Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte and the West

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Marawi battle video: Philippine Army releases incredible memoir on clashes with ISIS
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/marawi-battle-video-philippine-army-releases-incredible-memoir-clashes-isis/

On May 23, some 600 ISIS-inspired militants took control of most of Marawi in the southern Philippines after a surprise jihadist uprising by the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups prompted the Philippine Army and security forces to retreat from most of the city.

The following day, the military was ordered back into the city and began to deploy its elite assault formations in close-quarter combat with ISIS militants while airstrikes were called in from above to take out jihadist strong points.

Five months since the beginning of the insurgency, the Philippine Armed Forces finally declared full victory in Marawi while the leaders of the two aforementioned jihadist groups were eliminated.

Now, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has released unique footage showing the battle depicted from both sides of events:

Although Maute and Abu Sayyaf have suffered an undeniable defeat in Marawi, ISIS-aligned militants are still active elsewhere in the country, carrying out occasional ambushes and hit-and-run attacks on government forces.

MANILA: Seven Marines were injured in a roadside bomb explosion before dawn on Saturday in a village in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines.

Roadside bomb injures 7 Marines in southern Philippines
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1206441/world

This comes as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recommended the extension of martial law in Mindanao amid continued threats posed by militant groups such as the Daulah Islamiyah, the Maute Group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 5 were reportedly on patrol when a roadside bomb exploded.

The wounded Marines were rushed to hospital. Authorities have yet to identify the perpetrators.

AFP spokesman Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Maute remains a threat, although its capabilities and manpower have been significantly degraded.

“Those who survived (the Marawi) siege remain at large, and are attempting to recover by recruiting (others),” he said.

Padilla also cited an increase in violent acts perpetrated by communist rebels following President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration to formally end peace talks with the National Democratic Front, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.

“Increasing violence initiated by the left is something to watch out for, and something we have to prepare for and confront,” Padilla said.

Zia Alonto Adiong, Lanao Del Sur first district assemblyman, said Maute remains a threat despite Duterte declaring Marawi liberated from the Daesh-backed group.

“Peace and order have yet to be stabilized” in Marawi, he told Arab News. “If it requires martial law to be extended in order to guarantee the safety of our people and that recovery efforts won’t be interrupted, then let’s have it extended.”

Duterte placed Mindanao island under martial law on May 23, a day after the Marawi siege began. It is due to expire on Dec. 31.

 

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Fitch Ratings on Monday upgraded the Philippines’ sovereign credit rating, citing the nation’s strong economic performance and policies and pointing to no immediate impact on investment from President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.

Duterte: Fight against crime and corruption paying off Tuesday 12 December 2017
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1207486/world

Fitch, the first credit rating agency to raise the Philippines’ credit rating to investment grade in 2013, said investor confidence remains strong, as indicated by solid domestic demand and inflows of foreign direct investment.

“As such, there is no evidence so far that incidents of violence associated with the administration’s campaign against the illegal drug trade have undermined investor confidence,” it said in a statement.

Its upgrade to BBB from BBB- aligns the agency’s ratings on the Southeast Asian country with those of peers Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investor Services.

Although the Southeast Asian nation is among the fastest growing economies in Asia, some analysts had flagged risks Duterte’s war on drugs could pose to investment.

The Philippines has drawn international criticism for the killing of about 3,900 people in police anti-drugs operations since Duterte took power in June last year. But the police deny allegations by human rights advocates that many of the killings were executions.

A statement from Duterte’s office on Monday said the upgrade was an affirmation of the administration’s fight against crime and corruption.

Fitch‍ forecast real gross domestic product growth of 6.8 percent for the Philippines in 2018 and 2019 and said it would maintain its place among the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific​ region.

Fitch said it expects higher infrastructure spending under the government’s public investment program to support continued robust growth over the medium term.

Duterte has pledged to modernize the country’s airports, roads, railways and ports through a six-year $180-billion, “Build, Build, Build” initiative to attract much-needed foreign direct investment and lift economic growth.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he expects more positive rating actions for the Philippines over the next two years.

“Our macroeconomic fundamentals are on par with, if not better than, those of higher-rated sovereigns and continue to improve,” he said in a statement.
Investors’ reaction was muted, with the peso slightly firmer against the US dollar following Fitch’s announcement. It opened at 50.42 and rose further to 50.31 from Friday’s close of 50.50.

The Philippines’ benchmark stock index was down 0.2 percent at 0312 GMT.

Fitch upgraded the Philippines by one notch to ‘BBB-’ in 2013, with the agency citing Manila’s efforts to achieve fiscal sustainability, curb corruption and increase infrastructure spending.

The move to investment grade was followed by S&P’s less than two months later, lifting the Philippines’ ratings to BBB- from BB+. Moody's followed suit, upgrading the Philippines by one notch to Baa3 from Ba1.

Moody’s and S&P have since raised their respective ratings to Baa2 and BBB.

 

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Three dead, 77,000 flee as storm pounds Philippines Saturday 16 December 2017
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1209901/world

At least three people were killed and tens of thousands were driven from their homes by floods as Tropical Storm Kai-Tak pounded the eastern Philippines on Saturday, cutting off power and triggering landslides, officials said.

Kai-Tak, packing gusts of up to 110 kilometers an hour, hit the country’s third-largest island Samar in the afternoon and tore through a region devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan four years ago, the state weather service said.

Local officials reported three deaths on neighboring Leyte island — a two-year-old boy who drowned in the town of Mahaplag, a woman buried by a landslide and another person who fell into a flooded manhole in Ormoc city.

Samar and Leyte, with a combined population of about 4.5 million, had borne the brunt of Haiyan in 2013, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing.

Bus driver Felix Villaseran, his wife and four children hunkered down in their two-story house in the Leyte city of Tacloban along with 11 relatives whose homes were flooded from incessant rain.

“We have yet to shake off our phobia. I hope to God we don’t have a repeat of that,” Villaseran, who lost 39 cousins in the Haiyan onslaught, said by telephone. “My missus stockpiled on groceries before the storm hit, but since we also have to feed these three other families we’re now running low on food,” he added.

