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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUZFW54vtDo#ws

By: Agence France-Presse | Jaime Sinapit, InterAksyon.com
November 10, 2013 1:04 PM

MANILA - (UPDATE 3:37PM) Giant waves as high as 20 feet of giant waves slammed into coastal barangays in Samar, killing at least 300 and leaving more than 2,000 missing at the height of super-typhoon “Yolanda”, an official of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) said on Sunday.

This was the first confirmation of large-scale fatalities in the island of Samar after Yolanda made landfall on the island before dawn Friday.

“Ang dagat ay tumaas ng halos 20 feet. ‘Yun nalunod ang mga tao, tumaas ang dagat. Oo, storm surge,” Engineer Leo Dacaynos of PDRRMC-Samar said in an interview with radio dzBB).

Aside from Basey, Dacaynos said another town hit by tsunami-like sea water was Marabut.

Dacaynos said in Basey, more than 300 bodies have so far been recovered. He estimated the missing to go up to more than 2,000 people.

The wounded, he said, also constitute huge numbers. “Maraming sugatan, marami,” he said. “Acting Gov. James Tan, also the  incident commander in Basey, is concentrating there.  It’s Basey that’s heavily damaged,” he Dacaynos said.

Marabut faces Tacloban City,  and there were reports many of those killed had taken shelter inside evacuation centers. He said their people had been unable to penetrate Marabut, though “clearing operations are ongoing already.”

Wounded in Villareal

Dacaynos also cited reports of many injured residents in the town of Villareal.

As for Guian, Eastern Samar, where thousands of people have been reported dead because of a storm surge, “We have no news from there. It’s a news blackout, because of the power outage. And there’s no cell phone signal. We are using ICOM radio communication,” said Dacaynos.

He appealed to the national government, non-government organizations, civic groups and foreign donors to prioritize the delivery of food supplies, drinking water, clothes and tents for temporary shelter.

First confirmation of large numbers of casualties

This was the first confirmation of large-scale fatalities in the island of Samar after Yolanda made landfall on the island before dawn Friday.

However vast areas of Samar, an island of over 733,000, still have not been contacted over two days after the typhoon struck.

Authorities estimate that more than 10,000 were killed by the storm in the neighboring island of Leyte and the death toll in other typhoon-hit areas is rising further as well.

Source:
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) â€" President Benigno Aquino III on Sunday, November 10, walked out of a briefing with local and national officials here over frustration with the level of response to typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan).

One of those who was at the briefing told Rappler that the President interrupted Brig Gen Jet Belarmino, commander of the Army's 8th infantry division, while he was speaking and then walked out.

Prior to this, Aquino questioned a report by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) head Eduardo del Rosario.

Radio dzMM reported the President was irked when Del Rosario called the damage to the city jail as "minor devastation," saying there is no such thing; he then told the NDRRMC to have a clearer basis for their reports.

Then, a local businessman appealed to Aquino to declare martial law or a state of emergency in the city, owing to the reported looting.

Aquino replied that he will need to study the matter, since it is not in the Constitution, dzMM reported.

Despite this, the businessman continued with his appeal, and the Presidential Security Group had to intervene.

It was at this point when Belarmino was about to start his briefing; the President talked to the official, and then left the briefing, the radio report said.

Aquino proceeded to the nearby Tacloban Police Station, and returned to the briefing 10 minutes later, dzBB reported.

Tacloban has been the hardest hit, based on initial reports.

The briefing, which took place at the city police station, was attended by local officials, military officers as well as by Cabinet Secretaries like Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Transportation and Communications Secretary Jun Abaya, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, among others. - Rappler.com

Mao ni ang Birhen sa Alcantara... Birhen sa Fatima nag-milagro kaganinang buntag sayo Matod pasa mga nakasaksi sa nahitabo kaganinang buntag sayo pasado alas 6 sa buntag nga Anaa daw 1 ka babaye nga foreigner niadto sa kombento ng hulam og yawe sa simbahan kay sirado paman ang simbahan adtong mga tongora, busa ilang gipaholam ang maong babaye, unya pag abot sa pila ka minuto ilang gi susi ang maong babaye og wala na didto sa solod sa simbahan, og ang ilang nakita mao na ang Birhen nga naosab na ang porma, matud sa nakakita sa babaye ang nawong sa birhen og ang babaye nga foriegner parihas ang ilang hitsura.

Form the FB page of Lyka Marie C. Laspiñas.

By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Office of the Ombudsman has filed criminal charges against two state auditors who allegedly conspired with officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Janet Lim-Napoles through her dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in connection with the misuse of P200 million supposedly for agrarian reform communities in 2007 and 2008.

The complaint identified the respondents as Noel A. Jacob, and Melba F. Fajardo.

“It is clear that respondents Jacob and Fajardo conspired with DAR and NGO officials, accountants and notaries public in facilitating the liquidation of the [multi]million-peso DAR project in various municipalities nationwide,” the complaint said.

The complaint was signed by Ryan Medrano, Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer I, and was approved on Sept. 11 by Maria Olivia Elena A. Roxas, director of the General Investigation Bureau.
Based on the complaint sheet, Jacob and Fajardo were charged with violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and with estafa through the falsification of public documents.
Roxas also recommended preventive suspension for the pair.

“Considering the propensity of the respondents to violate existing laws and rules regulations, and in order to prevent their possible interference or exercise of influence as regards the evidence or witnesses against them, it is recommended that the respondents be preventively suspended pending the investigation of this complaint,” he said.

Jacob is a State Auditor V, now assigned as supervising auditor (SA) of the Commission on Audit (COA) to the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Fajardo is State Auditor IV assigned to the nongovernment sector on agriculture and environment.
The field investigation office of the Ombudsman said Jacob was the SA of the COA-DAR and Fajardo was the audit team leader when the P200 million, covered by a special allotment release order (Saro), dated Dec. 4, 2007, was released to the DAR as implementing agency under then Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman.

No thorough audit

The Ombudsman said the DAR transaction involving a huge amount of public funds would not have passed the COA-DAR had Jacob and Fajardo conducted a thorough audit, and used audit techniques and procedures.

“Had they verified the authenticity of the liquidation documents and conferred with the intended beneficiaries, the anomalous project would have been discovered and disallowed during their post audit,” the antigraft agency said.

Apart from the statements of mayors who were supposed to receive the fund, two other SAs said in sworn statements that the entire P200 million was released by the DAR and was liquidated, and that “no adverse findings by the COA-DAR were noted.”

Forged signatures

However, Ombudsman investigators said the signatures of the mayors were forged to make it appear that they had requested financial assistance from the DAR and that the projects were implemented in support of agribusiness development in cooperation with seven NGOs.

The NGOs implicated in the scam were Philippine Agri and Social Economic Development Foundation, Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, Agrikultura para sa Magbubukid Foundation, Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation, People’s Organization for Progress and Development Foundation, Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation, and Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation.

Principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy, a former personal assistant of Napoles, has claimed that these NGOs were controlled by Napoles and that the deliveries “were mostly ghost deliveries or grossly overpriced.”

The P200 million was classified as an additional program fund to be generated by overall savings from the 2007 budget.

The money was to cover fund support for agribusiness development under CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) in various municipalities nationwide “beginning with Alegria, Surigao del Norte province, and ending with Claver, Surigao del Norte.”

40 towns

The 40 town beneficiaries that were given allocations of P5 million each were Talacogon, Jbonga,
Tubay in Agusan del Norte province; Sta. Josefa, San Agustin, Esperanza, San Luis, Bunawan and Veruela in Agusan del Sur province; Bacuag, Gigaquit, San Benito, Burgos, San Francisco, Tubajon, Claver, Alegria and Socorro in Surigao del Norte;

Bayabas, Lianga, San Miguel, Marihatag, Madrid and Cagwait in Surigao del Sur province; Divilacan and Tumauini in Isabela; Doña Remedios Trinidad and Marilao in Bulacan province; Esperanza in Masbate province; Rosales and Mapandan in Pangasinan province; Amadeo in Cavite province; Barauen in Leyte province; Pitogo in Zamboanga del Sur province; Talusan in Zamboanga Sibugay province; San Jose in Batangas province; and, Sanchez Mira and Piat in Cagayan province.

Each town was supposed to be given 130 agricultural supply packages (seeds, farming tools, and ergonomic knapsack sprayer) valued by the NGOs at P36,558 each.

The DAR central office was named the implementing agency through a four-page document dated Dec. 4, 2007, from then Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya. The letter was addressed to Pangandaman.
It was also through the DAR and Pangandaman that P900 million from the Malampaya Fund was coursed  in 2009. The fund, which was supposed to help storm victims, was also funneled to Napoles’ NGOs.
Pangandaman, Andaya, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Napoles and several others have been charged with plunder in the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the misuse of the P900 million from the Malampaya Fund.


Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/511527/2-coa-auditors-face-raps-over-dar-funds#ixzz2iQBk5Xrt
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The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Wednesday that a newly discovered fault may have been the source of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that rocked Central Visayas Tuesday.

Phivolcs Seismic division officer in charge Ishmael Narag said in a report aired on "24 Oras" that upon closer examination of their data, they learned that quake's real epicenter is located  between the municipality of Catigbian and Sagbayan in Bohol and not in the town of Carmen as the agency earlier said.

The second epicenter is located near several towns in Bohol that have been the most severely affected by the earthquake.

"[Our data suggests that] the source of the earthquake was probably a different fault system that transects Bohol island. Medyo off siya (new fault line) sa trace ng East Bohol fault," he said.

The death toll from the powerful quake that hit Central Visayas had risen to 144 as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

State seismologists said the earthquake's force Tuesday morning was the equivalent of 32 Hiroshima atom bombs.

Narag said Phivolcs did not see the new fault line in Bohol earlier despite the occurrence of an earthquake near the new fault line in 1996 because the province's limestone structure made identifying active faults difficult.

"Medyo mahirap makita yung features ng active faults sa Bohol kasi yung province ay predominantly [composed of] limestone. Ang limestone kasi, madaling ma-weather. So nawawala agad yung anumang superficial features that could have suggested the placement of a new fault," he said.

Narag also said state seismologists already raised the possibility that a strong earthquake might occur in the province when they made the Philippines' comprehensive geohazard maps in 2007.

"The hazard maps [present] worst-case scenarios [such as earthquakes] happening there and if you tried to compare that with what happened now, accurate naman yung nakikita doon sa hazard maps," he said.  â€" XA/ELR/TJD, GMA News

Source:
GMA News

Just this morning, a magnitude 5.5 aftershock was felt in Bohol.

