Archive for February, 2008

PHILIPPINES: BFAD SHOULD CHECK ON SAFETY OF GYOZA DUMPLINGS

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.
(PDP-Laban) today asked the Bureau of Food and Drugs
(BFAD) to check if Gyoza Dumplings are being sold in
the local market to ascertain if are safe to eat.
Pimentel made the request in view of reports of
widespread food poisoning in Japan caused by eating
Gyoza Dumplings, prompting supermarket and shopping
mall owners to [...]

2/21/08 05:52 PM   Full Story
Philippines: Knocking on a US base’s door in Zamboanga, a citizens’ group is shut out

‘What are they hiding?’
ZAMBOANGA CITY (February 18, 2008) — Members of a citizens’ fact-finding mission walked up inside Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City and confirmed the presence of a little known fortified US military base with communication facilities inside the Philippine military camp.
Asserting the right to information and transparency, the Citizens’ Peace Watch knocked on [...]

2/21/08 05:51 PM   Full Story
Managed Security Services Writes A New Chapter and Will Outpace the Overall Managed Services Market in Asia/Pacific

Managed Security Services Writes A New Chapter and Will Outpace the Overall Managed Services Market in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) from 2008-2012
Singapore and Hong Kong, February 19 2008 – According to IDC’s Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) Managed Security Services Study, the Managed Security Services market is expected to exceed US$604 million in 2008, representing a 20.4% increase [...]

2/21/08 05:50 PM   Full Story
Philippines: From ideas to the printed word: Instituto Cervantes puts the spotlight on publishing

It’s the silent link that is mostly left unacknowledged: From international publishing powerhouses to small, independent publication companies, publishers have played a vital role in bringing world-changing ideas from the most progressive minds closer to more people all over the globe. But while the field of publishing greatly influences the configuration of literary standards, it [...]

2/21/08 05:49 PM   Full Story
Philippines: Supreme court rules that government warnings constituted prior restraint

CMFR/Philippines—The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that threatening statements from the Justice secretary and the National Telecommunications Commission warning media not to air a wiretapped conversation between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and an elections commissioner constituted “impermissible forms of prior restraints on the right to free speech and press.”
The 38-page decision, written by SC Chief [...]

2/21/08 05:48 PM   Full Story
Burma: Arrest of Journalists Highlights Junta’s Intolerance

China, India Should Press for Release of Political Prisoners Before Referendum
(New York, February 19, 2008) – The Burmese government’s arrest of two journalists and its decision to extend the detention of a prominent opposition leader demonstrate its continuing contempt for political freedoms despite its preparations for a constitutional referendum in May, Human Rights Watch said [...]

2/21/08 05:47 PM   Full Story
China: Olympic Activist Deprived of Due Process

Proceedings Failed to Meet Minimum Fair Trial Standards
(New York, February 19, 2008) – The trial of Yang Chunlin, the land rights activist who collected more than 10,000 signatures for his petition, “We want human rights, not the Olympics,” did not meet minimum standards of fair trial and due process, Human Rights Watch said today.
Yang’s trial [...]

2/21/08 05:47 PM   Full Story
Robert Sutter » Converging Chinese and US ‘Gulliver Strategies’ in Asia: Implications for U.S. Policy

By Robert Sutter
U.S. election year politics and policy debate have paid little attention to Asia apart from trade and economic issues. The presidential candidates have largely ignored the obvious and serious implications of China’s rapidly rising power and influence for U.S. interests in Asian stability and leadership in Asian affairs. This could be short-sighted as [...]

2/21/08 05:46 PM   Full Story
“Climate Mainstreaming” – The New Must for Planning

HONOLULU (Feb. 19) — Global warming should be just as much a part of smart planning as the changing seasons, a top government climate researcher told an East West Center gathering recently.
But with rare exceptions, few public or private institutions wrap the sobering impact of climate change into their plans — even when their leaders [...]

2/21/08 05:44 PM   Full Story
WHO: Asian nations pledge campaign against twin disease threat (TB/HIV co-infection)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 20 February 2008—Health officials from nine Asian countries today undertook to step up efforts to curb the growing numbers of TB-HIV co-infections and deaths among TB patients infected with HIV.
The action came at a four-day meeting here of experts on the World Health Organization’s revised strategy to control TB-HIV co-infection.
Based on the [...]

