MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: islander on October 07, 2017, 01:46:42 PM

Incumbent Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was involved from the beginning, because of his friendship with Cheng, pere, who controlled Piatco. It was this involvement that contributed to his leaving President Gloria Arroyo’s Cabinet. The Senate blue ribbon committee, then headed by Sen. Joker Arroyo (since deceased), opined that the Piatco deal was void. A group that Perfecto Yasay Jr. lawyered for opposed Alvarez’s confirmation as transportation secretary; it brought to light that a very lucrative (and overpriced) contract for excavation was awarded to Wintrack, a company of which Emelita Alvarez (Alvarez’s wife) was part-owner.

some stinking background here, i guess.

This is what Du30 is accusing her ofâ€"“…corruption, wala sa SALN diyan ang Piatco na yan”â€"without reading her answer to Lorenzo Gadon (who has had a pending case for disbarment since 2016). And Congress has followed the President’s lead.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/

The Philippine government hired her (together with American lawyers) to defend it. The contract was for $80 an hour (a fraction of the fees of her American counterparts). And she worked for seven years as co-Philippine counsel (with Justice “Toy” Feliciano, since deceased). The upshot: The Philippines won in both courts, and in fact in one of them, legal fees worth $6 million were awarded, to be paid by Piatco (the government is still trying to collect).

Sereno’s fees amounted to P30 millionâ€"a drop in the bucket of $1 billion that the government saved. And since it was the government that paid her, it withheld about P8 million in taxes. The fees were paid over five years, not a lump sum. Sereno declared her income to the Bureau of Internal Revenue as she got it. How could her 2010 SALN (she was appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court) include her income earned between 2004 and 2009? What it includes are the assets she bought with it. She explains every penny. Moreover, how can she be accused of corruption when she wasn’t with the government before 2010?

Incumbent Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was involved from the beginning, because of his friendship with Cheng, pere, who controlled Piatco. It was this involvement that contributed to his leaving President Gloria Arroyo’s Cabinet. The Senate blue ribbon committee, then headed by Sen. Joker Arroyo (since deceased), opined that the Piatco deal was void. A group that Perfecto Yasay Jr. lawyered for opposed Alvarez’s confirmation as transportation secretary; it brought to light that a very lucrative (and overpriced) contract for excavation was awarded to Wintrack, a company of which Emelita Alvarez (Alvarez’s wife) was part-owner.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Piatco contract was void ab initio. And that’s when the fun began, because Piatco and Fraport brought their case to Washington (ICSID) and Singapore (ICC). This is where Sereno comes into the picture.

He followed it this week with an “I will impeach them” (the two ladies) rant. Considering that Congress has found the impeachment charges against Sereno sufficient in substance, in spite of her excellent and evidence-supported answer to the charges, this column will deal with the charge that Mr. Duterte picked to demonstrate Sereno’s supposed corruptionâ€"the Piatco case.

I have written about the case involving Piatco (Philippine International Air Transport Co. Inc.) several times over the years. The earliest column on it was in 2002â€"yes, 15 years ago. And yes, Piatco, a build-operate-transfer project to build Naia 3, is practically synonymous with corruption at the highest levels of government. Name it, and it almost certainly was done: contracts with the government signed without going through the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee); additional contracts making the terms more onerous for the government, again signed without ICC approval; lack of required financial capacity on the part of Piatco. Also: German partner Fraport pretending that it had only 30 percent equity but in truth had put in almost 60 percent, deals with contractors amazingly overpriced, consultants enormously overpaid, etc., etc., resulting in huge cost overruns.

GET REAL

Du30’s case against Sereno

Solita Collas-Monsod
Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 07, 2017

Reader, here is the link to the rant of the President in Davao last week against Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang: https://pcoo.gov.ph/presidential_speech/speech-president-rodrigo-roa-duterte-installation-new-officers-induction-new-members-integrated-bar-philippines-ibp-davao-city-chapter/. Watch him, read the transcript. Then wonder about the man’s soundness.

I don’t know why he included Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in this 46-minute “discussion” studded with around 50 censored and asterisked remarks. He then invited the two of them to resign with himâ€"Morales for “selective justice” and corruption (forgetting that she just recently filed a case against P-Noy), and Sereno for corruption in the Piatco case. He asserted that she did not include in her statement of assets and liabilities her fees from the case.

maoy akong sabot kay maoy kinaduolan sa english translation.

"ARSA strongly encourages all concerned humanitarian actors resume their humanitarian assistance to all victims of the humanitarian crisis, irrespective of ethnic or religious background during the ceasefire period," the group said in a statement, adding that it calls on Myanmar's military to also temporarily lay down arms.

According to the International Crisis group, the ARSA has ties to Rohingya living in Saudi Arabia.

The Myanmar government formally categorised the group as a "terrorist" organisation on August 25.


Source: Al Jazeera

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/

The statement also said: "We […] declare loud and clear that our defensive attacks have only been aimed at the oppressive Burmese regime in accordance with international norms and principles until our demands are fulfilled."

The group has claimed responsibility for an attack on police posts and an army base in Rakhine State. According to the government nearly 400 people were killed, the majority of whom were members of the ARSA. Rights groups, however, say hundreds of civilians have been killed by security forces.

Rights group Fortify Rights said it has documented that fighters with the ARSA "are also accused of killing civilians - suspected government 'informants' - in recent days and months, as well as preventing men and boys from flee Maungdaw Township".

On September 9, the group declared a month-long unilateral ceasefire in Rakhine to enable aid groups to address the humanitarian crisis in the area.

What is the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army?