CEBU, Philippines  â€" The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Bohol, Cebu and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao reached 110 Wednesday with only three people pulled alive from rubble.

The three were rescued in nearby Cebu province hours after Tuesday’s quake shattered office buildings and homes and caused many centuries-old churches to crumble.

In Bohol, the quake’s epicenter, rescuers counted 100 dead, said regional military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda. Cebu reported nine fatalities, and one died on another island.

There seems little hope of finding any large number of survivors from beneath the rubble of leveled buildings, homes and churches.

The small coastal town of Loon reported 20 fatalities, the highest in Bohol, including those buried in a hospital and a church.

Many roads and bridges were damaged, making rescue operations difficult. But historic churches dating from the Spanish colonial period suffered the most. The country’s oldest, the 16th-century Basilica of the Holy Child in Cebu, lost its bell tower.

Nearly half of a 17th-century limestone church in Loboc town, southwest of Carmen, was reduced to rubble, as was the largest church on the island in Loon town, where three worshippers were buried alive.

The entire province was without electricity after the quake cut power supplies.
Authorities set up tents for those displaced by the quake, while others who lost their homes moved in with their relatives, Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said.

Extensive damage also hit densely populated Cebu city, across a narrow strait from Bohol, causing deaths when a building in the port and the roof of a market area collapsed.

The quake set off two stampedes in nearby cities. When it struck, people gathered in a gym in Cebu rushed outside in a panic, crushing five people to death and injuring eight others, said Neil Sanchez, provincial disaster management officer.

“We ran out of the building, and outside, we hugged trees because the tremors were so strong,” said Vilma Yorong, a provincial government employee in Bohol.

“When the shaking stopped, I ran to the street and there I saw several injured people. Some were saying their church has collapsed,” she told The Associated Press by phone.

Offices and schools were closed for a national holiday â€" the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha â€" which may have saved lives.

Aledel Cuizon said the quake that caught her in her bedroom sounded like “a huge truck that was approaching and the rumbling sound grew louder as it got closer.”

She and her neighbors ran outside, where she saw concrete electric poles “swaying like coconut trees.” It lasted 15-20 seconds, she said.

Cebu province, about 570 kilometers (350 miles) south of Manila, has a population of more than 2.6 million people. Cebu is the second largest city after Manila. Nearby Bohol has 1.2 million people and is popular among foreigners because of its beach and island resorts and famed Chocolate Hills.
The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A magnitude-7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people on the northern island of Luzon in 1990.


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VILNIUS, Lithuaniaâ€"The European Union agreed on Saturday that the August 21 chemical attack outside Damascus appears to have been the work of Syria’s regime, but that any potential military attack against it should wait for a UN inspectors’ report.

After meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the EU ministers ended days of division on the issue with a common statement that the available intelligence “seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for the attack,” EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said.
The EU nations, most of which have been sceptical on a quick retaliatory strike against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, underscored “the need to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the UN process,” Ashton said.

She hoped a “preliminary report of this first (UN) investigation can be released as soon as possible.”
France had already said it would wait for the UN inspectors’ report before deciding to intervene militarily, even though it said the report would only show a chemical attack had taken place, not apportion blame. Such a report could take more than another week to come to conclusions.

Germany joined in blaming the attack on the Syrian government. It had been the only European member of the G-20 not to co-sign a joint statement issued Friday at the end of the G-20 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, blaming the government.

That statement calls for a strong international response against Assad’s regime but stops short of explicitly calling for military action against the Syrian government.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday in Vilnius that it wanted to wait for EU foreign ministers to agree on a common position before backing the statement.

Kerry said he would share his counterparts’ concern with Obama administration officials. A senior State Department official who attended Kerry’s meeting with the ministers said Kerry made clear that the US has not made any decision to wait.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose details about the private meeting.
The US blames Assad’s regime for the attack in the Damascus suburbs and, citing intelligence reports, says sarin gas was used. The US says 1,429 people died, including 426 children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects information from a network of anti-regime activists, says it has so far only been able to confirm 502 dead.


Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/482921/eu-wants-clear-strong-response-to-syria-chemical-attack#ixzz2eDA0IJMz
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99XYKkf2vCU#ws

Unsa pud kahay Binisaya sa BRANCH? Kana gud pananglitan mokubra ta ug kuwarta sa Cebuana Lhuiller, asa man nga BRANCH? Hehehe

Kahibawo ba mo ug unsay Binisaya sa PREFIX ug SUFFIX?

Share daw bi.

Today, let us remember those who perished during the great Luzon Earthquake.

On July 16, 1990, at 4:26 PM local time in the Philippines, the Luzon earthquake occurred. Papauwi pa lamang ang mga kabataan nuon galing sa mga paaralan, at nagsisimula na rin magsipag-uwian ang mga namamasukan. "The earthquake produced a 125 km-long ground rupture that stretched from Dingalan, Aurora to Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija as a result of strike-slip movements along the Philippine Fault and the Digdig Fault within the Philippine Fault System.(wiki)" Tinatayang 1,621 na katao ang namatay sa lindol na ito. Inaalala po natin ang ating mga kapatid na nasawi sa trahedyang ito. - Apostles Filipino Catholic Community

By Jani Arnaiz
Inquirer Visayas

MAASIN CITY, Philippinesâ€"Four persons, including two toddlers, were killed while nine others were wounded when a bolo-wielding man reportedly high on drugs went on a hacking spree at past 6:30 p.m. Sunday in Cantutang village, Padre Burgos town, Southern Leyte, according to local authorities.

Records of the Salvacion Oppus Yñiguez Memorial Provincial Hospital identified the four fatalities as Rafael Clava, 2; Leslie Ann Kaindoy, 1; Maria Rodas, 20; and Princess Jabonero, 23.

Clava, Rodas and Princess were dead on arrival at the hospital while Kaindoy died minutes later.
The eight wounded were Wennifredo Jabonero, 51; Aisa Kaindoy, 24; Jolito Mareno, 18; April Rose Salem, 14; Georgina Jabonero, 15; Zenaida Aguelo, 52; Genara Tiu, 48; Roger Salem, 38; and Love Joy Acobo, 22 years old.

Police Officer 2 Zandro Llevares of the Padre Burgos police, who responded to the incident, identified the suspect as Mark Jonnie Pelen.

Wennifredo, who was hacked at the right side of his back, said he was trying to help his daughters Princess and Georgina when Pelen turned on him.

“Somebody heard the suspect say that he wanted to kill somebody that night but they thought he was just joking,” Wennifredo said in an interview.

He said it was a quiet Sunday night and he did not notice Pelen was holding a bolo as the latter was holding it behind his back.

Wennifredo said a relative of his throw a stone at Pelen who then went to a neighbor’s house where he continued hacking.

Pelen was arrested by the responding police. He was locked inside a cell of the Maasin City police station because the relatives of his victims might harm him, the police said.


Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/445133/4-killed-9-hurt-by-amok-in-s-leyte-town#ixzz2Z7xZp0eQ
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By Tetch Torres-Tupas
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippinesâ€"Tax evasion complaints were filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ)Thursday against an Internet company, an estate administrator and lawyer.

In separate complaints, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) slapped Domain Merchandising Services Inc. (DMSI) and its officers Ma. Milagros Casas, President from 2009 to 2012; Estelita Arada, Treasurer for 2009 to 2011 and Jonalyn Quesada, Treasurer for 2012 with four counts of willful attempt to evade or defeat payment of income tax for 2009 to 2012 and four counts of deliberate failure to supply correct and accurate information in its annual Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for taxable years 2009 to 2012 violation of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

Investigation by the BIR showed that ITRs filed by DMSI showed that its gross income is P9.59 million in 2009; P11.0 million in 2010; P9.81 million in 2011 and P10.07 million in 2012.

A comparison of the documents and information gathered by the BIR, however, showed that DMSI deliberately underdeclared its taxable income by P25.75 million in 2009; P40.74 million in 2010; P41.33 million in 2011 and P36.45 million in 2012.

DMSI has a total tax liability o P77.58 million.

On the other hand, Mary Anne Abad was slapped with a complaint for one count of willful attempt to evade or defeat the payment of Estate tax and one count of deliberate failure to file estate tax return while her lawyer Atty. Antolin Oliva is facing a case for 1 count of willful attempt to evade or defeat the payment of estate tax return.

Abad was slapped with tax evasion complaint for tax deficiency amounting to P129.70 million, inclusive of surcharges and interests.


Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/442893/bir-files-tax-evasion-raps-vs-internet-firm-estate-exec-and-lawyer#ixzz2YivPEaa9
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rOAGQE4W8#ws

By Prinz P. Magtulis (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 9, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - Banks are no longer allowed to shut down operations during local holidays without prior notice to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), a new order said.

Under Circular 802 signed June 21, the central bank has ordered lenders and their extension offices to notify the central bank two days before their closure in the observance of a local holiday within their area.

The order, which will take effect 15 days from yesterday’s release, asked banks and their branches to “submit, either individually or through their head offices” a “prior notice of their intended closure” to the BSP Supervisory Data Center.

The circular covered all banks, their branches and “other banking offices.” BSP officials could not be reached for comment on the new circular.

Prior to this amendment to the Manual Regulations of Banks, lending institutions were only tasked to have their closure during local holidays approved by the banking association where they belong.

Meanwhile, during national holidays declared by presidential proclamations, no prior notice is required for bank closures.

“The required notice (for local holiday closures)...shall be supported by a certification jointly signed by the president of the bank or officer of equivalent position and the head of the branches department,” the central bank explained.

The notice and reason of a bank’s closure should be posted on the banks’ establishment to inform depositors and other banking clients.

Source:
http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/07/09/963128/bsp-orders-banks-remain-open-local-holidays

Written by  Dennis Jamito Published in Latest News Monday, 08 July 2013 08:55

Pinaghahanda ng isang mambabatas ang publiko hinggil sa posibilidad ng panibagong pagtaas ng presyo ng bigas sa pamilihan.

Isinisisi ni LPG Marketers' Association (LPG-MA) Rep. Arnel Ty ang nasabing banta ng price hike sa bagong patakaran sa pagbabyahe ng mga ito sa mga pangunahing lansangan.

Batay kasi sa polisiya ng Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), ang mga 22-wheeler trailer trucks na dati ay maaaring magdala ng hanggang 800 sako ng bigas ay papayagan na lang na bumyahe ng 530 sako.

