Rizal 150: Bongbong Marcos files SB 2743 to move 'Rizal Day' to June 19

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has filed Senate Bill No. 2743 (June 19 Rizal Day) that seeks to move the traditional and annual observance and celebration of Rizal Day from December 30 to June 19.


Marcos believes that Rizal's birthday should be celebrated and observed as a national regular holiday, rather than celebrating a holiday on a day of the hero's death.

“June 19, the birthday of our National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, is a day of celebration of his life and his great contribution to the country's independence from foreign domination,” Marcos in the proposal said. “His writings have inspired the Filipino Nation to advocate the ideals of change through peaceful means.”

“It is just fitting that Filipinos commemorate Rizal Day on June 19 as a day of triumph of the Dr. Jose Rizal's nationalism and patriotic ideals,” the Senator added.

Karzai: Afghanistan, US in contacts with Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that Afghanistan and the United States are engaged in peace talks with the Taliban, even as insurgents stormed a police station near the presidential palace, killing nine people.

The brazen attack in the heart of Kabul's government district provided a sharp counterpoint to Karzai's first official confirmation that the U.S. and Afghan governments are holding discussions with the Taliban.

The Obama administration neither directly confirmed nor denied Karzai's statement.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. has "consistently supported an Afghan-led" peace process.

"Over the past two years, we have laid out our red lines for the Taliban: They must renounce violence; they must abandon their alliance with al-Qaida; and they must abide by the constitution of Afghanistan," Toner said. "This is the price for reaching a political resolution and bringing an end to the military actions that are targeting their leadership and decimating their ranks."

Saturday's violence underscored the challenges facing any possible negotiated settlement to the decade-long war.

Three men dressed in Afghan army uniforms stormed the police station near the presidential palace and opened fire on officers, said Mohammed Honayon, a witness. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that one of the attackers detonated a suicide bomb vest outside the gates while the others rushed in and began shooting.

The crackle of gunfire echoed through the streets typically bustling with shoppers and government employees on a Saturday, the start of Afghanistan's work week. The fighting ended by 3 p.m. when security forces shot dead the two other attackers. Three police officers, one intelligence agent and five civilians were killed in the attack, the Interior Ministry said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to The Associated Press, saying the group dispatched three suicide bombers.

The assault occurred shortly after Karzai announced during a speech at the presidential palace that his government and the U.S. have begun preliminary negotiations with the Taliban aimed at ending the conflict.

"In the course of this year, there have been peace talks with the Taliban and our own countrymen," Karzai said. "Peace talks have started with them already and it is going well. Foreign militaries, especially the United States of America, are going ahead with these negotiations."

Karzai said some of the Taliban emissaries that have met with members of the peace council he set up were only representing themselves, while others were speaking for the broader movement. The exact nature of the contacts was not immediately clear, and Karzai said that no government official outside of the council had contact with them.

"The peace council is trying to get connected to them to bring peace," the president said.

Attacks in the Afghan capital have been relatively rare, although violence has increased since the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid in Pakistan and the start of the Taliban's annual spring offensive.

The capital is one of seven regions scheduled to be handed over to Afghan security control in late July — part of NATO's efforts to begin transferring security responsibilities ahead of its planned 2014 withdrawal from the country. The U.S. also plans to start drawing down troops in July.

The last major attack in Kabul took place last month when a suicide bomber wearing an Afghan police uniform infiltrated the main Afghan military hospital in late May, killing six medical students. A month before that, a suicide attacker in an army uniform sneaked past security at the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing three.

Insurgents also attacked three convoys ferrying fuel and supplies to NATO troops stationed in western and eastern Afghanistan, killing nine Afghan security guards and torching at least 15 fuel tankers, officials said.

Two of the supply convoys hit roadside bombs Saturday in eastern Ghazni province, killing four Afghan security guards escorting the trucks to a nearby base for Polish troops, said provincial police chief Mohammed Hussain.

Insurgents also ambushed a NATO fuel convoy late Friday along the border between Herat and Farah provinces in the west, killing five Afghan guards and wounding seven others before setting fire to the tankers, said Abdul Rashied, a local police chief.

