Why OLIGARCHS Hate DUTERTE?

Ito ang KATOTOHANANG AYAW NILANG MALAMAN NIYO! bakit nga ba maraming gustong ipaligpit o patalsikin sa pwesto si President DUTERTE? Gusto niyo ulit ng real talk? Watch and Listen!

Sison kay Duterte: “Masyado kang butangero…”

“Kailanman ay hindi pwedeng utusan ni Duterte ang rebolusyunaryong grupo na sumunod sa kanyang gusto”.

Yan ang bahagi ng pahayag ni Communist Party of the Philippines Founding Chairman Jose Maria Sison.

Sinabi pa ni Sison na nakatakda sanang maglabas ng kautusan ang pamunuan ng CPP-NPA alas-otso ngayong gabi na nagsasabing magdedeklara rin sila ng ceasefire order para sa kanilang mga tauhan.

Dagdag pa ni Sison, “masyadong butangero yang si Duterte at gusto niya ay gulo agad….kung ayaw niya ng katahimikan eh di huwag…”

Ipinaliwanag pa ni Sison na binalewala ni Duterte ang kanyang mga negosyador ay siya na mismo ang nagdesisyon ng hindi man lang kino-kunsulta ang kanyang mga tauhan.

Tinawag din ni Sison na isang “bully” si Duterte at hindi umano ito uubra sa kilusang rebolusyonaryo.

Ipina-uubaya naman ni Sison sa mga lider ng CPP-NPA dito sa Pilipinas kung itutuloy pa ang pakikipag-usap sa pamahalaang Duterte o hindi.

Kaninang alas-singko ng hapon ay natapos ang deadline na ibinigay ni Duterte sa CPP-NPA para sa kanilang paliwanag sa ginawang pag-ambush sa mga tauhan ng CAFGU at militar sa Daval del Norte.

Tags: AFP, CPP, duterte, NPA, Sison

- See more at: http://radyo.inquirer.net/36362/36362#sthash.11FVjh8H.dpuf

Tanto the Quiapo road rage suspect captured

MANILA (UPDATED) - The military announced Friday the arrest of Vhon Tanto, the main suspect in the road rage killing of cyclist Mark Vincent Geralde.

Information from the Armed Forces of the Philippines PIO said Tanto was arrested in Barangay Poblacion, Milagros, Masbate.

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said elements of the Philippine Army arrested Tanto at 11:50 AM. "Mapayapa naman siyang naaresto," he told reporters.

Padilla said Tanto is no longer an Army reservist because he has not been attending any of the meetings or events for reservists since January 2015.

He is set to be brought to the 9th IB headquarters in Milagros, Masbate before being turned over to the Manila Police District.

Tanto is the primary suspect in the killing of Mark Vincent Geralde in a road rage incident in Quiapo, Manila earlier this week.

CCTV footage earlier showed the driver of a Hyundai Eon shooting Geralde several times after a fistfight on P. Casal Street last Monday. Police later identified the shooter as Tanto.

A cyclist ends up dead after being shot by a driver during a road rage incident at P. Casal Street in Quiapo, Manila last Monday.Nikon Celis, ABS-CBN News

Souce: ABS-CBN News

BPI speaks up on Duterte controversy

'We are committed to protecting client information,' says BPI in the wake of leaked information about Duterte's supposed deposits in the bank

NO BREACH. BPI denies allegations that it violated bank secrecy law. Image by AFP ImageForum

MANILA, Philippines – Amid a call for bank run from the supporters of presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) spoke up and denied allegations that it has breached client confidentiality.

"Our internal investigation reveals that there has been no such breach," BPI said in a statement late Friday, April 29. (READ: 'We are not safe': Netizens threaten to close bank accounts for Duterte)

This was after vice presidential candidate Senator Antonio Trillanes IV showed a tablewith the supposed credit transactions of Duterte with BPI, involving about P211 million.

*Jose Teodoro Limcaoco, managing director and chief financial officer of Ayala Corporation, said BPI did not violate any laws. Ayala Corporation owns BPI

"I don't know where Sen. Trillanes got his information, but the graphic posted by the [Philippine Daily] Inquirer showing alleged credits, that is not a BPI document," Limcaoco, who used to serve as the president of BPI Family Savings Bank, said in a mobile phone reply.