Sinabi umano ng mga negosyante kay Ty na kung ipagpipilitan itong ipatupad, posibleng umabot ng hanggang P1.00 kada kilo ng bigas ang magiging pagtataas.

Kaugnay nito, nagtakda naman ng diyalogo si Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala sa freight industry leaders, pati na sa mga suppliers ng bigas sa darating na Hulyo 15, 2013 upang makuha ang kanilang panig ukol sa isyu.

- See more at: http://www.bomboradyo.com/news/latest-news/item/11253-presyo-ng-bigas-tataas-dahil-sa-trucking-rules-solon#sthash.tTdh698F.dpuf

1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAIj2fws5O4#

Version 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_51uKhaI_q8#

Arang ka hadlok at the same time luoy nga video sa mga bata sa iskuwelahan sa dihang miigo ang linog niadtong 1990.

The more jud ko nga naconvince nga kinahanglan ning atong mga istuduyante moagi jud ug earthquake drill ilabin kay pirme linugan ang Pilipinas.

Usa ka kusog nga linog ang miigo karon sa Mindanao. Basi sa PHIVOLCS ang epicenter sa maong linog naa dapit sa Carmen, North Cotabato. Magnitude 5.7 ang niregister sa PHIVOLCS (5.6 sa USGS).Ang linog TECTONIC ang origin ug 16 km ang gilawmon mao nga expected ang DAMAGES ug AFTERSHOCKS.

Here is the bulletin from PHIVOLCS.

The immortal jellyfish (turritopsis nutricula) has to be item one on this list because of the fact that it is immortal. That isn’t hyperbole â€" it really is immortal. After reaching sexual maturity, this jellyfish is able to reverse its aging process and become a polyp again. The ability to reverse the life cycle is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering the Turritopsis nutricula biologically immortal. Lab tests showed that 100% of specimens reverted to the polyp stage.

Source: http://listverse.com/2009/08/10/top-10-badass-living-creatures/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IA5lvK0UcJ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG8ZQ-kxZ_U

Have you ever wondered what Chin Chin Gutierrez is up to these days? We may not have heard anything about her for a few years now. But the award-winning actress is not in a temporary hibernation because she is pregnant, she is married, or she is living abroad. Months ago, rumors have surfaced that Gutierrez is hiding somewhere in Tagaytay City in Cavite because she is aiming to be a nun.

Well, by now, it is confirmed. The 42-year old actress has decided to embrace the vocation that not many women are even considering. The reports are true. Gutierrez is now living within the quarters of the Carmelite Sisters because she wants to be a nun. This is not for reel but for real. She is not making another movie or TV show. She is living real life.

Who may have inspired her to enter the convent? According to reliable sources, it is possible that she took the inspiration from her mom, who used to be a nun before marrying and giving birth to her. Gutierrez could have also drawn inspiration from other people who may have a strong influence on her. She may not be able to grant a media interview to personally confirm this news but people who know her more want to disseminate the good news about the actress these days.

Gutierrez is one of the nieces of former sexy actress Lita Gutierrez, who made a name for herself during the LVN Pictures days way back in the 1960s. Lita was a contemporary of Luz Valdes and Caridad Sanchez, who are both still active in the local show business. They were all contemporaries of Delia Razon as well, who may not be presently visible but is very much connected to showbiz through her granddaughter Carla Abellana.

Gutierrez entered showbiz after she obtained her college degree from Maryknoll College, now Miriam College. It was 1991 when she did her first movie ‘Onyong Majikero.’ Her first TV role was as Maria Clara in the CCP-produced mini-series ‘Noli me Tangere,’ aired over then ABC-5, now TV5.

In 1995, she won the Best Supporting Actress award from Gawad Urian for her role in the 1994 Manila Filmfest entry ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya: The Movie.’ In 1996, she won the Best Actress award from the first ever Asian Television Award. In 1998, she won another Asian Television Award as Best Supporting Actress.

The last showbiz controversy that involved her was in 2009, when she played the role of an antagonist in the teleserye ‘Dahil May Isang Ikaw.’ There were reports that her co-star Lorna Tolentino filed a complaint against her in ABS-CBN for allegedly hurting her (Tolentino) for real in a confrontation scene in their TV drama. Tolentino reportedly vowed not to work with her again after her painful experience.

Gutierrez is not the first actress who has turned her back on showbiz just to enter the convent. Several decades ago, actress Aida Roxas also did the same. She was forced to resign several years after she joined the convent because of her then failing health. Nothing has been heard of Roxas ever since.

- See more at: http://www.pinoystop.com/news/celebrity/891/chin-chin-gutierrez-enters-carmelite-convent-to-become-a-nun#sthash.CdYuW7zN.dpuf

Source: https://www.facebook.com/afccrome?fref=ts

Photo source: Official Facebook page of the Provincial Government of Surigao del Sur (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=134770223341899&set=pb.134763806675874.-2207520000.1369715157.&type=3&theater)

Congrats sa tanang taga Bohol. May topnotcher sa CPA board exam from Holy Name University (Divine Word Tagbilaran): JAY RONAL LEOPARDAS.

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
5/27/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The worst clashes were between CRS riot police and hooded right-wing "ultras" around famous monuments including Les Invalides, where Napoleon Bonaparte is buried. "Traditional France has been threatened by these new measures and that's why we have taken to the streets," one protestor said. "The violence highlights the frustration we feel at having been betrayed by liberal politicians."

Hundreds threw rocks and smoke bombs at the police, who responded in kind with tear gas and baton charges. Both sides suffered serious injuries, with the worst fights breaking out on the grass esplanade opposite Les Invalides, and in surrounding streets. Two journalists were also seriously injured.

The area is next door to the French parliament, where President Francois Hollande's Socialist government introduced and then passed the gay marriage bill. France became the 14th country in the world to allow same sex unions.

The protests are strongly backed by the Roman Catholic Church and has become a chance for the French right to rally against the left.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls said some 100 known far-right protesters were among those arrested in the early hours of Monday. To control the waves of protests, 4,500 police officers were on duty in Paris on Sunday to deal with the huge crowds.

France's first gay wedding is due to take place on this week in Montpellier, in the south of the country.

In spite of the violent opposition, a survey published on Sunday showed 53 percent of French people support gay marriage and adoption.

The mass rallies have contributed to President Hollande's low popularity ratings. The still-new Hollande administration has been plagued by economic recession and unemployment has now hit more than 10 percent, but Hollande got some welcome news on Sunday, after his popularity inched up four points to 29 percent this month.

Although it failed to block gay marriage, the protest movement hopes its show of force will delay or stop further laws allowing assisted procreation and surrogate motherhood for gay couples.

Throwing gasoline on the fire to an already volatile situation, writer Dominique Venner, linked to a far-right French nationalist party, shot and killed himself inside Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral. He had called for "spectacular" action to protect France's identity, and was denouncing same-sex marriage law.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=51122

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
5/27/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - A statement from the parish said the move had been "made at Rome's request." The bishop had asked Vesin earlier to forsake Freemasonry, which he had refused to do.

The Holy See's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in March asked for priest's departure. Three members of the diocese of Annecy then met him. Vesin again repeatedly refused to quit his membership of the Lodge.

Freemasonry of all types, regular or irregular, legitimate or "diverted" has been condemned by many popes. Freemasonry is a fraternal organization from the loose grouping of medieval masons or stone workers, in the building industry.

Critics have likened it to a secret society as certain aspects are kept private.

The Catholic Church argues that the philosophy of French Freemasonry (the Grand Orient, not the dominant variety of Freemasonry or the branch that is active in the English-speaking world) is antithetical to Christian doctrine and that it is at many times and places anti-clerical in intent. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia argued that some of the ceremonial in the Scottish Rite is anti-Catholic. However this claim does not appear in subsequent editions.

The Masonic use of Biblical imagery was seen in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia as being done in such a way as to deny the revelation of Christianity. However this complaint was not included in subsequent editions.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=51125

By Hiufu Wong, CNN
May 27, 2013 -- Updated 1423 GMT (2223 HKT)

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Parents of a 15-year-old Chinese tourist have apologized after the teenager defaced a stone sculpture in an ancient Egyptian temple with graffiti.

The act drew ire in both Egypt and China -- generating a massive online backlash amongst China's unforgiving netizens.

The vandal carved 'Ding Jinhao was here' in Chinese in the 3,500 year old Luxor Temple.
This was photographed by an embarrassed Chinese traveler and shared on weibo, China's micro-blogging site on May 24.

"The saddest moment in Egypt. I'm so embarrassed that I want to hide myself. I said to the Egyptian tour guide,'I'm really sorry,'" that traveler wrote on the original weibo post.

"We want to wipe off the marking with a towel. But we can't use water since it is a 3,500 relic."

It didn't take long -- actually, just a day -- before outraged netizens tracked down Ding in Nanjing.
Slammed online and exposed further in the mainstream, Ding's parents quickly contacted media outlets.
"We want to apologize to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," Ding's mother said in a China Daily report.

Ding's parents said they shouldered the responsibility of what their son did, adding he had learned his lesson.

The original weibo post was re-tweeted almost 90,000 times, received over 18,000 comments and was widely distributed across local media.

"Reading this disastrous news this morning is heartbreaking. I despise this behavior, especially in Egypt -- the place I love. Now, I just want to say 'Sorry' to Egypt," commented weibo user "Net bug jing jing."

"It's a disgrace to our entire race!" said another angry micro-blogger.

In a state-run Xinhua media report, one of the agency's photographers said local Egyptian staff had worked to try and clean the sculpture. While there was some improvement, the graffiti could not be totally removed.

Outbound Chinese tourism has expanded rapidly in recent years. In 2012, Chinese overtook Americans and Germans as the world's top international tourism spenders, with 83 million people spending a record US$102 billion on international tourism.

That growth has brought with it a backlash in some industry sectors. (See our report on Chinese tourism: The good, the bad and the backlash)

Earlier this month, Beijing called on its nation's tourists to improve their behavior, with Vice Premier Wang Yang stating it was important to project a good image of Chinese tourists.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/27/travel/china-egypt/index.html?hpt=hp_c5

Simply put, there has never been anywhere as horrific as Auschwitz. All the cruelty, sadism, indifference and psychopathy that our species is capable of reached its fullest expression between its walls, where 1.5 million people died pointlessly. Yet, even in the midst of this inferno, there were moments of humanity.