2/21/08 05:44 PM   Full Story
‘People Power Pa Rin!’: Nationally Coordinated Protests Set for EDSA 1 Commemoration

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today announced that there will be nationally coordinated protests on Monday, the 25th anniversary of the EDSA 1 People Power uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship.
The group said that actions will be held from Baguio to Mindanao as the nation observes the EDSA 1 anniversary amid fresh allegations of [...]

2/21/08 05:40 PM   Full Story
Mindanao Rallies Call for Ouster of US Troops, Arroyo

Cagayan de Oro - Thousands of people in Mindanao marched in key cities to protest the opening of the US-RP Balikatan exercises and denounced the Arroyo government’s puppetry to US interests.
Cagayan de Oro became a central point of the Mindanao anti-Balikatan protest, as 5,000 people joined the Peoples’ March for Sovereignty, Peace and Justice including [...]

2/21/08 05:32 PM   Full Story
Tetsuya Endo » Atoms for the Sustainable Future: Utilization of Nuclear Energy as a Way to Cope with Energy and Environmental Challenges”

by Tetsuya Endo
http://www.jiia.or.jp/en_commentary/200802/21-1.html
Nuclear Renaissance
The world now faces two major challenges for the sustainability of growth: energy security and global warming.
According to an estimate by the International Energy Agency, world demand for primary energy will increase 53% by 2030. For example, it is predicted that meeting the demand for energy in Asia will pose serious challenges [...]

2/21/08 05:31 PM   Full Story
PHILIPPINES: NO REASON TO STOP SENATE PROBE OF BROADBAND DEAL DESPITE ENTRY OF OMBUDSMAN

Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban)
today told Malacañang and its legislative lackeys to
stop telling the Senate to discontinue its
investigation into the national broadband controversy
and to entrust this task instead to the Office of the
Ombudsman which has already started its probe on the
same case.
Pimentel said there is no reason to scuttle the Senate
inquiry into the [...]

2/21/08 05:30 PM   Full Story
Philippines: From the Senate to the Court of Appeals, state security officers continue their lies

From PNP Chief Razon down to SPO2s, lies spread like manure
The families of victims of enforced disappearance said they expect more lies from state security officers who are set to take a stand at today’s hearing of a petition for a writ of amparo at the Court of Appeals (CA).
“The lies continue, from the statement [...]

2/21/08 05:29 PM   Full Story
Joey de Venecia Slams ‘Tampered’ YouTube Recording

Statement of Joey de Venecia
21 February 2008, Makati
The conversation I was supposed to have made with Jun Lozada and
posted in the YouTube shows how people like you and me can be
bugged, harassed and threatened by this government.
First, they abducted Jun Lozada and when they failed at it, they are
now trying to demolish him by coming [...]

2/21/08 05:29 PM   Full Story
PHILIPPINES: COMELEC URGED TO LOOK INTO PROLIFERATION FAKE BALLOTS IN MAGUINDANAO IN 2007 POLLS

Lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III today asked the Commission on Elections to look into the proliferation of fake ballots in Maguindanao and other provinces in Mindanao during the May 14, 2007 senatorial election which cast doubts on the integrity of the results of such political exercise.
The bogus ballots were discovered during the ongoing recount of [...]

2/21/08 05:27 PM   Full Story
Neri’s ‘Web of Corruption’ Shows Post-Marcos Crony Capitalism: Satur

Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur C. Ocampo today said that Commission on Higher Education Chair Romulo Neri’s declaration of a “web of corruption” in government shows that crony capitalism under President Macapagal-Arroyo has become worse since the time of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Ocampo issued the statement after Rodolfo Lozada Jr. in his [...]

2/21/08 05:16 PM   Full Story

Party-list group Slams Mikey Arroyo for Cha-cha Initiatives
Kin of Missing Activist Seek Solons’ Help
JdV Endorsement Could Boost Impeach Rap – Satur
Lawyers’ Groups to Seek UN’s Help to Curb Attacks vs Lawyers, Judges
Charges vs. 72 Southern Tagalog Activists Baseless – Lawyer

Duterte-Nograles tiff over park prelude to 2010?
Urban poor group hits Arroyo on housing mega-sale
Military operations in ComVal is linked to mining – environmental alliance
San Isidro town govt to penalize cacao felling
Boston villagers recount tales of military abuses

40 die as Philippine ferry capsizes
Asia, too, feels the pain
As the MOA Unravels, What Now?
Peace process fraught with peril for Arroyo
Islamic separatists kill 28 in Philippines rampage