SULU SEA DESTROYED

‘Smuggled corals, shells in Zamboanga City can cover Sulu seabed’

By Julie Alipala
Inquirer Mindanao 2:51 pm | Sunday, June 5th, 201

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The volume of corals, shells and other marine species seized here for the past two days since Friday was so large they could have covered the entire seabed around Sulu, the national director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatics Resources (BFAR) said on Saturday evening.

“It would have rendered the Sulu waters critical because only about four percent of corals and shells would have been left there,” Asis Perez said.

Perez made the comment after a second large batch of coral, shells and other marine species, most of which were covered by a ban on harvesting, was discovered around 10:30 p.m. Saturday in another warehouse maintained by Olivia Li of the controversial firm Li and Lim Trading in Barangay San Roque here.

Theresa Mundita Lim, national director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), said Saturday night’s find alone “was five times of what we have seized in Manila last May.”

“From the looks of it, there’s a very extensive damage to our coral reef,” she said.

By the estimate of the warehouse’s caretaker, the stash could be between 30 and 40 tons or the equivalent of eight to 10 twenty-foot container vans.

Government agencies, led by BFAR, uncovered the contraband in sacks and boxes piled under rusted metal sheets inside the warehouse at Yuscom compound, which is owned by another businessman, Benny Yu.

It was the second warehouse identified with Li and Lim Trading to have yielded so much banned marine species. Officials such as Perez were shocked.

Earlier in the day, Perez, who personally led policemen and local officials in inspections, also found piles of corals, shells and other marine species inside another Li and Lim warehouse.

“We saw a still undetermined, huge volume (of corals and shells), much bigger than what were seized in Manila,” he earlier told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

He said the contraband was so large it will not fit into two 20-foot container vans.

Similar items were also discovered at a warehouse operated by Huan Uat Trading, a company owned by Li’s husband, Jose Pring, who is also known as Joe Ping.

In 2007, authorities also seized banned marine species from Uan Uat’s warehouse here and Pring, a Taiwanese, had been charged.

The case is still pending.

Quirino Esguerra, lawyer for Yu, said his client had no knowledge that Li’s activities were illegal.

He said Yu simply rented out the warehouses to Li.

“We volunteered to open the compound to authorities to clear the name of Yu, who might have been unknowingly implicated in the issue,” Esguerra said.

Perez said judging by the pattern of the illegal trade in marine species, it was certain that a highly organized syndicate was involved.

“So many people were involved. People who are gathering and selling, consolidating….there are people making sure it’s transported and people who hide their real identities like the consignee of the one shipped and seized in Metro Manila,” he said.

Perez said “there’s really a pattern, in other words it’s a pretty well-thought of operation, it’s not something you do by impulse. It was well thought of process, well planned, by all indications it’s a syndicated crime.”

BFAR had already filed charges against Li, who has remained out of sight, for her involvement in the illegal trade of marine species.

Demetrio Escoto, BFAR legal officer, said aside from Li, several other persons had been charged for violation of the fisheries laws.

They included Exequiel D. Navarro, listed in the shipment’s manifest and bill of lading as the consignee of the seized marine products in Manila; Kim L. Atillano, owner of the Zamboanga-based JKA Transport System, the alleged cargo forwarder; and an Ireneo Penuliar.

But officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said Aboitiz Shipping, the company that transported the banned items seized in Manila the other week, should be made answerable too.

They said Aboitiz workers must have known they were transporting banned items.

They said it was unlikely for shipping companies to just allow cargoes without knowing what these were.

Rosella Contreras of the BFAR’s Fish Inspection and Quarantine Services here earlier said that “smuggling is a non-stop activity at the Zamboanga City Port. Syndicates abound,” she said.

Contreras said while there had been seizures in the past, no one actually went to jail for smuggling banned marine species.

“There were several apprehensions but they could easily get away after paying certain dues and fines,” she said.

Contreras said unless a stiffer law was passed that would heavily penalize smuggling of banned marines species, the activity would not be stopped.

Chief Supt. Elpidio de Asis, chief of the Western Mindanao police, said the gathering and selling of corals have become a cottage industry for some fishermen in the Western Mindanao area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/12299/%E2%80%98smuggled-corals-shells-in-zamboanga-city-can-cover-sulu-seabed%E2%80%99

SULU SEA

Interestingly, most of the islands of the Philippines are arranged in a sinousoidal pattern. Breaking this harmonious pattern are the islands of Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago, in the southwestern part of the country. The body of water enclosed by Palawan, the Sulu Archipelago and Borneo is called the Sulu Sea. Beneath the deep and vast Sulu Sea is an oceanic ridge trending parallel to Palawan and the Sulu archipelago. From these ridges rise some of the world's greatest geologic formations of oceanic atolls and platform reefs. The reefs feature gradually sloping underwater terrain to spectacular vertical walls that drop to thousand meters deep. They offer outcrops of corals and splendid aggregations of large pelagics such as tunas, barracudas, jacks, sharks, mantas and turtles. Reef associated fishes such as snappers, butterflyfishes, damsels and angelfishes and garden eels never cross your path unnoticed due to their sheer number.

The climate in the Sulu Sea area is influenced by the monsoon seasons that prevail over the country. These are the southwest monsoon from June to October and northeast monsoon from December to June. Due to Sulu Sea's geographical location, the diving season is from March to early June. These months coincide with the summer season. Thus, the sea surface is calm, the temperature is comfortable at 28 to 30 C and water visibility of 30 m is not unusual. Strong tidal currents may occasionally be present, bringing with it schools of large pelagics.

Besides the spectacular underwater sceneries, Sulu Sea's atolls and sand cays also offer interesting sights and opportunities for bird photography since the islands are rookeries to hundreds of sea birds -- red-footed boobies, terns and frigates.

CLICK TO READ MORE

RP gets $434-M grant from US

Money meant to fight poverty, corruption

By Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:45:00 09/25/2010

NEW YORK—The United States granted the Philippines $434-million (P19 billion) in financial assistance hoping it would lead to economic reforms and spur Filipinos to help build their own country, instead of looking for better opportunities abroad.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aired the call at the signing of the assistance compact at Waldorf Astoria hotel on Thursday (Friday in Manila)—one of the highlights of the weeklong visit of President Aquino, who witnessed the signing.

The money, intended to be used to build roads and carry out projects aimed at reducing poverty and fighting corruption, was awarded under the US-run Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) chaired by Clinton.

The MCC, an independent US foreign aid agency, aims to help developing countries reduce poverty as long as they meet performance criteria on democratic principles and the rule of law.

“We hope that, Mr. President, the people of your country will be able to make a good living in their own country. And in order to do that, there must be a partnership that creates the conditions for economic opportunity,” Clinton said.

“I know how smart the Filipino people are. I know how hard they work. I’m not sure there’s any group of people anywhere in the world that works harder than Filipinos,” she added.

Clinton, however, said Filipinos were prevented from achieving economic success by corruption in government.

