President Duterte tries to enter Marawi

By Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star)

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Wearing Army camouflage uniform, President Duterte and his aides visit a military camp in Iligan City after a failed attempt to visit Marawi City yesterday.

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – President Duterte tried to sneak into Marawi City yesterday but failed due to bad weather.

The President had said he was again taking some “private time” and did not announce his Marawi visit.

Garbed in military camouflage and a cap, Duterte made it as far as Iligan City but was prevailed upon not to continue on to Marawi.

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This was reportedly his fourth attempt to go to the besieged city.

His “me time” came after five successive days of provincial sorties, military camp visits and other social engagements.

The President came home to Davao City Wednesday after staying for three days at Bahay Pagbabago in Malacañang. He met with Cabinet officials last Tuesday.

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Even the release of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing him enjoying a high net satisfaction rating did not convince the President to come out briefly to say a word or two about the positive development.

There were no official engagements or functions lined up for him yesterday.

Duterte made it clear earlier that he would spend most of his time in Mindanao in the next few weeks, as he still has to resolve the Marawi crisis sparked by the seizure of the city by the Islamic State-linked Maute militant group.

He said he would only travel to Manila if he needs to attend important functions or meetings.

On Thursday night, Duterte braved the rains to visit three soldiers injured in an attack by New People’s Army rebels in Monkayo, Compostela Valley last July 1.

The three wounded soldiers, now confined at the Metro Davao Medical and Research Center, were identified as Pfc. Jestoni Torrefiel, Pvt. Alex Agiaman and Cpl. Rey Lagura.

The President awarded the Wounded Personnel Medal to each of the three. They were also given cash assistance and a Glock sidearm each.

Duterte once again expressed gratitude to the wounded soldiers for their sacrifice, saying he could never thank them enough for their dedication and passion for performing their task of protecting the country and the people.

Earlier, he visited troops of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, many of whom were given military merit medals. 

Strong Quake Jolts Leyte

 (The Philippine Star) 

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An ABS-CBN News photo contributed by Edgar Muralla Jr. shows parked cars damaged by a collapsed portion of a grocery in Kananga, Leyte following a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck the province yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines -  Rescuers rushed frantically to find people who were trapped in a three-story building that collapsed after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Leyte yesterday.

As of last night, at least two persons had been confirmed killed in the quake, one of them in the building that collapsed in Kananga town.

“We were able to retrieve one dead and one wounded,” Mayor Rowena Codilla told dzBB radio.

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Codilla said she did not know how many more people were inside the building.

The 10-year-old New Town General Merchandise building near the Kananga Municipal Hall housed a small hotel on the upper floors and shops on the ground floor, she said, adding there was little damage elsewhere in the town.

She said the rescue was hampered by aftershocks that continued to rock the area and the lack of proper equipment.

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Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez told dzMMthat a landslide struck a house and killed a young woman. Over 100 others were injured in the city, with many “traumatized and hysterical,” he said.

The strong shaking caused cracks in some buildings and roads in Ormoc and power was automatically shut off, Gomez said.

Officials said a geothermal plant’s cooling system in the mountains of Tongonan and Kananga collapsed. The damage could mean a long drawn out power outage to all its service areas in Bohol and the rest of the Visayas.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has yet to confirm reports of casualties, injuries and damage to infrastructure due to the quake.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake’s epicenter was traced 13 kilometers southwest of Jaro, Leyte.

Intensity 6 was felt in Jaro and Kananga while Intensity 5 was recorded in Tacloban City, Palo and Ormoc City and Cebu City and Mandaue City in Cebu, Phivolcs said.

Intensity 4 was felt in Samar, Bohol, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Agusan del Norte and other parts of Leyte, it said.

Tsunami possibility dismissed

Department of Science and Technology undersecretary and Phivolcs officer-in-charge Renato Solidum said the tremor, tectonic in origin, was generated by the movement of the Philippine Fault Zone Leyte segment.

Phivolcs dismissed the possibility of a tsunami but added it was expecting damage and advised residents to be prepared for aftershocks.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said the quake that hit Leyte at 4:04 p.m. yesterday did not damage airports in the province.

In his initial assessment report to CAAP Operations Rescue and Coordinating Center (ORCC), Area Manager VIII engineer Danilo Abareta said the Calbayog, Catarman and Tacloban airports, which are operating regular commercial flights, are in normal condition while Ormoc airport is being evaluated for damage at the end of runways 36 and 18.

No damage

A receptionist at Hotel XYZ said the quake was felt in Tacloban, but did not damage buildings there.

“It was far away from here, we are OK,” the receptionist said.

A receptionist at a hotel in another part of the city reported the quake was felt but did not cause damage in the area. “We are safe,” he said.

In Cebu, the biggest city in the Visayas, a receptionist at a hotel also said there had been no major damage.

But people across the region of mostly farming and fishing communities reported feeling the powerful quake.

Marlon Tano, a Leyte farmer and journalist, told AFP it knocked him off his feet at his eggplant farm in Borauen, a town near the quake’s epicenter.

“It was so strong that I fell,” Tano said.

“I saw buses and motorcycles stopping on the highway and people getting off them,” he added.

In Tacloban City, where the tremor was felt at Intensity 5, schools and offices were immediately vacated by panicking people.

There was pandemonium inside malls, as people jostled to get out of buildings. No report of damage, however, was reported.

In Gandara town of Samar, Phivolcs monitored the quake at magnitude 3.6. All employees occupying the municipal hall quickly ran out of the building.

There was instant power outage in Eastern Visayas as the quake struck.

Police Regional Office-8 officials said there was no damage reported but they were still monitoring reports from the field.

In Pastrana, one of two towns at the quake’s epicenter, Mayor Alvin Opiniano reported no damage yet but the municipal disaster risk reduction team has gone out to various barangays to monitor the situation.

In Agusan del Norte, two mild quakes hit Jabonga at 6:14 a.m. and 7:57 a.m. with magnitudes 2.7 and 3.5.

The quakes were followed by the bigger 6.5 magnitude tremor in Jaro, Leyte in the afternoon, Phivolcs reported.

No damage was reported by the Jabonga Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Assistance to victims

President Duterte assured residents affected by the quake that the government is doing everything to help them.

“The military is doing its utmost. I am here for the time being that there’s a ruckus in Central Mindanao. I would be spending most of my time here,” Duterte told reporters yesterday in Bukidnon, referring to the Marawi siege, which started last May 23.

Duterte said nobody can foretell disasters like earthquakes.

“That’s why in the insurance business, disasters are called or categorized an ‘act of God,’” he said.

“So ang God, ganito ang ating habulin. Kaya mo? Isama na natin ‘yung mga pari (Can we make God accountable? Let’s include the priests),” he said in jest.

“We ask our people, especially residents of affected areas, to stay calm and yet remain alert and vigilant for aftershocks as we assure them of immediate assistance by the government,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

“We ask our people to regularly check the Phivolcs website for the latest earthquake information,” he added.

Quake depth

The quake hit at a depth of around six kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

There was no immediate warning of a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

In November 2013, large parts of Leyte were devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan).

Huge tsunami-like waves smashed Tacloban City and nearby areas, leaving 7,350 people dead or missing.

In February, a magnitude 6.5 quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the southern city of Surigao.

The following month a magnitude 5.9 tremor killed one person there in March.

Before the Surigao quakes, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a magnitude 7.1 tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the Bohol and other islands in the Visayas in October 2013.

The country lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many quakes and volcanic eruptions occur. – AFP, AP, Rhodina Villanueva, Rudy Santos, Emmanuel Tupas, Michael Punongbayan, Alexis Romero, Edgar Vilbar, Lalaine Jimenea, Manassas Benedicto Serano, Miriam Garcia Descada, Freeman

Hate speech

TUE, JULY 4, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Besides fake news, hate speech is the second big problem in social media.

It has been longtime overdue, but finally German lawmakers have approved a controversial law that would impose high fines on social media companies like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube for failing to swiftly delete posts deemed to exhibit hate speech.

Under the new legislation, social media companies have 24 hours to remove posts that obviously violate German law and have been reported by other users. In cases that are more ambiguous, Facebook and other sites have seven days to deal with the offending post. If they don’t comply with the new legislation, the companies could face a fine of up to 50 million Euro ($57.1 million).

The law was passed with votes from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – Social Democratic Party (SPD) government coalition. The Left Party in the Bundestag voted against it, while members of the Greens abstained.

The new rules are supposed to drastically reduce the number of posts containing hate speech, fake news and terror propaganda on social media. In January and February 2017, YouTube deleted 90 percent of hate speech videos reported by users – but Twitter only deleted one percent. Facebook did a little better at 39 percent.

Skeptics criticize, however, that under the new rules social media managers are the ones who have to decide whether content complies with German law. They also worry that freedom of speech will suffer since, in their opinion, companies are likely to delete many posts just to be on the safe side and avoid fines.

It’s in-deed a Land-mark legislation in Europe and should be adopted worldwide.

In addition to the strict new rules about deletion, the law forces networks to reveal the identity of those behind the hateful posts and to offer users “an easily recognizable, directly reachable, and constantly available” complaint process for “prosecutable content,” which includes libel, slander, defamation, incitement to commit a crime, hate speech against a particular social group, and threats.

Germany is the first country in Europe to introduce such clear legal guidelines against online hate speech.

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or visit www. germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com.

Rebuilding Marawi

EDITORIAL - Rebuilding Marawi

 (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 1, 2017 - 12:00am

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The battle for Marawi is expected to be over soon, according to the government. The next phase will be the tortuous road to recovery. With much of the city razed by war, and with the lingering threats posed by those who staged the siege, the task can prove to be more challenging than the reconstruction of Tacloban City and other areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

In shifting from war to reconstruction, the government may want to take a page from the military’s counterinsurgency playbook: “clear, hold, build.” Clearing Marawi of Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists is still ongoing. Once the AFP considers its mission accomplished, the government must move in and ensure that the victory is sustained. The terrorists must not be allowed to regroup and rebuild their strength for another strike anywhere in the country.

This entails cooperation from the local political leadership all the way down to the grassroots. The military offensive, backed by police commandos, indicated that the Mautes received support from a segment of the Marawi community, which provided funds, guns, ammunition and other supplies to the terrorists. The local supporters might have also had links with fighters of the Islamic State, whose commander in the Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf’s Isnilon Hapilon, could have escaped the government offensive in Marawi.

Now that Marawi residents – and the rest of the nation – have seen the atrocities that the Mautes are capable of perpetrating and the suffering inflicted on the city, there should be greater readiness to work with the government in permanently neutralizing this threat.

Residents’ cooperation is critical in rebuilding Marawi from the ashes of war. The Mautes and their supporters may try to derail reconstruction work. City residents should be at the heart of efforts to thwart any such attempt.

In Tacloban and other areas ravaged by Yolanda, the mantra was to build back better. This can also be done in Marawi. As President Duterte has vowed, the city will rise again. The sweetest victory, and the best way to reject the Islamic State and its gospel of violence and hatred, is to show that Marawi not only recovers but also becomes a better city.

German Honorary Consul in Davao City

Enlarge imageFrom left: Ambassador Dr. Gordon Kricke, Mr. Klaus Döring and Mrs. Rossana Balcom Döring(© German Embassy Manila)

A German Honorary Consul was appointed in Davao City, offering services to German citizens and promoting business, cultural and scientific activities in the region.

The office of the Honorary Consul may be contacted as follows:

Address:   University of Southeastern Philippines
Institute of Languages and Foreign Cultural Arts
Science Bldg., 2^nd Floor Room E 208,
Obrero Campus, Inigo Street
Davao City, 8000, Philippinen

Telephone: 0063-82-227-1761
Fax: 0063-82-227-1760
E-mail:davaocity@hk-diplo.de
                 
Head: Klaus Döring, Honorary Consul
Consular District:
Mindanao (with exception of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi)

Office Hours:
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursday from 8 a.m.to 9.15 a.m. by personal appointment

The Honorary Consul is not in charge of passport and visa matters.

I am the way

WED, JUNE 28, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION

Klaus Doring

Many times we compare our life with a path. We talk about “the way”. We describe a determined man as, “He’s on the right track”. We go about our tracks, but we are reproved if we take a short cut and not the path across a rice field. We learn that there are many ways of solving problems.

We also don’t want to stand in other people’s way. Sometimes we prefer to keep put of someone’s way and plan to avoid getting in their way. Often we try to find the golden middle course….

Many different ways have been offered to us during our whole life. How can we be able to choose the right and correct one? Which signs at our way can be trusted blindly? These are urgent and vital questions for all of us, and, especially during this time, very important like never before.

In the past, traditions and customs are the paths, we took. Nowadays, we make decisions and long for the correct path – mostly on our own.

The German atom physician Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) described it very impressively. The man of today is like a ship’s captain. This ship is made out of iron. The compass needle is no longer able to show the Northern direction, as expected, because of the ship’s iron inflexible body. You have one choice only: look up to the stars and study their guiding sup-port!”

We’re all happy and proud, when we have every need at our disposal. On the other hand, it only confuses our aims, goals, and objectives in life.

“I am the way” is NOT ONLY a traffic sign – or a shepherd without responsibility – or a religious founder, who thinks, that “only he is the right way, if one follows him”….

HIS way is the only right way. Only His deeds colored our fates. Let’s keep our eyes open for the important signs at our way, such as :

– Unselfish participation in the life of others;

– Courage to uncover prejudice;

– Ready to help the unprotected and defense-less;

– Struggle for freedom and justice;

– Commitment for peace.

Most of all: Love, which does not calculate and count. Love without measurements, boundaries and limits.

If you can share with others, you’ll know one day in future, that someone walked this way – earlier then you – and, and, FOR YOU!

Roxanne Barcelo - The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson Cover) for FHM Sessions

A child named "Peace"

Born amid Marawi conflict: A child named 'Peace'

ABS-CBN News

Posted at Jun 25 2017 05:16 PM

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Sahir closes his eyes as her mother lulls him to sleep inside a packed evacuation center in Iligan City. Rod Bolivar, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - In a packed evacuation center in Iligan City, Tarhata Mustari carries her month-old child she initially named Marcial as they try to celebrate Eid al-Fitr on Sunday.

Mustari gave birth to her baby last May 23, the day Islamic State-inspired terrorists took over portions of their hometown, Marawi City.

She named her baby Marcial at first because it was the day President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the whole Mindanao island.

But later on, Mustari said she decided to change the name of her child to Sahir, the Maranao word for peace, hoping for good things to come for her baby boy.

"Sana lumaki siyang maging masigla, makapag-aral siya nang mabuti. Sana mahaba pa rin ang buhay naming lahat," the mother said.

Mustari said Sahari's name is not yet legal as they have yet to get and sign documents needed from the Marawi City Hall's registry due to the ongoing war.

There are over 3,000 displaced Marawi residents staying in five evacuation centers in Iligan City, while 45,604 stay are home-based evacuees, data from the local government show.

In Barangay Buru-un alone, there are already some 269 evacuees. The most crowded evacuation center in Iligan is the Santa Elena Gymnasium where around 1,198 uprooted residents stay.

Displaced Marawi residents are hoping and praying that the conflict ends as soon as possible so they can return to their homes.

But a military spokesman last week said military operations against the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups in Marawi may still take time.

As of latest count, the government said they have killed at least 280 suspected terrorists while there are already 69 deaths on the government side.

At least 26 civilians, meanwhile, have also died due to enemy fire, according to the military, who admitted having difficulty in forcing enemy snipers out of their hiding places. -- Report from Rod Bolivar, ABS-CBN News

BusinessWeek Mindanao: Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany

Filipinos remain among world's most emtional

By Jeremaiah Opiniano (philstar.com) 

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In this Nov. 23, 2016 file photo shows Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa turned emotional during the Senate probe into the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa. The STAR/Mong Pintolo, File photo

LIPA CITY, Philippines (The Filipino Connection) — Maricar Garcia got a small strip of paper near the police station here and thought it was a scented sheet. The two sentences on that strip gave a different "scent": positivity.

 

"PRAY until your SITUATION CHANGES. MIRACLES happen EVERYDAY," reads the strip.

 

I am just amazed, Garcia said in Filipino on her post to this city's biggest Facebook group "Lipa City Philippines." "It (the message) gives good vibes especially in this humid weather while I was walking," Garcia said.

 

This simple showcasing of positivity, at least through the Filipino social media universe, continues to make the Philippines among the world's most emotional societies.

 

The Philippines tied for third among 142 countries with the highest positive experiences, says an annual survey of people's emotions by the polling firm Gallup. This is while the Philippines, in Gallup's annual Global Emotions Report, remained as Asia's most emotional country for the third year in a row.

 

The 2017 GER's Positive Experiences Index showed that the Philippines' index score was at 82 percent, tied with Panama. Paraguay was the highest at 84 percent, followed by Costa Rica with 83 percent.

 

 

For this specific Index in the said Global Emotions Report, the Philippines is the highest among Asian countries.

 

The Philippines' 2017 mean score in the Positive Experiences Index was higher than the global mean of 70 percent.

 

Meanwhile, in the major finding for "Total Emotions," the Philippines was third with 58 percent. Ecuador topped here with 60 percent while El Salvador and Liberia each posted 59 percent.

 

 

The "Total Emotions" item of the Gallup Global Emotions survey featured ten questions that make up the survey's positive and negative experiences indices. This indicates which countries are the most and least emotional.

 

The Gallup's Global Emotions Report contains five questions each for positive and negative indices that help measure "life's intangibles" — pertaining to feelings and emotions — that traditional economic indicators such as gross domestic product cannot or never even intended to capture. 

 

Either the positive or negative experiences index, Gallup adds, "provides a real-time snapshot of people's daily experiences" so as to give indications on the health of societies that economic measures alone cannot capture. 

 

About 149,000 individuals from 142 countries were surveyed in this 2017 Global Emotions Report. 

 

The ten questions were part of the annual Gallup World Poll that annually tracks some of the most important issues like food access, employment, leaders' performances and well being. This Gallup World Poll includes more than a hundred global questions as well as region-specific questions, Gallup explains.

 

Gallup asks the same questions "every time, in the same way" that allows analysts to trend data annually, or even make direct country comparisons.

 

On the 149,000 people surveyed worldwide for the 2017 World Poll, and for results based on the total sample of national adults, the Gallup World Poll's margin of sampling error ranged from ±2.1 percentage points to ±5.3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

 

The Global Emotions Report's positive experiences set of questions asked questions such as:

 

• Did you feel well-rested yesterday? 

• Were you treated with respect all day yesterday? 

• Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday? 

• Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday? 

• Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about enjoyment?

 

The scores for the Positive and Negative Experiences Indices are the mean (or average) scores of "all valid affirmative responses" — multiplied by 100 — for the five questions in each index, Gallup explains. 

 

The Philippines, in the 2016 edition of the Global Emotions Report, was among four countries — together with Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala — with the highest emotions worldwide. 

 

In the 2015 edition, the Philippines tied with Ecuador for second (58 percent) behind Bolivia and El Salvador (59 percent each) in terms of the most emotions.

 

But it was only in the 2017 edition of the Global Emotions Report that the Philippines broke into the top ten of the Positive Experiences Index.

 

In releasing the 2017 Global Emotions Report, the polling firm notes what it claims to be an important observation in the field of  behavioral economics: only 30 percent of an individual's behavior is "rational — (and) the other 70 percent is emotional," Gallup said.

 

"While organizations are starting to apply this (said) concept at a microlevel, governments have been slow to do it at a macro-level," Gallup wrote.

 

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Jeremaiah Opiniano is the publisher of The Filipino Connection