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), formerly known as the al-Yaqeen Faith Movement, released a statement under its new name in March 2017, saying it was obligated to "defend, salvage and protect [the] Rohingya community".

The group said it would do so "with our best capacities as we have the legitimate right under international law to defend ourselves in line with the principle of self defence".

The group is considered a "terrorist" organisation by the Myanmar government.

In its March statement, the ARSA added that it does "not associate with any terrorist group across the world" and does "not commit any form of terrorism against any civilians regardless of their religious and ethnic origin".

UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein urged Myanmar to end its "brutal security operation" against the Rohingya in Rakhine, calling it a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Both UN officials said they completely supported the findings of the advisory commission, led by Kofi Annan, and urged the government to fulfil its recommendations.

Human Rights Watch warned that Myanmar's government risked getting bracketed with "pariah states" like North Korea and Syria if it did not allow the UN to investigate alleged crimes.

In response to the latest round of violence, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the risk of ethnic cleansing, calling on Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's security forces to end the violence.

In early September, Guterres also warned of a looming "humanitarian catastrophe" if the violence does not end.

In March, the UN adopted a resolution to set up an independent, international mission to investigate the alleged abuses. It stopped short of calling for a Commission of Inquiry, the UN's highest level of investigation.

The UN investigators must provide a verbal update in September and a full report next year on their findings.

Rights groups have criticised the government's reluctance to accept the UN investigators.

What does the international community say about the Rohingya?

The international community has labelled the Rohingya the "most persecuted minority in the world".

The UN, as well as several rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have consistently decried the treatment of the Rohingya by Myanmar and neighbouring countries.

The UN has said that it is "very likely" that the military committed grave human rights abuses in Rakhine that may amount to war crimes, allegations the government denies.

She said that Bangladesh would offer the refugees temporary shelter and aid, but that Myanmar should soon "take their nationals back".

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have told Al Jazeera that the government's aid thus far as been inadequate, with many saying they haven't received any kind of government help.

Refugees in Bangladesh have been banned from leaving the overcrowded border areas. Police check posts and surveillance have been set up in key transit points from stop Rohingya from travelling to other parts of the country.

Rights groups have decried the proposal, saying the island completely floods during monsoon season. The UN also called the forced relocation "very complex and controversial".

Most recently, Bangladesh's foreign minister labelled the violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar "a genocide". The country's National Commission for Human Rights also said it was considering "pressing for a trial against Myanmar, and against the Myanmar army at an international tribunal" on charges of genocide.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited a Rohingya refugee camp in September and called on the UN and the international community to pressure Myanmar's government to allow the return of hundreds of thousands Rohingya refugees.

What does Bangladesh say about the Rohingya?


There are more than half a million Rohingya refugees living in mostly makeshift camps in Bangladesh. The majority remain unregistered.

Bangladesh considers most of those who have crossed its borders and are living outside of camps as having "illegally infiltrated" the country. Bangladesh has often tried to prevent Rohingya refugees from crossing its border.

In late January, the country resurrected a plan to relocate tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to a remote island that is prone to flooding and has also been called "uninhabitable" by rights groups. Under the plan, which was originally introduced in 2015, authorities would move undocumented Myanmar nationals to Thengar Char in the Bay of Bengal.

The government has often restricted access to northern Rakhine States for journalists and aid workers. Aung San Suu Kyi's office has also accused aid groups of helping those it considers to be "terrorists".

In January, Yanghee Lee, a UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said she was denied access to certain parts of Rakhine and was only allowed to speak to Rohingya who had been pre-approved by the government.

The country has also denied visas to members of a UN probe investigating the violence and alleged abuses in Rakhine.

On the latest round of violence, Aung San Suu Kyi condemned a "huge iceberg of misinformation" on the crisis, without mentioning the Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh.

On September 19, she gave a televised address, condemning "all human rights violations" in Rakhine. 

She said that Myanmar was ready "at any time" to verify the status of those who have fled the violence in the last month. She did not specify who would be qualified to return and did not elaborate on how the verification process would work.

Her speech was criticised by Rohingya refugees, as well as activists who accused her government of "burying their heads in the sand".

Annan was not given the mandate to investigate specific cases of human rights abuses, but rather one for long-term economic development, education and healthcare.

When setting up the commission, Aung San Suu Kyi's government said it would abide by its findings. The commission urged the government to end the highly militarised crackdown on neighbourhoods where Rohingya live, as well as scrap restrictions on movement and citizenship.

Following the release of the August report, the government welcomed the commission's recommendations and said it would give the report "full consideration with the view to carrying out the recommendations to the fullest extent ... in line with the situation on the ground".

The government has also repeatedly rejected accusations of abuses. In February 2017, the UN published a report that found that government troops "very likely" committed crimes against humanity since renewed military crackdowns began in October 2016.

At the time, the government did not directly address the findings of the report and said it had the "the right to defend the country by lawful means" against "increasing terrorist activities", adding that a domestic investigation was enough.

In September 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi entrusted former UN chief Kofi Annan with finding ways to heal the long-standing divisions in the region. While many welcomed the commission and its findings, which were released this August, Azeem Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy, argued it was just a way for Aung San Suu Kyi to "pacify the global public opinion and try to demonstrate to the international community that she is doing what she can to resolve the issue".

What do Aung San Suu Kyi and the Myanmar government say about the Rohingya?

State Chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the de facto leader of Myanmar, has refused to really discuss the plight of the Rohingya.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her government do not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group and have blamed violence in Rakhine, and subsequent military crackdowns, on those they call "terrorists".

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate does not have control over the military but has been criticised for her failure to condemn indiscriminate force used by troops, as well as to stand up for the rights of the more than one million Rohingya in Myanmar.