“But let’s be very honest here. Too many of them feel that they cannot progress in their own country. Too many of them feel that the elite in business and politics basically call the shots, and there’s not much room for someone who’s hardworking, but not connected,” Clinton said.

“Too many of them believe that even if they get the best education they can, that there won’t be an opportunity for them, and so they take that education and help build someone else’s economy, very often here in the United States,” she added.

Clinton said the signing of the compact had become possible “because for the past few years, we have seen evidence of a commitment to deliver for the people that we believe is represented in the promise of President Aquino’s election.”

A cancer in society

The signing of the compact was one of the reasons Mr. Aquino undertook the trip, aside from his scheduled address before the United Nations on Friday and meetings with US businessmen.

The agreement was signed by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and MCC chief executive officer Daniel Johannes.

“This was a negotiated agreement. This was not a decision just to give the Philippines some money ... This was a negotiation. Because that’s the whole idea behind the MCC,” Clinton said.

“There are certain principles that we believe in, and the Philippines has made a commitment to these principles. We believe that you can unleash the human potential in a country like the Philippines by tearing down the barriers to economic growth and fighting corruption, which is like a cancer in the economy and society,” she said.

Worthy steward

Mr. Aquino agreed that a beneficiary-country of the MCC should prove itself worthy of the assistance.

“If the American people, through their government, can commit resources to their friends, their friends owe it to those pledging assistance and to themselves to be worthy stewards of what they will receive,” he said.

He said this was the reason the Philippine proposal to the MCC underwent rigorous consultative processes.

“We will do our part to use this grant wisely,” Mr. Aquino said, pledging to “effectively address” the issue of corruption.

“We will continue ... lifestyle checks programs.” he said.

Roads, schools, clinics

Compacts are large, five-year grants for countries that pass the MCC’s eligibility criteria.

Of the total amount, $214.4 million will be used to rehabilitate 222 kilometers of the Samar Road. It will connect 15 towns of one of the country’s poorest provinces and reduce transportation costs for farmers, fishers and small businessmen who bring their goods to the markets.

“(The) investment will increase commerce in and between the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar, and ultimately increase incomes,” the MCC said in a brief.

Some $120 million will go to the Kabisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Service project for building water systems, clinics and school buildings.

Approximately $54.4 million will be used to computerize the collection of taxes by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The MCC said the project “addresses the need to raise tax revenues and reduce tax evasion and revenue agent-related corruption.” With a report from Inquirer Research

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100925-294178/RP-gets-434-M-grant-from-US

ARMM teachers owed P124 M in unpaid salaries

By Nash Maulana
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 15:47:00 07/23/2010


MARAWI CITY, Philippines – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) owes its teachers millions of pesos in unpaid salaries and the amount continues to balloon, officials admitted Friday.

Bert Caudang, ARMM education secretary, said that to date, the regional government owed P124 million in back wages close to 26,000 teachers in Basilan, Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-tawi, Lanao de Sur and the cities of Marawi and Isabela.

The delay in the release of the salaries has forced many teachers to run to private money lenders, said Hadji Udtog Kawit, Maguindanao district schools supervisor.

But Kawit claimed that the delays – starting in 2006 – were inadvertent.

Caudang said one reason for the delays was the ARMM DepEd’s re-examination of its roster of teachers using the computerized individual data (CID) system amid reports of ghost teachers and non-existent schools.

In 2008, ARMM officials exposed a large number of “ghost employees” working in non-existent schools.

He said the installation of the CID system was still being completed and unless the figures were validated, the delays could continue.

Caudang said any payment would have to depend on electronic validation because pending completion of the CID system, the DepEd could not officially rid its list of probable ghost employees and schools.

He said that while ARMM officials expressed willingness to pay the mentors, there was not enough money to do so.

The unpaid salaries, Caudang said, would have to be charged to a supplementary budget “programmed for that specific purpose.”

Najib Sinarimbo, ARMM executive secretary, said there was a perennial problem of lack of funds in the region.

He said officials agreed that the only way to address the problem was for the ARMM to become self-sufficient by generating local revenues.

To become self-sufficient, Sinarimbo said “the ARMM has to assume collection of customs tariffs” as well as duties on exports done through its ports.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100723-282708/ARMM-teachers-owed-P124-M-in-unpaid-salaries

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ARMM mentors get back pays

Creation of Environmental Protection Agency sought

MANILA BULLETIN

By MARIO B. CASAYURAN
July 7, 2010, 2:28pm

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Wednesday a bill seeking to create an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will be devoted solely to solving the country’s mounting pollution problems.

Zubiri said the EPA would have broad powers for research, standard-setting, monitoring and enforcement with regard to five environmental hazards: Air pollution, water hazards, solid waste disposal, radiation and pesticides.

The Senate Majority Leader in the past 14th Congress said he recognizes the function of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) being the principal agency tasked to implement the government’s environmental laws and policies which includes management of natural resources.

‘’However, there has to be an agency that will solely deal with matters that have a relation only to the protection, preservation and enhancement of the environment,’’ he said.

The measure, Senate Bill No. 59 or the ‘Environment Protection Act of 2010,’’ aims to effectively control pollution by ‘’identifying pollutants, tracing them through the entire ecological chain, observing and recording changes in form as they occur, determining the total exposure of man and his environment to toxic waste, examining interactions among forms of pollutions and identifying where in the ecological chain interdiction will be most appropriate,’’ he explained.

Zubiri said that the EPA, once enacted into law, would be placed under the Executive branch headed by a chairman to be appointed by the President.

Aside from the chairman, other EPA officers will be regional executive directors who will take charge of the monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws at the regional level.

Among the other functions of the proposed EPA include the following:

Establish and enforce environmental protection standards consistent with national environmental goals.

Advise the President and the Congress on the enactment of laws relative to the conservation of the country’s natural resources and environmental protection.

Promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the law governing the exploration, conservation, development, extraction, disposition, use and other activities that may cause the depletion and degradation of natural resources.

Undertake exploration, assessment, classification and inventory of the country’s natural resources using any and all available technology.

Oversee, supervise and police natural resources which include cancellation or cause to cancel privileges and arrangements.

Promulgate rules and regulations for the control of water, air and land pollution.

Exercise other powers and functions and perform such other acts as may be necessary, proper or incidental to the attainment of its mandates and objectives.

The measures provide the EPA additional powers by transferring to the environmental agency the powers, functions, duties and responsibilities of some of the bureau offices of DENR such as the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Protected Areas and Wildlife (PAW), Pollution Adjudication Board (PAD), and the National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission (NWAPCC).

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/265617/creation-environmental-protection-agency-sought

70 MILLION SWINE FLU VACCINE DOSES WASTED

DISCOVERY NEWS
Analysis by Benjamin Radford
Fri Jul 2, 2010 01:01 PM ET

Just about everything that can be put into the human body has an expiration date. Food eventually spoils and goes bad; ingredients in drugs lose their effectiveness over time. When the expiry date is up, you (should) throw the stuff out and replace it with fresher stuff.