In the fallout of the news, a viral post shared over 24,000 times, called for a bank run or closure of bank accounts, doubting the reliability of the bank.

ENCOURAGED CLOSURE. Post shared to 'Friends of Rodrigo Duterte' Facebook group by netizen Rosani Masau

The camp of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II showed a photo of a bank receipt from BPI exposing the account Duterte and his daughter Sara. A bank receipt from PDI also showed the same results.

The camp of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II showed a photo of a bank receipt from BPI exposing the account Duterte and his daughter Sara. A bank receipt from PDI also showed the same results.

A bank run is typically the result of panic, rather than a true insolvency on the part of the bank.

BPI said it continues to have one of the most highly regarded data protection practices in the industry.

"We are committed to protecting client information and preserving the trust bestowed on us by our clients all these years," BPI said. – Rappler.com

*Editor's Note: The previous story said Limcaoco is the president of BPI Family Savings Bank. Since March 1, 2015, Limcaoco has been serving as the managing director, chief finance officer, chief risk officer, chief sustainability officer and finance group head of holding company Ayala Corporation. The story has been corrected.

Source: RAPLER.com

Maysak Typhoon

Super Typhoon Maysak Looks Terrifying From Space

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has just posted these five shots oftyphoon Maysak, taken from aboard the International Space Station. Maysak is a very strong category 4 super typhoon, which has weakened only 1 category since Monday.

Maysak’s unusually powerful winds of 160 mph have already caused significant damage in Yap and Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia of the northwest Pacific ocean, killing five people. Now, the typhoon is heading toward the northern Philippines.

Source: GIZMODO   GMAnews

Indonesia Flight QZ8501 asked for flight deviation due to weather – AirAsia

(Updated 7:02 p.m.) AirAsia Flight QZ8501 asked for a deviation in its flight route due to weather before it lost contact with air traffic control, the airline confirmed in a new statement.

Flight QZ8501, which disappeared from Indonesian airspace en route from Surabaya to Changi, Singapore on Sunday, was carrying seven crew and 155 passengers.

According to the airline's statement, the passengers consisted of 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean and one Briton. The crew consisted of six Indonesians and one French national.

Search and rescue operations are underway under the guidance of the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority, it added.

AirAsia said that the aircraft underwent its last scheduled maintenance on November 16. It was piloted by a captain with a total of 6,100 flying hours and a first officer with 2,275 flying hours. — BM, GMA News

ISIS Traffics Human Organs

ISIS Traffics Human Organs, Moves Them into Saudi Arabia and Turkey

Mathew Blake wrote in an article published yesterday on the British newspaper’s website that ISIS has added human organ trade to “‘a variety of shadowy sources including oil production, human trafficking and drug smuggling,” which it has been depending on to raise money to carry out their attacks and seize areas, particularly in Syria and Iraq.

The writer highlighted that ISIS has been “recruiting foreign doctors for months to harvest the internal organs not only from the bodies of their own dead fighters but also from living hostages – including children – snatched from minority communities in Iraq and Syria.”

The Daily Mail article referred to a report by al-Monitor news website which cited an Iraqi ear, nose and throat doctor named Siruwan al-Mosuli as saying that ISIS leaders have hired foreign doctors to run an extensive organ trafficking system from a hospital in the city of Mosul, northern Iraq, that is already beginning to generate huge profits.

It added that the terrorist organization is believed to having even set up “a specialist organ- smuggling division whose sole responsibility is to sell human hearts, livers and kidneys on the lucrative international black market.”

In further evidence of the Turkish and Saudi regimes’ involvement in the crimes committed by ISIS through the unlimited support they have offered the organization in terms of money, armament, training and movement, the article noted that most of the organs harvested are being smuggled out of Syria and Iraq into neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia or Turkey “where criminal gangs sell them on to shady buyers across the globe,” citing the Assyrian International News Agency.

The Daily Mail also referred to drug smuggling is one of ISIS most lucrative revenue streams another, citing Al Monitor’s report as saying that ISIS traffics Afghan heroin into Europe from the city of Nineveh, with this drug business becoming so successful in recent months that reports claim that ISIS now supplies half of Europe’s entire heroin market.