Military trucks drove through rising floodwaters on Samar and Leyte to rescue trapped residents, with more than 77,000 people now in evacuation centers, local officials said.

Strong winds toppled trees and power pylons, knocking out power throughout the region while floods, small landslides and rock falls blocked roads and buried some homes, local officials and witnesses said.

Farmland in the mainly rural region was also under water, while seven people were injured by landslides and flying objects, the regional civil defense office said in a report.

A spokeswoman for the national government’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said it was trying to confirm reports of two other deaths from landslides and floods on the islands of Biliran and Dinagat. “It was like a flashback again for residents of Tacloban city,” its vice mayor Sambo Yaokasin told Manila television station ABS-CBN by telephone, referring to the Haiyan disaster.

The station broadcast images of flooded streets and corrugated iron roofing sheets flying off homes. “Nearly half the villages here are flooded,” Marcelo Picardal, vice governor of Eastern Samar province told ABS-CBN in a telephone interview.

Three other people were missing in Ormoc after being swept away by floods on Saturday, city mayor Richard Gomez told CNN Philippines television in an interview. “We need a lot of water and a lot of blankets,” Gomez added, citing widespread flooding that may have contaminated the tap water system of the city of 200,000 people.

The state weather service said more heavy rain was expected in the eastern Philippines in the coming hours with Kai-Tak forecast to slice across the rest of the central Philippines over the weekend.

Ferry services on the storm’s path were suspended due to rough seas, the civil defense office in the area said.

About 20 typhoons or weaker storms either make landfall in the Philippines or reach its waters each year, bringing annual misery and death and consigning millions of survivors to perennial poverty.

Three fishermen from Eastern Samar province were reported missing while thousands fled their homes as Tropical Storm Urduja continues to batter Eastern Visayas region Saturday.

Philippines: 3 Fishermen Missing, Thousands Flee Homes Due to Tropical Storm Urduja Sat Dec 16, 2017
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960925001241

In a report from the Regional Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), the three missing fishermen were identified as Alfredo Berroja from Balangiga town, Rogelio Gamalo from Lawaan, and Pepito Gacho, Jr. also from Lawaan town, Sun Star reported.

The fishermen went off to sea on December 13 despite advice from the Philippine Coast Guard. Office of the Civil Defense Regional Director Edgar Posadas said there has been no contact from them for three days. Flooding and landslide have displaced 94,904 persons in Eastern Samar, Leyte, and Samar provinces, according to RDRRMC.

More than 38,000 persons moved to evacuation centers due to rising flood waters triggered by three days of heavy rains in the region.

Of the number, 32,262 are in Eastern Samar, 2,808 in Samar, 2,856 in Northern Samar, and 472 in Leyte. Severe flooding has been reported in several villages in Calbiga, Basey, Marabut, San Jose de Buan, Jiabong, Pinabacdao, San Jorge, Sta. Rita, and Talalora in Samar; Tacloban City, Carigara, Ormoc City, Palo, Tanauan, Sta. Fe, Alangalang, and Matalom in Leyte.

In Eastern Samar, widespread flooding has been reported in Taft, Maslog, Jipapad, Arteche, Gen. MacArthur, Giporlos, Hernani, San Julian, Llorente, Sulat, Maydolong, Taft, and Oras towns.

The cancellation of sea trip by the Philippine Coast Guard has stranded 2,093 passengers in the ports of Isabel and Bato in Leyte, Liloan and San Ricardo in Southern, and San Isidro and Allen in Northern Samar.

Landslides have been reported along major highways in Tacloban, Matag-ob, Babatngon, and San Miguel in Leyte; Catbalogan City, Daram, Sta. Rita in Samar; Llorente, Giporlos, San Julian, and Maydolong in Eastern Samar; Maasin City and Liloan in Southern Leyte.

In Tacloban, a mother and her child were seriously injured due to landslides. Tropical Storm Urduja is expected to make landfall over samar islands Saturday afternoon as it continues to move westward closer to Northern Samar-Eastern Samar area.

The center of Tropical Storm Urduja was estimated at 125 kilometers East Northeast of Borongan City in Eastern Samar. The storm has a maximum sustained winds of 80 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 95 kph, moving west at 10 kph. Tropical cyclone warning signal no. 2 was hoisted over Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate including Burias and Ticao Islands, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar, Biliran, and Leyte.

Under signal no. 1 are Southern Quezon, Marinduque, Romblon, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Northern Negros Oriental, Cebu, Northern Bohol, Southern Leyte, and Dinagat Islands.

 

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The Philippines is considered to be "the most exposed country in the world to tropical storms."

Storm Hits Philippines Leaving 26 Killed, Thousands Stranded (PHOTO, VIDEO)
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201712171060071027-storm-philippines-casualties/

According to Philippine officials, at least 26 people have been killed as a result of landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Kai-Tak, while thousands of Filipinos who were heading home for Christmas have reportedly been stranded.

We have recovered the bodies," a provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer of the central Philippine island of Biliran told AFP.

The reports come a day after the storm hit the east of the Philippines — "the most exposed country in the world to tropical storms," as described by Time magazine — cutting off power and causing landslides in the regions that had suffered from Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, leaving over 7,000 dead or missing.

Many flights to and from the Philippines have been canceled due to the storm.

Only one country in Asia-Pacific, Australia, currently recognizes same-sex unions.

Philippines' Duterte Voices Support for Gay Marriage: 'Trend of Modern Times'
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201712171060073576-duterte-philippines-same-sex-marriage/

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed support for same-sex unions when speaking at a gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Davao. "I said I am for [same] sex marriage if that is the trend of the modern times," adding, "If that will add to your happiness, I am for it."

"Why impose a morality that is no longer working and almost passed," Duterte said. "So I am with you."

The Filippino president has asked the LGBT community to nominate a representative to work in his government.

Previously Duterte was quoted as saying that he opposed gay marriage in the Philippines, a mostly Roman Catholic nation, while Christian bishops voiced concern over legalizing such unions.

A total of 25 countries, mostly in Europe and North and South America, have officially recognized same-sex marriage nationwide or in some parts, with Australia being the latest to legalize gay unions.