And so it is with vaccines. A few days ago 40 million doses of the H1N1 / swine flu vaccine went bad; that’s over $250 million worth of drugs too stale to use, the largest amount of a single vaccine ever produced.

And there’s more to come, since another 30 million doses will be expiring soon. If 70 million doses end up being destroyed, that would account for nearly half of the American stockpile of H1N1 vaccine.

Despite grave warnings by public health officials last April, the swine flu epidemic never materialized, and in fact killed fewer people than the annual seasonal flu varieties -- about 12,000.

In an interview with London's The Independent newspaper, a World Health Organization advisor, Prof. Ulrich Keil, complained that by calling the early H1N1 outbreak a “pandemic,” countries around the world wasted precious public health money: "We know the great killers are hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol, high body mass index, physical inactivity and low fruit and vegetable intake....instead [governments] wasted huge amounts of money by investing in pandemic scenarios whose evidence base is weak."

The report continued, “The suspicion that the response to the outbreak was an unnecessary panic has been spreading since the virus slipped from the front pages. Even the WHO, the U.N. body that first punched the big red button, may be having doubts. An external committee has been set up to review its reaction and will deliver an interim report this week, though at the moment no bombshells are expected.”

Governments and public health officials are, of course, in a no-win situation and will be second-guessed no matter what they do.

If they don’t issue a dire warning and millions die, they will be blamed for failing to act, and if they do issue a warning and the outbreak is not as bad as predicted, they will be blamed for overreacting.

Medicine is not an exact science and until better prediction methods are developed, public funds will continue to be wasted in a “better safe than sorry” approach to infectious disease.

http://news.discovery.com/human/the-70-million-swine-flu-vaccine-doses-wasted.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

The Hidden Wealth of the Catholic Church

By Anna Catherin Loll and Peter Wensierski

The Catholic Church in Germany, already struggling to cope with the sex abuse scandal, has been hit by revelations of theft, opaque accounting and extravagance. While the grassroots faithful are being forced to make cutbacks, some bishops enjoy the trappings of the church's considerable hidden wealth.

Shortly before Pentecost, Pastor S. received an unexpected early morning visit, not from the Holy Ghost, but from the police.

For the authorities, the words of the Gospel of Luke came true on that morning: He who seeks finds. More than €131,000 ($158,000) were hidden in various places in the rooms of the Catholic priest, tucked in between his laundry or attached to the bottom of drawers. The reverend was arrested on the spot. After several weeks in custody, Hans S., 76, is now back at the monastery, waiting for his trial.

And lo and behold, the proliferation of cash may have been even more miraculous than initially assumed. The public prosecutor's office in the southern city of Würzburg now estimates that S. may have embezzled up to €1.5 million from collections and other church funds. The members of his flock in a wine-growing village in the northern Bavarian region of Franconia are stunned. They had blindly trusted their shepherd, who always seemed so humble and modest.

The Catholic Church is currently being shaken by a number of financial scandals, not only in Franconia but also in Augsburg, another Bavarian city, where Bishop Walter Mixa's dip into funds from a foundation that runs children's homes recently made headlines.

More than €40 million have gone missing in the Diocese of Magdeburg in eastern Germany, €5 million have disappeared in Limburg near Frankfurt, and it was recently discovered that a senior priest in the Diocese of Münster had 30 secret bank accounts. And while parishes throughout Germany are cutting jobs and funds for community work, many bishops are still living on the high horse. A brand-new residence? An ostentatious home for their retirement? Restoration of a Marian column to the tune of €120,000? None of these expenditures presents a problem to high-ranking church officials from Trier in the west to Passau in the southeastern corner of Bavaria, whose coffers are brimming with cash.

In many places, this blatant disparity, along with reports of mismanagement, misappropriation and pomposity have prompted the faithful to challenge church officials. They are accusing many bishops of just covering up the problem, as they did in the sex abuse scandal. They are determined not to allow anyone to see behind the curtain into their parallel world of bulging bank accounts and hidden assets, which, in some cases, have buttressed their power for centuries. The only aspect of church finances that is public is the diocesan budget, which derives its funding from the church tax -- but the church's true assets remain in the shadows.

Growing Questions About Church Funding

Now all of this wealth is becoming a political issue, however. The unemployed, recipients of housing assistance, families, communities, businesses, the military -- in the coming years, the federal government plans to deprive them all of billions of euros. But the church, of all things, is being spared, and hardly anyone questions the generous support it receives from the government.

Financially speaking, Germany's dioceses are in excellent shape. "The Catholic Church claims that it's poor, but the truth is that it hides its wealth," says Carsten Frerk, a Berlin political scientist who, after years of research, is publishing "Violettbuch Kirchenfinanzen" (The Violet Book of Church Finances) this fall. Frerk estimates the cash assets of the church's legal entities at about €50 billion. The Catholics, who are not releasing their own figures, accuse Frerk of being a prejudiced, atheistic critic of the church.

The assets, accumulated over the centuries, are invested in many areas, including real estate, church-owned banks, academies, breweries, vineyards, media companies and hospitals. The church also derives income from stock holdings, foundations and bequests. As a rule, all of this money flows into the accounts of the so-called bishop's see. Only a bishop and his closest associates are familiar with this shadow budget, which tax authorities are not required to review. The public budgets of dioceses consist of far less than their total finances.

This complicated web is handled with such secrecy that not even the financial department heads of all dioceses openly discuss their finances with one another. Seemingly baroque structures make these finances even more difficult to fathom. Depending on the diocese, the administrators of the church's funds can be members of a church tax council, a diocesan tax panel, a financial board or an administrative board. Sometimes assets are also spun off into foundations.

Of Germany's 27 Catholic dioceses, 25 refused to provide information in response to a SPIEGEL survey, noting that this information "is not made public." Only two dioceses, Magdeburg and the Archdiocese of Berlin, which was on the verge of bankruptcy a few years ago, were somewhat more accommodating, probably because they have so few assets to hide in the first place.

Secret Assets

The vicar general of a well-heeled diocese, on the other hand, said: "Yes, the assets in the bishop's see are secret. But perhaps it would be better if you wrote: confidential." When asked to explain this secretiveness, a spokeswoman of the Diocese of Limburg responded: "That's just the way it is." Finally, a representative of the German Bishops' Conference said: "I don't want to talk to you about this."

Elected lay representatives at the base are hardly more successful. They face a wall of silence, even when they are responsible for financial supervision in their diocese. One of them is Herbert Steffen, whose congregation appointed him to the diocesan council in Trier. Steffen, 75, is not exactly a fierce critic. A former furniture manufacturer, he comes from an arch-Catholic family of entrepreneurs in the Moselle River region. His concern was as straightforward as it was conservative: He wanted to make sure that his diocese was in solid financial shape.

