Philippines sends fresh troops to disputed shoal

MANILA -- The Philippines has deployed a fresh batch of marines and supplies to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea where a Chinese warship and surveillance vessels appeared last month and triggered a new standoff in the strategic waters, security officials said Wednesday.

The new contingent of Filipino marines replaced troops at the Second Thomas Shoal, where the arrival last month of Chinese ships sparked diplomatic protests by the Philippines.

Scrapping of Aquino’s counter-insurgency program sought anew

A PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Tuesday called on President Benigno Aquino III to junk the government's counter-insurgency program dubbed "Oplan Bayanihan" after a United Nations (UN) report revealed that children are being used in military operations.

Peace adviser: No negotiations with MNLF

PRESIDENTIAL Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles on Monday clarified that there is no negotiation between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Aquino government.

"No negotiations with MNLF. What we have with MNLF is the tripartite implementation review of the 1996 GPH-MNLF Final Peace Agreement being facilitated by Indonesia as the chair of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) peace committee in Southern Philippines," she said in a statement posted on the official Facebook page of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Enrile is 2013 election’s biggest spender

LOSING senatorial candidate Juan Ponce "Jack" Enrile, Jr. was the May 2013 elections' biggest spender, based on his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Enrile received P150.7 million in campaign contributions and spent P150.4 million for his unsuccessful Senate bid.

Junior Comelec commissioners to handle village polls

LATEST additions to the seven-man Commission on Elections (Comelec) will have their hands full in the next four months in preparation for and implementation of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls on October 28.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the en banc appointed Commissioner Christian Lim to head the steering committee of the upcoming polls.

7 still missing from ferry sinking off Masbate

MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Saturday that seven people remain missing in a ferry sinking that killed two people off Masbate province.

M/V Lady of Mt. Carmel of the Cebu-based Medallion Shipping Lines sank past 5 a.m. Friday along Burias Pass between Pio Duran, Albay and Aroroy, Masbate, said Commodore Manuel Natalio Abinunan, commanding officer of Naval Forces of Southern Luzon (Navforsol).

Neophyte senator eyes education committee, among others 

SENATOR-elect Sonny Angara said he won't insist on getting committees considering his neophyte status in the Senate.

Angara, son of former senator Edgardo Angara, ran and won under the administration's Team PNoy coalition in last month's midterm elections.

BGC occupants to regularly check gas systems

ALL active users of the piped-in gas system at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City must undergo facility checkups, Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas III said Thursday.

In a meeting held at the Mind Museum with the developers and stakeholders, Roxas said that residential and business establishments that use the Liquefied Petroleum Gas system will conduct self-checkups.

Coast Guard to face raps over Taiwanese death

MANILA (Updated) -- Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has recommended criminal charges be filed against Philippine Coast Guard personnel who shot dead a Taiwanese fisherman off Batanes on May 9 and sparked a diplomatic row.

De Lima, who is in the Spanish capital Madrid for a global conference against death penalty, said Thursday the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has presented its findings to President Benigno Aquino III before he makes a decision.

Flashfloods, landslides threaten Luzon, Visayas

MANILA -- Flash floods and landslides threaten Luzon and Visayas due to the strong southwest monsoon (habagat), according to Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Thursday.

Weather Forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said due to southwest monsoon, the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Western Visayas and the provinces of Zambales and Bataan will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rainshowers and thunderstorms which may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

Aquino vows to defend territory, sovereignty

MANILA -- President Benigno Aquino III vowed Wednesday the Philippines will not back down from any challenge to its sovereignty and territory amid a sea dispute with China.

He said in a speech marking the 115th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain that the Philippines has not claimed territory that clearly belongs to another country but only asks that "our territory, rights and dignity be respected."

Aquino rejects quarterly Ledac meeting

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III is not keen on convening quarterly the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) as proposed by a lawmaker.

But the Chief Executive, in an interview in Misamis Oriental, said that he is open to more Ledac meetings, especially if the need arises.

House panel chair seeks bigger agriculture budget

THE chairman of the House committee on labor and employment on Tuesday urged the government to allocate bigger budget for agriculture in order to generate more jobs for Filipinos in the farm sector.

In a latest report, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said the drop in employment rate in the agriculture sector has caused the unemployment rate to soar to 7.5 percent in April 2013 from 6.9 percent in same period last year.  

Palace blames communist rebels for bleak prospect in peace process

MALACAÑANG blamed Monday the communist New People's Army (NPA) for a bleak prospect in signing a peace agreement with the Aquino administration.

In his regular press briefing, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that it was the Maoist group which has stalled the peace process.

Government aims for ‘zero casualty’ during disasters

THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday urged the public to prepare for calamities as the government aims for "zero casualty" during disasters.