 

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's government has opted out of a major US development aid programme that requires recipients to support democracy and fight corruption, the two countries said Tuesday.

Philippines Declines Major US Development Aid Tuesday December, 19, 2017
https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2017/12/19/1605801/philippines-declines-major-us-development-aid

Duterte spokesman Harry Roque said Manila decided against negotiating a second "compact" with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which provided $433.9 million for Philippine anti-poverty projects in 2010, AFP reported.

"We have opted to withdraw from the second Millennium Challenge," Roque told reporters.

The Millennium Challenge, created by the US Congress in 2004, supports with large-scale grants poor countries that are committed to good governance and economic freedom, believing these to be key to fighting poverty.

"The government of the Philippines has decided not to move forward with the development of a second MCC compact," US embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina told AFP.

The MCC announced in December 2015 that the Philippines was eligible to develop a second multi-year programme for US funding.

However the US embassy announced a year later that the corporation had decided to withhold a vote on a second agreement with the Philippines, citing "significant concerns" about the rule of law under Duterte.

The setback followed a worsening of ties with then-President Barack Obama, who criticized Duterte's drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives and sparked concerns of a crime against humanity.

Duterte has angrily rejected US, European Union and United Nations criticism of his drug war, accusing them of interference in the country's domestic affairs. He also vowed to reject any foreign aid which imposes conditions on recipient government.

Roque said Manila's immediate priorities revolve around rebuilding the southern city of Marawi, which was destroyed in five months of fighting with Islamic militants this year that left more than 1,100 people dead.

"The decision to withdraw was because of the urgent priority of the administration to rebuild Marawi," he said, adding: "I don't think the rebuilding of Marawi qualified" for agency funding.

The spokesman said any MCC project funding would have required matching funds from Manila.

Roque denied that Manila's decision to decline the aid was linked to Duterte's allegations of foreign interference.

"No, not at all," he said.

The corporation said on its website that it has invested more than $13 billion worldwide to support anti-corruption projects, as well as land rights, agriculture, education, energy, health, transportation and water supply.

The first Philippine compact was used for projects to reduce tax evasion, for building roads and for small-scale projects designed to improve the lives of the rural poor.

 

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MANILA: Five Daesh-inspired militants died in an airstrike on a known hideout of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in southern Philippines early on Tuesday, the military said.

Five militants killed in Philippines army offensive
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1211961/world

Capt. Arvin Encinas, spokesperson for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said five government troops were wounded in the air and ground operations that started around 3:30 a.m.

In a telephone interview, Encinas told Arab News that the Philippine Air Force bombarded the base of BIFF leader Esmail Abdulmalik, also known as Abu Turaife, at Barangay Tunganon area in North Cotabato province. Soldiers were later sent in to contain Abdulmalik and his men in the area.

Abdulmalik is the leader of a third faction of the BIFF. His group uses the Daesh flag as its banner.

When asked how many BIFF forces were in the area, Encinas said: “Enough to stage atrocities.”

“The operation was conducted to weed out the terrorist group and to free the communities from the terror menace brought about by the BIFF,” Encinas said.

According to official information received on the ground, five BIFF fighters were killed during the airstrike.

Government forces have been pursuing Abdulmalik’s group for more than two months. Focused military operations have now begun in the neighboring province of Maguindanao.

In previous operations, soldiers overran three BIFF camps. As a result of continuing military offensives, Abdulmalik and his group were driven out of their enclaves and forced to move to North Cotabato.

In Tuesday’s offensives, Encinas said that all safety procedures were undertaken for the “well-coordinated, deliberately planned, and specific-target operation.”

The army initially said that “the targeted areas are far from the local communities, hence the operation was conducted with outmost consideration that the civilian populace is far from harm’s way, ensuring their safety and protection.”

However, Encinas said that 180 families had been displaced due to the clashes.

Maj. Gen. Dela Vega, commander, Joint Task Force Central (JTF Central), said government forces were determined to defeat all threat groups and thwart their activities in Central Mindanao.

A splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the BIFF, broke into three factions in 2014. One of the factions, led by Abdulmalik and commonly known as the Toraife group, pledged allegiance to Daesh along with the Abu Sayyaf Group and Maute Group.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a 10-day unilateral cease-fire with communist rebels to allow Filipinos to celebrate a “stress-free” Christmas season, two weeks after peace talks with the insurgents were formally scrapped.

Philippine leader declares unilateral cease-fire for Christmas
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1211836/world

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte had ordered the army and police to suspend offensive operations from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 “to lessen the apprehension of the public this Christmas season.”

He said he expected the Maoists and their political leaders to “do a similar gesture of goodwill.”

There was no immediate comment from the communist rebel movement, whose top leaders and negotiators have been living in exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s.

Duterte restarted a stalled peace process and freed several communist leaders as a gesture of good faith when he came to office last year but he recently abandoned talks due to escalating rebel attacks.

He has vented his fury on a near-daily basis at what he considers duplicity by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA). He has collectively declared them a “terrorist organization” and has ended the three-decades peace process.

The rebel forces, estimated to number around 3,000, have been waging a protracted guerrilla warfare in the countryside for nearly 50 years in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stifled growth in resource-rich areas of the Philippines.

The guerrillas have been targeting mines, plantations, construction and telecommunication companies, demanding “revolutionary taxation” to finance arms purchases and recruitment activities.

Duterte on Tuesday night said he only wanted Filipinos to celebrate a “stress-free” Christmas.

“I do not want to add more strain to what people are now suffering,” he told reporters.

“The continued support and cooperation of the community hasten and complement the ability of JTF Central to prevent and counter the efforts of the radical extremist groups in sowing fear and violence in the area of operation,” he said.

 

[angelburst29]

Storm Hits Philippines Leaving 26 Killed, Thousands Stranded (PHOTO, VIDEO)
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201712171060071027-storm-philippines-casualties/

There has been an update, on the number of dead and missing in the two storms that have hit the Philippines:

Philippines storm leaves 182 dead and tens of thousands displaced
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1213781/world


And now a fire reported in a Shopping Mall:

Thirty-seven people were believed killed in a fire that engulfed a shopping mall in the southern Philippine city of Davao, the local vice mayor said on Sunday.