The businessman was irritated by his experiences in the diocesan council. "I was surprised by the small size of the budget. It was something I thought we ought to look at," he says. At a council meeting, he asked a confidant of the bishop whether this was the entire budget. "There is also the budget of the bishop's see. But it isn't intended for the public," the official replied. When Steffen asked, "are you telling me that we can't see it, either?" the official said: "No!"

Trier, Germany's oldest diocese, is a good example of the Catholic divide between rich and poor. Bishop Stephan Ackermann, who also oversees sex abuse cases for the German Bishops' Conference, can be quite generous in financial matters, particularly when they involve prestigious projects adjacent to his bishop's palace. For example, the diocese currently has €1 million earmarked for a planned renovation of the square behind Trier Cathedral. Local church authorities want to make sure that the area looks its best, just in case the pope decides to lead an annual pilgrimage to the "holy robe" in 2012, joining the faithful in worshipping a robe that supposedly contains scraps from the robe Jesus wore.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,700513,00.html

Oil Spills Around the World: An Exxon Valdez Every Year

FASTER TIMES
EARTH MATTERS SECTION
BY AMY WESTERVELT
MAY 17, 2010

Earlier this month, thanks to the press surrounding the Gulf oil spill, newspapers and radio stations began running stories that touched on the catastrophic oil spills happening elsewhere in the world. Turns out, they’re happening all the time.

That’s not at all to say that the Gulf spill isn’t a disaster. It’s one of, if not the, worst environmental disasters ever to happen in this country. The point is that oil companies are getting away with similar disasters all over the world, but in places where there isn’t quite as much environmental regulation or public scrutiny of their operations.

In Nigeria, for example, every year since 1969, oil operations in the Niger Delta have spilled as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez. Let that sink in for a minute … an Exxon Valdez spill every year. There are 2,000 ongoing spills in the country. The AP reported earlier this month that last year Royal Dutch Shell alone spilled a record 14,000 tons of crude oil in the Niger Delta. That’s over 4 million gallons, for those of you who don’t think of oil in tons. The Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons in Alaska in 1989. The Niger Delta is the largest wetland in Africa, spanning 20,000 square miles and inhabited by some 150 species, all now endangered thanks to oil spills.

This morning the Yes Men pulled one of their classic stunts, sending around a press release from Shell declaring that it was going to stop deepwater drilling in the Niger Delta and begin remediating the wetlands there. The release was preceded by a staged press conference a few days ago in which a Yes Man posing as a Shell corporate responsibility flak apologized on behalf of the company for the havoc it has wreaked on the people and environment of Nigeria.

It was a gag, but also a good reminder that while the world is tuned into the Gulf, oil companies are getting away with ongoing spills in other countries around the world. According to Lisa Margonelli, journalist and author of Oil on the Brain: Adventures from Pump to Pipeline, it’s not just Nigeria. “We drill in places like Chad, which had no environmental laws whatsoever, and the United States and the World Bank and Exxon kinda made this deal and went in and created environmental laws on the fly,” she said on a recent radio show. ”The problem is that it’s fine to have a moratorium on drilling here, but we need to make sure we’re not going abroad to get the oil. Because we still use oil. So we’re now going to these countries that are a little dicey because the big oilfields are basically gone, so we’re going to places that are riskier geologically, riskier politically, riskier in general, financially, and they tend to be places with fewer regulations.”

Stephen Kretzman, director of nonprofit Oil Change International, regularly writes about such things on his The Price of Oil blog, and notes that the industry routinely spills large amounts, especially in countries like Nigeria. The oil companies are also in the habit of generally ripping off the locals when they come to town, which goes a long way toward explaining why some of Shell’s spills in Nigeria can be pinned on local militants and thieves who have targeted the company’s oil lines. In a recent Price of Oil post, blogger Andy Rowell points to shady oil-drilling contracts currently being made in the Congo.

The problem, as Margonelli points out, is that while the public can be outraged all it wants at the Gulf spill and the various environmental disasters created by oil companies around the world, unless the demand for oil goes down, oil companies will continue to do whatever they can to supply it.

http://thefastertimes.com/earthmatters/2010/05/17/yes-men-draw-attention-to-the-rest-of-the-worlds-oil-spills/

Sabah a hotspot for human trafficking

By Michael Kaung

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have admitted that the state is now a hotspot for human trafficking in the country.

Apart from the difficulty in preventing crimes due to the state's weak border control, providing shelter and protection to victims who escape the trade has also become a major concern.

Head of the anti-gambling, gangsterism and prostitution unit at the Sabah police headquarters, DSP Mohd Taufik Maidin, said police are finding it hard to shelter the victims while waiting for their cases to be brought up in court.

Taufik said Sabah is considered one of the three top destinations for human traffickers in the country and several syndicates had been crippled between last year and March this year.

He said 23 pimps, including seven women, were arrested for luring women into the sex trade.

He added that 35 women, mostly foreigners from a neighbouring country, were arrested in three raids at prostitution dens, including in the interior of the state.

Taufik, who made the disclosure in his paper “Trafficking Crime in Sabah” during a seminar on “Anti-Trafficking in Persons(ATIP) Act 2007” here on Tuesday said the 33 women, aged between 14 and 28, were detained during raids last year.

He said human trafficking thrived in Sabah due to its economic prosperity as well as to poor border control, which allowed people to enter the state illegally.

"The open and rugged border made monitoring human trafficking difficult besides logistic and manpower problems.

Sex trade

Victims are brought in overland as well as by sea and air and are forced into the sex trade by deception, coercion, abuse or intimidation, Taufik said.

Sabah Women's Advisory Council (SWAC) deputy chairman Mariati Robert agrees that there is insufficient protection for victims of the crime.

She said there was an urgent need to set up more shelters in the state to protect such victims, especially on the east coast of the state.

There are three such homes, one of which is run by an NGO.

"Due to human trafficking and other related violent activities, these homes are inadequate to help the police when victims like battered wives and children seek protection."

She said such homes should also be staffed by qualified counsellors to help rehabilitate the victims.

The seminar was told that so far five people have been convicted under the ATIP Act, with the first case involving a foreigner who pleaded guilty to forcing his maid into prostitution.

Since 2008, 173 suspects have been arrested under the Act, 23 have been prosecuted, 17 have been brought to court and 36 are under investigation.

Eighty percent of the cases are suspected to have been involved in human trafficking for prostitution.

Five enforcement officers have been arrested for their involvement in trafficking Myanmar refugees and one has been prosecuted.

Debt bondage

Most of the women brought into Malaysia are from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and South Korea.

It is not a one-way traffic. Malaysians have also found themselves victims in countries such as Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

The seminar was organised by SWAC to increase public awareness of the Act and will also be conducted in other districts in the state soon.

Human trafficking is different from people smuggling where people pay a fee to smugglers to get them into a country. There may be no deception involved in the illegal agreement. On arrival at the destination, the smuggled persons are usually free to find their own way.