Many Rohingya also risked their lives trying to get to Malaysia by boat across the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Between 2012 and 2015, more than 112,000 made the dangerous journey.

Prior to the violence that began in August, the UN estimated that there are as many as 420,000 Rohingya refugees in Southeast Asia. Additionally, it said there were around 120,000 internally displaced Rohingya.

Since the violence in Myanmar's northwest began, more than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, UNHCR said. It added that more than 1,000 people, mostly Rohingya, may have been killed in Myanmar.

How many Rohingya have fled Myanmar and where have they gone?

Since the late 1970s, nearly one million Rohingya have fled Myanmar due to widespread persecution.

According to the most recently available data from the United Nations in May, more than 168,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 2012.

Following violence that broke out last year, more than 87,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from October 2016 to July 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration.


AFP

Residents and activists have described scenes of troops firing indiscriminately at unarmed Rohingya men, women and children. The government, however, has said nearly 100 people were killed after armed men from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) launched a raid on police outposts in the region.

Since the violence erupted, rights groups have documented fires burning in at least 10 areas of Myanmar's Rakhine State. More than 500,000 people have fled the violence, with thousands trapped in a no-man's land between the two countries, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

The UN has also said that hundreds of civilians who have tried to enter Bangladesh have been pushed back by patrols. Many have also been detained and forcibly returned to Myanmar.


Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as an ethnic group [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]

After the killings of nine border police in October 2016, troops started pouring into villages in Rakhine State. The government blamed what it called fighters from an armed Rohingya group. The killings led to a security crackdown on villages where Rohingya lived. During the crackdown, government troops were accused of an array of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killing, rape and arson - allegations the government denied.

In November 2016, a UN official accused the government of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of the Rohingya. It was not the first time such an accusation has been made.

In April 2013, for example, HRW said Myanmar was conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. The government has consistently denied such accusations.

Most recently, Myanmar's military has imposed a crackdown on the country's Rohingya population after police posts and an army base were attacked in late August.


A Rohingya refugee from Myanmar's Rakhine state holds a baby at a camp in Bangladesh. K M Asad / AFP / Getty Images

In 1982, a new citizenship law was passed, which effectively rendered the Rohingya stateless. Under the law, Rohingya were again not recognised as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups. The law established three levels of citizenship. In order to obtain the most basic level (naturalised citizenship), there must be proof that the person's family lived in Myanmar prior to 1948, as well as fluency in one of the national languages. Many Rohingya lack such paperwork because it was either unavailable or denied to them.

As a result of the law, their rights to study, work, travel, marry, practice their religion and access health services have been and continue to be restricted. The Rohingya cannot vote and even if they jump through the citizenship test hoops, they have to identify as "naturalised" as opposed to Rohingya, and limits are placed on them entering certain professions like medicine, law or running for office.

Since the 1970s, a number of crackdowns on the Rohingya in Rakhine State have forced hundreds of thousands to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, as well as Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. During such crackdowns, refugees have often reported rape, torture, arson and murder by Myanmar security forces.


Smoke billows above what is believed to be a burning village in Myanmar's Rakhine state. K.m. Asad / AFP / Getty Images

How and why are they being persecuted? And why aren't they recognised?

Shortly after Myanmar's independence from the British in 1948, the Union Citizenship Act was passed, defining which ethnicities could gain citizenship. According to a 2015 report by the International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, the Rohingya were not included. The act, however, did allow those whose families had lived in Myanmar for at least two generations to apply for identity cards.

Rohingya were initially given such identification or even citizenship under the generational provision. During this time, several Rohingya also served in parliament.

After the 1962 military coup in Myanmar, things changed dramatically for the Rohingya. All citizens were required to obtain national registration cards. The Rohingya, however, were only given foreign identity cards, which limited the jobs and educational opportunities they could pursue and obtain.


PHOTO: Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have poured across the border into Bangladesh. (AP: Bernat Armangue)

The migration of labourers was viewed negatively by the majority of the native population.

After independence, the government viewed the migration that took place during British rule as "illegal, and it is on this basis that they refuse citizenship to the majority of Rohingya," HRW said in a 2000 report.

This has led many Buddhists to consider the Rohingya to be Bengali, rejecting the term Rohingya as a recent invention, created for political reasons.


Unidentified men carrying knives and slingshots walk past a burning village near Maungdaw in Rakhine state, on 7 September, 2017. Many Rohingya have died trying to flee the fighting, not making it to the refugee camps in Bangladesh CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Where are the Rohingya from?

Muslims have lived in the area now known as Myanmar since as early as the 12th century, according to many historians and Rohingya groups.

The Arakan Rohingya National Organisation has said, "Rohingyas have been living in Arakan from time immemorial," referring to the area now known as Rakhine.

During the more than 100 years of British rule (1824-1948), there was a significant amount of migration of labourers to what is now known as Myanmar from today's India and Bangladesh. Because the British administered Myanmar as a province of India, such migration was considered internal, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).


The UN has called the current exodus of Rohingya 'the most urgent refugee emergency in the world' [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]

The Rohingya speak Rohingya or Ruaingga, a dialect that is distinct to others spoken in Rakhine State and throughout Myanmar. They are not considered one of the country's 135 official ethnic groups and have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982, which has effectively rendered them stateless.

Nearly all of the Rohingya in Myanmar live in the western coastal state of Rakhine and are not allowed to leave without government permission. It is one the poorest states in the country with ghetto-like camps and a lack of basic services and opportunities.

Due to ongoing violence and persecution, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighbouring countries either by land or boat over the course of many decades.