37 feared dead in Philippine mall blaze: vice mayor Sunday 24 December 2017
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1213786/world

A Bureau of Fire Protection commander at the scene said the chances of the 37 surviving were “zero,” Paolo Duterte, the vice mayor, who is also the president’s son, wrote in a Facebook post.

The blaze started at the four-story NCCC Mall on Saturday morning and people were trapped inside, including in a call center on the top floor, Ralph Canoy, a police officer in the district, told AFP.

Canoy said the fire was still going before dawn on Sunday morning.

“The fire started on the third floor, which houses products like fabrics, wooden furniture and plastic ware, so the fire quickly spread and it’s taking a long time to put out,” he said.

He said investigators believed some of those likely killed had been trapped in the call center, which operated 24 hours a day.

“It’s possible that while they were working, they did not immediately notice the fire spreading,” Canoy said of the call center workers.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who served as mayor of Davao for about two decades and continues to live in the city, visited the mall on Saturday night to comfort relatives of the victims, one of his aides told AFP.

Davao is the biggest city in the southern Philippines. It is about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of Manila.

 

[angelburst29]

Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte has been carrying out a year-long campaign aimed at battling the widespread use of illegal drugs.

Duterte's Son Resigns Citing Allegations of Drug Smuggling
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201712251060308086-duterte-son-resignation-drugs/

Paolo Duterte, the son of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, has announced his resignation from the post of Vice Mayor of Davao city citing recent family problems and allegations of drug smuggling as the reasons for his decision, the AFP news agency reported Monday.

"These among others, include the maligning of my reputation in the recent name-dropping incident in the Bureau of Customs smuggling case and the very public squabble with my daughter," Paolo said, adding that "I take responsibility for all that has happened."

Earlier this year, an opposition senator accused Paolo Duterte of aiding drug smugglers to bring crystal methamphetamine worth some 6.4 billion pesos ($125 million) into the country from China.

Paolo Duterte denied the allegations during the September testimony in the Senate. Following the incident, Rodrigo Duterte allegedly said that he had ordered the police to kill his eldest son if it was proven that he was involved in smuggling or drug trafficking.

Furthermore, Paolo attracted media attention last week, after he used the Facebook page of the city's vice mayor's office to rebuke his teenage daughter Isabelle after she had posted criticism of him on social media.

According to the president's spokesman Harry Roque, Paolo's resignation letter had been received, while Davao's mayor and the president's daughter Sara Duterte said that she didn't know whether the resignation would be accepted.

The large-scale anti-drug campaign known as the war on drugs was launched by Duterte in June 2016 as a follow up to his election promises to end drug-related crimes in the country. Since then, over 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers have been killed by Philippine National Police officers or unknown gunmen, according to Human Rights Watch. The campaign has been sharply criticized by the international community and human rights groups.

 

[angelburst29]

MANILA: The Philippines has barred a branch of an American call center firm from expanding in the country following a pre-Christmas fire that killed dozens of its employees, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Philippines prohibits US firm call center from expanding after deadly fire Wednesday 3 January 2018
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1218401/world

Charito Plaza, director-general of the government’s Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), said the agency had suspended the operations of American firm Research Now SSI, as well as the shopping mall hosting it, for failing to meet certain safety requirements since 2013.

“They can operate again once they get a clearance from the Bureau of Fire and the local government,” Plaza told Reuters in a text message.

The authority’s suspension took effect on December 29, but it only covers SSI’s branch in the southern city of Davao where the December 23 blaze broke out at a furniture and fabric store on a lower floor of the New City Commercial Center (NCCC) mall before engulfing the call center’s offices. Thirty-eight people were killed.

SSI’s office in Cebu, in the central Philippines, would not be affected as it has been complying with PEZA rules, Plaza said.

Investigators looking into fire said there were indications safety lapses may have contributed to the tragedy. “Violations were more of the non-compliance of annual emergency drills to test the fire safety equipment, response and rescue capability, sprinklers and emergency exits,” Plaza said.

SSI and the mall were registered with PEZA in 2008, as a business process outsourcing firm and an economic zone developer, respectively.

PEZA did not issue fire inspection and safety certificates to NCCC and SSI from 2013 to 2017, Plaza said. But the companies were able to renew their business permits with the city government of Davao after passing fire safety inspection by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Plaza said.

How SSI and NCCC secured fire safety inspection certificates from the bureau is one of the things an inter-agency task force looking into the blaze is investigating.

Four fire officials being questioned over the blaze have been relieved of their duties after initial findings showed they have “some liabilities,” a government investigator said on Monday.

Davao planning chief Ivan Cortez said the city gives business permits to companies after they get a fire safety and inspection certificate from the Bureau of Fire Protection.

“The agency focusing on fire is the Bureau of Fire. The local government will not release a permit without the approval of the Bureau of Fire. They are the last office. When they approve, that is the time we release the business permit,” Cortez told Reuters.

NCCC could not immediately be reached for comment. An SSI official declined to comment and referred Reuters to its legal representative.

It was not clear yet how the suspension would affect SSI workers.

SSI employed 500 people at the Davao call center and since the fire said it would not comment until after investigations were concluded. NCCC has insisted it had met safety requirements.

DAVAO CITY: A government investigator into a blaze that led to the deaths of 37 staff at the southern Philippines offices of an American market research firm says there are indications of fire safety lapses that may have contributed to the tragedy.

Probe into deadly fire at US firm’s Philippines offices focuses on possible safety lapses Sunday 31 December 2017
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1216881/world

The December 23 blaze in Davao City broke out at a furniture and fabric store on the third level of a mall, the New City Commercial Center (NCCC), and then engulfed the offices of the US firm, Research Now SSI, on the fourth floor of the same building in choking smoke. The only person among the 38 killed in the fire who didn’t work at the firm was a mall security officer.

More than 100 SSI employees who were on duty that day managed to escape, of whom six were injured.