"It's better to be prepared. We need to harmonize all the disaster preparedness programs of various government agencies to ensure 'zero casualty' especially now that the rainy season is just around the corner and the typhoons are coming," Secretary Manuel Roxas II said in a statement before he presided a command conference at Camp Crame.

Taiwan ‘not singled out’ in product ban

THE Philippine government is not singling out Taiwan for banning its 15 starch-based products as they contain maleic acid, which can harm the kidney if consumed in high levels.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was only doing its job when it barred the importation and selling of some Taiwanese products.

Palace: Aquino government not homophobic

THE Aquino government is not discriminating homosexuals as it is always pushing for equality, a Palace official said Sunday.

"We've always pushed for equality and there’s no reason why even those in government shouldn't be doing it," said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte over Radyo ng Bayan.

Palace: 2 Cabinet men won’t push high water prices

TWO Cabinet secretaries are not guilty of conflict of interest for previously working for major water companies asking for a rate hike, a Palace official said Sunday.

“You know, the fact that they were from a certain company does not automatically result in a conflict of interest," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over Radyo ng Bayan.

Philippines not keen on building penal colony in Spratlys

MALACANANG said on Sunday that the government has no plan to build a penal colony in the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has yet to receive a formal proposal from the Bureau of Corrections.

'Dante' gains strength

MANILA (Updated) -- Tropical Depression "Dante" has gained strength but slowed down its movement Saturday afternoon, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

In an interview, weather forecaster Glaiza Escullar said that as of 4 p.m. Saturday the center of Dante was estimated based on all available data at 730 kilometer (km) northeast of Casiguran, Aurora, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometer per hour (kph) near the center. It is forecast to move northeast at 11 kph.

15 food products from Taiwan banned in Philippines

THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines banned 15 food products from Taiwan as they contain maleic acid.

In an advisory, the FDA said that aside from not being registered in the country, the 15 food products have been found to pose health hazards due to the presence of maleic acid.

Congress approval key to police, military modernization: Palace

THE lawmakers could help in the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) since they are the ones who will deliberate on the budgets of the two agencies, a Palace official said Saturday.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda issued the statement following the calls by some lawmakers to increase the 2014 budget of the military and the police so that they could readily respond against external and internal threats.

Aquino back from Myanmar

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III returned in Manila past midnight on Saturday following his attendance to the 22nd World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia in Myanmar.

The Chief Executive arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal II on board a charter Philippine Airlines flight around 12:40 a.m.

Actor-turned-congressman vows to push for transparency bill

ACTOR-turned-politician Alfred Vargas vowed to push for the enactment of a measure mandating full public disclosure and mandatory posting of all local government's budgets and expenditures in accordance with the fiscal responsibility of local officials.

Vargas is an outgoing councilor of Quezon City. He was elected congressman of the fifth district in the recently concluded midterm elections.

Cavite deputy director guilty for protecting shabu lab

A BEMEDALLED police officer was sentenced to life imprisonment after a lower court found him guilty beyond reasonable doubt for protecting a clandestine methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu laboratory in Naguilan, La Union, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said Friday.

Comelec mulls use of PCOS for barangay, youth polls

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) might use the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls to be held in October, an official said Friday.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said they are now looking at the possibility of pilot testing the automated election system (AES) despite not being required by the law.

BIR to businesses: Use new receipts starting July

DESPITE complaints, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said on Thursday that it will implement its new regulation requiring the issuance and used of new sets of receipts on July 1, 2013.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said that complaints against Revenue Regulation No. 18-2012 were without any basis since her office had issued this last year and published the same on January 3 this year in one of the major broadsheets informing everyone that existing receipts will expire on June 30, 2013.

Still no complete proclamation for party-list

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will wait for Supreme Court's (SC) decision on the merits of the disqualification cases of two party-list groups before filling up the last five of the 58 slots.   Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said Thursday that the commission en banc has agreed not to make anymore proclamation until the SC has issued a decision on the merits of the cases filed by Coalition of Senior Citizens in the Philippines, Inc. (Senior Citizens), and Abang Lingkod party-lists.  

Indonesian investigative reporter wins AFP’S 2013 Kate Webb Prize

THE international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) has awarded the 2013 Kate Webb Prize for frontline journalism to Indonesia investigative reporter Stefanus Teguh Edi Pramono for his searing reportages on the bloody civil war in Syria and his eye-opening investigation into the murky underworld of the Jakarta drug trade.

66 new House members take up legislation course

SIXTY-SIX neophyte lawmakers attended a month-long legislators' course at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance, which started June 4.   "It is a House-sponsored activity but we do not require them (to attend). New members are free to decide if they want to attend or not," Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap said.   The House of Representatives will also hold an orientation for its neophyte members on July 16, a week before the 16th Congress opens its first regular session.