In the eastern city of Jalalabad, insurgents kidnapped a provincial council member for Logar province and three of his family members.

Two NATO service members also were killed Saturday in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, according to the alliance. At least 32 international soldiers have died in Afghanistan so far this month, raising the death toll for 2011 to 238.

___

Associated Press writers Ahmad Seir and Amir Shah contributed to this report.

Kadhafi vows to defeat NATO

Libya's Moamer Kadhafi vowed Friday to defeat NATO as his forces launched a deadly rocket assault on rebel-held Misrata but lost a key stretch of road towards Tunisia's border.

Mahmud Jibril of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) meanwhile denied suggestions by a Russian envoy that the rebel leadership had been negotiating with his regime.

State television aired Kadhafi's comments in what it said was a live telephone call from the Libyan leader, who has gone underground since Western nations began waging an air war in March to protect civilians from a bloody protest crackdown.

"They will be defeated, NATO is bound to be defeated," Kadhafi said in the speech broadcast on loudspeakers in Tripoli's Green Square as thousands of flag-waving regime supporters staged their biggest rally for weeks.

"We are determined to change nothing in our country other than by our own free will, not because of the alliance's planes... We are resisting, we are fighting," he declared.

"If they come to the ground, we will wait for them, but they are cowards, they will not dare," he said in reference to NATO's insistance it will not deploy ground troops on Libyan soil in line with a UN resolution.

Kadhafi called on Libyans to prepare to liberate their country: "Get ready men and women to free Libya inch by inch."

His speech came hours after loud explosions shook Tripoli, where Kadhafi has his residence, as NATO warplanes constantly overflew the Libyan capital, an AFP reporter said.

In rebels' western enclave of Misrata, Kadhafi loyalists killed 10 people and wounded 40 when they pounded the lifeline port city with a volley of Grad rockets, rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan told AFP.

All the victims were civilians, he said, and were hit when rockets slammed into the western and eastern gates of the city. The body of one of the dead, a woman, was found in the rubble of her house.

Hassan said Misrata was still the target of near daily bombardment by Kadhafi loyalists, and that there had been no air strikes by the NATO-led coalition on the embattled strongman's forces on Friday.

Elsewhere, a road linking the towns of Zintan and Yafran was under the complete control of the insurgents and dotted with destroyed tanks and abandoned government vehicles, an AFP correspondent said.

The road, a key sector of the route to the border with Tunisia, was seized two days after the rebels overran the nearby villages of Ghanymma, Lawania and Zawit Bagoul.

In the Italian city of Naples, where NATO's Libya operation is headquartered, Jibril, the head of international affairs in the NTC, dismissed reports the opposition was in negotiations with the Kadhafi regime.

"I can assure you there is and there was no negotiation between the NTC and the regime," said Jibril.

At a joint news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Jibril said that were negotiations to take place, the NTC would "announce it out of commitment to our friends all over the world".

Russian envoy Mikhail Margelov said Friday that Kadhafi representatives had made contact with the rebels in European capitals including Berlin, Paris and Oslo.

Margelov had said on a one day visit to Tripoli on Thursday that the contacts had only taken place in Paris, although he did not disclose the nature of the supposed negotiations.

France said it had no knowledge of the negotiations.

"If there have been direct contacts, we're not involved and we didn't set them up," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

Mahmudi said on Thursday Kadhafi's departure was a "red line" that cannot be crossed, despite growing international calls for him to quit and the armed insurrection against his 41-year rule.

An NTC official in the opposition stronghold Benghazi in eastern Libya told AFP on Friday that their position was unchanged.

"Kadhafi must go. Anyone from the rebel side who negotiates his staying in power would immediately have an NTC arrest warrant issued against him," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

And NATO on Friday slammed as "cynical" an offer in an Italian newspaper interview by Moamer Kadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, that the regime in Tripoli was ready to organise internationally supervised elections.

"Once again, it is an instance of what I would call a cynical PR ploy," said alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu during a news briefing on the military campaign.