Source: whatsupic

Introducing Windows 10

Forget about Windows 9, say hello to Windows 10

It’s a humbling and amazing thing to work on Windows, which is used by over 1.5 billion people in every country of the world. From kids playing with computers for the first time, to writers and journalists, to engineers, to gamers, to CEOs, at some point Windows has empowered all of us.

In the Windows team, we’re proud of this – but we also know that the world today is very different from the one in which Windows grew up. Today, devices outnumber people. Connectivity is like oxygen. The tension between the desire for agility versus stability poses a huge challenge for IT Pros. Experiences – no matter what device you’re on – just need to work. The only thing that hasn’t really changed is the situation for developers – still too much to do, and not enough time.

One way to look at it is that Windows is at a threshold :-). It’s time for a new Windows. This new Windows must be built from the ground-up for a mobile-first, cloud-first world. This new Windows must help our customers be productive in both their digital work and their digital life. This new Windows must empower people and organizations to do great things.

That new Windows is Windows 10.

Windows 10 represents the first step of a whole new generation of Windows. Windows 10 unlocks new experiences for customers to work, play and connect. Windows 10 embodies what our customers (both consumers and enterprises) demand and what we will deliver.

Windows 10 will run across an incredibly broad set of devices – from the Internet of Things, to servers in enterprise datacenters worldwide. Some of these devices have 4 inch screens – some have 80 inch screens – and some don’t have screens at all. Some of these devices you hold in your hand, others are ten feet away. Some of these devices you primarily use touch/pen, others mouse/keyboard, others controller/gesture – and some devices can switch between input types.

We’re not talking about one UI to rule them all – we’re talking about one product family, with a tailored experience for each device.

And across this breadth of devices, we are delivering one application platform for our developers. Whether you’re building a game or a line of business application, there will be one way to write a universal app that targets the entire family. There will be one store, one way for applications to be discovered, purchased and updated across all of these devices.

Windows 10 will deliver the right experience on the right device at the right time. It will be our most comprehensive platform ever.

Now, during the design of a new Windows, we spend time with many diverse customers. One of the most important of these customers is the enterprise. In the past year I’ve talked to dozens of enterprise customers and listened to how they are using and deploying Windows, and what they need from us.

These customers are betting their businesses on Windows – in the first half of this year, shipments of enterprise PCs grew 14%. In that same time period, shipments of Windows enterprise tablets grew 33%.

These customers have a need to evaluate Windows early, so we are starting our dialog with them today. For more details about what Windows 10 will have for these customers, check out this blog post on the Windows for your Business blog.

Tomorrow, we are excited to announce the Windows Insider Program, where PC experts and IT Pros can get access to a technical preview of Windows 10 for desktops and laptops. Soon after, we’ll also be releasing technical previews of Windows Server and our management tools.

With the Insider program, we’re inviting our most enthusiastic Windows customers to shape Windows 10 with us. We know they’re a vocal bunch – and we’re looking forward to hearing from them.

The Windows Insider Program is intended for PC experts and IT pros who are comfortable using pre-release software with variable quality. Insiders will receive a steady stream of early builds from us with the latest features we’re experimenting with.

This week’s announcements are just the first chapter of our conversation with customers about Windows 10 – with a focus on enterprise features (because enterprises have a need to evaluate software early on) and the desktop/laptop experiences. Early in 2015 we’ll introduce the consumer chapter and talk much more about other device types and more consumer features. We’ll then continue the conversation with the developer chapter at our Build conference, and later in the year we’ll release Windows 10 and look forward to some amazing new devices.

Today was an important beginning for our customers and partners as we embark on the Windows 10 journey together. I encourage everyone reading this to sign up for the Windows Insider Program, download the technical preview, and let us know what you think. Check here tomorrow for specific details – but in the meantime, here’s a peek at some of the new features you can test drive once you become an Insider:

Credit: BLOGWINDOWS

Anderson Cooper of CNN versus Noynoy Aquino on the Typhoon Yolanda

There is now an ongoing battle for the truth about the real situation in typhoon-ravaged areas amidst the tragedy that is still unfolding a week after super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) left the Philippines. On one side, members of the international media are giving factual reports from the ground at the disaster zone. On the other side are people from Malacanang including President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino who are giving a much rosier update from a cozier distance.