28 SEPTEMBER 2017

Myanmar: Who are the Rohingya?

Why are the more than one million Rohingya in Myanmar considered the 'world's most persecuted minority'?


More than 480,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the end of August [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera Staff

Who are the Rohingya?

The Rohingya are often described as "the world's most persecuted minority".

They are an ethnic group, majority of whom are Muslim, who have lived for centuries in the majority Buddhist Myanmar. Currently, there are about 1.1 million Rohingya who live in the Southeast Asian country.

Quote from: islander on October 05, 2017, 12:48:31 PM

4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words. Look out for the expansive use of “terrorism” and “extremism.” Be alive to the fatal notions of “exception” and “emergency.” Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

omg.

20. Be a patriot. The incoming president is not. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

Timothy Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University. He is also the author of Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning.

http://inthesetimes.com/

19. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die in unfreedom.

18. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)

17. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.

16. Learn from others in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present difficulties here are an element of a general trend.  And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

15. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware. Remember that email is skywriting.  Consider using alternative forms of the Internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble.   Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too many hooks.

14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can. Pick a charity and set up autopay. Then you will know that you have made a free choice that is supporting civil society helping others doing something good.

13. Hinder the one-party state. The parties that took over states were once something else. They exploited a historical moment to make political life impossible for their rivals. Vote in local and state elections while you can.

12. Take responsibility for the face of the world. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

11. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down unnecessary social barriers, and come to understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

10. Practice corporeal politics. Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.

9. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on your screen is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate foreign propaganda pushes.

8. Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.

7. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy, in words and deeds, to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

6. Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don't use the Internet before bed. Charge your gadgets away from your bedroom, and read.) What to read? Perhaps The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel, 1984 by George Orwell, The Captive Mind by CzesÅ,aw Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus, The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev.

5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don't fall for it.

4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words. Look out for the expansive use of “terrorism” and “extremism.” Be alive to the fatal notions of “exception” and “emergency.” Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

3. Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.

2. Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf.  Institutions don't protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.

1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You've already done this, haven't you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.

TIMOTHY SNYDER, a history professor, looks to the past to remind us to do what we can in the face of the unthinkable.

Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are 20 lessons from across the fearful 20th century, adapted to the circumstances of today.

sooner than later, please.

this is reassuring.

With even just a few observations of gravitational waves, the LIGO measurements have already perplexed scientists. Prior to 2016, astronomers thought that there were two classes of black holes: stellar-class black holes, with masses no more than about 10 times that of our sun, and massive, monstrous black holes at the center of galaxies with masses in the range of hundreds of thousands to billions of solar masses.

Black holes with masses in the range of 30 solar masses or so were unexpected. And yet, that's just what LIGO (and now LIGO plus Virgo) have observed.

If history teaches us anything, it's that a new telescope means we should expect the unexpected. Studying gravitational waves will teach us something that can't be observed in any other way. There's no way to know what we'll learn. But I am positive that it will be fascinating.

Dr. Don Lincoln, a senior physicist at Fermilab, does research using the Large Hadron Collider. He is the author of "The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Stuff That Will Blow Your Mind," and produces a series of science education videos. Follow him on Facebook. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

http://edition.cnn.com/

So why are gravitational wave observatories interesting?
Well, the simplest answer is that they can verify that Einstein's theory of general relativity is right, but that's actually not a very satisfying one. There have already been many other tests of general relativity, including the simple fact that the GPS on your phone would simply not work if the theory were not correct.

A better answer involves astronomy. Black holes are just that -- black. They are the corpses of dead stars, so massive and compact that not even light can escape them. They literally cannot be seen, and before LIGO came online, their existence could only be inferred by their gravitational effect on their neighbors or because of light (often X-rays) emitted by hot gas falling into the black hole.

But an isolated black hole is invisible. It interacts via gravity and, even then, it only emits gravitational radiation when it is moving. So detectors like LIGO or Virgo are the only way to see them. They are essentially black hole telescopes.

In February 2016, the first direct observation of gravitational waves was made using just the two LIGO detectors, followed by a second announcement in June 2016. Because Virgo was undergoing an extensive upgrade, it was not operating during these first observations.

Virgo's upgrades were completed and the facility became operational August 1, and thus it also recorded the gravitational waves of August 14.

The addition of a third facility is an enormous improvement in capability. Like seismographs on Earth, gravitational wave detectors are non-directional and individually cannot determine the location from which the gravitational waves originated. However, by employing multiple detectors and carefully recording the arrival time of gravitational waves at each detector, scientists can triangulate and vastly improve the directional precision of the measurement.

By including Virgo with the two LIGO measurements, scientists' measurements of the location in the sky from which the waves originated was improved tenfold. A proposed additional facility in India called Indigo that is an exact copy of the LIGO equipment will result in an even greater improvement if it is built.

Gravitational waves occur when the fabric of space and time are distorted by the movement of large masses. Their existence was predicted in 1916 by Albert Einstein. In this announcement, black holes with the masses of 31 and 25 solar masses merged into a larger black hole with a mass 53 times that of our sun.

For that brief instant, the gravitational energy emitted by that collision outshined all of the light emitted by all the galaxies throughout the known universe. After traveling for about 1.8 billion light years, the death scream of these two ancient stars passed through the Earth.

On August 14, three detectors recorded the passage of these gravitational waves. Two detectors in the United States -- one in Hanford, Washington, and the other in Livingston, Louisiana -- are called the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. The other detector, located near Pisa, Italy, is called Virgo.