"It is hard to imagine that after 41 years in which Kadhafi abolished elections, the constitution, political parties, trade unions... (that) overnight a dictator would turn into a democrat."

Navy removes China markers on West Philippine Sea

PNoy welcomes U.S. envoy's support over Spratlys row

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy has removed markers in the West Philippine Sea that were placed by Chinese forces.

One was removed from the Reed Bank, which is now known as Recto Bank, one was taken from the Boxall Reef, while another from Douglas Bank.

The markers were placed by China without permission.

Meanwhile, Chinese and Vietnamese poachers are often sighted by villagers in Barangay Simpokan, Puerto Princesa, whose shores face the disputed Spratlys.

However, barangay officials, armed with only one patrol boat, can't go after them.

The Philippine Air Force recently observed Chinese and Vietnamese forces upgrading their facilities on the Spratly Islands.

In August, a second-hand ship from the U.S. Coast Guard will augment Philippine Navy forces in Palawan.

U.S. support for Philippines

The U.S. has also waded in on the Spratlys dispute.

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas said being a treaty ally, America will support the Philippines.

"I wanna assure you that on all subjects, we, the United States, are with the Philippines. The Philippines and the United States are strategic treaty allies," he said. "We will continue to consult and work with each other on all issues including the South China Sea and Spratly Islands."

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao earlier said Washington should not interfere in the issue, since it is not a party to the Spratlys dispute.

This was echoed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei after Vietnam also asked the U.S. for help.

The U.S., however, did not categorically state if its support would include military aid if the tension gives way to armed conflict.

President Benigno Aquino III, meanwhile, is happy with Thomas' statement.

Aquino is insisting on the Philippines' right to search for oil within its territory.

He invoked the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that states a country's territory extends 200 nautical miles from its shores.   

Recto Bank is 80 nautical miles from Palawan, and is 576 miles away from China.

"So 576 is obviously greater than 200. So suddenly why should there be a dispute if we are conforming to international law?" Aquino asked.

"Siyempre they are a superpower, they have more than 10 times our population, we do not want any hostility to break out. Perhaps the presence of our treaty partner, which is the United States of America, ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation."

The Philippines and China, however, both reiterate that they would like to peacefully settle the Spratlys dispute. - Reports from Ces Oreña Drilon and Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News; ANC

PNoy gov't doles out P4B, seeks P2B more

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino government has already spent P4.127 billion of the P17.13-billion Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) budget allotted for 2011.

Despite this, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Dinky Soliman faced the Senate finance oversight committee on Tuesday afternoon and said it still needs an additional P2 billion to cover over 2 million households for its Pantawid Pamilya program.

Senate Finance committee chair Franklin Drilon did not commit to supporting her request for additional funds, pending a certification from the Department of Budget and Management that there are enough funds.

As of May 31, the DSWD had already released P4.127 billion to 1.6 million households.

Soliman said the DSWD is short of funds because it started giving away cash before the programmed implementation in June.

She said the program has a high accomplishment rate in terms of health visits, education, and family development sessions, which are pre-conditions for the release of funds to beneficiaries.

Soliman also told the committee that it has an assessment mechanism, via a survey commissioned to see the effectiveness of the program.

The survey will be done by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) toward the latter part of 2011.

Both Drilon and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said they were satisfied with the explanation of Soliman.

Under the government's CCT program, the poorest of the poor gets P300 for each child (no more than 3 children and not older than 14 years old), while the mother or parent gets P500 every month on the condition that the children attend at least 85% of their school days, and submit to the government's health programs like vaccination.

China 'will not use force' in sea disputes

China on Tuesday pledged not to resort to the use of force in the tense South China Sea, as neighbours with rival border claims stepped up their complaints over Beijing's assertive maritime posture.

Beijing called for more dialogue to resolve the long-standing territorial disputes in the area after the Philippines sought help from the United States and Vietnam staged live-fire military exercises in a show of military strength.

"We will not resort to the use of force or the threat of force," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.

"We hope relevant countries will do more for peace and stability in the region."

Tensions between China and other rival claimants to the strategically vital South China Sea -- home to two potentially oil-rich archipelagos, the Paracels and Spratlys -- have escalated in recent weeks.