In 1941, three prisoners managed to escape the camp and consequently the deputy commander ordered ten prisoners to be starved to death in retaliation. When one of the randomly-selected men began to cry for his wife and children, another prisoner called Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place.

Read that sentence again: in the middle of the most-notorious murder machine that’s ever existed, Kolbe was so moved by pity he volunteered to die in place of another man. And when the Nazis acquiesced and sent him into a bunker with the nine others, his spirit didn’t break. By all accounts, he spent the last two weeks of his life comforting the others with his Catholic faith and accepted his end with a dignity that should have been impossible in the circumstances. Nor was it a useless gesture: the man whose place he tookâ€"Franciszek Gajowniczekâ€"lived another 53 years.

Source: http://listverse.com/2013/05/27/10-heart-warming-tales-from-the-worst-places-on-earth/

By Jereco O. Paloma
Sunday, January 15, 2012

IT MAY be shocking to be rained on with fishes as residents of Loreto town in Agusan del Sur experienced, but a rain of fish is a natural although unusual occurrence.

Residents were keeping warm in their homes in Loreto as it was raining Friday morning when they suddenly went out in droves, unmindful of the rain as small yellow fishes believed to be mudfish fingerlings fell from the sky.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture has yet to issue official statement on what the fishes were as residents gave their own supernatural interpretations on what happened made worse by deep religious roots of some, thus inferring to the rain of frogs in the Bible.

But Lin Chambers, of the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (Nasa) Langley Research Center, in her article posted on Nasa official website, said such occurrence as natural and has no supernatural value.

Chambers said there were several occasions in United States wherein rainfall brings several creatures like frogs, fishes, and various forms of insects.

Chambers said the weird phenomena can be attributed to various factors and one of those is explained by the weather bureau stationed in Agusan.

The station of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration in Agusan said the fishes found on top of the roofs of residents can be due to a water spout (ipo-ipo) formed from a cumuliform cloud above a body of water that vacuumed up the fishes and then dropped it in Loreto as the water spout dissipated.

"The essential skill that scientists bring to such a situation is the ability and habit of mind to immediately turn wild speculation into testable questions, and to identify the evidence that would allow that question to be answered," Chambers said.

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2012/01/15/agusan-s-rain-fish-natural-although-unusual-200749

Kinsay nakahibawo ninjo ug unsa ni?



Source: http://www.bananas.org/f2/all-red-bananas-same-17160.html

Source: http://i.imgur.com/

Source: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/bamboo-forest-japan/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZE_IRwLNI#ws

Nagtambungan ba ka sauna ug Flores de Mayo? Unsay imong experience?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQddrsKfQT0#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1v8eZSQ0f4#ws

A very inspiring story of an OFW mother.

Advance Happy Mother's Day sa tanang mothers dinhi sa TB ug sa mga future mothers pud.

Dili lalim ning obligasyon sa Nanay.

Kaila kos hasang aning mga pamilyaha. Tinuod ni. Tan-awa lamang nas Baler, Aurora mismo. Ang kaniadtong baywalk nila nga for public use, for free, karon nga ilahang nakuha gipalabat! Pastilan.

And on top of it all, tan-awa nang APECO ron. Kaluoy sa mga mag uuma ug mangisdaay.

Phl gets 3rd investment grade
By Prinz Magtulis (philstar.com) | Updated May 7, 2013 - 3:56pm

MANILA, Philippines - Japan's official debt watcher has upgraded the country to investment grade, a statement said on Tuesday.

Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd. revised its credit rating for the Philippines to BBB- from BB+, up one notch. The rating has a stable outlook.

The upgrade followed similar actions from major credit raters, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P). Fitch raised the country's sovereign rating last March, while S&P did it last week.

In its statement, JCRA noted of the country's "robust economic growth" achieved against the backdrop of "sound fiscal management."

In particular, the Philippines is projected to grow "around six percent in the years to come" buoyed mainly by large remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW), which are driving domestic demand.

"Its current account remains in surplus backed by OFW remittances and business process outsourcing revenues," the agency said.

This, in effect, will further strengthen the country's external position through accumulation of foreign reserves that will "enhance our resilience to external shocks."

The balance of payments- which summarizes all inflows and outflows in a particular economy- hit a surplus of $1.535 billion as of the first quarter, central bank data show.

It is expected to widen to $3 billion by year-end, driven by remittances projected to grow by an average of five percent this year.

As of February, cash remittances are already up seven percent to $3.363 billion, figures showed.

"The country's financial system remained sound," JCRA said.

"Philippine banks remained well capitalized with their average capital adequacy ratio kept high at 19 percent as of end-September 2012 as against the 10-percent regulatory standard set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)," it added.

In addition, the government's balance sheet has remained in check, with the budget deficit at just 2.3 percent of economic output last year, lower than the 2.6-percent target.

Debts have also been managed well, JCRA said, pointing to successful efforts of lengthening debt payment terms and focus on borrowing in pesos to reduce foreign exchange exposure.

"The increase in the excise tax in tobacco and alcohol in 2013 may help expand revenues in the years ahead," it explained.

Moving forward, the Aquino administration should set its sights in improving the country's infrastructure by further "strengthening its tax base" to fund investment projects.

The BSP, for its part, should encourage further "deepening and diversification" of the financial markets to better utilize capital flows, JCRA explained.

"As the uncertainty persists over the prospects of the global economy, especially the European economy, JCRA will closely monitor its future developments and their possible impact to the Philippine economy," the agency said.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/05/07/939413/phl-gets-3rd-investment-grade

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today raised its sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of the Philippines to 'BBB-/A-3' from 'BB+/B'. The outlook is stable.

At the same time, Standard & Poor's raised its long-term ASEAN regional scale rating on the Philippines to 'axA-' from 'axBBB+'. We also raised the transfer and convertibility assessment to 'BBB' from 'BBB-' and affirmed our ASEAN regional scale short-term rating of 'axA-2'.

"The upgrade on the Philippines reflects a strengthening external profile, moderating inflation, and the government's declining reliance on foreign currency debt," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Agost Benard.

"We expect the country to move into a near-balanced external position because of persistent current account surpluses, in which large net transfers from Filipinos working abroad more than offset ongoing trade deficits.

"

The current and previous administrations improved fiscal flexibility through restraining expenditures, reducing the share of foreign currency debt, deepening domestic capital markets, and more recently through modest revenue gains.

The Philippines has built a substantial foreign exchange reserve buffer through having a long record of current account surpluses, along with modest net foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows and net portfolio equity inflows. The buffer makes for low refinancing risk and an import cover ratio well above prudential norms.

We expect continued remittance inflows from a large emigrant labor force along with an expanding business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to keep the current account in surplus over the next several years. Remittances and the BPO sector combined generate foreign exchange earnings of approximately 15% of GDP, comfortably covering trade deficits of 6%-9% of GDP.

"The Philippines' improved inflation environment is also a rating support. Despite some shortcomings in monetary policy transmission, inflation is low and fairly stable, helped partly by currency appreciation," Mr. Benard said.

The Philippine economy's low income level remains a key rating constraint. Per capita GDP, at a projected US$2,850 in 2013, is below that of most similarly rated sovereigns. The concentrated nature of the economy, infrastructure shortfalls, and restrictions on foreign ownership, which deter foreign investment, are factors that hamper growth. The economy is also unable to absorb its entire productive and workforce, as suggested by the high level of emigration.

Real GDP per capita growth averaged 3.3% over the past decade--somewhat slow at this stage in the country's development. Based on ongoing structural changes in the economy, rising private sector investment, and with increased fiscal space allowing greater public spending, we expect real GDP per capita growth to rise to 4.5% in the forecast period to 2016.

"The Philippines' gross national product is about a third higher than its GDP because of remittances," Mr. Benard said. "And it may be a better measure of the country's payment capacity, particularly when the remittances are as durable as they have been."

Fiscal consolidation has reduced gross general government debt to a projected 47% of GDP by 2013. However, the attendant interest burden of almost 13% of general government revenues is well above that seen for rated peers, and highlights the Philippines' low revenue base, and the relatively high, albeit declining, cost of commercial external debt, which makes up a quarter of government debt.

The stable rating outlook balances the policy flexibility afforded by current account surpluses and low deficits and inflation against the difficulties of alleviating numerous structural impediments to higher growth.

We may raise the ratings on evidence of government revenue reforms that facilitate needed improvements in physical and human capital, and institutional and structural reforms that boost private sector investment, including FDI. 

Conversely, we may lower the ratings if the Philippines' external performance weakens significantly, external inflows prove difficult to manage and spur overheating in the economy that contributes to banking pressures.

We may also lower our ratings if problems at one of the large conglomerates impair investor confidence, or if political developments cause the government to veer from its commitment to improving governance.

Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/business/60838/full-statement--why-sp-raised-the-philippines-to-investment-grade

Hello sa Tanan,

Mangutana ra ko, curious ra, unsa diay gamit anang pangan/ title sa ubos sa atong account name?

Nangita ko sa tubag sa mga thread wa man ko nakit-an. Hehehe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk48xRzuNvA#ws

Grabe si Jack Enrile, puro YES! Hehehehe.

Kaon ka ani? Arang ka tam-is.

From facebook:

Today, April 25 is the feast day of Saint Mark, the author of one of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Luke, Matthew; the Canonical Gospels being Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

Let us explore 8 known facts about Saint Mark.

By Arlyn dela Cruz in Manila/Philippine Daily Inquirer | Asia News Network

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Undaunted amidst mounting pressure from both the Philippine and Malaysian governments, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, the acknowledged leader of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo insisted that his royal decree that authorised the presence of his younger brother, crown prince Rajah Mudah Agbimuddin Kiram and the combined civilian and armed followers in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia, stays.

"My decree is not about war. We are not waging war. I sent my brother in Sabah in the name of peace and in exercise of our historic, ancestral and sovereign right over Sabah," Jamalul told the Inquirer in a phone interview facilitated through members of his family who were beside him as he was resting after undergoing his regular dialysis treatment.
Jamalul is in Metro Manila and is guarded by family and close relatives.

Asked as to until when his decree stays, Jamalul said, "For as long as necessary. Sabah is our homeland and the international community acknowledges this. If we have to go to the United Nations we will do so. It is upon us, the leaders of Sulu to claim back what is ours," the sultan added.

Does he have any message for the Philippine government?