All three detectors are L-shaped, with each leg being about two miles long. Using lasers and mirrors, these phenomenal pieces of scientific equipment are able to measure tiny changes in the length of the legs of the detectors and identify the passage of gravitational waves.

New detectors reveal a cosmic calamity

By Don Lincoln
October 1, 2017



(CNN) Every time a new telescope has been turned on, we have learned something fundamental about our universe.
Galileo's first telescope saw the moons of Jupiter and forever destroyed the idea that the Earth was at the center of the universe. Edwin Hubble used the Mount Wilson Observatory in 1917 to show that other galaxies exist and that the Milky Way was but one of many.

The Vela satellites orbiting the Earth in the 1960s were designed to detect the gamma rays that accompany a nuclear explosion. They worked for that purpose, but they also discovered gamma ray bursts from space, which was eventually identified as the explosion of a star so violent that they could be seen across the entire universe.

Wednesday, scientists made a momentous announcement resulting from the latest form of "telescopes" -- detectors of gravitational waves. What they revealed is the observation of a cosmic calamity.

Literally a long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, two black holes, locked for eons in a dance of death, finally slammed into one another. Over the course of a few milliseconds, energy equivalent to the mass of three stars the size of our sun was released as gravitational waves that roared across the cosmos.

Frida’s skills are applied not only in Mexico. Salinas said she was in Ecuador during the earthquake of April 2016.

By Thursday afternoon at the school in Mexico City, officials said that all children had been accounted for, but that one person might still be alive and trapped inside.

That means there's still a chance Frida could be sent to find out.



http://www.latimes.com/

Salinas said the dogs are selected for service at 2 months old. They receive training that determines whether they will go into detection of narcotics, explosives or people.

For detection of people, the training starts by throwing toys such as balls. Once the dog gets used to fetching, the trainer begins running with the toy in hand.

"They start associating the smell of the person with the reward of the ball," he said, adding that they train for about 3 hours a day for a year before being sent out to disaster sites.

Salinas said that because of Frida’s age, Evil and Echo, who are a year and a half old, usually go into collapsed buildings first. If they detect a person, Frida follows up to confirm. She usually spends no more than 20 minutes inside.

Salinas said they bark if they detect signs of life. If they find a corpse, they stop suddenly, then carefully proceed.

"They act afraid," he said. "That indicates to us that there is a cadaver."

He said the spaces that Frida and the other dogs have had to search are less than 20 inches high. In some places, the dogs had to crawl, getting much deeper into the rubble than rescuers could.


A Sept. 13, 2017, tweet shows Frida, a member of the Mexican navy's Canine Unit. Frida has taken part in search and rescue efforts after the latest quake in Mexico. (@SEMAR_mx / @SEMAR_mx)

When Frida’s story went viral this week, many people confused the exact details of her rescues, with some thinking that all 52 people were alive or that all 52 people were detected during the Mexico City earthquake.

Frida was dispatched Tuesday to the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen school, where 11 children were found alive and 25 people, including 19 children, were found dead. Other emergency workers found them.

On Thursday afternoon, she napped in a break room with two Belgian Malinois colleagues, Evil and Echo. Frida’s handler, Israel Arauz Salinas, said she had suffered from exhaustion after searching the school Wednesday. But he said she was back in good spirits Thursday after drinking water with electrolytes and getting some rest.

Here’s what some of her fans say:

“She should rest a little. She has worked a lot. God take care of you, your work is not easy.”

“Frida for president.”

“Now you know why they say that dogs are man’s best friend.”

Someone even suggested she replace the painter Diego Rivera on the 500-peso note:

Now her handlers in Mexico City are hoping she will find survivors of Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake, which killed more than 270 people in five states. The quake’s epicenter was in the state of Puebla, about 80 miles southeast of the capital.

Fifteen dogs have been deployed to search for people in Mexico City, but none have as many Twitter admirers as Frida. The navy tweeted a collage of photos of Frida last week, announcing her 52 rescues to the social media world. It got more than 4,000 retweets and nearly 7,000 likes. People called her a symbol of hope, a hero and offered to send her more boots to keep her paws safe. (She and the other rescue dogs have enough.)

Meet Frida, the valiant Lab who's saved a dozen lives in Mexico


One of Mexico’s most beloved rescuers wears wide protective goggles, a harness and two pairs of boots. (Sept. 22, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)

by Andrea Castillo
September 21, 2017

One of Mexico’s most beloved rescuers wears wide protective goggles, a harness and two pairs of boots.

Frida is the star of the Mexican navy’s Canine Unit. Throughout her career, the 7-year-old Labrador has detected 52 people â€" 12 alive â€" in various natural disasters.

She detected the body of a police officer in Juchitan after an earthquake hit the state of Oaxaca two weeks ago.

what a great dog! yipeeee!

from PCIJ, something for journalists that i find interesting.

Informed and ready

IF FACED with a libel charge, especially if intended to harass and silence critical reports, it would be wise for journalists to take note of the following:

1. Familiarize yourself with the Philippine libel law, including previous court rulings on libel. Also knowing how the legal system works would help you know what to expect and how to deal with the labyrinth called the Philippine judicial system.

2. Know in advance the lawyers who can help you, particularly those who have handled libel cases before. You may also want to get somebody with extensive experience on human rights or media law.

3. If a libel complaint against you has been filed with the prosecutor, file a counter-affidavit stating your good intentions and justifiable motives for writing the article concerned. And the complainant files a reply, then be ready with your own rejoinder.

4. If the prosecutor resolves the complaint in favor of the complainant, you may want to file a Petition for Review with the justice department.