The Philippines and Vietnam in particular have expressed alarm at what they say are increasingly aggressive actions by China in the disputed waters, but Beijing has insisted it is committed to resolving the issue peacefully.

In Manila, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday his country needed help from longtime ally the United States in the increasingly tense maritime dispute.

"Of course they (China) are a superpower, they have more than 10 times our population. We do not want any hostilities to break out," Aquino told reporters when asked about recent Chinese actions in the disputed waters.

"Perhaps the presence of our treaty partners, the United States of America, ensures that all of us will have freedom of navigation (and) will conform to international law."

The Philippines has accused China of undermining peace and stability in the region by sending naval vessels to intimidate Filipino fishermen and the crew of an oil exploration ship.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia have competing claims to the Spratlys. Beijing and Hanoi are at odds over the Paracels.

The area has commercial shipping lanes that are vital for global trade.

Hong insisted Vietnam was to blame for the recent flare-up in the spat between Beijing and Hanoi, sparked by a confrontation last month between Chinese surveillance vessels and a Vietnamese oil survey ship.

"Some country took unilateral actions to impair China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and released groundless and irresponsible remarks with the attempt to expand and complicate the issue of the South China Seas," Hong said, in a thinly veiled reference to Hanoi.

"This is where the problem lies."

He said China was willing to hold direct negotiations with the other nations making territorial claims within the framework of a code of conduct agreed to in 2002.

Hong also urged nations not directly involved in the maritime disputes to "respect" the efforts of disputing nations to peacefully resolve the issue -- perhaps a warning to Washington.

On Monday, US Senator Jim Webb urged Congress to condemn China's recent behaviour, saying that Washington has been too weak-kneed on the South China Sea issue.

Webb, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said he was introducing a bill that would denounce China for the use of force and urge it to seek a peaceful resolution to disputes.

The United States generally does not take positions on territorial disputes in which it is not directly involved.

A Chinese military newspaper stated Beijing's position more bluntly.

"China resolutely opposes any country unrelated to the South China Sea issue meddling in disputes, and it opposes the internationalisation of the South China Sea issue," the People's Liberation Army Daily said Tuesday in a commentary.

"This dispute must be resolved peacefully through friendly consultations between the two parties involved."

Taiwan at the weekend reiterated its claim to the Spratlys, and said missile boats and tanks could be deployed to disputed territory.

Real 'Puppy' hangs on a clothesline on Facebook album

Facebook user Jerzon Senador uploaded photos of what seems like a newly washed stuffed toy pinned to a clothesline and hanging out to dry. The only thing is that it’s actually a real live puppy.

Senador, who is from Calamba, Laguna has gained notoriety on the internet after posting several those photos on his Facebook account.

The album Bagung Ligo si 'PUPPY' was posted on June 12, Independence Day in the Philippines. Unfortunately, Puppy could not enjoy freedom as he was hanging there secured by five clothespins.

Initially, the album was met with disgust by at least a couple of other Facebook users. Dogsand Catslover clicked "unlike," while Jhane Aragon posted "anu ba yan.."

The Facebook page "Report, Jerzon Senador the Animal Abuser" was created "to raise awareness regarding Animal Cruelty."

As of this posting, more than 3,000 Facebook users have liked the page, but uploading pictures and videos has temporarily been disabled.

Indignant viewers

Some of those who saw the photos were indignant, and condemned the act as well as Senador. The creator of the page warned people several times to avoid cursing or making threats.

Despite negative comments, Senador was unapologetic, saying "hahaha,..winashing k p nga yan weh..." and "Hahaha, hnd ako makukulong noh..remember senador toh! aquh ng pa2pad ng Animal cruelty at kya kong bawiin yun!! ahahahaha."

Those up in arms knew this was no laughing matter, and continued to protest on their own virtual spaces and on the page which was created to serve as warning to all Animal Abusers. "Jerzon Senador is just one of them, we have to do our part to help others in need. Not only to pets but to others as well," according to the page.