The trafficking victim, on the other hand, is not permitted to leave, and is required to work or provide services of some kind to the trafficker or others.

The arrangement may be in the form of a work contract, but with no or low payment or on highly exploitative terms.

Sometimes the arrangement is structured as a debt bondage, with the victim not being permitted or able to pay off the debt.

Victims are sometimes tricked and lured by false promises or are physically forced.

Some traffickers coerce or manipulate victims and use deception, intimidation, feigned love, isolation, threats and physical force, and debt bondage.

Trafficking is a lucrative industry and could be controlled by criminal organisations.

However, most of the trafficking is done by networks of smaller groups that each specialises in a certain area, like recruitment, transport, advertising, or retail.

This is profitable because little start-up capital is needed, and prosecution is relatively rare.

People who victims of trafficking are usually the most vulnerable and powerless minorities.

They come mostly from the poorer areas where opportunities are limited. They are often ethnic minorities or displaced persons such as runaways or refugees, though they may come from any social background, class or race.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/4980-human-trafficking-an-issue-in-sabah

Filipinos still in ‘colonial’ chains

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:01:00 04/18/2010

Filed Under: history, Treaties & International Organisations

WE Filipinos must review our mistakes and the problems they have brought about. For we still have not realized that our trusting ways have always been taken advantage of by opportunists. While our Asian neighbors have always traded with us without meddling in our internal affairs, Western countries have colonized us for their own selfish purposes.

For example, Spain converted us to Christianity which was used to rule us for 400 years while it exploited our natural resources. And then America came along to rule us for around 50 years, teaching us their system of democracy while they mined our mountains for gold and silver. What made us docile to their exploitative ways if not our trustful bent?

Consider now that the former US Ambassador Kristie Kenny was very warm and friendly and her replacement Harry Thomas is a forceful official. That makes us ask if the Obama administration is going to rule us once more with an iron glove for obvious geopolitical reasons. Indeed it is time we Filipinos realized that since 10 years ago our own leader, President Macapagal-Arroyo, allowed the Americans to have a say in our country’s affairs for her own political survival. The tradeoffs were always obvious even though her treachery to the Philippines was cleverly disguised.

The point is, if we have to protect our rights as human beings, we must differentiate right from wrong, good from evil. We must reject the deceptions foisted on us, including the technologies which merely serve to enslave us for obvious reasons. To put it another way, the West’s political aggressiveness has degraded our humanity so that even our leaders have succumbed to hypocritical and selfish ways.

It is time we realized that Google and Microsoft are being forced on us by the American hegemony so it can pry into our privacy, whether at home or in the workplace. For instance, only last December, a French publishing house in Paris won a copyright infringement case against Google for digitalizing the contents of books by French writers. And here in the Philippines, Microsoft also digitalized my manuscript “An Indication of the Truth” for a worldwide pay-per-view scheme on Yahoo—without my express permission.

Indeed, “highway robbery” in the old days has become “Internet robbery” these days. The fact is that Google and Microsoft amassed multibillion-dollar profits in 2009 at the expense of hardworking book writers.

When the French publisher won its case, Google was penalized and made to pay for the violation. This highlights the Philippine justice system’s failure in handling similar cases because its hands are still tied by America’s colonial chains, with the support of the corrupt Arroyo administration.

Indeed, unless we decide to right this wrong, we will remain an abused nation.

—ERNESTO KELLY MAGTOTO,

ernestomagtoto@gmail.com
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20100418-265063/Filipinos-still-in-colonial-chains

ARMM Government Continues to Neglect Sulu

Official laments on ARMM’s neglect to help develop Sulu

By NONOY E. LACSON
April 16, 2010, 3:29pm

Sulu – Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan Friday expressed alarm after sensing that new leaders running the affairs of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) allegedly resembles the shadow of management of the past administration led by detained ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.

Tan lamented that ARMM acting Gov. Ansaruddin Adiong is seemingly just “duplicating the management system and attitude” of detained Ampatuan in the distribution of infrastructure projects and funds for the delivery of basic services to the people of the region.

He said Adiong has allegedly failed to assist him to bring forward Sulu to development and progress and to alleviate poverty in the province.

“I am sad to inform you that Sulu failed to receive the needed assistance from ARMM led by Governor Adiong since he sits as acting governor of the ARMM,” Tan lamented.

Adding that “the way he (Adiong) handles things and manage the affairs of the region, is more of a duplication on how detained Governor Ampatuan takes care of it when he was still the governor of ARMM.”

He said his government had continued to beg the ARMM government for infrastructure projects and funds to finance the livelihood assistance program of Sulu aimed to uplift the living condition of the people in the province.

Tan accused Adiong of allegedly playing favoritism by pouring more funds to provinces in the region were his relatives are the top officials.

“How can our people in Sulu have a better living when the ARMM officials led by Adiong do not help us,” he asked.

He said funds for infrastructure development and livelihood programs coming from the national government coursed through the ARMM, aids from the international communities for development and livelihood including funds for development coming from the ARMM do not reach them.

President Arroyo has directed last year all her Cabinet secretaries to give special attention to the Sulu government in its program for development, peace and progress.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/252996/official-laments-armm-s-neglect-help-develop-sulu

Whistle-blowers can’t rely on gov’t for protection

By Ramon Tulfo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:51:00 03/01/2010

THE ASSASSINATION OF “jueteng” whistle-blower Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor shows how dangerous it is to expose irregularities in government.

Mayor was gunned down by men on two motorcycles after he came out of a casino in Pasay City early Sunday morning.

Mayor, along with Sandra Cam, ratted on presidential spouse Mike Arroyo’s alleged involvement in jueteng payoffs during a Senate hearing several years ago.

If we think a whistle-blower is safe because people he denounced would not touch him for fear of public reprisal, Boy Mayor’s death proves us wrong.

The government, especially this administration, doesn’t protect citizens who publicly denounce corruption in government.

If you’re a whistle-blower or a journalist who exposes wrongdoings in government, be prepared for the possible consequences of your act.

And if the people you exposed are very influential or government bigwigs, the more you should not rely on government for your protection.

* * *

Mayor and Cam came to see me Friday or two days before he was killed.

Mayor accused a fellow public works contractor (Boy had changed his means of livelihood from being jueteng financier to building roads and bridges) of being involved in the alleged rigging of projects in Bicol.

After I listened to Mayor, I told him that his accusations were not supported by documents.

I told him to come back after he had all the documents with him.

Before he left, Mayor and Cam expressed fears for their safety.

Their fears were not unfounded after all.

* * *

A message to Sandra Cam: You knew what you were getting into when you and Mayor made that Senate exposé years ago.

So, stop complaining about the dangerous life you are living and just bite the bullet.

When you announced on radio yesterday that you and Mayor talked to me two days before his assassination, you unduly placed my life in danger.

