of Filipina in NYC

Philippine consulate welcomes arrest of suspect in violent assault of Filipina in NYC

MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Philippine Consulate General in New York welcomed the arrest of the suspect in the violent assault of a 65-year-old Filipina in Midtown Manhattan and called on the Filipino community to remain vigilant amid the surge in hate crimes against Asians in the United States.

A New York Times report identified the victim as Vilma Kari, who was walking down a sidewalk near Times Square when the suspect, Brandon Elliot, 38, kicked her in the stomach and head several times.

Brandon was heard shouting “You don’t belong here” while attacking Kari, who immigrated to the US years ago.

Reports said Elliot was an ex-convict on lifetime parole after being released from prison in 2019. He was convicted of fatally stabbing his mother in 2002, police said.

“We thank the New York Police Department, and all those who in one way or another, contributed to the efforts that led to the arrest of Brandon Elliot,” the consulate said in a statement.

A video released by the police showed no one came to the victim's aid. Some men inside a building who witnessed the attack closed the door on Kari.

The building's owner, The Brodsky Organization, said that it was "extremely distraught" by the attack and that the two employees in the video who just watched the assault and did nothing have been suspended pending an investigation.

In view of the alarming surge in hate crimes

Suspect Brandon Elliot was arrested in violent assault of a 65-year-old Filipina amid the surge in hate crimes against Asians in the United States. against members of the Asian community in the United States, the consulate reminded Filipino in New York and surrounding areas to remain vigilant and to immediately report any incident by calling 911 or the Asian Hate Crimes Task Force of the NYPD at 1-800-440-HATE. (MNS)

Illegal structures spotted in PH feature in WPS — AFP

Locsin, 3 other Asean foreign ministers to visit China

MANILA (Mabuhay) -- Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and three other Southeast Asian top diplomats will visit China this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the visits from March 31 to April 2 are at the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. "China attaches high importance to relations with Southeast Asian nations and makes them a priority in neighborhood diplomacy. Since Covid-19 broke out last year, China and Southeast Asian countries have maintained close high-level communication in a flexible way, witnessing positive progress in anti-epidemic and development cooperation," Hua said in a press briefing Tuesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to provide specific details about Locsin's trip, which comes in the wake of a protest lodged by the Philippine government against the incursion of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef.

Apart from Locsin, the foreign ministers of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia were also invited.

Hua said the visit of the four top diplomats "again demonstrates the profound friendship and growing affinity through closer interactions" between China and its neighbors in Southeast Asia.

She said China hopes to step up communication with Asean countries on the regional and international situation, strengthen strategic mutual trust, deepen anti-epidemic and development cooperation, and boost the quality of their cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative. (MNS) MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)'s maritime patrol off Pagkakaisa Banks last March 30 have resulted in the discovery of illegal man-made structures constructed in some of its features. "During this patrol, we were able to document man-made structures that were built on some of the features. These structures are illegal," said AFP chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, in a statement Thursday.

Pagkakaisa Banks is under the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Kalayaan, Palawan while Julian Felipe Reef is a large boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs), located approximately 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan.

Earlier, the National Task Force West Philippine Sea (NTF WPS) expressed concern about a Philippine Coast Guard sighting report where around 220 Chinese fishing vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were sighted in line formation at the Julian Felipe Reef last March 7. "The Laws of the Sea gives the Philippines indisputable and exclusive rights over the area. These constructions and other activities, economic or otherwise, are prejudicial to peace, good order, and security of our territorial waters," Sobejana said.

He added that the AFP, through the Western Command, regularly conducts maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea as part of its constitutional mandate to protect the country's sovereignty and sovereign rights. "We have already updated our higher civilian authorities such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of National Defense about these offenses to our sovereignty," Sobejana said.

He also assured every Filipino that AFP efforts continue to dutifully perform its mandate to protect and advance our national interests in the area. (MNS)

Same lockdowns won't yield different results, says Drilon

MANILA (Mabuhay) — Implementing similar COVID-19 prevention measures "over and over again" will not yield different results one year later, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Tuesday.

Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna were placed under enhanced community quarantine--the strictest classification--since Monday until Sunday due to the surge of coronavirus cases. "We are doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result...We keep on doing prolonged lockdowns over and over again and hope that it will have a different result," he said. "It will not have a different result unless we couple it with critical reforms or observance of certain basic rules that have been shown to be effective in other countries for the past year," he said.

Drilon said the said the PhilipPhilippines is pines is failing failing in the in the areas of testing, tracking, treatment, teaching.

He lamented that only 17 individuals are traced to a positive case, when other countries are doing it in thousands.

He added tracking is important to know who would be qualified to receive the COVID-19 jabs, but another problem is that "vaccines are insufficient" at the moment.

He also noted that government officials should set the example for the people in terms of "teaching" the public about health protocols. "When you have mañanitas or birthdays, when you go to gatherings to inaugurate an infrastructure in a crowd without observing social distancing, when people see this, you lose your credibility when you say social distancing," he said. The Philippines on Monday posted a new record-high of new COVID-19 cases with 10,016 additional infections. The country's total currently stands at 731,894 rently stands at 731,894 COVID-19 cases, with 115,495 still active. (MNS)