Initial evidence from an ongoing investigation by Philippine government agencies indicates sprinkler systems on the 3rd and 4th floors of the building weren’t working as their valves were closed, said Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido, who is director of logistics at the Philippines’ Bureau of Fire Protection and one of the lead investigators into the fire.

Candido said that Research Now SSI employees may have been unaware of the fire beneath them for some time because their office had its own alarm that was not connected to the system used by the mall. “That explains why people inside the SSI were not aware that fire is happening just below their floor,” he told Reuters in an interview.

His comments are the most extensive yet made publicly on the progress of the investigation.

In a statement issued in the US on Friday, Research Now SSI said it is working with the authorities involved in the probe into the fire and is “confident that an impartial investigation will reveal that it has complied with all the security and safety requirements required by law.”

“We are focused on helping our employees and the victims’ families, and cooperating with the government agencies, over the coming weeks and months,” said the firm’s CEO Gary Laben.

Darry Gallego, assistant vice president of corporate services at NCCC, said the mall could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but stressed that safety requirements had been met, including having a sprinkler system.

“The mall had passed through all the needed safety examinations and was certified by the authorities as being safe to operate and serve the public,” Gallego said in an email.

Candido cautioned that the investigation is still some way from being completed and it has yet to reach firm conclusions, particularly on the issue of liability.

SSI, which rented the offices from NCCC, needed to have its own operating sprinkler system to get its annual fire safety inspection certificate, which was in turn required for its yearly business permit renewal, Candido said.

Investigators will look into whether there were any questions that came up when NCCC and SSI were granted these certificates this year and in previous years, he said.

NCCC last got the certificate in April 2017 and SSI in September 2017, according to Honee Fritz Alagano, Davao City fire marshall and spokeswoman for the Bureau of Fire Protection in the city. That was after passing the Davao City Bureau of Fire Protection’s annual inspections, she said.

Candido said it was the responsibility of both building owners and tenants to make sure that alarm and sprinkler systems were installed and operating. Under the nation’s fire code, if there were two alarm systems they should be integrated so that the mall’s would have triggered SSI’s, and vice-versa.

 

[munaychasumaq]

Thanks angelburst29 for the updates!!

 

[angelburst29]

MANILA: Philippine authorities have warned that Mount Mayon, the country’s most active volcano, could be set for a “hazardous eruption” as lava flowed down its crater Monday morning following three steam eruptions on Sunday.

Philippine officials fear Mount Mayon eruption could be imminent Tuesday 16 January 2018
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1226561/world

Famed for its near-perfect cone shape, Mount Mayon is a major landmark in Albay province, south of Manila. At least 50 eruptions have been recorded since 1616. Mayon’s most destructive eruption was in 1814, and claimed around 1,200 lives as well as destroying the historical Cagsawa church. Its most recent eruption was in 2014.

Almost 17,500 people living within Mayon’s six-to-seven-kilometer danger zone have been evacuated since the volcano started to spew steam and ash clouds during a phreatic eruption — a steam-driven explosion — on Saturday.

Authorities began to implement forced evacuations after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) increased the alert level for Mount Mayon to three late on Sunday. “Alert level three means there is an increased possibility of hazardous eruption,” PHIVOLCS director Renato Solidum told Arab News.

“The Mayon volcano is already erupting, but the eruption is non-explosive,” he added. “But now there is a possibility that there could be an explosive eruption.” Displaced residents may have to stay in temporary shelters for several weeks, or even longer, he explained.

“(They’re) not going back any time soon,” Solidum said. “As long as there are indications of the potential threat of an explosive eruption, they will be staying in the evacuation centers.”

Solidum explained the alert level was actually more likely to rise to level four than to be lowered. At level three, and eruption can be expected within a matter of weeks, or perhaps days. At level four, “the window to eruption is shorter,” meaning days or even hours.

At the current level-three alert, authorities strongly advise that no one enters the six-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone or the seven-kilometer Extended Danger Zone on the volcano’s southern flank.

PHIVOLCS announced that two lava-collapse events occurred at 9:41 a.m. and 10:05 a.m. on Monday, lasting five and seven minutes respectively and producing rock falls and small-volume pyroclastic density currents. “These events appear to have originated from the lava front and produced an ash cloud that drifted to the southwest sector,” the institute explained, adding that ash fall had been reported in at least 27 villages in the municipalities of Guinobatan and Camalig in Albay province.

Meanwhile, R A Ostria, a resident of Guinobatan, told Arab News that due to heavy rain in Albay, it was hard to tell if a further phreatic eruption had taken place. “People only realize there has been another eruption if they experience eye irritation, or there’s a sulfuric smell, or if there’s further ash fall,” he said.

Ostria claimed local government officials and staff of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council were working overnight to evacuate residents. While many left the area voluntarily, some, especially older people, refused, apparently unfazed by the threat of an eruption, having faced them before.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is to reimburse the Philippine government for leftover doses of an anti-dengue vaccine whose use was suspended due to health concerns, the two parties said Monday.

Sanofi to reimburse Philippines for unused dengue vaccine
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1226026/world

The manufacturer said the refund had nothing to do with safety issues and was meant to improve ties with the Philippine health department, which is investigating the deaths of more than a dozen children injected with Dengvaxia.

Philippine regulators stopped the sale and distribution of the drug last month after Sanofi warned the shots could worsen symptoms for vaccinated people who contracted the disease for the first time.

The health department said in a statement it had issued a “demand letter” to the company’s vaccine unit Sanofi Pasteur to refund 1.4 billion pesos (SR104.21 million) for unused supplies of the drug.

“Our decision to reimburse for unused doses is not related to any safety or quality issue with Dengvaxia,” said a statement from Sanofi Pasteur, which did not disclose the agreed amount.

“Rather Sanofi Pasteur hopes that this decision will allow us to be able to work more openly and constructively with the (health department) to address the negative tone toward the dengue vaccine in the Philippines today.”

Philippine authorities have been investigating the deaths of 14 children who were among more than 830,000 given Dengvaxia last year in the world’s first public immunization program against dengue.

After the program began, Sanofi Pasteur released findings in November of a new study that showed Dengvaxia could lead to severe infections in some cases.