Anderson Cooper of CNN

While CNN journalist Anderson Cooper reporting from Tacloban City observed that he sees “no real evidence of organized recovery or relief” effort coming from the Philippine government where he is at, the same day President BS Aquino was giving a “reassuring” report during an interview with CNN studio reporter Christiane Amapour that the Philippine government’s relief and rescue operations were well on its way. The President even said, “all national roads have been reopened and most national airports are back to operating levels”.

Amapour’s professionalism remained commendable despite her receiving some ambiguous responses from BS Aquino. Others would have asked for pictures as proof of the President’s claims, or else it hasn’t happened. In fact, ground reporter Cooper was actually reporting live and showing actual footage from the ruins of Tacloban airport. The picture he showed was grimmer.

Bluffing his way through an
interview: President BS Aquino

From Cooper’s vantage point, there were hundreds of people sleeping at the airport because there was nowhere for them to go and if one would just walk three blocks away from the airport, there were also people sleeping in makeshift huts or out exposed to rains even lying next to the bodies of their loved ones because these had yet to be picked up. He said there was also very little water and food supply because there was no feeding station, which according to him, was what one would expect after five days. The journalist added that he only heard of talks about the airport being opened again by the US marines but it hadn’t happened yet. He warned that the situation is getting desperate and that sooner or later something is bound to give.

To make matters even stranger for outsiders like Cooper, news anchor, Korina Sanchez who also happens to be the wife of Department of Interior and Local Government secretary, Mar Roxas became defensive and said that Cooper doesn’t know what he is talking about. Sanchez probably thought that her husband’s directing traffic on the streets of Tacloban could be considered a rescue operation. Thank goodness no one takes her seriously nowadays especially since she hasn’t even been to the disaster zone.

Cooper has covered quite a number of disasters overseas and he seemed to be in shock over the lack of real urgency in the Philippine government’s response to the tragedy. To quote:

disaster:

Villeamor Airbase – home of the Philippine Air Force and the main staging area for relief flights to the disaster zone – seems to be operating at half-speed. There is no thrum of activity, no evidence that there’s a real sense of urgency among the Philippine troops here. Every once in a while a civilian car pulls up and unloads a few boxes of goods some neighbors have collected. They put them on the sidewalk and drive away. A little while later, some Filipino troops (or reporters) move them inside. No method. No organization. It’s as if an earthquake hit southern California and Vandenburg or Nellis AFB were quiet and half-populated.

The U.S. Marines have swung into action, certainly. But there are just 215 of them right now, and they must coordinate with the Philippine government. As one high-ranking officer told me here about the host government, “They’re paralyzed.”

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official confirmed that impression privately to me. The Israeli team is here to assess what their country can contribute and where. Over the years, Israel has developed excellent field hospital capabilities that they’ve brought to disasters in Haiti and elsewhere.

But the Israelis, too, need to coordinate with the Philippine government. “When we ask them what they need, they tell us to talk to the Americans,” the official said.

The lack of leadership in the Philippines makes some Filipinos wish that foreign troops could just take over administration of the country forever. The Philippine government has become irrelevant. Members of congress are only good at grandstanding during Senate hearings in the guise of “aiding legislation” that hardly ever result in any significant outcomes.

Hopefully, the deaths of thousands of Filipinos during the super typhoon will not be in vain because this disaster is finally exposing the incompetence of the Aquino government not only to the rest of the Filipino people, but also to the rest of the international community.

Even back in 2011, the Aquino government was already being held accountable for the deaths of over a thousand people in Mindanao during typhoon Sendong. Kabataan party-list Representative Raymond Palatino already highlighted the Aquino government’s refusal to allot funds for disaster preparedness in the 2011 calamity fund. Fast forward to 2013, the Aquino government is certainly even less-prepared and ill-equipped to handle a much bigger disaster than Sendong.