5. The bail for libel case is P10,000 for every count. Have the amount ready if you feel that the prosecutor will decide against you. Once you learn that a warrant has been issued, you can go and post bail, together with your lawyer, without waiting for the warrant to be served. It may also be practical to get a copy of the form for posting bail in advance. Find out in advance as well where you need to post the bail, especially if the warrant is served after the end of the business hours. The point is not to spend a minute in jail and having the form ready and knowing where to go would save time.

6. While the legal steps are important, sometimes extra-legal actions go a long way in pressuring the complainant to withdraw or create a condition that would lead to a favorable decision.

7. Mobilize media organizations for support â€" local ones like the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and Center for Media Freedom and responsibility, international ones like SEAPA, Article XIX, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Sans Frontieres.

8. If convicted by a trial court, don’t forget that you only have 15 days to file an appeal with the higher courts.

http://pcij.org/blog/

Aguirre’s kin

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, meanwhile, declared a net worth of P37,632,069.77 as of December 2016, but PCIJ has not received from Malacañang a copy of his June 2016 SALN.

Aguirre’s filing stands out for the number of his relatives in government: 13 in all, including the Mayor and a councilor in Mulanay, Quezon. He has a sister working as an election officer in Mauban, Quezon; another sister, a sister-in-law, five first cousins, and a niece all working in Mulanay town; two first cousins-in-law and an aunt employed in three other Quezon towns; and a bilas or in-law, Victor Uy, who works as his executive assistant at the Justice department.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, in his SALNs that enroll just one data field redacted in each â€" his home address â€" showed a P3.4-million increase in his net worth, or from P24,080,094.04 in June 2016 to P27,428,862.44 in December 2016.

PCIJ obtained copies of Duterte’s SALNs from the Office of the Ombudsman, hence its singular redacted data entry. â€" PCIJ, September 2017

http://pcij.org/

Dominguez also declared three categories of “personal and other properties,” notably cash and financial instruments; jewelry, art, vehicles, and other collectibles; and shares of stocks and advances. Altogether, he said that his personal and other assets grew in value from P270.03 million as of June 2016, to a redacted, hence secret, amount in December 2016.

Dominguez said that from 1983 to 2016, he has had business interests and financial connections in 26 entities (as of June 2016), and in 27 entities (as of December 2016), with at most two entities dropped or added in each.

In four, he said that he serves as shareholder, director, and treasurer; in three others as shareholder and advancer; in three more as member; and one each for “shareholder, director, and advancer,” advancer, beneficial owner, director, and preferred shareholder. For the other 12 entities, Dominguez said that he serves as shareholder.

Dominguez’s dough

The rise and fall of the values enrolled in the redacted and unredacted SALNs are rather difficult to track. This much is true in the case of Finance Secretary Dominguez, whose SALNs for June 2016 and December 2016 showed the largest net increase.

In both SALNs, he declared zero liabilities but also an identical list of real assets, personal and other properties, and slight changes in the entities in which he has business interests and financial connections.

Dominguez declared the same list of nine residential, agricultural, and commercial real properties that he acquired or inherited but marked a P5.5-million increase in their combined values. He said that he had real assets in Davao del Sur; Davao City; Tuguegarao, Cagayan; Sta. Maria, Bulacan; and one in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. that he reportedly acquired in 2001 at a cost of P51,975,720, as of his June 2016 SALN.

An uptick in the net worth of two other secretaries occurred over longer periods of time.

Across a seven-year period, a fantastic P21,956,632.23-increase was recorded in the net worth of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, or from P3,643,000 in the SALN he filed as of Dec. 31, 2009, to P25,599,632.23 in his latest SALN as of Dec. 31, 2016.

PCIJ also noted a modest P2,650,000-increase in the net worth of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, or from P12,800,000 in the SALN he filed as of December 2008 to P15,450,000 in his latest SALN as of December 2016.

Both Piñol and Bello are allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Both skipped public service for some years, hence PCIJ has no SALN copies for them in the intervening years.

Salalima’s net dips

In contrast, newly resigned Information and Communications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salima, who was a telco executive for a long time, showed an unexplained decline in wealth from June to December 2016. He entered public service with a net worth of P311,370,739.26, but this dipped to P304,961,439.91 by December 2016, a decrease of P6,409,299.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, the wealthiest of the Duterte Cabinet members, declared a net worth of P1.41-billion in his December 2016 SALN. Only these sums of his SALN entries have not been redacted: P134.9-million in real properties, P1.29-billion in “other real and personal properties”; and liabilities of only P14.5 million.

• A P1.9-million increase in the net worth of Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, or from 300,069,263 in June 2016 to P301,999,204.00 in December 2016.

• A P1.6-million increase in the net worth of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, or from P161,089,000 in July 2016 to P162,701,642 in December 2016.

• A P1.56-million increase in the net worth of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, or from P18,254,429 in June 2016 to P19,814,429.00 in December 2016.

• A lean P100,000 increase in the net worth of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, or from P22,145,000 in June 2016 to P22,245,000 in December 2016.

By PCIJ’s review, the SALNs without redactions and with redactions of 10 Cabinet secretaries showed net-worth increases of P100,000 to nearly P30 million across the six-month period:

• A hefty P29,753,018-increase â€" or about P5 million a month â€" in the net worth of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez, or from P322,106,265 in June 2016 to P351,859,283 in December 2016.

• A P9,906,155-increase in the net worth of Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, or from P95,525,450 in July 2016 to P105,431,605.52 in December 2016.

• A P5.225-million increase in the net worth of Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, or from P147,047,869.19 in June 2016 to P152,272,523.19, as of December 2016;

• A P4,673,599-increase in the net worth of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, or from P35,371,280.95 in June 2016 to P40,044,880.07 in December 2016.