I’m not complaining since living on the edge is part of my territory; I’m just saying that you should protect people you’re trying to get sympathy from.



http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20100301-256125/Whistle-blowers-cant-rely-on-govt-for-protection

Police orders probe of detained Malaysian trawlers in Tawi-Tawi

Monday, February 22, 2010 03:05:20 PM


ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 22, 2010) – Filipino authorities ordered an investigation into reports that police had detained 14 Malaysian trawlers and released the boats in exchange for money in the southern Philippines.

Police allegedly released a dozen Malaysian trawlers after its owners paid thousands of dollars in exchange for the boats. But two other trawlers are still being held in the southern island of Taganak near the Sabah border, Malaysian media reported on Monday.

It said the trawlers were seized by the police after allegedly straying into Philippine waters on February 14 and 15 and its crew of about 50 people had been detained.

Police released the 12 trawlers after its owners paid fines of up to RM40,000, it said.

“Philippines border officials based in Taganak Island under the Tawi-Tawi province released the trawlers after the owners paid “fines” ranging from RM13,000 to RM40,000 for allegedly encroaching into Phi¬lippines waters,” the Star Online reported.

But the Philippine Navy said it did not receive any reports about the apprehension of any Malaysian fishing boats in Taganak, an island town of Tawi-Tawi province. “We have no reports about it,” said Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, who heads the naval forces in the southern Philippines.

Reports said owners of the two remaining Malaysian trawlers were working for the release of the boats. It said Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sa¬hali assured that he would try to secure an early release for the remaining Malaysian trawlers. He said he would discuss with the Philippine Navy and the police to resolve the problem quickly.

“The owners are in the process of getting the trawlers released in the next few days,” the Star said.

But Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, chief of the regional police force, said he already relieved the police chief of Taganak Island after receiving reports about the trawlers.

“I have relieved the chief of police of Taganak Island after receiving this disturbing report that Malaysian trawlers were apprehended and released in exchange for money. He is being investigated. We will not tolerate this kind of malpractice and even the governor of Tawi-Tawi, Sadikul Sahali, was angry with this incident because it is so embarrassing,” Latag said.

“We are trying to reform the police forces into a professional organization and we will not allow this kind of incident to ruin the clean image of the Philippine National Police,” he said.

Latag, a decorated officer, assumed last year as the new police chief of the Muslim autonomous region who has jurisdiction over the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao.

Malaysian fishermen previously detained in southern Philippines for poaching had accused authorities of extortion. The southern Philippines is a favorite fishing grounds, but is also considered dangerous because pirates and Abu Sayyaf militants are actively operating in the area. (Mindanao Examiner)

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20100222020520

Sulu politics heats up over armored vehicles

By Ed General, Julie Alipala
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 00:35:00 01/07/2010

Filed Under: Politics, Security (general), Eleksyon 2010

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Who wants to know if Gov. Abdusakur Tan of Sulu owns at least two armored vehicles with mounted .50 cal. machine guns?

His rival in the May balloting, Rep. Munir Arbison, does. He wants police and military officials to conduct an investigation.

“It is highly unauthorized and unquestionably illegal,” said Arbison, who is on his third and final term as congressman and is running for Sulu governor.

Tan, who is seeking reelection, denied ownership of the two armored vehicles, saying the suggestion was libelous. “There is no truth to it,” he said.

“Why would I need armored vehicles in the first place when the province is under state of emergency,” Tan said, referring to the action taken during the kidnapping of three Red Cross workers in March.

Arbison claimed that the armored vehicles were purchased through the help of retired police and military generals, but he refused to identify them.

The government, he said, should confiscate Tan’s vehicles in line with President Macapagal-Arroyo’s directive to dismantle all private armies in the country.

Fighting back, Tan urged the military and the Philippine National Police to investigate Arbison’s dealings with the Ampatuans from whom huge caches of weapons had been seized following the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.

“The police and military, including the media, should investigate the landing of 300 firearms in Luuk town,” he said.

Luuk belongs to Arbison’s congressional district.

“He is allegedly providing firearms to the Ampatuans, as well as to the barangay officials in Luuk. In fact, there’s a report that 300 high-powered firearms landed in his town in Luuk right after the Nov. 23 massacre,” Tan said.

Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the military had not received any report of an arms landing in the town. “We will verify that provided we have strong basis,” he said.

Dolorfino also said that Tan was not using any military armored vehicle. “Try checking with the PNP,” he said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Turtle island sold to Tawi-Tawi governor

By Alcuin Papa, Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:26:00 12/19/2009

Filed Under: Ecotourism

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MANILA, Philippines – There’s trouble in the idyllic Turtle Islands, a remote and isolated corner of the country whose importance as a sanctuary and nesting site for the fragile green sea turtle is recognized internationally.

Always under threat from human activity, the sea creatures face the prospect of losing their protected sanctuary because of a brewing ownership dispute over their island haven.

According to Omarkhan Aripin, the mayor of the Turtle Islands—an island group municipality in Tawi-Tawi province—one of the town’s six islands has been sold to the Tawi-Tawi governor despite its status as a national protected area and wildlife sanctuary

.

Aripin claimed that the 48-hectare Great Bakungan island (population: around 1,000) has been illegally sold to Tawi-Tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali and his children for P3 million by the heirs of Rolando Tan, the supposed original owner of the island.

“As a protected area, that part of the island [group] is covered by eminent domain. Hence, there is no proof of ownership by Tan and he cannot sell it to another person. The sale to the Sahalis should be considered an illegal transaction,” said Aripin, who is on his first term as mayor.

In a phone interview, Sahali said he recognized that 242,000-hectare Turtle Islands, with around 7,000 residents, was a protected area but maintained that the sale of Great Bakungan was legal.

“I bought the land before the law [was passed] making it a protected area. What we want to do there is to make improvements in the area,” he said.

Tan, the island’s supposed original owner, has planted crops which, according to Sahali, is “proof of his [Tan’s] ownership.”

Owner’s waiver

“I am wondering why they [Aripin and municipal officials] are bringing up the issue only now,” Sahali said.

Among the documents that Aripin furnished the Inquirer was a copy of Proclamation No. 171 issued on Aug. 21, 1999, by deposed President Joseph Estrada, proclaiming the Turtle Islands municipality as the “Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary.”

Another document that was shown to the Inquirer was the Affidavit with Waiver of Rights executed by Tan’s heirs, all residents of Mapun, Tawi-Tawi, stating that they were the “lawful owners, occupants cultivators and possessors of different agricultural lots 1 and 2, composing the entire Island of Great Bakungan, municipality of Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi, with a total area of 48.0147 hectares.”

The affidavit stated that a survey was done on July 6 and 7, 1952, and approved by the Bureau of Lands on Sept. 11, 1953.

It stated that Ruby Sahali-Tan, Rejie Sahali-Generale, Nurbert Sahali and Nurjay Sahali had paid the Tan heirs P3 million for Great Bakungan Island for which the Tan family was waiving its rights over the land.