It must be a real mystery to the international community why year after year, the Philippines is never prepared for the arrival of typhoons when in fact, during the interview with CNN reporter Amapour, BS Aquino admitted that we get visited by at least 20 typhoons every year. It is as if the Philippine government has become desensitized to the people’s suffering when it comes.

The rest of the interview with BS Aquino was cringe-worthy as expected. Amapour hardly got a straight answer even when she asked simple questions. When Amapour asked, “How do you manage to reassure your people?” The President responded as if he was talking to someone stupid:

We have been able to demonstrate as a government and as a people collectively that we take care of each other and that the government’s initial response was reassuring to the vast majority of our people. Our ability to take care of our problems rather quickly…

Should the US military takeover
administration of the Philippines?

 I can imagine people shaking their heads in disbelief at BS Aquino’s claim that the “government’s initial response was reassuring”. The President doesn’t seem to be in touch with reality because chaotic scenes in video footage and photos being circulated around the world do not show a reassured public. Someone needs to inform BS Aquino that the Filipino public along with the rest of the world are actually worried about those who are starving and going mad with desperation.
In one of her final questions, Amapour asked how BS Aquino would respond to people who will judge his Presidency on how his government responded to the crisis. His response seemed to trivialize the number of deaths caused by the super typhoon, which he claims is “only” about 2500. He kept emphasising that the government’s efforts to warn the public minimized the casualties and this time, did not include sinking ships:

In one of her final questions, Amapour asked how BS Aquino would respond to people who will judge his Presidency on how his government responded to the crisis. His response seemed to trivialize the number of deaths caused by the super typhoon, which he claims is “only” about 2500. He kept emphasising that the government’s efforts to warn the public minimized the casualties and this time, did not include sinking ships:

I think you can ask all the governors of the areas that have been saying that our making them aware the dangers of the typhoon enabled them to move their population from danger areas into safer areas and thereby minimizing casualties. A lot of them with the exception of Leyte province, eastern and western Samar have reported practically of one or two or even zero casualties wherein normally when we have a typhoon, we will also have ships that were travelling that would have sunk casualties in the hundreds, probably merit too much attention. So the knowledge, the geo hazard mapping, the knowledge imparted to all of them enabled them to reduce the risk inherent in all the disasters that visit us.

If was hard to filter through all the bullshit, indeed. One death is one too many. For BS Aquino however, if the number of casualties is less than 10,000, it is an indication that the casualties were minimized and it is thanks to the efforts of his government. Never mind the fact that he is not even basing his statements on any formal statistics.

The battle to find the truth about the true state of the Philippines will continue. Let us hope the international community will not give up on the Filipino people and help win back the Philippines from the lies of the Aquino regime.

[Photo of US military plane courtesy Interaksyon.com.]

Source: CNN News

Typhoon Yolanda Destruction in Tacloban

ABS-CBN veteran broadcast journalist was able to capture the devastation wrought by super typhoon "Yolanda" in Tacloban City. -- ABS-CBN, Special Coverage: Bagsik ni Yolanda, November 9, 2013

Source: ABS-CBN News

ON AIR: 24 Oras Livestream (Nov. 8, 2013) Bagyong Yolanda

Bagyong Yolanda Update as of  November 8, 2013
Live Streaming from GMA Network

Satellite falling to Earth

By Ralph Ellis, CNN November 7, 2013 -- Updated 2050 GMT (0450 HKT)

(CNN) -- A European satellite that ran out of fuel will start falling in the next few days, and fragments of the disintegrating 2,000-pound spacecraft are expected to strike the Earth's surface.
Nobody knows where or when the fragments will hit, but the European Space Agency has said the parts are likely to fall into the ocean or unpopulated areas. Potential spots will be narrowed down closer to re-entry, ESA said on its website.
Re-entry probably will occur Sunday or Monday, Rune Floberghagen, mission manager for the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Explorer, better known as GOCE, told the New York Times.
GOCE was launched in 2009 to map variations in the Earth's gravity in 3D, provide ocean circulation patterns and make other measurements.
ESA's website said the satellite "became the first seismometer in orbit" in March 2011 when it detected sound waves from the earthquake that struck Japan.
GOCE was expected to fall much earlier but fuel consumption was less than expected. In August, the satellite's altitude was lowered to about 139 miles, lowest of any research satellites, to improve the accuracy of the information being gathered, ESA's website said.
GOCE ran out of fuel October 21. On November 4, ESA's website said the satellite was orbiting the Earth at 119 miles and the rate of descent would increase significantly in coming days.