The disclosure triggered a public furor, with some parents blaming the vaccine for their children’s deaths and a number of legislators accusing the government of endangering public health.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque has also threatened to sue the company if it had withheld crucial information on the vaccine.

Sanofi Pasteur has maintained that no death has been found to have been caused by Dengvaxia. “Sanofi Pasteur strongly believes that this tone is due to a misunderstanding of the benefits and risks associated with the dengue vaccine,” its statement said.

It cited “a lack of awareness among the general public, particularly parents of vaccinated children, that the overall benefit of dengue vaccination remains positive in high endemic countries like the Philippines.”

 

[angelburst29]

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Thursday to impose a total ban on sending workers to Kuwait because of sexual abuses that have forced some Filipino women to kill themselves.

Philippine president Duterte threatens to ban deployment of workers to Kuwait Thursday 18 January 2018
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1228506/world

Duterte said he wanted Filipino officials to hold talks with Kuwait and tell them the abuses are unacceptable and that the Philippines may ban Filipinos from working there unless the abuses end.

"I do not want a quarrel with Kuwait. I respect their leaders but they have to do something about this because many Filipinas will commit suicide," Duterte said in a speech at the launching of a Manila bank for Filipinos abroad

"We have lost about four Filipino women in the last few months. It's always in Kuwait," Duterte said, without providing details.

Discussing the problem with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano recently, Duterte said: "My advice is, we talk to them, state the truth and just tell them that it's not acceptable anymore. Either we impose a total ban or we can have this corrected."

More than 250,000 Filipinos work in the Arab nation. The Philippines is a major labor exporter with about a tenth of more than 100 million Filipinos working abroad. The earnings they send home have bolstered the Philippine economy for decades.

Workers endure the threat of abuses, including rape, in some countries to be able to send money home and keep their children in school. But with their parents working abroad, some children end up being sexually abused or become drug addicts, Duterte said, explaining his anger over drug dealers.

Thousands of mostly poor suspects have been killed in Duterte's brutal crackdown on illegal drugs since he took power in 2016, alarming Western governments and human rights groups.

Duterte has denied he condones extrajudicial killings, although he has openly threatened drug dealers with death for years.

He credits his harsh approach to crime for the improvement in law and order in southern Davao city, where he served as mayor for more than two decades before becoming president.

He said about 600 criminals were killed during his time as mayor, but added "It was all legit." "I never ordered the killing of anybody kneeling in front of me," he said. "You have to kill to make your city peaceful."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned of a fresh terror threat against his country.

Duterte warns of fresh terror threat in the Philippines
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1228586/world

“Maybe it’s good to anticipate that there’s going to be (a terror attack) in the coming days,” Duterte said in a speech this week, amid reports that an increasing number of foreign fighters are now in the Philippines.

“They’d like to blow up (places where) people converge: In airports, seaports, and parks, because of what happened in the Mindanao provinces,” Duterte added, referring to the defeat of Daesh-backed militants who laid siege to Marawi City in Mindanao for five months last year.

“As I have said, the threat remains,” the president continued, adding: “My advice to our security forces, the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police), in this matter of security against terrorism, is that no quarter should be asked, and no quarter given.”

Earlier, Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana told the country’s elite special forces to prepare for a possible repeat of the Marawi siege in another city.

Lorenzana admitted authorities are looking into the reported entry of a number of foreign terrorists into the southern Philippines.

Mohaquer Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), had previously warned that the defeat of the Maute group in Marawi City does not mean the defeat of Daesh-oriented groups in Mindanao. “Expect that they will surface once again,” he said.

Talking to Arab News, Iqbal reiterated his statement on the increasing number of foreign fighters in the southern Philippines.

“What has been validated by our side is that there is a continuous inflow of foreign elements that are suspected to be Daesh-connected individuals,” Iqbal said.

The army recently reported they have identified 48 foreign terrorists currently in the Philippines and told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that a number of terrorists had entered the southern Philippines posing as businessmen or tourists.

Iqbal confirmed that MILF’s intelligence backs up the army’s figures, saying, “We have around 90 percent validated (the presence of foreign terrorists). We have reliable reports to that effect.”

Some of those foreign terrorists arrived in the country after the Marawi siege ended in October, he said. Many arrived via the island provinces of Sulu and Basilan, and a number of them are “Caucasian-looking.”

Early this week, an article released by the Asian think tank Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) said that the deaths of Filipino militant leaders Isnilon Hapilon — the Daesh-designated emir in Southeast Asia — and Omarkhayam Maute, “have not fundamentally reduced or removed the jihadi threat in the region.”

The article said that there are still four “key leaders” of Southeast Asian extremists: Amin Baco, Bahrumsyah, Abu Turaifie and Bahrun Naim.”

Baco, a Malaysian born in Sabah who built his jihadi credentials fighting in Basilan and Sulu, was reported to have been killed during the Marawi siege. But, on Wednesday, Joint Task Force Sulu commander Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the military was trying to verify information that, although wounded, Baco had managed to escape the Marawi siege and is now in Sulu with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Iqbal said he has no information about Baco’s whereabouts, but that Toraife — commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) — has been regularly moving his location because of a series of military operations against his group.

“Recently he (Toraife) was in North Cotabato,” Iqbal claimed. “But he seems to have transferred from there already. They seem to be on the move constantly.”

However, Iqbal explained that Toraife and his group “are not a major threat at this point in time” as they lack the capacity to launch a major attack similar to the Maute Group’s siege of Marawi.

 

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Philippines prepares for three-month-long Mayon volcano emergency Friday 26 January 2018
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1233416/world

The Philippines is bracing for a possible three-month-long emergency in areas around an erupting volcano, which has already displaced more than 81,000 and caused overcrowding at temporary shelters, the country’s disaster agency said on Friday.

Mount Mayon in central Albay province remained at alert level 4, a notch below the highest level, as it continued to spew out lava, ash and other superheated material, volcanologists said.

“We’re gearing up for three months” of emergency, said Romina Marasigan, spokeswoman of the Southeast Asian country’s disaster agency, citing similar situations during previous eruptions of the 2,462-meter volcano.

