Woman Tied to Philippine Graft Scandal Surrenders

A wealthy businesswoman at the center of a corruption scandal has surrendered to Philippine President Benigno Aquino III three days after a large protest in Manila to condemn large-scale graft allegations in a country long mired in poverty.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said he fetched Janet Lim-Napoles, accompanied by her lawyer, late Wednesday in a cemetery. She was then brought to the Malacanang presidential palace to briefly meet Aquino before she was turned over to police. Her lawyer said she had received death threats and wanted to be assured of her safety.

Napoles has been accused of illegally detaining a former aide who accused her of stealing huge amounts of government development funds, derisively called pork-barrel funds, in conspiracy with powerful lawmakers. She has denied any wrongdoing but was ordered arrested by authorities, with Aquino announcing a 10 million peso ($227,000) bounty for her capture.

Philippine media reports of her lavish lifestyle, including the alleged ownership of an array of elegant houses and condominiums, have angered many Filipinos in a country where nearly a third of the 97 million people live on a little over a dollar a day and about a tenth have left the country in search of jobs and better opportunities abroad.

Amid an outrage expressed on social media, tens of thousands of Filipinos massed up at Manila's Rizal Park Monday to demand the scrapping of the corruption-tainted development fund and called on Aquino to crack down harder on corruption. Aquino, son of revered pro-democracy champions, rose to power in 2010 with a landslide victory on a promise to fight corruption and poverty.

It was one of the largest rallies seen in the Philippines since the huge protests that hounded Aquino's predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who faced allegations of massive corruption. Arroyo has denied any wrongdoing but has been detained in a hospital on corruption and election fraud charges.

Davao City Wins National Literacy Award 2013 Hall of Fame

Davao City bagged the National Literacy Awards 2013 Hall of Fame under the Highly Urbanized Cit Category.

In a letter to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Department of Education Undersecretary Rizalino Rivero said Davao City will be given recognition for its inspiring efforts in sustaining the City's exemplary programs in literacy and for the impact the programs have created on the community.

"We extend our heartfelt congratulations for winning the Hall of Fame award," Rivera stated in the letter.

In the report for the bid to the said national awards, then Mayor Sara Duterte said Davao's vision is one where all sectors have access to basic services, where all citiziens live in a progressive socviety, able to realize their potentials and live their live to the fullest.

"Literacy programs do not fall under peace and order, disaster managament, the invironment, health rural development and socio-economic improvement," former Mayor Sara Duterte, said.

Davao City's programs are known to have been institutiionalized to ensure generations of Davaoenos empowerment in governance and further develop their skills and becvome self reliant, proactive and dynamic members of society.

The Department of Education will be holding its annual National Literacy Conference on September 3 to 5 in Bagiuo City.

One of the ightlights of the conference is the presentation of the Hall of Fame Award to Davao City for being the three-time first place winner in the Outstanding Local Government Unit Category.

Mayor Rody Duterte has been invited to the said conference and is expected to receive the Hall of Fame Award.

With City Information Office, Davao City.

Davao City - My Second Home in The Philippines

DAVAO CITY - The Most Peaceful City in East and Southeast Asia for seven years and is home to the “Best Police Office in the Country” for six consecutive years. 

For four consecutive years, Davao City has also been recognized by Asiaweek as one of the 20 Best Cities in Asia. Davao City was nominated as New 7 Wonders Cities. 

I am proud to live here - in my second (at last!) home in the Philippines.

(Photo Courtesy: BIYAHENG DAVAO)

Aufraeumarbeiten nach Dauerregen auf den Philippinen

Am Donnerstag haben die Aufräumarbeiten begonnen.

 

Schweres Gerät für Aufräumarbeiten.

Die Bewohner der überschwemmten Region um die Hauptstadt Manila reinigten ihre Häuser. Nach drei Tagen Dauerregen - die heftigsten Güsse seit vier Jahren - normalisierte sich die Lage langsam.

Nach Angaben des philippinischen Roten Kreuzes zog sich das Hochwasser aus dem Großteil des Stadtgebiets zurück. Nur noch zehn Prozent des Gebietes stünden unter Wasser, sagte Rotkreuz-Chefin Gwendolyn Pang. Es werde weiter Nothilfe geleistet, das Rote Kreuz konzentriere sich aber verstärkt auf die langfristigen Bedürfnisse der Flutopfer.

Nach Angaben des Sprechers der nationalen Katastrophenhilfe, Reynaldo Balido, kamen durch das Unwetter 17 Menschen ums Leben. Mehr als 500.000 Menschen seien aus ihren Häusern geflohen. 217.000 von ihnen seien in staatlichen Notunterkünften untergebracht, 346.000 weitere seien bei Freunden oder Verwandten untergekommen.

