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E D I T I OE ND I T I O NI T I O N ED
ED ITION April 8-11, 2017
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T h e F i l i p i n o –A m e r i c A n c o m m u n i T y n e w s pA p e r
Volume 27 - No. 29 • 4 Sections – 30 Pages
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Duterte orders military to occupy PH islands in the South China Sea
Also published in: • Orange County/Inland Empire • Northern California • Las Vegas • New York/ New Jersey
by Dana
sioson AJPress
PresIDeNt rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Armed forces of the Philippines (AfP) to occupy undisputed Philippine islands in the south China (West Philippine) sea and strengthen the country’s territorial claims. In a press conference during his visit to Palawan on thursday, April 6, Duterte said he wanted the Philippines to “maintain ju-
risdiction” over “areas under [its] control.” “And I have ordered the Armed forces to occupy all – these so many islands, I think nine or 10 – build structures and place the Philippine flag,” he told reporters. Duterte also announced that he may visit Pag-asa Island on Independence Day, June 12, to “raise the flag there.” Also referred to as tithu Island, Pag-asa Island is located 480 kilometers off the coast of
USA
DATELINE Neil Gorsuch confirmed to Supreme Court from the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA
After tensions flew over who’d replace the late supreme Court Justice Antonin scalia, Judge Neil Gorsuch was confirmed on friday, April 7 as the 113th justice of the nation’s highest court. In a senate vote that was largely based on party, Gorsuch, 49, was confirmed with a 54-45 in favor of, with Vice President mike Pence casting a voluntary final vote as senate president. President Donald trump nominated the republican judge — who sat on the U.s. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals — just over two months ago. During his 20-hour confirmation hearing, the Democratic senators who questioned him criticized him for evading questions. What was proven, however, was that he will likely vote conservatively, shifting the power of the court to the conservative bloc of
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Major General Tony Taguba sounds off on caregiving, Filipino WWII vets recognition
F i l i p i n o -A m e r i c a n M a j o r General Tony Taguba shares his experiences with family caregiving and lobbying on behalf of Filipino World War II veterans.
After 35 illustrious years serving in the United states Army, major General Antonio “tony” taguba has dedicated his life to two crucial missions: stressing the importance of family caregiving and assuring filipino World War II Veterans receive the recognition they deserve. the major general’s efforts go beyond the mere expression of these two very important
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Palawan. It is the largest Philippine-controlled island among the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the disputed spratlys region. Duterte vowed full support on the improvements and airport repairs in the island. “the money is there. I don’t know how the Army or the engineering battalion would do it. But that development there has my full support,” he affirmed. Apart from Pag-asa, the Philip-
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DOUBLE CELEBRATION. President Rodrigo Duterte blows the candle on a custom-made cake with a figure of himself on a motorbike. Duterte, who turned 72 last March 28, had his own birthday cake during the 70th birthday celebration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (right) in Lubao, Pampanga on Wednesday, April 5. Malacañang photo
AMLC rejects Trillanes’ request Pacquiao-Horn to release Duterte’s bank records match set for July by Dana
sioson AJPress
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
the Anti-money Laundering Council (AmLC) has rejected the request of senator Antonio trillanes IV to release a copy of Philippine President rodrigo Duterte’s “flagged or reported” bank transactions. In a letter addressed to trillanes, the AmLC said it cannot grant the senator’s request because it would violate the Constitution. “We regret to inform that your request, which necessarily includes transactions on President’s bank accounts, is not allowed under repub-
lic Act No. 1405 or the Bank secrecy Law,” the AmLC said in a letter dated march 29. Under the law, the AmLC said that “all bank deposits and all transactions related thereto, are absolutely confidential and may not be inquired into by any person, government official, bureau or office, subject only to a few exceptions not present in this case.” Last month, trillanes revived his accusations against Duterte, claiming that the president had almost two billion pesos worth of undeclared wealth in his three bank accounts from 2006 to 2015. he challenged Duterte to open
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Former Interior Secretary Sueno addresses allegations, calls president ‘misinformed’ by AJPress PhILIPPINe President rodrigo Duterte denied that he was ‘misinformed’ when he fired former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Ismael sueno over allegations of corruption. “I could never be misinformed,” Duterte told reporters on thursday, April 6 in Palawan. “And
when I make a move, when I fire you diyan mismo (right there), alam ko ang ginagawa ko (i know what i’m doing).” earlier in the day, sueno said he believes the president was ‘misinformed’ about the accusations against him, which instantly led to his dismissal. “I think (Duterte) was misinformed. I think so. he acted and decided on what he has read in the
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Former DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno
by AJPress
fILIPINo boxing champion manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has signed a contract for a July match against olympian Jeff horn in Australia, top rank chief Bob Arum disclosed earlier this week. speaking to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles times on tuesday, April 4, Arum said Pacquiao will defend his World Boxing organization (WBo) welterweight title against horn on July 1 at suncorp stadium in Brisbane. other details, however, have yet to be finalized. “We’re slowly finishing up the deal to fight,” Arum told the newspaper. “People have agreed on essential points.” “Paperwork takes time, particularly when it’s not the usual thing of getting it done in the United states. We’re dealing with an Australian promoter, the state government. here, in this case, you’ve got to cross the t’s and dot the I’s, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing,” he added. expressing confidence that the fight against horn will be a blockbuster in Australia, Arum said he expects the tickets for the 55,000-capacity stadium to be sold-out. “horn is an Aussie. there’s government behind it. they want the fight. they wanted manny Pacquiao. essentially, to buy the cheese, they wanted Pacquiao against this Aussie fighter,” Arum said.
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DFA monitors situation of Filipinos in Syria after US airstrike by Mikas
Matsuzawa Philstar.com
mANILA, Philippines — the Department of foreign Affairs (DfA) on friday, April 7 said it is monitoring the situation of over a thousand filipinos in syria following the United states’ (Us) massive airstrike against the country. trump ordered the strike after the syrian government unleashed on tuesday, April 4 suspected chemical weapons on rebel-held Khan sheikhun in syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, killing at least 86 people, including 27 children. health officials from the neighboring country of turkey said re-
sults of post-mortems performed on victims point to possible exposure to sarin, a lethal nerve agent that can kill in minutes. over 50 tomahawk missiles launched from U.s. Navy destroyers in the mediterranean sea targetted syria’s shayrat airbase, believed to be the site from where the chemical weapons were dispatched. foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose noted that the strike was aimed at the airbase and not at civilian centers where most filipinos reside. “Nevertheless, our embassy in Damascus is monitoring the situation very closely and is in close coordination with the filipino community to ensure their
safety,” he said. there are about 1,400 filipinos in syria, according to the DfA. syria has been the site of a civil war for over half a decade— claiming more than 250,000 lives and forcing millions of others to flee their homes. syrian President Bashar alAssad’s government has denied the use of chemical weapons and even claimed never using such despite sufficient evidence found by UN investigators that it had used chlorine gas against civilians twice before between 2014 and 2015. the strike has killed four syrian troops and nearly destroyed the airbase, according to a monitor. n
In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, April 7, 2017. The United States blasted a Syrian air base with a barrage of cruise missiles in fiery retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ford Williams/U.S. Navy