The affidavit was signed by the Tan heirs and Sahali’s relatives on Jan. 30, 2007.

Seeking help in Manila

Aripin, accompanied by his father and staff, has been in Manila for the past 10 days, trying to find ways to solve a problem that the 39-year-old mayor said has been giving him sleepless nights.

“I keep on thinking that I should be able to do something,” he said.

He has gone to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to complain against the allegedly illegal transaction made by Sahali and his family.

The mayor said he also would like to meet with Sen. Loren Legarda because of her known advocacy for the environment.

But it would be best, Aripin said, if President Macapagal-Arroyo herself would turn her attention to the trouble threatening his island municipality.

Aripin said the controversy is constraining whatever efforts the town officials are doing to develop eco-tourism in the area.

He lamented how neighboring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have given more attention to the Turtle Islands and know more about them than Filipinos themselves.

Perhaps it’s the distance, he said wistfully.

DENR probe

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ regional office in Zamboanga del Sur has investigated the alleged sale of Great Bakungan.

In a report dated June 26, 2009, the investigating team said that despite the documents such as the transfer of ownership through deed of sale presented by the Sahalis, “the same does not show any convincing legal rights over the subject areas in contention to vest them title.”

But the DENR regional office said it did not find enough evidence to prosecute the case and decided to defer any action rather than court the risk of issuing a resolution that could later be declared void or of no effect.

It recommended that a panel be commissioned to conduct an extensive and deeper investigation of the case to gather sufficient evidence to support a valid court action. Such evidence could consist of survey records like cadastral surveys, list of survey claimants, decrees of adjudication and registration and other proof of title, it said.

Incipient warlordism

Aripin said a form of political warlordism was also rearing its head in the islands.

On Oct. 25, armed men allegedly under the employ of the governor led by Mibaral Tang, Adul Putoh and Jabbar Sahibil fired their guns to drive away residents, including the Turtle Islands vice mayor, from Bakungan, according to Aripin.

They also allegedly slapped a fine of 50 Malaysian ringgit (the equivalent of P700) on the residents who were harvesting the crops that they had planted in the disputed island.

Aripin said that even if Sahali and his family are shown to own the land, it was not right for them to drive away the island’s residents through intimidation.

“If he owns the land, it is a bad way of driving out the residents, using bullets and gunfire,” Aripin said.

Elections to decide outcome

Sahali countered that it was armed men under the control of Aripin that were “attacking” his people in Great Bakungan.

“The purpose there is to control that area come elections. Why don’t we let the people decide who their leaders want to be?” he said.

Aripin also showed the Inquirer petition letters supposedly signed by residents of Great Bakungan protesting the alleged sale of the land and the alleged harassment and intimidation by the governor’s people.

Sahali claimed the residents were promised mosquito nets in exchange for their signatures.

“I don’t believe those petitions. We are trying to make our province peaceful but because of the elections, there is political harassment going on,” he said.

Aripin has made appeals to the Palace and DENR and DILG officials to resolve the matter and file the necessary criminal and administrative cases.

“Our municipality is very beautiful. If the sale of the island is allowed, if the government cannot solve this controversy, who knows? In the future, all six islands might end up being privately owned,” Aripin said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Follow-up news:
Government to go after Turtle Island Sellers and buyers

Roots of the massacre -Inquirer Editorial

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:34:00 12/08/2009

THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE, a crime so horrific, so unspeakable that it led people to ask whether it was committed by animals or monsters, has its roots in four phenomena of Philippine politics and society.

The first is the rise of political dynasties which exercise great power and influence and win many elective positions in national and local elections. Most political dynasties use legal and financial means to win power; some form private armies to terrorize voters into voting for them. The 1987 Constitution provides that “the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.” But up to now no such law has been approved. How can we expect Congress to pass such a law when it is controlled by powerful political dynasties?

The second is the existence of political warlords and their private armies, some of which, as the investigation of the Maguindanao massacre is revealing, are better armed than the army or the national police. Their private armies are the goons used by the political warlords to persuade voters to vote the way they want them to. That is why political warlords, who are often also leading members of political dynasties, are coddled by national officials, including presidents. They are very useful in elections.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo coddled the Ampatuans because they delivered the vote to her in the 2004 presidential election and in the 2007 senatorial election. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) under the Ampatuans was given billions in budgetary outlay, and this became practically the private treasury of the clan. Its members obviously used public money to build grandiose mansions, to buy expensive cars and to arm a battalion-size private army. The members of the clan were coddled because they knew the President’s secrets.

The third phenomenon is the use of military armaments to arm private armies. The ongoing excavations in Maguindanao have turned up armored cars, high-powered guns and ammunition that were supposed to be used only by the military and the police. How did they get to be in the possession of the private army of the Ampatuan clan? Were they sold by military or police officers to the private army? It is well that Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a retired military general, has demanded an investigation so that it may be known how the Ampatuans were able to build up a high-powered armory.

The fourth phenomenon is the culture of impunity. This culture began during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos and continued through the post-Edsa I administrations. But it is now most notable during the Arroyo administration. Since she took over as president in 2001, 1,013 activists have been killed and 202 have disappeared. Instead of putting a stop to the killings of unarmed activists, Ms Arroyo even emboldened the military to kill more by praising Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan—called “Berdugo” (Butcher) by militants—during her State of the Nation Address in 2006.

From 2001 to date, 99 journalists have been killed and only five suspects have been arrested and brought to justice. Ms Arroyo has been spouting a lot of rhetoric about the killings of journalists, but there has been very little action from law enforcement agencies to solve the many cases and bring the killers to justice. The culture of impunity is emboldening the killers to continue their killing spree. The latest, and the most horrific case, of course, is the Maguindanao massacre where the biggest number of journalists were killed in just one incident.

Ms Arroyo tried to distance herself from the Maguindanao massacre, but try as she may, she cannot dissociate herself from this, perhaps the biggest blot on her questioned nine-year occupancy of Malacañang. She coddled the Ampatuans most probably because they knew her electoral sins and secrets. She gave them all the public funds that they needed and allowed them to build a strong, well-armed private army. And because the Ampatuans had her in their power, they thought they could literally get away with murder. But the Maguindanao massacre is so monstrous, so unspeakable that it cannot be hidden and cannot be forgotten by the nation and the world. The souls of the victims of this terrible crime cry out for justice, and if they cannot obtain it under the present administration, they should get it in the next.

http://opinion.inquirer.net

Cell phone ‘per pulse’ billing starts

By Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:52:00 12/05/2009

Filed Under: Telecommunications Services, mobile phones

MANILA, Philippines--Beginning Sunday, the public will only have to pay for the time they actually use in making mobile phone calls.

The National Telecommunications

Commission (NTC) on saturday announced a new “per pulse” rate for voice calls on cellular phones which would make billing more reflective of the real costs of a call.

The new scheme does not change the per-minute cost of cellular phone calls but it would reflect calls that last less than a minute.