"Everything I want to tell the President, I already told him in a letter sent to him, shortly after he assumed the presidency in 2010. I told him in that letter that it is the noble dream of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo to achieve unity, peaceful survival and economic prosperity and to be able to achieve that, the Sabah issue cannot be ignored," Jamalul said.

Jamalul is 74 years old, the eldest among the Kiram brothers who are direct descendants of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. He ran and lost for senator in the 2007 National Elections under the Team Unity of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Abraham Julpa Idjirani, secretary general and spokesperson for the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo said, Jamalul was supposed to meet on Saturday afternoon with some officials of the Aquino administration but was not able to do so because of the dialysis treatment.
Jamalul's wife Fatima Celia told the Inquirer that her husband has been undergoing dialysis treatment for more than a year now.

Open to talks with Palace

Idjirani said, they are open to talks with any official sent by Malacanang as he was already contacted by several officials of the Aquino administration since the standoff in Lahad Datu, Malaysia, was reported in the media. He did not identify the officers who got in touch with him but mentioned the agencies these officials are attached to. "Magpahinga lang si Sultan Jamalul, at pag naka-pahinga na siya, puwede na naming harapin ang sinumang opisyal na gustong makipag-usap sa kanya (After resting, Sultan Jamalul can face any official who wants to talk to him)," Idjirani said.

The Inquirer also learned from another independent source who wished not to be identified that President Benigno Aquino III was informed of the presence of civilian and armed supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu in Lahad Datu, Malaysia, as early as the morning of February 11 through one of his Cabinet members. "But at that time, the report was still sketchy and we had no idea who the group was. But the President was alerted about this on Day 1 of their landing in Sabah," the source said.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser in the Peace Process had no comment on Saturday on the Kirams' claim that they were taking back Sabah.

In Lahad Datu in Sabah, Agbimuddin told the Inquirer that he only follows and receives order from Jamalul and no one else. No one can force us to leave. Even if I, as crown prince of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo is guarded by armed men belonging to our royal security forces, we will never provoke any encounter," Agbimuddin said.
Assorted arms

Members of the royal security force are armed with assorted long firearms, Agbimuddin said. "M-14, M-16, M203, Baby Armalite, basta assorted ang dala namin (we have all kinds)," he explained when asked what type of firearms they were carrying.

The active recruitment for members of the royal security force of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, according to Agbimuddin, began in 1999 but training only began in 2001 in Simunol, Tawi-Tawi, Isabela, Basilan and even in mainland Zamboanga. "Sa Grand Stand pa nga kami ng Zamboanga nag-physical fitness exercise at alam ng Southcom 'yan (We do our physical fitness exercises at the Zamboanga grand stand, and the Southcom knew it)," Agbimuddin added.

The Southcom he is referring to is the Southern Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines based in Zamboanga City and the Grand Stand is the one near Cawa-Cawa Boulevard.

Relatives on board

Who takes care of their logistics? Like food and other basic necessities since their landing in Lahad Datu?

Agbimuddin said, most of the residents of Tanduao, Lahad Datu, are Tausugs and relatives of the ones who went with him on board a motorboat from Tawi-Tawi. "Hindi kami magugutom dito at ang mga babae na kasama namin, sila ang nagluluto para sa amin (The women who are with us are doing the cooking)."

Will other groups with the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo follow him in Lahad Datu?

More coming

Agbimuddin answered that was his understanding, but he said he didn't know when. There might even be more, he said.

Another source from Sulu told the Inquirer that a group identified with a local political clan with a stronghold in one municipality there is reportedly getting ready to follow Agbimuddin in Sabah. The source identified the political leader as a relative of the Kirams and also a former mayor and a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) known then as the "Tiger of the MNLF".

"The mayor is getting ready and waiting for the order from Sultan Kiram III to proceed [to Sabah]," the source said in Filipino, adding that the influential leader in Sulu, now in his early 60s, command a force of more than 200 men.

source: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/photos/pope-benedict-xvi-1360580940-slideshow

Source:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/photos/cardinals-vote-next-pope-photo-072335950.html

The Turk who shot pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square in 1981 claimed in a new book on Friday that the founder of the Iranian revolution, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, told him to do it.

The Vatican immediately denied several assertions in the book including the claim by Mehmet Ali Agca that he had spoken of the Iranian link at his meeting with John Paul II in his prison cell.

Ali Agca, a former far-right extremist and Islamic fundamentalist, said he was "indoctrinated" in Tehran after escaping from a Turkish prison where he was serving time for killing a journalist.

At a nighttime meeting with Khomeini, Ali Agca said the Supreme Guide of the Iranian revolution told him to kill the Polish pope -- who was badly wounded but survived the assassination attempt.

"You have to kill the pope in the name of Allah. You have to kill the devil's mouthpiece on earth," Ali Agca said the Ayatollah Khomeini told him.

The book has been published in Italian and is entitled "I Was Promised Paradise: My Life and the Truth Behind the Attack Against the Pope."

Following his arrest, Ali Agca initially said the assassination attempt had been organised by the Soviet KGB and a group of Bulgarian diplomats.

He has since been diagnosed with mental problems.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi dismissed Ali Agca's assertions as "new lies".
Lombardi said he had spoken to John Paul II's secretary Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was present in the cell when Ali Agca met the pope.

"He absolutely denies that the two men spoke about people who ordered the attack or the Ayatollah Khomeini and also that the pope invited the attacker to convert to Christianity," Lombardi said.

Ali Agca had a different description of the famous 1983 meeting with the pope he had tried to kill.

"Who ordered you to kill me?" Ali Agca said the pope asked him, promising not to reveal the secret.

After Ali Agca told him, he said that the pope said to him: "As I forgive you, I forgive them too."

The reformed extremist said he had "lived for years in the error of Islamic Nazi-fascism" ever since he was a child and now recognised that "Jesus Christ was the best person who walked the earth".

The 55-year-old served 19 years in prison in Italy for the shooting and was then deported to Turkey where he served another 10 years.

He was released in January 2010.

Source:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/pope-shooter-claims-irans-khomeini-told-him-160421417.html

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - It's not yet known as to what the exact nature of the target of the air strike was. Syrian state media says that the strikes targeted a military research center near Damascus. Regional security sources told international news agencies that the target was a convoy of trucks, allegedly carrying anti-aircraft missiles for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defense," the army's general command said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

The strike came "after terrorist groups made several failed attempts in the past months to take control of the site," the statement added. "Terrorist groups" are the term President Bashar al-Assad's government uses for rebel fighters.

Jets entered the Syrian airspace via Mount Hermon, or Jabal el-Sheikh in Arabic, the army said. "They... carried out an act of aggression, bombarding the site, causing large-scale material damage and destroying the building," state television quoted the military as saying.

Two site workers were killed in the strike and five others wounded.

The Syrian army and Hezbollah have both denied earlier reports that the overnight air strike had targeted a weapons convoy from Syria to the armed group in Lebanon. News agencies quoted U.S. and regional officials as saying that Israel had conducted an air strike inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, hitting a convoy of trucks.

"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," one Western diplomat said.

A source among rebels fighting Assad said an air strike around dawn blasted a convoy on a mountain track about five kilometers south of where the main Damascus-Beirut highway crosses the border.

Israel had allegedly been planning for days leading up to the air strike to hit a shipment of weapons bound for Hezbollah, saying the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which would be strategically "game-changing" in the hands of Hezbollah.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the strike.

Hezbollah has denied the report, terming the Israeli strikes a "raid of aggression" and criticizing the international community for not speaking out against it.

Source:
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=49532

A temperature below zero was recorded at the summit of Mount Pulag in Benguet province over the weekend, a government official confirmed.

Emerita Alba, who heads a park that has jurisdiction over the third highest mountain in the Philippines, said temperature in Mount Pulag dropped to negative 2 degrees Celsius.

“We experienced a negative 2 temperature last Saturday,” Alba told Yahoo! Southeast Asia Thursday.

But Alba clarified her office, Mt. Pulag Visitors Center, which hands out clearance to hikers before they can explore Mt. Pulag, does not have instruments to measure conditions in the area with precision.

The parks superintendent said the information only came from the interviews she conducts with mountain climbers, who have actually reached the summit of Mt. Pulag.

“We used to have a device but we lost it. And it is located four to five kilometers away from the mountain, the elevation is far from the summit,” Alba explained.

“We just got the information as we interview the hikers. They have devices that can measure temperatures on the peak,” she added.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) cannot confirm whether such temperature actually occurred in Mt. Pulag.

PAGASA weather forecaster Alvin Pura said they do not have an automatic weather station (AWS) near Mt. Pulag that can prove the extremely cold temperature reported in the area.

“It is possible to have a temperature below 5 degrees Celsius in Mt. Pulag considering the altitude of its summit. But we are not sure if it can drop all the way to zero degrees,” Pura explained.

In a separate interview, Pura said PAGASA was only able to record a 9.5 degrees Celsius temperature in their unmanned station in Banaue, which is the nearest to Mt. Pulag in Benguet, on Thursday morning.

Citing records, Pura added that PAGASA also recorded a 10 degrees Celsius on the same day in Baguio City, which experienced the lowest temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius on January 18 this season.

The state weather bureau also recorded an 18.5 degrees Celsius in Tagaytay, which had the lowest drop in temperature to 17.6 degrees on January 15.

“We are experiencing extreme cold weather because the snows are beginning to melt in Siberia and China and they are being blown towards our direction by the northeast monsoon,” Pura explained.

But Oghie Dulay, who has been climbing for 17 years, said such low temperatures still do not lessen the dangers it can pose to hikers who usually climb Mt. Pulag.

“Even if it does not reach zero degrees, it’s dangerous for us to climb in weathers like this because usually there is zero visibility,” Dulay explained.

“It also makes the path damp and very slippery. It’s really freezing when we have to camp out over night,” he added.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Benguet has already issued a warning to mountain climbers about the dangers of going to Mt. Pulag.

Fortunately, DENR Protective Area and Wildlife Sector regional technical director Reynald Yawan said there have been no reports of accidents related to the extreme weather conditions in Benguet province.

“We do not recommend them going to Mount Pulag. But usually, the hikers go there for the cold experience,” Yawan explained.

Source:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/below-zero-temp-reported-in-mt--pulag-063713582.html

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday that a request by the Philippines for a U.N. tribunal to intervene in its longstanding South China Sea territorial dispute with China would only complicate the issue, and denounced Manila's "illegal occupation" of islands there.