Source: CNN News

Jinggoy Estrada Arrested After Trying to Smuggle Money Inside His Breasts to US

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Officials inside San Francisco International Airport detained and arrested Senator Jinggoy Estrada, after the lawmaker tried to get past customs while in possession of huge amounts of money.

Estrada, who came to San Francisco via a connecting flight from Hong Kong, was initially reported to accompany his wife to the United States, to seek a second opinion from US-based doctors for a lump in her wife’s breast.

But it turns out, his wife was not with him on the trip, and it was the senator instead who had a lump on his breast.

Airport authorities grew suspicious of the senator after they noticed him all sweaty, jumpy and saw a noticeable bulge on the upper-body-area of his clothes.

“We asked him what it was,” said SFIA Head of Security Trevor Philip Ogg. “The cocky son-of-a-bitch answered me by asking  ’don’t you know who I am?’”

“I said no, who the hell are you?” narrated Ogg.

Estrada apparently introduced himself as “THE sexy senator from the Philippines”, and that the bulge on his chest was the result of intense workout regimen he undertook months prior.

But when the senator sensed that Ogg was feeling sketchy with his response, Estrada flip-flopped and told him that he was seeking medical advice from US doctors for the said lumps.

File photo shows Estrada, asking Legarda
 if the money hidden inside his stomach looks suspicious.

That’s when airport officials decided to frisk him.

Ogg added, “When he took off his shirt, we saw rectangular lumps in-place of his muscles, an unusual sight that does not resemble the six-packs you see on TV.”

Upon closer inspection with the help of a scalpel, they discovered bundles of money hidden inside Estrada’s ‘muscles’ and skin, that the senator was trying to bring in to the country.

“We counted millions worth of Pesos that we suspect belongs to the Filipinos,” said Ogg.

He added, “Mr. Estrada is now visually far from sexy after we emptied his body of money after a full cavity search.”

Stay tuned to SWN for further developments.

Source:  So,Whats News? -- The Fake News :D

‘I think we need to seriously think of abolishing the exit permit system’

“I think we need to seriously think of abolishing the exit permit system, fixing minimum wages in various sectors, appointing welfare officers at all companies and also gradually allow the freedom to change jobs.”

- Dr. Ahmed Al Mohannadi, Editor-in-Chief of local sports magazine Doha Stadium Plus, in a new op-ed asserting that Qatar must “do more” to shore up its expat workers’ rights.

Unlike many locals, including those working in Qatar’s human rights organizations, Al Mohannadi did not dispute the veracity of recent media reports about poor working and living conditions among low-income construction workers here.

Instead, he focused on the negative impact human rights abuses are having on the country’s image, adding that laws in place to protect the vulnerable don’t appear to be working:

“Of course, in sectors like oil and gas, we can take pride for ensuring international standards, but in several others, the existing laws proved ineffective and we haven’t enacted new ones.”

To remedy the situation, he called on Qatar to amend its restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system, which ties employees to their sponsors, whose approval must be sought to buy a car, change jobs or even leave the country for vacation.

He concluded by saying:

“Let’s start doing what’s necessary and then do what’s possible. Then, I’m sure we can do the impossible and the whole world will applaud us.”

Source: DOHA News

Russia threatens to bomb Qatar and Saudi Arabia

Modern Bombers Su-34s with extra fuel tanks

A senior source in the Russian Air Force told to Moscow website Telegrafist that Russia had plans to bomb Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

He claims that the combat mission can be done by a unit of Su-27s, as well as by modern bombers Su-34s with extra fuel tanks, accompanied by the Su-27s.

"Today, the situation is such that even in case if the Su-34s do not have enough fuel to get out of Iran's airspace on return flight, they will be able to land right there", he said - "a combat radius of the Su-27s allows fly to the capital of Qatar and Saudi Arabia and return, the Su-34s do not have such radius".