"Can we all help email to PAWS the link to this dog abusers fb album?" asked Thysz on Twitter.

"Animal cruelty is never cute. I hope somebody takes action on acts like this," said Weenarte on Twitter.

Sheenah Tan wrote Senador an open letter on her personal blog, suggesting other activities he could have done if the act was stated out of boredom.

"If you’re bored, you can do a whole lot of things but not pinning a poor puppy to dry. I bet you studied Biology and you are very aware that dogs can’t take care of themselves when they’re soaking wet," she wrote on her blog.

All apologies

Following pressure from netizens, Senador has since apologized via his own Facebook wall, saying "To All Animal Lover and to all over the world please read this:

“Gusto ko humingi ng tawad sa nagawa kong kasalanan sa aking alagang aso.. Sana mapatawad nyo ako at pinapangako ko na hindi na mauulit…"

The apology was accepted by some, but found lacking by others.

Facebook user Jess Rubi wrote "... he ruined his life by posting those pics. Not funny kahit saang anggulo tingnan. He should have thought of the outcome before niya ginawa yun, di na sya bata."

Jheck Kcehj Lopera said even the Lord forgives those who apologize for their sins. "Kaya patawarin na natin siya. Pero kelangan niya pa rin tangapin ang consequences sa kanyang mga actions," he wrote.

Others continued to threaten Senador, challenging him to show his face in public.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) was grateful. "Thank you to everyone who posted about Jerzon Senador, the guy who hung his puppy on a clothesline and posted it on his facebook. We'll keep you posted," was PAWS' status message on Tuesday morning. GMA News Online is still trying to contact PAWS and Senador as this posting.

Last month, a Quezon City court convicted a University of the Philippines – Diliman student for violating Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act of 1998.

PAWS filed the case against UP Physics major Joseph Carlo Candare after netizens campaigned against him. Candare killed a cat, then wrote about it on his blog, incurring the wrath of animal welfare advocates online. — VS, GMA News

How to deal with the ‘Batang Hamog’ and other street kids

By Marjorie Gorospe

QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA— There are ways to deal with the ‘Batang Hamog’ instead of losing your temper and confronting these children directly.

The ‘Batang Hamog’ is a notorious gang of street children from 7 to 12 years old often victimizing motorists around the metro.

As part of their modus operandi, a child knocks on car windows and distracts the driver, while the other gang members open the car door on the other side and steal anything within their reach.

Child psychologist Ali Ng Gui of the Door of Hope says instead of judging these kids right away, it is important that you understand first what they are going through.

Gui says most people have stereotyped these street children due to past experiences or because of the stigma of society towards these children. “What these kids have in common is that they live in dangerous conditions. They are often abandoned or they lack parental guidance and love,” Gui says.

The psychologist, who has  conducted studies on street children, adds that these children struggle for power and identity in the society, making them more vulnerable to becoming juvenile delinquents or undergo abuses like child labor or exploitation.

Given the chance, she says you can “reason out with these kids” in the way that they would understand. “Always start with a positive tone and positive reinforcement when they show flexibility or cooperation,” Gui says.

Gui notes that picking a fight with a street urchin is a waste of time. She adds that these kids search for sincerity and once they started conversing with you, it is important that you show your deepest interest as it can be their source of encouragement.

“They may be street children but they also yearn to succeed in life. As the saying goes,

they may be homeless but definitely they are not worthless,” Gui says.

She adds that the society should help “be open to helping them instead of criticizing and denouncing.”

Envoy assures US supports Phl on Spratly dispute

MANILA, Philippines - The United States today assured that it will give full support to the Philippines as tension escalates in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

"I assure you and all subjects, we the United States, are with the Philippines. The Philippines and the United States are strategic treaty allies. We are partners. We will continue to consult and work with each other on all issues including the South China Sea and Spratlys Islands,” US Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas said in his speech in today's launching of the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Program.

President Benigno Aquino III led the launching of the program in Makati City.

Thomas's assurance came following Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.'s announcement that the Philippines may invoke its Mutual Defense Treaty with the US to reduce tension with China over the dispute in Spratly Islands.

