The Manila city council has passed a resolution urging city residents to join a campaign to collect the signatures of 10 million people opposed to mining in Palawan, a move initiated by the multisectoral environmental coalition Save Palawan Movement.
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has appealed to the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) for help in the evacuation of thousands of Filipino workers fleeing rebellion-torn Libya in what was described as a complex humanitarian operation. Dozens of Filipinos arrived in Manila in small batches at the weekend from Paris, where they were flown by their [...]
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama dropped the careful condemnation, threats of consequences and the reminders to Moammar Gadhafi’s regime about its responsibility to avoid violence. In their place, he delivered a more forceful message to the Libyan leader: Leave. Obama called on Gadhafi to step down for the first time on Saturday, saying that the Libyan government [...]
MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino on Saturday honored five journalists, two of them posthumously, and a deceased US congressman for their roles in the People Power revolution 25 years ago. Aquino posthumously honored Chino Roces, Teodoro Benigno and Stephen Solarz. He also gave state honors to Fr. James Reuter, Nap Rama and Billy Esposo. Roces was [...]
BEIJING—China dropped the death penalty Friday for more than a dozen nonviolent crimes and banned capital punishment for offenders over the age of 75 in a bid to rein in abuses in the justice system. China executes more people every year than any other country and critics say too many crimes are punishable by death. [...]
MANILA, Philippines – A “caretaker” lawmaker could represent the district of convicted drug trafficker Ilocos Sur Representative Ronald Singson if he would push through with a plan to resign or if he would be expelled from Congress, a member of the Commission on Elections said Saturday. Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said a lawmaker from a [...]
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines—Communist rebels killed two people in Davao del Sur this week, justifying one attack as appropriate for a counter-revolutionary. The latest to be killed was Jun Sal, who was “executed” in Barangay Colonsabac in Matanao, Davao del Sur, on Saturday morning, the New People’s Army’s Mount Alip Operations Command said. Macario Dilaab, an [...]
PILI, Camarines Sur, Philippines—Breaking a world record, Camarines Sur province on Wednesday planted the largest number of trees simultaneously in one hour—64,096—demolishing the previous record of India at 50,033 trees, the adjudicator of the Guinness Book of World Records announced here.
MANILA, Philippines—The justice committee in the House of Representatives is bent on pushing through with a hearing next week to vote if the impeachment complaint against Merceditas Gutierrez has grounds, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr., the chairman of the committee said. Gutierrez indicated over a television interview she would not answer the charges in the [...]
MANILA, Philippines – A shallow low pressure area was seen off Davao City, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Thursday. In its weather forecast, Pagasa said the LPA was seen 940 kilometers east of Davao City. Visayas and Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. Meanwhile, the [...]
MANILA, Philippines – Former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo has accused the state prosecutors of deliberately bungling the plunder case against former military comptroller Jacinto Ligot. “[I'll tell you this] bluntly, hinuhulog nyo ang kaso [you are sabotaging the case],” an emotional Marcelo told the prosecutors present during the hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on [...]
WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama told the world Wednesday to unite to hold Libya accountable for a vicious protest crackdown, stiffening a US response that critics had cast as too mild. In his first televised response to Libyan leader Moamar Gadhafi’s decision to unleash vengeance on demonstrators, Obama reached out to US allies and [...]
MANILA, Philippines – The committees on appropriations and national defense asked the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit of all United Nations remittances to the government for peacekeeping troops sent to other countries. At the same time, defense committee chairman Rodolfo Biazon also asked the audit agency to look into the alleged double [...]