On the question when and why these plans developed, the Russian Air Force officer replied:
"Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in the region, not Israel, as many suggest, namely the regime of King Abdullah who is willing to get involved where you want to please his masters, so of course the Soviet Union was preparing plans for the destruction of this regime because without it - Saudi Arabia will no longer be an integral state and Washington will get hordes of barbarians who destroy their bases by using the same US military hardware".

The Russians also claimed they needed no more than 24 hours for the entire operation to destroy the ruling circles of the two monarchies from the air.

Source: KAVKAZCENTER

Drifting in Saudi Arabia

Syria crisis: US Senate panel backs use of force

A Senate panel has approved the use of military force in Syria, in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.

On a visit to Sweden, US President Barack Obama
 continued to call for military action in Syria

By 10-7, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations moved the measure to a full Senate vote, expected next week. The vote comes as President Barack Obama tries to build support in the US for punitive military action against the Syrian government. The much-debated measure allows the use of limited military force in Syria for 90 days. It also prevents the use of US troops on the ground. Despite Wednesday's vote, the bill's fate in the wider Senate is still unclear. So far, only 21 senators have said they support or are likely to support the resolution, according to a tally by ABC News. Thirteen have said they oppose or are likely to oppose the resolution, while 66 votes are undecided or unknown. However, those numbers are expected to shift as the language in the resolution changes, the White House and their congressional allies apply pressure, and lawmakers hear from their constituents. Earlier in the day, France - whose government has strongly advocated intervention - held an extraordinary debate in the National Assembly, though MPs will not vote on the matter as the country's president can mobilise the military without their backing. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict, most recently on a large scale in an attack on 21 August on the outskirts of Damascus. The US has put the death toll from that incident at 1,429 - though other countries and organisations have given lower figures - and says all the evidence implicates government forces. During a press conference in Sweden on Wednesday, President Obama said the evidence gives him "high confidence that Assad carried this out". He said action must be taken to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again. Mr Obama said he believed the US Congress would approve intervention, but stressed that as commander-in-chief, he had the right to act in his country's national interest regardless.

Philippines Calls on Malaysia to Clarify Report of Sabah Abuse

The Philippines called on Malaysia to clarify a report that police had indiscriminately shot and killed Filipinos living in the eastern state of Sabah, after a Muslim clan from the island nation invaded the area last month.
“We reiterate our call on the Malaysian government to give humane treatment to the Filipinos under their custody,” the Philippines Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement yesterday. “The allegations are alarming and should be properly and immediately addressed by concerned authorities.”

Malaysian police rounded up Filipinos living in Sabah last week and killed several people, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday, citing a woman who fled the violence and said her brother was shot dead. Sabah police chief Hamza Taib, speaking by phone today, “strongly denied” that Filipinos were being abused in the state.
Sixty-two people have died in Sabah this month in clashes between Malaysian police and followers of Jamalul Kiram, who claims he’s the Sulu sultan and is asserting a centuries-old ownership claim on the state. The violence comes weeks before elections in both countries and the conclusion of peace talks between Philippine President Benigno Aquino and Muslim separatists.
Malaysian authorities have sought to prevent the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah from joining Kiram’s roughly 200 followers. Police have detained 97 people with links to the insurgents, and killed a 12-year-old boy yesterday, Taib said phone.
“He was in an area where the security forces were doing their mopping-up operations and detaining those linked with the insurgents,” Taib said, referring to the boy.

Death Toll

The Philippine Daily Inquirer report cited Amira Taradji as saying her brother was killed when Malaysian police ordered a group of Filipino men to run as fast as they could before shooting at them. She was among about 400 Filipinos who fled Malaysia in boats and spoke after arriving in the Philippines, the report said.
Fifty-four militants and eight Malaysian police officers have been killed since fighting erupted on March 1, according to Malaysian authorities. Voting may be postponed in areas under siege in an election Prime Minister Najib Razak must call by April 28, state-run Bernama reported last week.
Sabah is Malaysia’s second-biggest state by land area and has a population of about 3.1 million, according to Malaysia government statistics. In Tawau district, where the fighting is centered, about half of the population is considered “non- Malaysian citizens,” the data show.
The Sulu Sultanate, which dates back to about the 15th century, says it leased Sabah to the British North Borneo Company in 1878, an agreement that Malaysia views as a secession of the region. Sabah fell under British control after World War II and joined Malaysia in 1963, shortly after the sultanate ceded sovereignty to the Philippines.