“The relevant portion of that treaty is that the US has been our ally and they will come, and we expect na talagang kasama natin sila (they are with us) in any problem that will require their help,” Ochoa said.

“It’s a diplomatic problem, it’s a political and diplomatic issue, so we will solve it along those lines,” he said. “We don’t want to encourage anything that will exacerbate the issues there.”

Meanwhile, Ochoa called for caution in handling the conflict, emphasizing that the issues involve international law and are being addressed diplomatically.

The Philippines has protested several incidents involving China in the disputed territory, including the harassment of a Philippine-owned vessel by two Chinese Navy gunboats in the vicinity of Recto (Reed) Bank, 250 kilometers west of Palawan last March.

US senator urges Washington to act

A US senator, meanwhile, urged Washington to condemn China's alleged use of force and push for multilateral negotiations to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Amid tensions between China and the Philippines, Vietnam fired live artillery rounds Monday off its central coast in naval drills staged after alleging that Chinese boats disrupted oil and gas exploration.

The United States irked China last year by asserting that Washington had a national security interest in the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea, resource-rich waters where China has competing claims with several nations and territories and rejects outside interference. It maintains that the disputes should be handled bilaterally.

Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat who chairs the Senate subcommittee overseeing American policy toward east Asia, said Vietnam and other countries were watching whether "we are going to back up those words with substantive action."

"That does not mean military confrontation, per se, but we have to make a clear signal," he told a Washington seminar organized by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Webb and Sen. James Inhofe, ranking Republican on the subcommittee, introduced a Senate resolution condemning China's actions. It supports continued operations by US forces to defend freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and urges the United States to facilitate a multilateral process to settle the territorial disputes.

The US diplomatic intervention last year was welcomed by countries in the region, most notably Vietnam, which has a historic rivalry with China, against which it fought a bloody border war in 1979.

The latest spat between the communist-led countries has prompted rare protests in Vietnam, which says Chinese boats cut a cable attached to a vessel conducting a seismic survey off its coast May 26 and hindered operations of another vessel June 9. For its part, China accuses Vietnam of illegally entering its waters and putting fishermen's lives at risk. It has not commented on Vietnam's naval drills.

Webb described China's actions as a clear interference in "proper activities by Vietnam."

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday that the recent incidents in the South China Sea had raised concerns about maritime security. He urged a collaborative diplomatic process to resolve the territorial disputes, saying that shows of force only served to raise tensions further. (With AP)

Manila urged to act on 'killer highway'

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Quezon City councilors are urging the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to address the unabated road accidents along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

The highway, already infamous for high accident rates, has been the subject of increased monitoring after a taxi-bus collision killed veteran journalist and UP professor Chit Estella on May 13.

In a draft resolution, Councilors Roderick M. Paulate and Raquel S. Malangen urged MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino to install closed-circuit television cameras, additional street lamps and reflectorized traffic signs along Commonwealth.

"Most of said accidents happen during night time due to the inadequacy of street lamps and reflectorized traffic signs," such that drivers fail "to notice the accident-prone areas in Commonwealth Avenue," they pointed out.

Installing "precautionary measures" could lead to catching traffic violators and minimizing road accidents along the highway, they said.

Another resolution authored by Councilor Precious Hipolito Castelo urged the MMDA "to strictly implement the yellow lane policy" or to allot "the two outermost lanes ... for buses plying Commonwealth Avenue for road safety."

Philippine leader: graft-tainted projects stopped

KAWIT, Philippines (AP) — President Benigno Aquino III said Sunday his government has stopped several graft-tainted projects and cut bureaucratic perks, allowing it to raise extra money to feed the poor, equip troops and improve the country's image among investors.

But Aquino acknowledged in an Independence Day speech that formidable problems continue to plague the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, including shortages of jobs, schools, doctors and hospitals and a dependence on imported rice despite its vast farmlands.

More than a century after rising up against Spanish colonizers, Filipinos still have not been liberated from social ills like poverty because they have failed to eradicate corruption, Aquino said in Kawit town in Cavite province south of Manila where revolutionaries declared independence from Spain 113 years ago.