Displaced families may need to stay in evacuation centers for that long, she said.

Food and other supplies remain adequate but concerns are growing over health and hygiene conditions at all the 69 temporary shelters away from the danger zone.

Respiratory illnesses are possible because of the series of ash falls, she said.

“We remain on red alert,” Marasigan told a media briefing, adding that 69,672 evacuees were housed in schools while nearly 12,000 took shelter in tents or went to relatives in more secure locations.

Health workers are giving free check-ups and medicine to elderly women and children in evacuation centers, but there are not enough toilets.

“The province is doing everything to close the gaps for these toilet facilities,” said Nestor Santiago, assistant secretary at the health ministry.

The number of canceled flights has risen to 97, the disaster agency said.

Volcanologists said there were seven more episodes of intense but sporadic lava fountaining at the crater lasting several minutes during a 21-hour period from Thursday morning.

The lava fountains, shooting up between 150 meters and 500 meters, generated ash plumes that spurted as high as 3 kilometers above the crater, they said.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry delivered humanitarian aid to the Philippines

Russia delivers humanitarian aid to Philippines
http://tass.com/world/986668

The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s operation to provide humanitarian aid to the Philippines affected by the flood is over, the last shipment of cargo has arrived there, the ministry’s press service informed TASS on Wednesday.

"The final consignment of the humanitarian cargo was delivered to the Philippines by sea overnight to January 24. These are foodstuffs and processed forest products with a total weight of about 80 tonnes. More than 415 tonnes of humanitarian cargo were earlier delivered to the Philippines in two batches," the ministry said.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry delivered humanitarian aid to the Philippines in compliance with the instructions issued by the Russian government.

The leaders of India and southeast Asia agreed on Thursday to boost their maritime ties at a summit in New Delhi, as they seek to balance the increasing weight of China across the region.

India, ASEAN leaders agree to boost maritime cooperation
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1233106/world

India is hosting the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation (ASEAN) and the summit comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pursuing an “Act East” policy of developing ties with these countries.

The Indian and ASEAN leaders agreed “to establish a mechanism for greater cooperation in the maritime domain sector,” Preeti Saran, secretary in the Indian Foreign Mnistry, told reporters.

“They did discuss the issues of greater maritime cooperation, addressing both traditional and non-traditional challenges all of us face collectively,” Saran said, without elaborating.

In the talks Modi also pitched for an ASEAN-India women’s navy team which could sail around the world, just as an Indian team is doing currently, Saran said.

Modi has invited the leaders of all 10 ASEAN nations to join him for India’s Republic Day celebrations on Friday in the biggest ever gathering of foreign leaders at the parade, which showcases the country’s military might and cultural diversity.

The leaders attending the summit in New Delhi include Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.

New Delhi’s push to expand economic ties with southeast Asia still trail those of China, whose trade with ASEAN was more than six times greater than India’s in 2016-17 at $470 million.

China has in recent years also built ports and power plants in countries around India’s periphery, expanding its presence in South Asia and pushing New Delhi to seek new allies.

Modi said he would work toward strengthening relations with ASEAN countries, saying trade had already grown “25 times in 25 years.”

“Investments are robust and growing. We will further enhance trade ties and work toward greater interaction among our business communities,” Modi said.

 

[angelburst29]

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen an unusual and, probably, fun way to crack down on car smuggling in the country as part of his new policy announced on February 1.

Duterte Sends Demolishing Message to Car Smugglers (VIDEO, PHOTO)
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201802061061408654-philippines-duterte-car-smugglers/

Duterte led the destruction of some 29 seized luxury vehicles worth about $1.2 million, including high-end models such as the Lexus ES300, BMW Alpina, BMW Z4 and Audi A6 Quattro. The cars were bulldozed at three of the country’s ports: in Manila, Davao and Cebu.

The Philippine president witnessed the majority of vehicles being smashed at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Manila as part of the ceremonial condemnation.

Last week, Duterte announced a new policy on smuggled luxury vehicles while delivering a speech before indigenous people in Davao City.

“The President has already decided to send a message to smugglers that their happy days are over, we will bulldoze those cars,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque confirmed.

The Manila Bulletin reported that on November, 2017, the BOC confiscated P24.3 million ($472,149) worth of used luxury cars, including two Lamborghinis and a Ferrari, and overweight steel products at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) from Australia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and China.

A bulldozer destroys condemned smuggled luxury cars, which include used Lexus, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Jaguar and a Corvette Stingray, as part of a drive to fight corruption at the Philippines’ customs bureau.

Philippines crushes sports cars in Duterte graft warning (Photo)
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1240511/world

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte watched bulldozers flatten dozens of sports cars and other luxury vehicles Tuesday as part of a drive to fight corruption at the country’s customs bureau.

A Jaguar, a Lexus, a Corvette Stingray, and dozens of top-end German sedans and Japanese SUVs were crushed at a customs yard in the capital Manila. The vehicles were seized after they were smuggled in, authorities said.

A total of 30 vehicles worth a combined 61.6 million pesos (SR4.47 million) were scrapped in Manila and two other cities on Duterte’s orders.

The president has made fighting corruption and illegal drugs the cornerstones of his six-year term.

“Reduce them to scrap metal,” Duterte said in a speech to customs employees after the event.

Normally, seized smuggled vehicles are impounded and then auctioned with the government taking the proceeds.

“I will pay for them, no problem,” Duterte said.

The Bureau of Customs collects duties on imports and is one of the state’s key revenue-generating agencies. It consistently tops independent surveys as one of the country’s most corrupt government agencies.

Customs commissioner Isidro Lapena said in a speech at the ceremony that he has reassigned 691 of his some 7,000 employees since he took office in August last year.

Two other employees were dismissed and 16 others have been suspended over alleged illegal activity, he added.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi on Monday rejected a Philippine government demand to return tens of millions of dollars paid for a dengue vaccine after the program was suspended over health concerns.

Sanofi rejects refund demand, faces Philippine suit over dengue vaccine
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1239886/world

The Philippines had asked Sanofi to refund 3.2 billion pesos ($62 million) spent on injecting more than 830,000 schoolchildren with Dengvaxia after the company said last year the vaccine could worsen symptoms in some cases.

