group that ambushed a truckload of rubber plantation workers in Sumisip two weeks ago. Five farm workers and one government militiaman were killed in that attack, while 22 others were wounded.

On Wednesday, the same group of militants attacked a military detachment securing the rubber planters' cooperative but no soldier was killed or hurt, Cabunoc said.

Violence in the southern Philippines continues despite efforts by U.S.-trained Philippine forces to put an end to decades of bombings and ransom kidnappings by Muslim extremists in the predominantly Christian nation.

Philippine offensives have weakened the militants but they remain a threat. They are holding several foreign hostages, apparently to use ransom money to buy food and weapons.

Article Source: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/07/26/4128955/11-dead-in-philippine-army-clash.html

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Taiwanese vegetable vendor among Asia's Nobel winners

(Reuters) - A Taiwanese vegetable vendor, who has personally given away over 7 million Taiwanese dollars ($231,800) to several charities for children, was among six winners of Asia's equivalent of the Nobel prize this year, its foundation said on Thursday.

The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation named Chen Shu-chu as one of six winners, citing her for "personal giving, which reflects a deep, consistent, quiet compassion, and has transformed the lives of the numerous Taiwanese she has helped".

From her daily earnings as a vegetable vendor, Chen, who reached only the sixth grade and sleeps on the floor, was able to help build library and feed and shelter children-at-risk as well as families displaced by disasters.

"Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it," she said. "I feel happy whenever I could help other people."

The awards also honored Filipino Romulo Davide, who helped farmers fight pest infestation on rice, bananas and other crops; Indian Kulandei Francis, head of a village self-help group; Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an environmental lawyer from Bangladesh; Cambodian agronomist Yang Saing Koma who helps farmers' improve rice production; and Indonesian Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto who is fighting to stop illegal logging.

The winners will receive a prize of $50,000 with a ceremony set for late August.

"The Magsaysay awardees of 2012 are six remarkable individuals, all deeply involved in creating sustainable solutions to poverty and its accompanying disempowerment -- whether in the forests or on farmlands, in exploitative industries or in inadequate education," Carmencita Abella, foundation president, said in a statement.

The awards, named for a popular president of the Philippines who was killed in a plane crash, were set up in 1957 by the trustees of the New York-based Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Nearly 300 people and groups, including the U.S. Peace Corps and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have been recognized since 1958.

($1 = 30.1955 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting By Manuel Mogato; Editing by Ed Lane)

Article Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/us-philippines-award-idUSBRE86P0C020120726

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Human rights raised

11/10/2011 -MANILA, Philippines — Allies of President-turned-Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the Senate are calling Malacañang’s cold shoulder to her request to be allowed to seek medicaltreatment abroad a “case of human rights.”

Sen. Joker Arroyo (not related to Mrs. Arroyo) said he finds it “worrisome and unfortunate” that the Department of Justice (DoJ), through its watch list order (WLO), is preventing the former president from seeking medical treatment abroad even without formal charges filed against her before the courts.

“Over and above the weighty constitutional issue of the right to travel, is the overriding issue of human rights, a universal battle cry. Human rights are akin to Christian charity. The human body is inviolable. The Constitution prohibits cruel, degrading or inhumane punishment,” said Sen. Arroyo.

“We have become a very litigious country. And strangely, the (Aquino) government encourages that unhealthy trend,” the senator added.

Sen. Edgardo Angara also said the ruling of DoJ Secretary Leila de Lima “rests on very shaky ground” considering that no formal case has been filed against Mrs. Arroyo.

“I think the hold order (of the DoJ) rest on very shaky ground because you know the right to travel is a Constitutional right of every citizen without even considering the status or position of the person,” Angara said at a weekly press conference in the Senate.

He said the government’s fear that Mrs. Arroyo would evade the charges leveled against her is very unlikely as she is apt to yield to international pressure.

“The probability of her leaving the legal processes of our country may be remote, especially because, at this time and era, there’s practically no place to hide. The arm of the law is longer now and you cannot hide anywhere you go,” Angara said.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, meanwhile, said it is going to be a “waste of money” for the government to shoulder her medical expenses.

“Spend the money for the poor instead. Payagan na lang nila (They should just allow her to leave). (It is) so unwise (for government to foot the medical bill of Mrs. Arroyo),” Sotto said in a text message.

“Or are they washing their hands to pass the ball and blame it to the judiciary?” Sotto quipped.

As for Sen. Francis Escudero, an ally of Aquino, he hailed Malacañang’s offer to find a medical specialist to fly into the country to help Mrs. Arroyo, who is one of his godmothers in his marriage.

“(It was a) good and generous gesture which showed the kindness of President Aquino,” he said.

Government lawyers have opposed the plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would lift the watch list order (WLO) issued by the DoJ against Mrs. Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo.

In two urgent manifestations filed by Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz, the Supreme Court (SC) was asked to give the government reasonable time to respond to the two petitions filed by the Arroyos, to deny the plea for TRO, and to hold oral arguments on the cases.

“It is respectfully prayed that respondent (DoJ represented by the Office of the Solicitor General) be given reasonable time to comment on the present petition and the application for a TRO before any action on the said application for the issuance of a TRO is taken by the honorable court, or that this very urgent manifestation and motion be treated as an opposition to the said application and that the same be denied for utter lack of merit,” Cadiz said in his manifestations filed late Wednesday afternoon.

De Lima’s rejection of the request for the former First Couple to fly aboard prompted the Arroyos to elevate the issue before the SC on the ground of the alleged unconstitutionality of WLOs issued by the DoJ.

In opposing the plea for TRO and pleading for the eventual dismissal of the two petitions, Cadiz told the SC: “With petitioner’s travel abroad, any eventual decision on the petition would not bring back petitioner to the Philippines. No amount of judgment then will recompense the Philippine state for the irreparable injury caused to it with the flight from Philippine jurisdiction of herein petitioner.”

And with the TRO, Cadiz said the government would be “rendered powerless from compelling her to answer to criminal complaints and charges against her and which are already pending disposition at the preliminary investigation stage.”

In seeking the nullification of the WLO, the former President said she would suffer irreparable injury if the implementation of the WLO issued against her is not nullified immediately.

“The inability of petitioner GMA to leave for abroad to alleviate, or, at least, prevent the aggravation of her hypoparathyroidism and metabolic bone disorder has given rise to the danger that the said conditions afflicting petitioner GMA may become permanent and incurable,” Mrs. Arroyo said in a petition filed by former Justice Minister and Solicitor General Estelito P. Mendoza.

“Having been immobilized by a debilitating condition for the last few months, and having been subject to long operations and their complications, she seeks other experts’ perspective and to receive optimum care to ensure that she will not be disabled for the rest of her life and that her recovery will no longer be impeded by complications, which she has unfortunately experienced for the last few months,” the petition stated.

But Vice President Jejomar C. Binay supported President Benigno S. Aquino III's decision not to allow former President Arroyo to seek medical treatment abroad for hypoparathyroidism. He said Aquino is constrained as President that the primordial interest of the government is not to allow Arroyo to leave the country because of the charges of plunder and electoral sabotage she is facing.

Meanwhile Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government intends to tap its contingency fund to pay for the medical expenses of former President Arroyo should she accept the Palace offer to fly in foreign doctors to treat her in the country.

Abad also clarified that the public funds to pay for the foreign doctors will only be released to a government institution, and not to the former leader. (Manila Bulletin)

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