"If we want to liberate the country, we need to free the government and ourselves from greed," Aquino said on the balcony of a historic, flag-draped mansion.

Aquino said without elaborating that his administration had stopped graft-tainted projects in several government agencies, including the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Laguna Lake Development Authority. Officials have looked into alleged irregularities in a major dredging project at the Laguna Lake agency.

Presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said close to $23 million (1 billion pesos) worth of contracts were halted at the public works and highways department alone because they were not properly bidded out, lacked required documents or had other irregularities.

Slashing high salaries and perks of executives in government-owned corporations increased their revenues to $686 million (29.5 billion pesos), some of which was used to build 20,000 houses for soldiers and police and hire 10,000 additional nurses for rural clinics, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

Aquino said the corporations have long been milked by executives appointed by officials paying off political debts.

More than 100 left-wing laborers and activists, however, accused Aquino of being a U.S. puppet and demanded higher wages. They attempted to march to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, carrying an effigy of Aquino hanging on strings held by an image of Uncle Sam on a U.S. aircraft carrier, but were blocked by riot police.

Aquino suggested that many of the anomalies took place during the administration of his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, without naming her.

Aquino also cited a military corruption scandal linked to three former chiefs of staff, including Arroyo's former defense chief, Angelo Reyes, who has denied any wrongdoing. He committed suicide in February amid a Senate corruption investigation.

"The generals were gifted with truckloads of money while those who expose their bodies to bullets suffer in boots ridden with holes," Aquino said.

Long entrenched in Philippine society, corruption is an especially explosive issue in the inadequately equipped and underfunded military and has sparked several rebellions by disgruntled troops in the past 25 years.

Aquino is the son of democracy icons revered for battling dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was toppled in a 1986 "People Power" revolt. He won a landslide election victory last year largely due to his name and a promise to fight graft and poverty, which afflicts a third of the country's 94 million people.

Vietnam to hold live-fire drill amid China dispute

Vietnam is set to hold live-fire naval drills on Monday in the South China Sea, as tensions with Beijing reach their highest levels in years over an escalating maritime dispute.

The neighbouring nations are at loggerheads over sovereignty of the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly archipelagos and surrounding waters, where recent confrontations between their ships have sparked a war of words.

A Vietnamese naval officer told AFP that the six hours of live-fire exercises would be held around Hon Ong island, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) off Quang Nam province in central Vietnam.

The officer declined to give the reason for the night drill or say how many vessels would be involved, but foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said the exercises were part of routine annual training.

The drills will be held in the area claimed as Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, where Hanoi last month accused Chinese surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship, causing tensions to rise sharply.

On Thursday Vietnam alleged a similar incident in the zone, saying a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another oil survey ship in its waters, describing it as a "premeditated" attack.

Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate China's sovereignty in the disputed area.

The United States said it was "troubled" by tensions triggered by the maritime border dispute, calling for a "peaceful resolution".

The area where the live-fire exercise is planned is about 250 kilometres from the Paracels and almost 1,000 kms from the Spratlys.

Carl Thayer, a veteran analyst of Vietnam and the South China Sea, said that the drill would be a way for Vietnam to send a message, after China a day earlier also said it would conduct naval exercises.

Thayer said Vietnam was firing "a soft warning shot across the bow, rather than a real one."

But he added such drills were not unprecedented because Vietnam held an air-defence drill on land about two months ago.

Beijing says it is committed to peace in the South China Sea, but its more assertive maritime posture has caused concern among regional nations and beyond.

Tensions have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratlys, where Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also say they have a stake.

In Vietnam, where protests are rarely held, hundreds of citizens in southern Ho Chi Minh City and in Hanoi held anti-China rallies on Sunday, bearing signs proclaiming Vietnamese sovereignty over the disputed archipelagos.

Vietnamese bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war. More than 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed in 1988 when the two sides had a battle off the Spratlys.

US not coming to Philippines' aid vs China

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The United States has said it will not side with any party in the Spratlys conflict, which is to say that the Philippines' most powerful ally will not be coming to its aid should its spat with China escalate into a shooting war.