Nördlich von Manila standen 500 Dörfer weiterhin unter Wasser. In Manila gingen die Menschen wieder an ihre Arbeitsplätze in den Büros, der Börsenhandel wurde wieder aufgenommen. Die Schulen sollten dagegen noch für den Rest der Woche geschlossen bleiben. Sie mussten gereinigt werden oder wurden als Notunterkünfte gebraucht.

New Potential Storm Enters The Philippines

A potential tropical cyclone entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Friday morning, the state weather bureau reported.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astrological Services Administration (PAGASA) said that a low pressure area (LPA) was estimated at 580 kilometers Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur.

PAGASA said that new weather system will bring moderate to occasionally heavy rains over the eastern areas of Mindanao and may trigger flashfloods and landslides.

It added that eastern Visayas will also experience rainshowers and thunderstorms.

The weather bureau said that the LPA may intensify into a tropical cyclone in three days or by Monday.

The new cyclone will be named "Nando," the fourth this month and 14th to enter the country this year.

Thousands Still Homeless after Philippine Floods

An estimated 600,000 people in the Philippines remained at temporary shelters or with relatives on Friday after days of heavy rain that killed 20, officials said.

A day after floods ebbed in the capital Manila, stagnant pools of water and high tides in coastal areas prolonged the misery in the central Luzon plains to the north, civil defence official Josefina Timoteo told AFP.

"These are mainly farmers and fisher folk who still cannot return to their homes or resume work. We are still supplying their needs," said Timoteo, the civil defence chief for the region.

"These are low-lying regions and this happens every year. It is a way of life for many of them and the local governments are well-organised to provide relief."

Seasonal monsoons dumped more than a month's rain in Manila and surrounding provinces between Sunday and Wednesday, the state weather service said, submerging about half the capital in floodwaters.

The rains were worsened by Tropical Storm Trami, which hit China on Thursday after hovering off the northern Philippines earlier in the week.

The government's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 200,000 people were still in government-run shelters Friday, with 400,000 others staying with friends or relatives and likewise receiving food rations and other emergency aid.

The council raised the death toll to 20 as receding floodwaters led to the discovery of two bodies in Cavite province, south of Manila.

Most of those who have yet to return home are from the central Luzon region, where 481 villages remain under floodwaters up to a metre (3.3 feet) deep, Timoteo said
.
The weather is improving but the evacuation centres, mostly schoolbuildings, are expected to start emptying only next week, she added.

As a result, classes are still suspended in those areas, she said.

The health department has stocked up medicines at evacuation camps to prevent the spread of epidemics, she said, adding there had been no reports of widespread diseases.

The floods wreaked 97.3 billion pesos' ($2.2 billion) worth of damage to infrastructure and crops, the government says.

The Philippines endures about 20 major storms or typhoons annually, generally in the second half of the year and many of them deadly.

Disaster-weary Philippines

Disaster-weary Philippine residents mopped up Thursday after four days of torrential rain that officials said had killed 16 people and forced nearly 400,000 others from flooded homes.

Residents swept out their muddy floors as floods receded, having covered half the metropolis on Tuesday, rescue officials said.

"It's all mud and garbage, and our television set and electric fan were destroyed," shoemaker's wife Flordeliza Miranda told AFP as she returned to the family's shanty beside the San Mateo river that went under water on Tuesday.

"We have not eaten anything since last night," said the mother-of-two, who had slept in a makeshift tent atop a nearby bridge amid the deluge.
Philippine National Red Cross secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang said floods have receded in all but about 10 percent of the metropolis of 12 million people.

"We continue to give support to victims of the monsoon (rains)," she told AFP, adding the focus of the relief effort was shifting from emergency food aid to longer-term needs for the displaced.

The bad weather killed 16 people, said Reynaldo Balido, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which raised the death toll by one with the body of a drowned man found east of Manila.
More than 186,000 people remained at government-run shelters early Thursday, while nearly 200,000 others are staying with friends and relatives, he added.

Low-level floods however persisted in several nearby provinces.

"The floods are not that deep, mostly knee-high or thigh-high. There is no need for more rescues. However, the waters are stagnant," Balido added.
In Manila, trading resumed at the Philippine Stock Exchange and offices were getting back to work, but most schools have declared emergency holidays for the rest of the week as buildings are cleaned up or used as evacuation centres.

Since Sunday, Manila and neighbouring provinces have experienced the most intense rains in four years.

Rampaging floodwaters swept through low-lying communities, forcing thousands to crowded evacuation centres like gyms, where people were forced to sleep in close quarters on the floor with cardboard boxes for beddings.

In Cavite province near Manila, the floods dislodged concrete tombs at one cemetery, depositing them on the side of a highway, an AFP photographer saw.