Manila has asked the tribunal of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to order a halt to China's activities that the Philippines says violates the Southeast Asian nation's sovereignty.
China's claims over islands, reefs and atolls in resource-rich waters off its south coast and to the east of mainland Southeast Asia set it directly against Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to parts.

Asked about the Philippines' move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said its southern neighbour was occupying some of China's islands in the South China Sea.

"China has consistently opposed the Philippines' illegal occupation," he told a daily news briefing.
China supports talks, but only on a bilateral basis with the countries directly involved, as previously agreed on by China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Hong added.

"We hope that the relevant country honours its promises, and ... does not take any action to complicate or expand the problem," he said, without elaborating.

It was not clear how the tribunal could help. While all its decisions are binding on countries concerned, it has no power to enforce them. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/china-says-philippines-u-n-request-seas-complicates-090125917.html

One of the Quimbaya "Airplanes"

The Saqqara Bird is a bird-shaped artifact made of sycamore wood, discovered during the 1898 excavation of the Pa-di-Imen tomb in Saqqara, Egypt. It has been dated to approximately 200 BCE, and is now housed in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. The Saqqara Bird has a wingspan of 180 mm (7.1 in) and weighs 39.12 g (1.380 oz).[1] Its function is not understood because of a lack of period documentation.

Source:
Wiki

Written by Jomar Canlas Senior Reporter

THE Supreme Court has ordered the government to answer the petitions questioning the constitutionality and legality of the controversial reproductive health (RH) law.


The court en banc has also decided not to issue a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the new law until after it has received the comments of Malacañang, through the Office of the Solicitor General.

The petition against the law, filed by lay couple James and Lovely Imbong, is considered the most controversial case pending before the High Court. The case was assigned to Associate Justice Jose Catral Mendoza after a raffle.

The 15-man tribunal ordered Malacañang to comment within 10 days on the Imbong couple’s petition questioning the constitutionality of the law. Malacañang’s comments would be the bases for any decision of the high court, whether it should issue an injunction order or not against the implementation of the law.
Despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church, the House of Representatives passed the reproductive health bill on December 20. President Benigno Aquino 3rd quietly signed it into lawâ€"Republic Act 10354, or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012â€"on December 21. The law, which seeks to improve public access to reproductive health services, including natural and artificial family planning options, will take effect on January 17.

In their 25-page petition filed on January 2, the Imbongs said that the law violates the Constitution, which upholds the ideal of an unconditional respect for life, among others. They named as respondents Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Health Secretary Enrique Ona.

“[This case] will present the illegality of the Act as it mocks the nation’s Filipino cultureâ€"noble and lofty in its values and holdings on life, motherhood and family lifeâ€"now the fragile lifeblood of a treasured culture that today stands solitary but proud in contrast to other nations,” the couple said.

They argued that some provisions of the new law reveal its intentions to bring reproductive health care services within easy reach of the poor.

“By doing so, the poor become the primary targets of the State’s planned-parenthood policyâ€"a subtle way of telling the poor that the State will subsidize their right to have access to modern methods of family planning simply because they are poor,” the petitioners said.

Jo Imbong, mother of James Imbong, the legal counsel of the Catholic Church, had described the petition as “the first salvo” against the law.

“We are paving the way for other similar suits from many faith-based groups,” she said
Imbong revealed that big prayer rallies against the new law were also being planned across the country in the weeks to come.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had expressed support for the petition of the Imbongs. In a pastoral letter, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who is also the vice president of the CBCP, said that the reproductive health law “will lead to greater crimes against women.”

“The poor are being promised a better life through the RH bill. It will not be so. The poor can rise from their misery through more accessible education, better hospitals and lesser government corruption. Money for contraceptives can be better used for education and authentic health care,” Villegas said.

“The youth are being made to believe that sex before marriage is acceptable provided you know how to avoid pregnancy. Is this moral? Those who corrupt the minds of children will invoke divine wrath on themselves,” the bishop warned.

He said that the free and wide dissemination of contraceptives would destroy family life and lead to more violence against women.

Source:
http://www.manilatimes.net/~manilati/index.php/news/top-stories/39465-justify-rh-law-palace-ordered

MANILA, Dec. 29, 2012â€"“No one can serve two masters.”

An Ateneo de Manila theology professor has resigned, realizing that he could “no longer share the path” taken by the Jesuit-led university community that went all-out for the passage of the reproductive health (RH) law despite opposition from the Catholic Church.

Prof. Rafael Dy-Liacco, in a resignation letter, decried the “failure” of Ateneans to reject what he said was an alliance with a “spirit of disdain for the Church” that had worked for the RH bill’s passage.

“That spirit repudiates the Church’s holiness and, at the same time, attempts to assume it for itself (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4). It has manifested at an unusually high level of ferocity, even hatred. It has manifested in the wholesale denigration of the Church â€" of her teachings, of her bishops, of her catechists, and of her common lay faithful,” said the letter, addressed to the chair of the Ateneo’s theology department and the dean of humanities.

“Whatever material good Ateneans believe they have accomplished by supporting the passage of the Bill, their failure to reject alliance with that spirit, to truly seek counsel with the Church, and to make amends for and to repair whatever harm that their alliance with that spirit is doing and will do to the faith of believers in the Philippines, has not been right,” Dy-Liacco added.

The letter was written on Dec. 28, Feast of the Holy Innocents, the day on which the Church commemorates the massacre of children under King Herod and which resonates today amid the grim reality of abortion. It was on Dec. 28 that news first spread of the clandestine signing of the RH bill last Dec. 21 by President Benigno S. Aquino III, an Ateneo alumnus.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines had warned that a “contraceptive mentality” to be promoted by an RH law would lead to an “abortion mentality,” as what has happened in countries that had passed laws making contraception widespread.

In August this year, 192 Ateneo professors signed a statement of support for the RH bill, in open defiance of the shepherds of the Church and lay leaders. Ateneo professors, in a 2008 statement, had claimed Catholics could support the RH bill “in good conscience,” contradicting the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae which reiterated the Church’s ban on contraception.

The move by the 192 professors prompted the Ateneo president, Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ, to release a statement saying that Ateneo was officially against the bill. Villarin’s statement, however, was largely ignored as professors and students continued to call for the passage of the controversial measure, which calls for billions in taxpayers’ money for contraceptives and sterilization.


Detail from 'The giving of the keys to Saint Peter' by Pietro Perugino
Dy-Liacco and two other Ateneo theology professors released a statement on Aug. 28 calling out their colleagues for distorting the Church’s teachings on conscience.

In his resignation letter, Dy-Liacco said the “procreative love” between husband and wife as well as the bond between the mother and child from the point at which life begins in the womb are “spiritual realities.”

He said: “One does not need infallible pronouncements from the Magisterium in order to willingly assent to their truth, and to their implications for any path towards genuine human fulfillment.”

The theology professor, who has a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, said the teachings of the Church indeed “clash with the ideologies that rule this age, while her ministers and her teachers are all too human.”

“Often times it seems easier to give up believing that the Church is the Holy Spirit’s work. But the gospels tells us that believing in the Son of God when He became incarnate was not easy either (cf. John 1:11).”

Dy-Liacco maintained that there could be no compromise with the spirit of animosity against the Church, “much less collusion with it (cf. Revelation 18:4).”

“The Holy Spirit’s will and that spirit’s will are never the same (cf. CCC 676). It rejects God’s truth (cf. John 8:45). Moreover, when one becomes allied to it, one becomes like it (cf. John 8:44), he said. “Thus here the saying also holds: ‘No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other’ (Matthew 6:24). Because of these realities, I believe that my service to the Church and my service to ADMU no longer coincide, and I believe that I can no longer share the path that ADMU has taken. Therefore I hereby resign both my teaching position and my tenure at ADMU Theology,” he said.

“Throughout my years teaching theology at ADMU, the Bible had increasingly become my primary teaching resource. I had found that the religious virtues, spiritual ideals, and array of theological perspectives on the human condition that are conveyed in the full range of Biblical narratives, from Genesis to Revelation, filled a lacuna that I had noticed in ADMU theology. It was a lacuna in the formation of character and conscience,” he said.

He said he would be judged in the way he had taught his students in grasping the truth. “I wish I had been a better teacher. I wish I had learned more quickly about hewing closely to the truth (cf. 2 Timothy 2:15). I wish I had learned sooner about not putting my own thoughts ahead of God’s teachings (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:20â€"25). I wish I had understood more deeply about avoiding self-promotion and not seeking praise (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:5). I know that I shall be held accountable for my students’ grasp of the truth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10â€"15).” (Dominic Francisco)

Source:
http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=10014

MANILA, Jan. 9, 2013â€"Another petition to halt the implementation of RA 10354 has been filed at the Supreme Court, citing the measure’s promotion of the use of abortifacient devices such as intra-uterine devices (IUDs) and its mandate to purchase abortifacients using taxpayers’ money, thereby violating Constitutional provisions protecting life and health.

The Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines, Inc. (ALFI) together with members of its Board of Trustees, friends, their spouses, children and grandchildren filed Wednesday a petition for prohibition, with request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)/Preliminary Injunction against the reproductive health (RH) law, or The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012.

RA 10354 has “opened the floodgates to an attack against the right to life. While it gives a semblance of respect for life by generously using the words “non-abortifacient” and “do not prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum,” it allows the use of abortifacient devices such as the intrauterine device (IUD), and the purchase of abortifacient substances using taxpayer’s money,” the petition stated.

The measure also impairs the right to health of both the mother and her unborn child “by mandating the dispensation and use of hormonal contraceptives, including contraceptive pills, which have been established as carcinogenic, causing breast cancer, cervical cancer, and liver tumor, among others,” the petition continued.

ALFI, represented by Atty. Ma. Concepcion Noche, who is also the group’s president, is a multi-sectoral, nationwide organization committed to fostering and defending the sanctity of marriage, promoting family solidarity, and protecting life in all stages of development.

The group likewise cited the violation against the Constitution-guaranteed right to the free exercise of religion which the RH law commits by making certain acts mandatory, such as the provision of RH services by health care providers even though this runs contrary to their religious beliefs.

Named as respondents in the petition were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa; Health Secretary Enrique Ona; Education Secretary Armin Luistro; Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman; Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II; Budget Secretary Florencio Abad; Socio-Economic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Arsenio Balisacan; the Philippine Commission on Women, represented by its Chairperson Remedios Ignacio-Rikken; the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., represented by its President Eduardo Banzon; the League of Provinces of the Philippines, represented by its President Alfonso Umali; the League of Cities of the Philippines, represented by its President Oscar Rodriguez; and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, represented by its President Donato Marcos.

