WE MUST start in the beginning. A report in Sun.Star Cebu said that the profile picture on a social networking page that showed a foreigner smiling next to a young girl, who in turn posed with an image of a heart-shaped leaf, was among the photos that led to the arrest of the said foreigner by the police in Bogo City.
“Kung makikita mo ang Facebook account niya at ang mga pictures niya, mora’g lovers na gyud sila,” said the Bogo City Police Station chief Richard Oliver. He was referring to David Ray Carpenter, 60. His 17-year-old alleged lover was also rescued in Barangay Odlot, Bogo City.
As expected, the parents of the minor consented to the relationship. As a result, both her father and mother have also been detained by the police. Carpenter is a retired United States serviceman.
The posting of the photos on Facebook showed that the foreigner didn’t mind if his relationship with the girl was divulged publicly. But it turned to be his undoing. Is the lesson learned?
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President Noynoy Aquino visited Palawan yesterday but it was reported that he had no plan to go to Pag-asa Island, a Palawan municipality that is located in the territory that is also claimed by China. Presidential Communications Chief Herminio Coloma Jr. said that PNoy was set to inspect the Puerto Princesa Airport Development Project.
Pag-asa Island is part of the Kalayaan group that is controlled by the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, which is part of what China calls as the South China Sea. Filipino troops are stationed in Pag-asa Island.
China has been claiming almost the entire South China Sea, including Pag-asa and other areas within the 200 exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. President Noynoy Aquino has criticized China’s current building of islands from reefs and atolls in the area. There are fears that structures for military use will be built there.
But Pag-asa Island also has a small airstrip that is already dilapidated. Coloma said that repair of the airstrip in Pag-asa has been suspended due to the country’s territorial row with China. The Philippines has filed a case at The Hague challenging China’s claim.
“The repair has been stopped because we uphold the principle of keeping the status quo in the areas involved,” said Coloma. “This part of our strategy for a rules-based and diplomatic approach where we have filed an arbitration case with the UN tribunal,” he added.
Pag-asa Island is part of Palawan. Yesterday, the President inspected the P3.7 billion Puerto Princesa Airport Development Project in the mainland of the province. With the project, the capacity of the Puerto Princesa airport will expand to two million passengers per year by 2017. The project is funded from a loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea.