THE US ASIAN POST Wednesday - Tuesday, Feb. 12-18, 2014
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ed to his promise to fight to close a growing gap between rich and poor. He took office January 1, succeeding billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who was mayor for 12 years. The NY decision came in the wake of reports that the Republicans may not tackle the immigration this year. House Speaker John Boehner said his “restive conservative caucus” did not have confidence that President Barack Obama would be able to implement any legislation. Boehner the president’s vow to go around Congress and use executive powers to implement his political program if lawmakers refuse to cooperate with him had harmed trust in the White House.
Republicans also argue that adjustments the president made to his signature health care law raise doubts over whether he could be trusted to properly carry out the requirements of an immigration reform bill. The White House counters, however, that the president had done more to enforce America’s southern borders— the source of most illegal immigration—than any previous US leader. Obama, seeking a genuine secondterm legacy achievement, strongly supports the Senate bill to reform immigration that passed last year, which offers a path to eventual citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants. The bill also includes tighter border monitoring, an overhauled work visa program and other key reforms.
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stered the country’s position in the territorial row with China. “Nagpapasalamat nalang ako sa Xinhua dahil ang sabi nga parang nire-reaffirm iyong validity nung ating posisyon (I thank Xinhua because it reaffirmed the validity of our position),” the President said in a media inter-
view after the change of command ceremony at the Philippine Army. The President however pointed out that if the Xinhua writer believed China has a good case, (the article) should have focused on the facts to argue and explain its position. (MNS)
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This is elevated to ‘qualified human trafficking’ if “by reason or on occasion of the act of trafficking in persons, the offended party dies” as stated in Section 6(g) of the same law. “Children used as combatants suffer in a number of ways, most of them suffer in silence,” De Lima said.
Section 10(e) of R.A. No. 9208 states that “any person found guilty of qualified trafficking shall suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of not less than P2 million but not more than P5 million.” “It is incumbent upon us to put an end to these horrors,” De Lima added.(MNS)
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of two, said as she cooked a meal of tinned sardines at a muddy school yard near downtown. The fisherman’s wife and her extended family are among about 500 people living in blue tarpaulin tents and on relief goods there. She told AFP her family went to live with Manila relatives on November 12, but returned after Christmas because they could not find jobs and were becoming a burden at her sister’s home. “We came back because we heard the government is giving free housing, but so far, nothing.” Amid the continuing difficulties, the tourism ministry urged the world’s 100 million Filipinos on Saturday to join its “#PHthankyou” campaign on social media. It suggested they download some of the ministry’s “The Philippines says thank you” notes from its website and adorned with pictures of the country’s top tourist draws, and post them on Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social networking sites. Russell Geekie, spokesman
for the UN disaster agency in the Philippines, told AFP the government-led relief effort has addressed many of the survivors’ most acute emergency needs. It was shifting to an “early recovery” phase with a focus on restoring livelihoods for millions of people, he added. However, “shelter needs remain enormous”. “Obviously we talk about resilient people, but the scope of the disaster and destruction is such that it’s very hard. There are remaining psycho-social needs that need to be met,” he said. These include finding the hundreds missing to give their families “closure”. The United Nations launched an international aid appeal in December for $788 million to finance the humanitarian effort for this year. Geekie said the appeal was about 45 percent funded. President Benigno Aquino has said the rebuilding effort would take at least four years and require more than $8 billion in funding.
President Benigno S. Aquino III, accompanied by outgoing Army Chief Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes, inspects the troops during the Philippine Army Change of Command Ceremony at the PA Grandstand in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Friday (February 7). Major General Hernando Iriberri, the 56th PA Commanding General replacing Coballes, is the commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division (ID) and a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Matikas” Class of 1983. (MNS photo)
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pedite the revelation and uncovering of (the) truth” in a judicial proceeding.
But Lacierda stressed there are procedures and requirements for one to become a state witness.
Tuason returned to the Philippines on Friday and offered to testify on the PDAF mess.
ment’s decision. Earlier this month, Hong Kong revoked the visa-free privileges of holders of official Philippine passports after the Philippines refused to apologize for the 2010 tragedy. The August 2010 tragedy involved a dismissed policeman who took a busload of tourists hostage in Manila to demand his reinstatement. But the policeman and eight
Hong Kong tourists were killed in a botched police rescue operation. While the Philippines expressed regret over the tragedy that killed eight Hong Kong tourists, it has not issued an apology. President Benigno Aquino III, in an interview with The New York Times, reiterated that he has no plans to apologize as doing so could create a “legal liability.” (MNS)
are increasingly concerned China will take similar action in the South China Sea, where the Philippines in particular has voiced worries about Beijing’s maritime claims. Kishida, for his part, extended an invitation for President Barack Obama to make a state visit to Japan. Diplomats say Obama is likely to visit Japan on an April tour of Asia, although Kerry is not expected to stop in Tokyo on his upcoming trip. Kishida was visiting Washington after a rare open disagreement between the two allies. The United States voiced disappointment in December when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, known for his conservative views,
paid a pilgrimage to the Yasukuni shrine which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including convicted war criminals from World War II. Abe’s visit outraged China and also fellow US ally South Korea. Both countries frequently accuse Japan of insufficient remorse for its aggression a century ago. Kishida told Kerry that Japan valued its relationship with South Korea despite their “difficult issues,” saying the two democracies needed to work together in the face of nuclear-armed North Korea. “Going forward, we will make tenacious efforts in order to build a cooperative relationship with the Republic of Korea from a broad perspective,” Kishida said.
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“(If) it is a private initiative that will effect better relations with Hong Kong and (is) consistent with national interest, why not?” Lacierda said on state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan. A report on BusinessMirror newspaper had quoted physician and Chinese General Hospital director James Dy as saying he plans to appeal to Hong Kong chief executive C.Y. Leung to reconsider the Hong Kong govern-
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the South China Sea,” he said, before correcting himself to say the East China Sea, where China and Japan have conflicting claims. Fears of conflict rose in November when China imposed an Air Defense Identification Zone over much of the East China Sea. Beijing says it now requires notification from planes crossing a group of islands administered by Tokyo, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and in Chinese as Diaoyu. “The United States neither recognizes nor accepts China’s declared East China Sea ADIZ and the United States has no intention of changing how we conduct operations in the region,” Kerry said. The United States and its allies