The first petition to halt the implementation of the RH law was filed with the Supreme Court on Jan. 2 by lawyers James Imbong and Lovely Ann Imbong.

The RH law, signed by President Benigno Aquino III last December despite massive protests from civic and faith-based groups, family and life advocates, and child development experts, is scheduled for implementation on Jan. 17. (CBCP for Life)

Source:
http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=10082

How our Senators voted for Senate Bill 2865 “An act providing for a national policy on reproductive health and responsible parenthood” or RH Bill:


"YES" TO RH BILL   
1. Joker Arroyo
2. Alan Peter Cayetano
3. Pia Cayetano
4. Edgardo Angara
5. Francis Escudero
6. Miriam Defensor-Santiago
7. Ralph Recto
8. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
9. Loren Legarda
10. Teofisto Guingona II
11. Franklin M. Drilon
12. Francis Pangilinan
13. Panfilo Lacson.

"NO" TO RH BILL
1. Juan Ponce-Enrile
2. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada
3. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III
4. Gringo Honasan
5. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III
6. Manuel “Manny” Villar
7. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
8. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV

Source:
http://catholicvote.ph

How our Congressmen voted for House Bill 4244, “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development Act of 2012” or RH Bill:

"NO" TO RH BILL
1. Abad, Henedina R.
2. Aggabao, Giorgidi B.
3. Aglipay, Emmeline Y.
4. Agyao, Manuel S.
5. Albano, Rodolfo B.
6. Alvarez, Mercedes K.
7. Amante-Matba, Angelica M.
8. Amatong, Rommel C.
9. Angara, Juan Edgardo M.
10. Antonio, Patricio T.
11. Apostol, Sergio F.
12. Arquiza, Godofredo V.
13. Bag-ao, Kaka J.
14. Brawner Baguilat, Teddy Jr.
15. Balindong, Pangalian M.
16. Banal, Jorge 'Bolet'
17. Barzaga, Elpidio Jr. F.
18. Batocabe, Rodel M.
19. Bautista, Franklin P.
20. Bello, Walden F.
21. Belmonte, Feliciano Jr. R.
22. Belmonte, Vicente Jr. F.
23. Benitez, Alfredo 'Albee' B.
24. Biazon, Rodolfo G.
25. Binay, Mar-Len Abigail S.
26. Biron, Ferjenel G.
27. Bulut-Begtang, Eleanor C.
28. Cagas, Marc Douglas IV C.
29. Cajayon, Mary Mitzi L.
30. Calixto-Rubiano, Emi G.
31. Canonigo, Ranulfo P.
32. Casiño, Teddy A.
33. Castelo, Winston 'Winnie'
34. Catamco, Nancy A.
35. Celeste, Jesus 'Boying' F.
36. Cerafica, Arnel M.
37. Chipeco, Justin Marc SB.
38. Cojuangco, Enrique M.
39. Cojuangco, Kimi S.
40. Colmenares, Neri J
41. Cortuna, Julieta R.
42. Cosalan, Ronald M.
43. Cruz-Gonzales, Cinchona
44. Datumanong ,Simeon A.
45. Defensor, Arthur Jr. R.
46. Del Rosario, Anthony G.
47. Del Rosario, Antonio A.
48. Dimaporo, Imelda Quibranza
49. Duavit, Joel Roy
50. Dy, Napoleon S.
51. Ebdane, Jun Omar C.
52. Enverga, Wilfrido Mark M.
53. Eriguel, Eufranio 'Franny' C., M.D.
54. Espina, Rogelio J.,M.D.
55. Estrella, Robert Raymund M. 
56. Evardone, Ben P.
57. Fernandez, Danilo Ramon S.
58. Ferriol, Abigail Faye C.
59. Flores, Florencio Jr. T.
60. Avance-Fuentes, Daisy
61. Garcia-Albano, Mylene J
62. Garin, Janette L.
63. Garin, Sharon S.
64. Gatchalian, Rex
65. Gatchalian, Weslie T.
66. Go, Arnulfo F.
67. Gonzales, Neptali II M.
68. Guanlao, Agapito H.
69. Haresco, Teodorico T.
70. Hataman-Salliman, Jim S.
71. Herrera-Dy, Bernadette R.
72. Ilagan,Luzviminda C.
73. Jalosjos, Cesar G.
74. Jalosjos, Romeo Jr. M.
75. Jalosjos, Seth F. P.
76. Joson, Josefina M.
77. Kho, David L.
78. Lacson-Noel, Josephine Veronique R.
79. Lagdameo, Antonio Jr. F.
80. Lagman, Edcel C.
81. Lapus, Jeci A.
82. Leonen-Pizarro, Catalina G.
83. Limkaichong, Jocelyn S.
84. Loong, Tupay T.
85. Lopez, Carlo V.
86. Lopez, Carol Jayne B.
87. Loyola, Roy M.
88. Magsaysay, Eulogio 'Amang' R.
89. Maliksi, Erineo S.
90. Maranan, Zeny
91. Marcoleta, Rodante D.
92. Mariano, Rafael V.
93. Miraflores, Florencio T.
94. Mirasol, Alejandro Y.
95. Nava, Joaquin Carlos Rahman A.
96. Ocampo, Rosenda Ann
97. Ortega, Francisco Emmanuel III R.
98. Ortega, Victor Francisco C.
99. Padilla, Carlos M.
100.Paez, Cresente C.
101.Palatino, Raymond V.
102.Palmones, Angelo B.
103.Pangandaman, Mohammed Hussein P.
104.Pichay, Philip A.
105.Ponce Enrile, Juan Jr. C.
106.Primicias-Agabas, Marlyn L.
107.Quimbo, Romero Federico 'Miro' S.
108.Sacdalan, Jesus N.
109.Sahidulla, Nur-ana I.
110.Sakaluran, Raden C.
111.Salvacion, Andres Jr. D.
112.Sambar, Mark Aeron H.
113.Sarmiento, Mel Senen S.
114.Sema, Bai Sandra A.
115.Singson, Eric Jr. G.
116.Sy-Alvarado, Ma. Victoria R.
117.Tañada, Lorenzo III R.
118.Teodoro, Marcelino R
119.Tinga, Sigfrido R.
120.Tinio, Antonio L.
121.Tomawis, Acmad M.
122.Treñas, Jerry P.
123.Tugna, Sherwin N.
124.Tupas, Niel Jr. C.
125.Umali, Reynaldo V.
126.Ungab, Isidro T.
127.Vargas-Alfonso, Baby Aline
128.Villar, Mark A.
129.Villarica, Linabelle Ruth R.
130.Yap, Susan
131.Yu, Victor J.
132.Zamora, Ma. Carmen S.
133.Zubiri, Jose III F.   
1. Abayon, Daryl Grace J.
2. Alcover, Pastor Jr. M.
3. Almario, Thelma Z.
4. Almonte, Jorge T.
5. Alvarez, Antonio C.
6. Angping, Ma. Zenaida B.
7. Antonino, Rodolfo W.
8. Apacible, Tomas V.
9. Aquino, Jose II S.
10. Arenas, Ma. Rachel J.
11. Arnaiz, George P.
12. Arroyo, Diosdado Macapagal
13. Asilo, Benjamin DR.
14. Bagasina, Catalina C.
15. Bagatsing, Amado S.
16. Bataoil, Leopoldo N.
17. Bichara, Al Francis DC.
18. Bonoan-David, Ma. Theresa
19. Cabaluna, Salvador III P.
20. Cabilao Yambao, Jonathan
21. Calimbas-Villarosa, Ma. Amelita A.
22. Castro, Jane T.
23. Crisologo, Vincent 'Bingbong' P.
24. Cua, Dakila Carlo E.
25. De Venecia, Ma. Georgina P. 
26. Del Mar, Rachel Marguerite B.
27. Dimaporo, Fatima Aliah Q.
28. Durano, Ramon VI H.
29. Ejercito, Joseph Victor G.
30. Ferrer, Antonio A.
31. Fortuno, Salvio B.
32. Fua, Orlando B.
33. Garbin, Alfredo Jr. A.
34. Garcia, Albert Raymond S.
35. Garcia, Pablo P.
36. Golez, Anthony Rolando Jr. T.
37. Gomez, Lucy T.
38. Gullas, Eduardo R.
39. Javier, Paolo S.
40. Labadlabad, Rosendo S.
41. Lico, Isidro Q.
42. Macapagal Arroyo, Juan Miguel
43. Magsaysay, Ma. Milagros H.
44. Malapitan, Oscar G.
45. Mandanas, Hermilando I.
46. Marañon, Alfredo III D.
47. Mendoza, Mark Llandro L.
48. Mercado-Revilla, Lani
49. Noel, Florencio G.
50. Nograles, Karlo Alexei B.
51. Obillo, Reena Concepcion G.
52. Pangandaman, Nasser C.
53. Panotes, Elmer E.
54. Paras, Jesus Emmanuel M.
55. Payuyo, Ponciano D.
56. Piamonte, Mariano Jr. U.
57. Puno, Roberto V.
58. Rivera, Michael Angelo C.
59. Rodriguez, Isidro Jr. S. 
60. Rodriguez, Maximo Jr. B.
61. Rodriguez, Rufus B.
62. Romualdez, Ferdinand Martin G.
63. Romualdo, Pedro P.
64. Romulo, Roman T.
65. Salimbangon, Benhur L.
66. Singson, Ryan Luis V.
67. Socrates, Victorino Dennis M.
68. Suarez, Danilo E.
69. Syjuco, Augusto Boboy, Ph.D.
70. Teves, Pryde Henry A.
71. Tiangco, Tobias 'Toby' M.
72. Ting, Randolph S.
73. Ty, Arnel U.
74. Unabia, Peter 'Sr. Pedro' M.
75. Unico, Renato Jr. J.
76. Valencia, Rodolfo G.
77. Vergara, Bernardo M.
78. Violago, Joseph Gilbert F.
79. Yap, Arthur C.