Net worth rise

But a comparison of the sums alone showed multimillion-peso increases in the net worth that certain Cabinet secretaries had declared, across the six-month interval between June 30 and December 31, 2016.

How they managed to do that, despite modest lawful incomes in government, and rules on conflict of interest that bar them from earning fat sums outside of public service, is the big mystery.

Without any clear explanation offered by the redacted SALNs, such significant upticks in net worth constitute unexplained wealth per se or by itself, according to lawyers of the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Unexplained wealth, redacted?

Malou Mangahas
SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2017

TO REDACT or not to redact.

Which could avoid or attract scrutiny and censure?

Redactions are not the only issue that could arise if public officials would shade or black out the true, detailed, and complete facts of their wealth.

Big and small discrepancies in the content of SALNs they have filed across periods of time could trigger more serious questions. Unexplained wealth, for one.

PCIJ has secured the SALNs that most of the same Cabinet members had filed as of June 30, 2016 â€" whence they entered public service as Duterte’s appointees. These had not been redacted at all.

Next came the SALNs they filed as of December 2016 that were shotful of shaded or blacked-out items, thus showing only the sums of their assets, liabilities, and net worth.

China still has to process the “apparent change of heart” of the Duterte administration, he added, which is far different from the stance taken by the previous government.

“So much of the heavy meetings is really all about confidence building,” Kraft said.

http://verafiles.org/

She noted as an example how a past joint venture attempt between China and neighboring country Japan failed because the Chinese government was “severely criticized by the public,” thinking of Japan as an enemy.

Baviera said China’s security interests now focus on internal affairs like threats of terrorism, more than the maritime dispute.

“Internal issues are now preoccupying the leadership, so it’s not a good time to engage in any external adventure,” she said.

Kraft said the trust level has not changed, noting that there is still “more suspicion than trust” between China and the Philippines.

Batongbacal, however, noted that the Philippines should be transparent in its dealings, saying “the more opaque it is, the more it will make a controversy.”

Cooperation through agreements can only do so much, and will always be overturned when a state’s national interest comes in, UP political science professor Herman Kraft said.

“National interest will trump any desire to cooperate,” he added.

Baviera said joint developments have ramifications for both countries, particularly on how China agreeing to a joint development “already makes them vulnerable.”

The document, he said, must be fixed with standard terms, and with clear and transparent basis between the government and a private contractor.

For the joint venture to be lawful, Lucio Pitlo III, a Chinese studies professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, said Chinese companies may be encouraged to partner with local companies.

He added commercial agreements are a better option, as such are easier to implement than those between governments, which are always under public scrutiny.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio had said on several occasions that the joint development violates the Constitution, saying areas in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone “should be for the enjoyment and exploitation exclusively of Filipinos alone.”

Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution states that “the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the State.”

If joint development is to be pursued, Batongbacal said the provision “under the full control and supervision of the state” rule must be satisfied, and that only happens if a proper treaty is signed.

There is an underlying assumption that the countries acknowledge the other’s rights, UP Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea director Jay Batongbacal said.

He added that if the dispute persists “despite the entitlements,” the Philippines may either insist on the award or ignore it.

“We’re faced with a choice of sticking to the rule of law basically and insisting on it...or taking the more pragmatic route of ignoring the award or at least not making it the basis for our subsequent explorations,” he said, noting that the latter “might be a hard pill to swallow.”

On July 12, 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal ruled China’s claim to the resources in South China Sea had “no legal basis,” rendering its nine-dash line invalid.

President Rodrigo Duterte had set the decision aside and gave the go signal for Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to pursue joint developments with China.

A joint development is an agreement between two or more states to jointly develop and exploit resources in a disputed area to avoid suspension of economic development, which happens when private companies hesitate to pursue development in a disputed area.

Maritime experts cautious over planned joint development with China

ARIANNE CHRISTIAN TAPAO
SEPTEMBER 23, 2017


Experts weigh in on the prospects and challenges of the Philippines' planned joint development with China.

The Philippine government insists that joint development with Beijing in the disputed waters of the South China Sea is the better option, but experts here believe Manila should instead stick to the letter and spirit of the Arbitral Court award last year.

Describing the maritime situation as “complex,” UP Asian studies professor Aileen Baviera, at a forum at the University of the Philippines on Sept 22, said the Philippines shouldn’t be rushing into a joint venture with China.

“This is a time to sort of hold our horses, push as much as we can still on the arbitration award, because this is what we have that’s clear and solid. So why bring in the joint development at this time?” she said at the forum, "Philippines and China in the year after the SCS Arbitration: Options and Obstacles for Joint Development."

giabot ug kauwaw?

Interpol will include ‘State of Palestine’ as agency member

Associated Press
September 27, 2017



PARIS â€" International police agency Interpol has voted to include the “State of Palestine” as a member, in a new boost to Palestinian efforts for international recognition.

Interpol announced the inclusion of the “State of Palestine” as well as the Solomon Islands on Twitter and its website Wednesday after a vote by its general assembly in Beijing.

With the new votes, Interpol will have 192 member countries. Interpol didn’t immediately announce how many members supported Palestinian membership. UNESCO also approved Palestinian membership, prompting the U.S. and Israel to suspend funding out of protest.

Interpol, based in Lyon, France, is an international clearinghouse for arrest warrants and police cooperation against cross-border crime.

http://nypost.com/

On May 20, the state-run Philippine News Agency ran a fake news report claiming 95 countries in the UPR were convinced that there were no extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. Wrong.