State weather forecaster Bernie de Leon said 671.6 millimetres (26.4 inches) of rain fell on Manila between Sunday and Wednesday -- more than the monthly average of 504.2 millimetres for August.

The seasonal monsoon had been worsened by Tropical Storm Trami, which went on to hit Fujian province in China on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian archipelago endures about 20 major storms or typhoons annually, generally in the second half of the year and many of them deadly.

"This is the worst since (Ketsana)," de Leon told AFP, referring to a 2009 storm that killed more than 460 people and left 80 percent of Manila submerged.

"We expect the weather to gradually improve over the coming days," he added.

No Disease Outbreak in South Cotabato

With Allen V. Estabillo, MindaNews

I must confess, I feel better. Most all places in South Cotabato belong to my favourite destinations, since I am living in Mindanao for good.

Efforts to free this province of major animals diseases have continued to gain ground after the area sustained its clean record during the first six months of the year in terms of animal disease outbreaks.

Dr. Lorna Lamorena, South Cotabato provincial veterinarian , said last week they have not recorded a single animal disease outbreak from January to June this year in any part of the province's ten towns and lone city. The area was spared of disease outbreaks in the entire 2012.

Surra disease, for example, which is a parasitic disease that affects various farm animals, emerged within areas bordering South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces, is a hemorrhagic disease transmitted by a bloodsucking fly and caused by a protozoan parasite. This terrible disease affects horses, dogs, cattle, caraboes and swine.

In terms of deadly rabies virus, Lamorena said they recorded just three cases of confirmed dog infections but none of them involved humans... .

Happy Kadayawan Festival in Davao City

Tight security and the last day of this great festival in Davao City.

World Tourism Day Run Highlights Tourism and Water

The Philippines Department of Tourism – Centraluzon, together with the Alliance of Travel and Tour Agencies of Pampanga (ATTAP) and the Pampanga Agents Travel Society (PATS), will lead the celebration of WORLD TOURISM DAY on September 29, 2013, Sunday, with a massive FUN RUN at the Clark Parade Grounds starting at 5:00 in the morning. This was the announcement made by Regional Director, Ronaldo Tiotuico in a press statement issued recently. The two agencies are represented by their presidents, Marcia Hernandez and Roelson Ferry, respectively. The forthcoming event will usher in the coming of age of the travel and tourism industry of Central Luzon as it now begins to evolve to greater stature due to the forging of a stronger partnership between the government and the private sector. It symbolizes the achievements of the private sector in bringing about a good number of foreign and local tourists and travelers into the region as it begins to hit the 2M mark in visitor arrivals since 2012. Central Luzon has joined the ranks of millionaires’ row in the realm of attracting visitors to the various regions all over the country. More importantly, the event represents the industry’s collaboration and adherence with the UN General Assembly’s declaration of the year 2013 as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation focusing on tourism’s significant role and contribution to worldwide water conservation efforts. As a trillion-dollar economic sector, tourism is a powerful force capable of tackling this challenge by offering effective solutions geared towards a more sustainable water future. With over one billion people traveling all over the world each year, tourism can also be an important vehicle of raising awareness and changing behaviors. (source: untwo.org) With this year’s World Tourism Day theme focused on “Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common future”, the tourism department hopes to gather some 1,000 local and foreign runners in a single event with each one being reminded of the need to underline one’s responsibility and commitment to preserving the world’s vital water resources. This year’s WTD Run will have four (4) distance categories, namely 21K, 10K, 5K and 3K with their corresponding registration fees: P850, P650, P450 and P300, respectively. More than P80,000 worth of cash prizes, medals and certificates are at stake. Each participant will receive free jersey, race kit, race bib and race map. Part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Special Education Center of the Department of Education in Angeles City where some 200 children and adults with special needs are cared for throughout the year. The donation will be utilized to convert part of their facilities into barrier-free environment for the persons with disabilities. For further details and registration for the event, please contact any of the member travel agencies of either ATTAP or PATS. Or call the Department of Tourism – Central Luzon Office at Marlim Mansions Hotel Bldg., Diamond Subd., Balibago, Angeles City, Tel. No. (045) 625-8525 or Mobile 0917-506-2221 / 0939-904-5231. Emailcast by: Department of Tourism - Region III (Central Luzon) Paskuhan Village, City of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines Ronaldo P. Tiotuico - Regional Director Phone: (63 45) 961-2612 / 5617 / 625-8525 Email: tourismregion3@gmail.com / support@visitmyphilippines.com Recipient (Best Ecotourism Project - Mt. Pinatubo): PATA Gold Intl Award 2001, Kalakbay Natl Award 2001, ASEANTA Intl Award 2002 Log on: www.visitmyphilippines.com MORE THAN 13 MILLION ONLINE GUESTS HAVE VISITED THIS SITE SINCE 2007. FIND OUT WHY!