Under the new rates, telecom firms will be allowed to charge a “flag down” rate of P3 for the first two pulses, or a total of 12 seconds. Every succeeding pulse will then be billed. Each minute has 10 six-second pulses.

To illustrate, assuming the prevailing rate is P7.50 per minute, every pulse after the flag down rate will cost 56 centavos. After the first minute, the per-pulse charge will increase to 75 centavos.

The resulting cost of a call per minute would still be P7.50 but calls under one minute would cost less. A 30-second call would cost P4.69.

The new billing scheme takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday for calls made within one network.

Calls made from one network to another would be covered by per-pulse billing on Dec. 16, the NTC said, to give telecom firms more time to make adjustments.

“The NTC issued a landmark regulation directing all cellular mobile operators to implement a six-second pulse billing mode for mobile calls to take effect on Dec. 6,” Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said in a briefing in Quezon City Saturday.

The new directive was a result of a memorandum circular issued by the NTC in July after Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile criticized the billing system.

In the same briefing, Enrile explained that the costs for calls were not brought down so as not to put too much pressure on telecom firms’ finances.

“We have to think of the interest of the telcos here, as well as the interest of the consumers,” he said. “I think consumers will be really happy with this new regime.”

Cordoba said the implementation of the new rates would be observed for two to three months to see if the telephone companies are able to cope or if problems arise.

Representatives from major telecom brands Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular could not be reached for comment as of late yesterday afternoon.

The three companies earlier asked the NTC to push back the implementation of the new rates to January next year, saying the changes in the billing system may add to the expected problems brought by increased network traffic during the holiday season.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Philippine massacre suspect charged

AlJazeera News Friday, November 27, 2009 05:11 Mecca time, 02:11 GMT

Ampatuan Jr., right, has said he is innocent and that the allegations against him are "baseless" [AFP] Prosecutors in the Philippines have charged the chief suspect in Monday's massacre on the southern island of Mindanao with multiple counts of murder. Andal Ampatuan Jr, a local mayor and member of a politically powerful local family, is currently being held in Manila after surrendering to authorities on Thursday. Philippine officials have named him as the lead suspect in Monday's killings in the southern province of Maguindanao that left at least 57 people dead. But speaking to reporters following his surrender he denied any involvement in the killings, calling such accusations "baseless". "They are not true. My conscience is clear," Ampatuan Jr said before being flown out of the province aboard an army helicopter. IN DEPTH Profile: Andal Ampatuan Jr Witness: 'We just followed orders' "The reason I came out is to prove that I am not hiding and that I am not guilty." His surrender came as a man who says he was a witness to Monday's killings told Al Jazeera that Ampatuan Jr had directly ordered the massacre, targeting a political rival for the provincial governorship. The witness, who identified himself only as "Boy", said he was among more than 100 armed men who held up a convoy of political campaigners and journalists before taking them to a remote mountainous area. He said Ampatuan Jr had ordered the gunmen to kill all the members of a rival political clan, including women and children, and to make sure no evidence was left behind. "Datu Andal himself said… anyone from the Mangudadatu clan - women or children - should be killed," he said. The first funerals of victims of the massacre were held on Thursday [EPA] The killings occurred a convoy carrying aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, as well as a group of accompanying journalists, was ambushed by suspected Ampatuan gunmen. The victims were snatched as they were travelling to file election papers nominating Mangudadatu as a candidate for provincial governor in elections next year. Ampatuan Jr's father is the current provincial government who had reportedly been grooming his son to succeed him. According to investigators, the victims were shot at close range, some with their hands tied behind their backs, before being dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote hillside. At least 10 of those killed were motorists who were passing by on the highway and had apparently witnessed the abduction. Death threats Mangudadatu, the rival candidate for governor, was not himself in the convoy because he had received death threats and said he thought the women he sent in his place would be safe. Philippines clan violence Around 250 prominent political families exist in every province across the Philippines with members in various levels of government. Competition for regional political power is fierce and can be violent, especially in the lead-up to elections. In Mindanao the central government has sometimes armed these clans to help it fight Communist and Muslim separatists. The policy has also led to murders and disappearances that go undocumented, but that are estimated to number in the thousands. One research group, the Asia Foundation, says 83 per cent of the 50,000 families made homeless by clan violence are in Maguindanao province, scene of Monday's massacre. He has pressed senior Philippine government officials to immediately arrest and prosecute those behind the killings. Mangudadatu said four witnesses in his protection had told him the convoy was stopped by armed men loyal to Ampatuan Jr, to prevent his family from filing election papers. "It was really planned because they had already dug a huge hole [for the bodies]," he told reporters earlier this week, adding that there were reports from the area that the militia had been blocking the road for a few days. Among those killed were at least 22 journalists accompanying the convoy, in what media monitoring groups have labelled as the worst-ever single attack on journalists anywhere in the world. The massacre has put intense pressure on the government of Gloria Arroyo, the Philippine president, to take decisive action against the Ampatuan clan. She has vowed an all-out effort to bring those responsible for the killings to justice, saying that no one would be seen to be above the law. In the wake of the massacre Arroyo declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao and a neighbouring province, ordering hundreds of extra troops to the area.

Ondoy dumped more rains than Katrina

By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:53:00 09/27/2009

MANILA, Philippines -- "Katrina" was no match to "Ondoy."

The 15th weather disturbance that hit the Philippines in 2009 dumped a total of 455 millimeters of rain in Quezon City alone in 24 hours, compared to the 250 millimeters of rain that Hurricane Katrina brought to New Orleans in Louisiana in the United States in 2005.

This was the report presented to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by Dr. Prisco Nilo, the chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) at a briefing of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Camp Aguinaldo on Sunday.

"We had more rains than Katrina," Ms Arroyo quipped.

Nilo said that in Tanay, Rizal, the total amount of rainfall last Saturday was 312 millimeters.

Nilo also told the President that cloud developments in the Pacific Ocean were being monitored by PAGASA.

"It has the potential to become a Low Pressure Area and might develop into another storm in the next few days," Nilo said.

The cloud developments may also take the path towards Luzon similar to "Ondoy."

Nilo said PAGASA had already issued warnings of possible flooding as early as September 24 and even raised storm signals the following day.

In a separate interview, he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that it was also the responsibility of people to heed the warnings issued by government.

"Instead of just watching the soap operas on TV, they should also watch the news," Nilo said.

Nilo said that at present, PAGASA could detect through satellite the strength of a rain band but not the intensity of rain, or the amount of rainfall.

He said that in contrast, a Doppler radar "can more or less accurately estimate the intensity of a rainfall per hour as well as the wind strength of a storm or a typhoon."

Nilo also explained that last Saturday's rains caused flash floods in Metro Manila because the area was a "small basin" compared to the amount of rain that "Ondoy" dumped in the capital in a few hours.

"It doesn't matter whether the rain is strong, if the basin is large then it would take several hours [for the flooding to take place]," Nilo said.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net