On May 8, Foreign Affairs Secretary Cayetano, who represented the Philippines at the UPR, told the UN President Duterte “has a policy of zero tolerance for abuse of law enforcers.” Wrong.

Sources:

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Human Rights Council adopts Universal Periodic Review outcomes of Philippines, Algeria and Poland

OHCHR, Basic facts about the UPR

United Nations General Assembly, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Philippines

United Nations Human Rights Council, Philippines response to UN Human Rights Council recommendations in the 3rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines, 8 May 2017

First Draft, Fake news. It’s complicated.

Interview with Lauro Baja, former Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Interview with Ruben Carranza, Director, Reparative Justice Program, International Center for Transitional Justice

(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative.)

http://verafiles.org/

BACKSTORY

The DFA and PCOO fake news, by VERA Files’ count, is the fourth time the Philippine government has spread fake content around the UPR and the country’s human rights situation.

On Sept. 13, a DFA media release claimed that, “Many UN Member States, especially those from ASEAN and developing countries, expressed support for the efforts of the Philippines to address the drug menace.” Wrong.

“Fake news,” more than being just news, is about the mis- and disinformation ecosystem, noted First Draft, a nonprofit coalition formed “to raise awareness and address challenges relating to trust and truth in the digital age.”

First Draft lists misleading content and false context among the types of fake content, and partisanship, political influence and propaganda among the motivations for fake content creation.

Nongovernment organizations, which are allowed to submit information for consideration during the UPR review, also spoke.

Among the statements, unanimous and overwhelming in raising concern about the human rights situation in the Philippines, are:

*Save the Children International, in a joint statement with International Volunteerism Organization for Women, Education and Development: Concerned that the war on drugs campaign of the Government had claimed the lives of 54 children.

*Franciscans International: Concerned about the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the Philippines.

*Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Barely five months since the Government presented its report, parts of the country had become a virtual inferno, with incessant bombings by the military in Marawi and brutal killings by the police every day.

Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council adopts Universal Periodic Review outcomes of Philippines, Algeria and Poland

More disinformation: that the Philippine report was “overwhelmingly adopted,” per DFA, or there was “unanimous adoption,” per PCOO.

Of the 14 countries that spoke during the adoption of the Philippine UPR outcome, at least four noted some issues:

*Sierra Leone: Efforts aimed at eradicating the abuse of illegal drugs should not be detrimental to fundamental human rights and freedoms.

*Sudan: Recommendation for the Philippines to accede to the Convention on Enforced Disappearances had not been accepted.

*United Kingdom: Regretted that its recommendations were not accepted by the Philippines; remained concerned about the high death toll associated with the campaign against illegal drugs and statements questioning the universality of human rights; continuing threats against human rights defenders were also of grave concern.

*United States: Remained concerned about ongoing reports of extrajudicial killings and called on the Philippines to ensure that investigations were conducted with respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Council adopts Universal Periodic Review outcomes of Philippines, Algeria and Poland

“It means the Philippines will NOT act on those recommendations,” said lawyer Ruben Carranza of the International Center for Transitional Justice in an online message.

“That isn't a victory; it is a loss â€" of credibility, of face, of any claim to being a human rights-fulfilling State on the part of the Philippines,” Carranza added.


Screenshot of the Sept. 23 DFA media release.

The UN Human Rights Council, in an email to VERA Files, said:

“The facts are: The Philippines received 257 recommendations, of which they have supported 103 (committed to implement or already underway), or 40%. The average amount of recommendations posed to each State during these reviews is approx. 200. On average 80% of these are supported by States.”

The Philippines described the recommendations it could not support as:

*“Beyond the sole control of any of the branches of the government”

*“Perceived to insinuate, advertently or inadvertently, that the State has not taken any action whatsoever on the concerns raised”

*“Sweeping, vague and even contradictory, especially in the context of the Philippines’ democratic processes”

Source: Philippines response to UN Human Rights Council recommendations

FACT

The DFA and PCOO media releases have made a mountain of the procedural adoption of the Philippine report.

“Lahat naman ng countries na nagre-report, ina-accept yung submission (All country reports that are submitted are accepted),” Lauro Baja, a former Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN, told VERA Files.

Calling this a “big victory” in Geneva, per DFA, or a UN “recognition” of the Philippine human rights record under Duterte, per PCOO, upends what has actually been a disappointing UPR outcome for the country relative to other UN member states.

The UPR is a process done every five years to review the human rights records of UN member states. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano presented the rights situation of the country in May.

The PCOO media release, indirectly quoting Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, further noted that:

“the unanimous adoption of the UPR Report in Geneva signifies the UN’s recognition of the country’s human rights record under the leadership of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.”

STATEMENT

A Sept. 23 DFA media release, titled “Phl wins recognition for human rights record, pledges continued progress,” read:

“The Philippines scored a big victory in Geneva today when the United Nations Human Rights Council overwhelmingly adopted Manila's human rights report card.”

Source: DFA, PHL Wins Recognition For Human Rights Record, Pledges Continued Progress

On the same day, the PCOO released a statement titled “Palace welcomes UN’s final and unanimous adoption of PH human rights report.” It said Malacañang:

“welcomed the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) final and unanimous adoption of the third Philippine Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Report, which reaffirms the government’s commitment to human rights protection.”

Source: PCOO, Palace welcomes UN’s final and unanimous adoption of PH human rights report

REPORTS, FACT-CHECK

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: DFA, PCOO spread fake news about outcome of PH human rights report at the UN

VERA FILES
SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

In separate media releases, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Communications Operations Office both spread fake news that misrepresented the outcome of the Philippine human rights report at the United Nations.


Screenshot of the Sept. 23 DFA media release.