"YES" TO RH BILL   
1. Abad, Henedina R.
2. Aggabao, Giorgidi B.
3. Aglipay, Emmeline Y.
4. Agyao, Manuel S.
5. Albano, Rodolfo B.
6. Alvarez, Mercedes K.
7. Amante-Matba, Angelica M.
8. Amatong, Rommel C.
9. Angara, Juan Edgardo M.
10. Antonio, Patricio T.
11. Apostol, Sergio F.
12. Arquiza, Godofredo V.
13. Bag-ao, Kaka J.
14. Brawner Baguilat, Teddy Jr.
15. Balindong, Pangalian M.
16. Banal, Jorge 'Bolet'
17. Barzaga, Elpidio Jr. F.
18. Batocabe, Rodel M.
19. Bautista, Franklin P.
20. Bello, Walden F.
21. Belmonte, Feliciano Jr. R.
22. Belmonte, Vicente Jr. F.
23. Benitez, Alfredo 'Albee' B.
24. Biazon, Rodolfo G.
25. Binay, Mar-Len Abigail S.
26. Biron, Ferjenel G.
27. Bulut-Begtang, Eleanor C.
28. Cagas, Marc Douglas IV C.
29. Cajayon, Mary Mitzi L.
30. Calixto-Rubiano, Emi G.
31. Canonigo, Ranulfo P.
32. Casiño, Teddy A.
33. Castelo, Winston 'Winnie'
34. Catamco, Nancy A.
35. Celeste, Jesus 'Boying' F.
36. Cerafica, Arnel M.
37. Chipeco, Justin Marc SB.
38. Cojuangco, Enrique M.
39. Cojuangco, Kimi S.
40. Colmenares, Neri J
41. Cortuna, Julieta R.
42. Cosalan, Ronald M.
43. Cruz-Gonzales, Cinchona
44. Datumanong ,Simeon A.
45. Defensor, Arthur Jr. R.
46. Del Rosario, Anthony G.
47. Del Rosario, Antonio A.
48. Dimaporo, Imelda Quibranza
49. Duavit, Joel Roy
50. Dy, Napoleon S.
51. Ebdane, Jun Omar C.
52. Enverga, Wilfrido Mark M.
53. Eriguel, Eufranio 'Franny' C., M.D.
54. Espina, Rogelio J.,M.D.
55. Estrella, Robert Raymund M. 
56. Evardone, Ben P.
57. Fernandez, Danilo Ramon S.
58. Ferriol, Abigail Faye C.
59. Flores, Florencio Jr. T.
60. Avance-Fuentes, Daisy
61. Garcia-Albano, Mylene J
62. Garin, Janette L.
63. Garin, Sharon S.
64. Gatchalian, Rex
65. Gatchalian, Weslie T.
66. Go, Arnulfo F.
67. Gonzales, Neptali II M.
68. Guanlao, Agapito H.
69. Haresco, Teodorico T.
70. Hataman-Salliman, Jim S.
71. Herrera-Dy, Bernadette R.
72. Ilagan,Luzviminda C.
73. Jalosjos, Cesar G.
74. Jalosjos, Romeo Jr. M.
75. Jalosjos, Seth F. P.
76. Joson, Josefina M.
77. Kho, David L.
78. Lacson-Noel, Josephine Veronique R.
79. Lagdameo, Antonio Jr. F.
80. Lagman, Edcel C.
81. Lapus, Jeci A.
82. Leonen-Pizarro, Catalina G.
83. Limkaichong, Jocelyn S.
84. Loong, Tupay T.
85. Lopez, Carlo V.
86. Lopez, Carol Jayne B.
87. Loyola, Roy M.
88. Magsaysay, Eulogio 'Amang' R.
89. Maliksi, Erineo S.
90. Maranan, Zeny
91. Marcoleta, Rodante D.
92. Mariano, Rafael V.
93. Miraflores, Florencio T.
94. Mirasol, Alejandro Y.
95. Nava, Joaquin Carlos Rahman A.
96. Ocampo, Rosenda Ann
97. Ortega, Francisco Emmanuel III R.
98. Ortega, Victor Francisco C.
99. Padilla, Carlos M.
100.Paez, Cresente C.
101.Palatino, Raymond V.
102.Palmones, Angelo B.
103.Pangandaman, Mohammed Hussein P.
104.Pichay, Philip A.
105.Ponce Enrile, Juan Jr. C.
106.Primicias-Agabas, Marlyn L.
107.Quimbo, Romero Federico 'Miro' S.
108.Sacdalan, Jesus N.
109.Sahidulla, Nur-ana I.
110.Sakaluran, Raden C.
111.Salvacion, Andres Jr. D.
112.Sambar, Mark Aeron H.
113.Sarmiento, Mel Senen S.
114.Sema, Bai Sandra A.
115.Singson, Eric Jr. G.
116.Sy-Alvarado, Ma. Victoria R.
117.Tañada, Lorenzo III R.
118.Teodoro, Marcelino R
119.Tinga, Sigfrido R.
120.Tinio, Antonio L.
121.Tomawis, Acmad M.
122.Treñas, Jerry P.
123.Tugna, Sherwin N.
124.Tupas, Niel Jr. C.
125.Umali, Reynaldo V.
126.Ungab, Isidro T.
127.Vargas-Alfonso, Baby Aline
128.Villar, Mark A.
129.Villarica, Linabelle Ruth R.
130.Yap, Susan
131.Yu, Victor J.
132.Zamora, Ma. Carmen S.
133.Zubiri, Jose III F.

ABSTENTIONS
1. Briones, Nicanor M
2. Ferrer, Jeffrey P.
3. Golez, Roilo S
4. Gunigundo, Magtanggol T
5. Osmeña, Tomas R
6. Relampagos, Rene L.
7. Remulla, Jesus Crispin C.

Freeganism is the practice of reclaiming and eating food that has been discarded. Freegans and Freeganism are often seen as part of a wider "anti-consumerist" ideology, and freegans often employ a range of alternative living strategies based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.

Freegans "embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed."

The word "freegan" is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan"; not all dumpster divers are vegan, but the ideology of veganism is inherent in freeganism. Freeganism started in the mid 1990s, out of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements. The movement also has elements of Diggers, an anarchist street theater group based in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the 1960s, that gave away rescued food.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOubzHCUt48#ws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxbZgB5UNO8#

Ganahan kaha ka ug inganion ka? Hahahahaha.

Dire sa Manila karon wa ra man. Lamugdong pero wa makauwan.

Diha sa Bohol kumusta naman ang panahon?

Sa amo sa Southern Leyte kusog ang uwan ug hangin kaajo.

Guys,

Gusto ra naho ishare ang video sa traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony sa University of the East  Manila Campus. This Christmas theme is One UE One Christmas.

Go Warriors!

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

This Palace official suspects one reason for the lack of quorum in the House of Representatives during deliberations on the reproductive health (RH) bill: Reelectionist lawmakers fear provoking their parish priests.

In the countryside, there is such a thing as a “Catholic vote,” and pro-RH lawmakers would rather absent themselves from the sessions than become the object of attacks from the pulpit in the run-up to the May 2013 elections, according to Secretary Manuel Mamba.

Mamba, head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, on Sunday said lawmakers were “fearful” of provoking their parish priests by appearing in the deliberations, much more by voting for the controversial measure.

“If you’re a politician, you stay out of trouble. They (the clergy) are not even the enemy. Why provoke them? By voting for the measure, you’re provoking the Catholic hierarchy,” Mamba said in a phone interview.

“The elections are near. You don’t want to create enemies. In local politics, there is a Catholic vote, especially in areas where the clergy are very influential on their flock. If the clergy are popular, they have the pulpit. They can do it every Sunday,” he added.

So, for some pro-RH lawmakers with their eyes on the midterm elections, the option is “to absent themselves” from the deliberations, said Mamba, whose office acts as middleman between Malacañang and Congress in the choice of the legislative agenda.

Lack of quorum

Mamba said President Aquino was aware of such dynamics in local politics. Being a former lawmaker himself in  Cagayan province, Mamba said he “fully understood” where the lawmakers were coming from.

“It would have been much easier if it were put to a vote not too close to the elections,” he said.

The campaign for the midterm elections begins  in mid-February.

The Church fiercely opposes the measure. After bold predictions by House leaders that the bill would be approved, plenary debates on the measure have bogged down for lack of quorum.

Lawmakers either skip sessions or leave after the roll call. Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said most of the absentees were supporters of the measure.

Abortion, promiscuity

The RH bill would provide couples with information on family planning approaches, including modern contraception methods that the Church opposes. It would also widen reproductive health education in schools and government health centers.

Church officials oppose the measure, saying it might promote abortion as well as promiscuity. They consider some birth control pills as abortifacient.

The health department supports the bill, saying it would reduce maternal and child deaths in the Philippines.

The President has not issued a fresh call for his allies in the House to bring the measure to a vote.

Time to vote

“The President has said his piece,” Mamba said, referring to Mr. Aquino’s Aug. 6 caucus with the lawmakers. “He has given orders for the lawmakers to be present, have a quorum and vote on it. He will not impose whatever position they will have. What’s important is they vote on it.”

After the caucus, the lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to terminate debates. But with the lack of quorum, no amendment has been introduced.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the lawmakers had yet to discuss with the President the matter of certifying the measure as urgent. Otherwise, Malacañang was leaving its approval up to the lawmakers, she said.

In the 283-member House, the pro-RH proponents have a slight edge over the anti-RH lawyers. Some congressional sources say it’s possible more anti-RH lawmakers than pro-RH proponents would show up if a vote is forced now.

‘Ripe for a vote’

“Our problem in the House is membership. Our problem in the Senate is the leadership,” Mamba said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III are opposed to a counterpart measure in the chamber. Unlike in the House, the bill has better chances of getting approved in the Senate, with more senators backing it, according to Mamba.

“I think the RH bill is ripe for a vote in the Senate,” Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said on dzBB radio. “The issues have become tedious since I sponsored my own version as a congressman. All of us are ready, win or lose.”

Marcos said Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano, the main authors of the Senate bill calling for a national policy on reproductive health and population, had agreed it was time to put it to a vote whatever the outcome.

“I will support the bill,” Marcos said.

But he said the 2013 elections would play a factor in the outcome of the vote.
“I’ve heard that some of the authors [in the House] have withdrawn their support because of the election. That’s the reality in our politics. If you are candidates, it’s really difficult to oppose the Church,” Marcos said. With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan and Inquirer Research

Originally posted: 6:10 pm | Sunday, November 25th, 2012

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/312867/lawmakers-skip-rh-bill-debates-to-avoid-catholic-church-backlash-in-2013-polls