The US Embassy made this clear in reaction to a Malacanang (the presidential palace) statement expressing confidence that Washington would honour its commitment under the two countries' Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) to come to the aid of a beleaguered ally.

"The US does not take sides in regional territorial disputes," the US press attache Rebecca Thompson said in an e-mailed statement when contacted for comment to deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte's invoking of the 60-year-old MDT.

Thompson said the US was "troubled by incidents in the South China Sea in recent days that have raised tensions in the region" and that Washington opposes "the use or threat of force" by any of the countries with rival claims to the Spratly islands.

The brief statement said the US "shares a number of national interests with the international community in the South China Sea" but did not mention the Philippines or the two countries' over-a-hundred-year-old ties and mutual defence pact.

In an interview on state-run dzRB radio earlier on Saturday, Valte figured the Philippines could count on its superpower ally should the situation with China deteriorate because of the MDT.

"I haven't seen the terms of the MDT quite recently but I know that as an ally, the United States will help if ever it reaches that point because of the Mutual Defence Treaty," she said.

"Hopefully, it doesn't get to that point because, again, we are committed to the resolution of the issue in the most diplomatic and the most peaceful way possible," she added.

Armed Forces Chief General Eduardo Oban was also earlier quoted as saying that the military remained "hopeful that the Americans will not stand aside should the conflict erupt and that they can invoke the MDT with the US".

The MDT was signed on Aug 13, 1951, in Washington, DC with both parties declaring "publicly and formally their sense of unity and their common determination to defend themselves against external armed attack".

Under the eight articles of the treaty, both parties agree to aid and support each other in settling any international disputes by peaceful means, among others.

Sentor Francis Escudero said the Department of Foreign Affairs should be designated as the lead agency to talk about the Spratlys issue in public.

Avoid any mistakes

He said Malacanang should not do so through its spokespersons "in order to avoid any faux pas on our part".

Escudero said the government should also review the MDT to ascertain if US forces would indeed come to the rescue if the Philippines is attacked because of the Spratlys dispute.

He said Palace officials should carefully review the MDT, read through its fine print and get confirmations from the US government "if indeed this situation is covered".

But he remained optimistic that US military support would be given in case of an armed conflict as "a gesture of longstanding friendship".

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the House would leave it to the Department of Foreign Affairs assert the country's sovereignty claim over the West Philippine Sea.

"The DFA is articulating our position and we're supporting it," he said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said the AFP leaves it to the DFA to make an official comment on the developments in the Spratlys issue.

Not joining Viet Nam

"We submit our reports to the DFA and the DFA crafts the country's position on KIG [Kalayaan Island Group] affairs," he said, referring to the portion of the Spratlys claimed by the Philippines.

He also said the military was not joining Viet Nam, another Spratlys claimant, in the deepening rift with China over the issue.

"We are not looking at partnering with one country against another country," he said.

At a Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Independence Day dinner Saturday night, President Aquino came face to face with Chinese Ambassador Liu Jiangchao who only a few days ago had warned claimant states to stop exploring for oil in the Spratlys.

"Like all neighbours, I know we may have our disagreements sometimes," Aquino said in his speech, acknowledging Liu's presence.

"(But) no one can deny the benefits our relationship has brought to both our countries throughout the years," he added.

Liu adverted to "incidents" that have arisen between the two countries since Aquino came to power.

"But facts have manifested we are stronger than these tests," he said.

Liu said the August 23 botched hostage crisis involving Hong Kong tourists had been settled with a "loving and understanding heart".

"The last thing the Chinese government and people want to see is that the [Spratlys] dispute stands in the way of the progress of our wonderful relations and the friendship and brotherhood of our two peoples," Liu said, who hinted at a visit to China from Aquino later this year.

In the past two weeks, the Philippines has accused China of making at least six incursions into Philippine territory in the past four months, a charge that Beijing has dismissed as rumors.

Recently, the Aquino government has made a point of referring to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea to bolster its claim to certain parts of the Spratlys. With reports from Christian V. Esguerra, DJ Yap and Cynthia D. Balana