Sanofi last month agreed to reimburse the Philippine government half the total sought, for leftover doses of Dengvaxia. But it said Monday it would not pay for doses that were already used.

“Agreeing to refund the used doses of Dengvaxia would imply that the vaccine is ineffective, which is not the case,” Sanofi Pasteur said in a statement.

The refund offered for unused Dengvaxia doses was not due to safety or quality concerns but simply to show that the company was cooperating with Manila, the French pharmaceutical giant added.

Dengue or haemorrhagic fever, the world’s most common mosquito-borne virus, infects an estimated 390 million people in more than 120 countries each year and kills more than 25,000 of them, according to the World Health Organization.

The Philippines has one of the world’s highest dengue fatality rates with 732 deaths last year, the country’s health department said.

The country launched the world’s first public dengue vaccination program in 2016.

It was halted last year, along with Dengvaxia sales, after Sanofi warned the injections could make symptoms worse for people who contracted the disease for the first time after being injected.

The announcement caused panic among parents of injected children, said the government, which has since began investigating Dengvaxia’s alleged role in the deaths of at least 14 vaccinated children. Sanofi denies responsibility.

Health officials also said immunization programs for other preventable diseases were suffering, with many parents now wary of vaccines in general.

On Monday Sanofi rejected a separate health department request to set up an indemnification fund to cover the hospitalization and treatment for vaccinated children who contract severe dengue.

“Should there be any case of injury due to dengue that has been demonstrated by credible scientific evidence to be causally related to vaccination, we will assume responsibility,” it said.

The government’s Public Attorney’s Office said Monday it is helping a Manila couple file a civil suit seeking 3.768 million pesos in damages for the death of their 10-year-old daughter last December.

The suit will name officials of Sanofi, its Philippine distributor and current and former health department officials as responsible for their child’s death, according to a copy of the complaint released to the press.

The Public Attorney’s Office said it received orders from the justice ministry last December “to extend free legal assistance in civil, criminal and administrative cases to all possible victims of Dengvaxia-related injuries, illnesses and deaths.”

A Sanofi Pasteur official said Monday that the French drugmaker couldn't comply with the Philippines' request for a refund of dengue vaccines injected on hundreds of thousands of children because it would imply that the drug is ineffective.

Sanofi rejects Philippine plea for refund on used vaccines
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/sanofi-rejects-philippine-plea-refund-vaccines-52841563

Thomas Triomphe, Sanofi Pasteur's Asia-Pacific chief, told a House of Representatives hearing that it's clear in "absolute terms" that the Philippines would reduce dengue infections more by using the company's Dengvaxia vaccine than by halting its use.

"Dengvaxia is an effective product," Triomphe told lawmakers. "Reimbursing doses that have been already injected, where the benefits of protection have been provided, will, de facto, imply that the vaccine is ineffective, which is not the case."

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has said that Sanofi Pasteur has agreed to take back huge stocks of unused Dengvaxia and pay back more than a billion pesos ($20 million) to the Philippine government.

The government, however, has also asked Sanofi Pasteur to refund payment of nearly 2 billion pesos ($40 million) for Dengvaxia already used in its massive anti-dengue immunization program, which was halted last year, health officials said.

The Philippine government halted its massive immunization drive last year after Sanofi said a study showed the vaccine may increase the risks of severe dengue infection. More than 830,000 children were injected with the Dengvaxia vaccine under the campaign, which was launched in 2016 under then-President Benigno Aquino III. The campaign continued under his successor, Rodrigo Duterte, until it was stopped last year.

On Friday, Philippine health officials said the deaths of three of 14 children injected with a Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine may have "causal association" to the inoculation, including two who may have died because the vaccine failed. They said, however, that they need to carry out further studies to confirm their findings.

Investigators found no evidence that the rest of the 14 deaths were related to the vaccine. Officials said the deaths of at least 15 other children injected with Dengvaxia would be investigated.

Triomphe welcomed the government examination on the 14 children, which he said did not turn up any clear evidence linking their deaths to Dengvaxia.

Philippine health officials have said that publicity of concerns raised over Dengvaxia has caused the number of children receiving preventive vaccinations for other diseases to drop.

About 200,000 dengue infections are recorded by the health department each year, officials said. Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide. It is a flu-like disease that can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash, and can cause breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure in severe cases.

 

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Philippines set to impose total ban on deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait Saturday 10 February 2018
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1243561/world

The Philippine government on Monday will order a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait.

This comes in the wake of the death of another Filipina, Joanna Daniela Dimapilis, whose body was found this week inside a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait which had been abandoned by her employers in 2016.

“A formal order on a total deployment ban will be issued by Secretary (Silvestre) Bello on Monday,” Raul Francia, spokesperson of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said this weekend.

Francia, however, did not give further details on who would be covered by the total ban. This, he said, has yet to be determined.

Bello last month issued Administrative Order No. 25, directing the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to suspend processing of overseas employment certificates (OECs) of Kuwait-bound workers pending investigation on the causes of death of seven OFWs in that country.

Francia also said that the secretary was set to talk to two local airline companies, the flag carrier Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, for the repatriation of workers in Kuwait. Both airlines have signified willingness to help OFWs in Kuwait.

As this developed, Cebu Pacific said in a statement on Saturday it "will be mounting a special flight to Kuwait to assist our kababayans (fellow men) who wish to be repatriated to the Philippines." It is now coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. Further information on the special flight will be released once finalized.

This follows a directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to the labor secretary to repatriate distressed Filipino workers in Kuwait who want to return.

Duterte issued the order to Bello during a press conference on Friday, wherein the president became emotional as he showed graphic photos of Dimapilis who, based on examination, bore fatal stab wounds to the neck and torture marks across her body.

A furious Duterte said he is "ready to take drastic steps that will help preserve Filipino life and limb."

"We do not intend to offend any government or anyone. But if a ban is what is needed, let it be," he added. The president then said that the suspension on the deployment of workers to Kuwait would remain indefinitely.