Anti-Cyber Crime Law is not Perfect

Friday, October 5, 2012

MANILA -- Malacañang admitted Thursday that the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 has several defects, but said the law's implementation could not be stopped and its flaws can only be addressed through amendments.

"(It) is not perfect," said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

"We believe that since there has already been a clamor and you have seen that our position from the very start is: If you want to refine the law, you want to amend the law, well and good. These are provisions which you find objectionable primarily on the penalty on libel, on the takedown clause, then amend it," he added.

Lacierda said there are two ways to amend the controversial law. One is by questioning the law before the courts, and the other one is through Congress amending the objectionable provisions.

He said the Palace respects both avenues.

Malacañang is not keen on suggestions to repeal the law, saying the bulk of it primarily deals with addressing cybercrime, which is not punishable under a law before.

Lacierda said they are leaving it up to the lawmakers to make the appropriate amendments to law "based on the concerns raised by the public."

However, he added that the communications group led by Secretary Ramon Carandang might also suggest own amendments to Republic Act (RA) 10175 during the consultation in the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations by the Department of Justice scheduled on October 9.

The consultation will be open to the media.

"We hope that the consultation will clear the waters on questionable provisions of the law," he said.

Among the controversial provisions of the law is the insertion of online libel, which has stiffer penalties than that provided under the Revised Penal Code.

Another is Section 19 or the "takedown clause," which empowers the Justice Secretary to shut down websites with harmful contents.

Lacierda said the President could not stop the implementation of the law since the Executive is tasked to execute a law.

He said the ball is in the legislative if they decide to adopt a joint resolution to postpone the law's implementation.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima echoed Lacierda's statement in turning down the call of Senator Edgardo Angara to suspend the implementation of a provision in RA 10175.

De Lima said Angara's suggestion is easier said than done, considering that the mandate of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is to enforce the law.

"No legislator can unilaterally ask for a suspension of a law, nor can we decide to suspend (its implementation)," she said.

What the justice department can do, de Lima said is to clarify the vague provisions in the law's implementing rules and regulations (IRR), which is yet to be crafted.

"On the ground, we will just be judicious on first few cases to allay fears of abuse or excesses in the exercise of such power and also to gain (the) trust (of the people)," she said.

Angara, who was the principal author of the controversial law in the Senate, earlier said that concerns raised by netizens on Section 19 of the law may be cured if the DOJ will suspend its application until the necessary amendatory law, which he and other senators who signed RA 10175 will file, has been passed.

Section 19 allows the DOJ to issue an order or restrict or block access to websites found to be in prima facie violation of the provisions of the controversial law. It also allows the justice department to take down or shutdown a website if it had been "hacked."

Angara also allayed fears that a “liker” of a libelous comment in social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter will also make him or her liable under the controversial law.

Angara clarified that there is misapprehension that Section 24 of the law will send “liker” or “sharer” of the libelous comment to jail.

“This provision is misapprehended. It’s not covered at all,” the senator said.

The lawmaker also said the solution is not to decriminalize the libel provision of the law but to amend the Revised Penal Code, which was the source of the libel provision of the law.

“I’m just saying to those who want to repeal libel provisions in the cybercrime law, that is still ineffective because libel would still be a crime because it is under our basic criminal code,” Angara said.

He also allayed fears by some media practitioners that their rights will be violated by the law.

The senator said he will propose to the DOJ to refrain from issuing such orders until upon approval of the courts.

The DOJ, together with the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Science and Technology, are tasked to provide the IRR for the law.

Popular political satirist-blogger Marcelo Landicho, more popularly known in social media as the "Professional Heckler," was among the group of bloggers who filed on Thursday the tenth petition assailing the RA 10175, which they referred to as cyber-Martial Law.

The Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance and lawyer Argee Guevarra will also file their own petition before the Supreme Court asking the nullification of certain provisions in RA 10175. (Jill Beltran/JCV/PNA/Sunnex)

Source: Sunstar.com