Philippine flag raised today at London Olympic Village

LONDON — In its first official act as member of the London Olympic family, Team Philippines will join several other nations in the traditional welcome and flag-raising rites on Saturday inside the  sprawling Games Village, home to more than 15,000 athletes and officials from 204 nations in the next three weeks.

Nine athletes and a handful of officials as well as some guests from the Philippine Embassy and Filipino community will be in attendance during the morning program as Team RP and at least 10 other countries join the traditional ceremony ahead of the Games’ grand opening on July 27.

Only boxer Mark Anthony Barriga and BMX rider Danny Caluag will not be around during the 11:30 a.m. rite, which concludes with a 25-minute cultural performance by 75 young Britons reflecting the nation’s music, culture and tradition.

According to Team Philippines chief of mission Manny Lopez, Ambassador Enrique Manalo will grace the affair along with a few members of the Filipino community in this beautiful city now in the midst of Olympic fever.
“This (flag raising) is our first official act as member of the  London Olympic  family,” said Lopez, who arrived on Wednesday to pave the way for the arrival of the Filipino athletes and officials at the Village.

In another highlight,  an athlete each from the countries joining the ritual this morning will sign on the Olympic Truce Wall, which forms the backdrop for the ceremonies set at the Plaza in the heart of the Village.
Lopez said long jumper Marestella Torres will most likely do the honor for  Team Philippines, being a two-time Olympian and the most battle-scarred member of the team supported by ICTSI, Bank of Philippine Islands, Mizuno, Samsonite, Petron, Procter & Gamble, PSC, Philracom, Smart Sports and TV5.

The traditional exchange of gifts will also take place after the rites, with Lopez giving the Village mayor a commemorative passenger jeepney.

Barriga and Caluag won’t make it because they have yet to conclude their final buildup, with the boxer still training in Cardiff, Wales and the cyclist doing his chores in the Netherlands. They will join their teammates on July 24.   

Source:  Tribune

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Attackers Kill 11 in Philippines

MANILA — Eleven people, at least three of them children, were killed in an attack believed to have been carried out by the militant groupAbu Sayyaf in retaliation for the recent arrests and deaths of several of its members, officials said Sunday.

About 70 members of Abu Sayyaf strafed several houses early Saturday in the southern village of Tubigan, in Basilan Province, an island in Mindanao where the group got its start, the police said.

The 11 dead included a 1-year-old, and 17 others, including four children, were seriously wounded. The attackers also burned down several houses. The attack was among the worst against civilians in nearly a decade, officials said.

Lt. Steffani Cacho, an army spokeswoman, said the attack might have been a “retaliatory action” by Abu Sayyaf after several of its leaders and members were either killed or arrested in a series of military and police operations in the past two weeks.

She added, however, that it could also have been prompted by a clan feud, which is common in Mindanao, the main Muslim area in the south.

Bienvenido Latag, police chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where Basilan is located, said the attackers had burned down the house of Leleng Laping, a chieftain of Tubigan village. Two of Mr. Laping’s children died in the fire.

Chief Latag said the victims had been asleep when their home was attacked.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, a military spokesman, said the attack may have been a response to the killing last year of Albader Parad, the leader of Abu Sayyaf, and the arrest of others in recent weeks. One of those arrested was involved in the 2001 kidnapping and murder of dozens of tourists in a resort in Palawan, in the western Philippines, the police said.

Officials said that two Chinese citizens and a Filipino had been rescued from Abu Sayyaf in Basilan the day before the Saturday attack.

Abu Sayyaf is thought to have originated in Basilan. In 2002, as part of its campaign against terrorism, the United States sent hundreds of troops to help the Philippines vanquish the group. Although officials said the effort drastically cut Abu Sayyaf’s members from about 1,200 in 2002 to about 400 now, the group remains a threat in the province.

Source: Nytimes

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Get To Know the Hydraq Trojan

Since news broke last week of Google’s threat to pull its operations out of China, there has been much speculation around the targeted attacks involved. Part of this discussion has revolved around the Hydraq Trojan being used to exploit an Internet Explorer vulnerability.

The vulnerability affects Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8, which make up the bulk of the versions used today. Since the exploit code has been made public and is available for anyone to download (and use to make attacks), it is highly likely we will see it being used in more Web-based attacks.

Based upon its functionality, we can surmise that the intent of the trojan is to open a back door on a compromised computer allowing a remote attacker to monitor activity and steal information from not only the compromised computer, but the larger infrastructure to which the computer is connected.

“Based on our in-the-field detections, this security vulnerability has only been used in a very limited number of targeted attacks so far, however they appear to be very high profile attacks,” said Joshua Talbot, security intelligence manager, Symantec Security Response. “Despite the fact that we’ve seen just limited attacks using this vulnerability, with exploit code public, there is no reason to think we won’t see more attack attempts.”

Microsoft has announced that on Thursday, January 21, it will release an emergency patch to fix the Internet Explorer security vulnerability. Symantec strongly encourages users to patch their systems against this vulnerability. In addition, enterprises are encouraged to consider implementing an automated patch management solution to help mitigate risk.

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Pres. Arroyo can Pick Next Chief Justice Ex-justice Secretary

A former justice secretary of deposed President Joseph Estrada has said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may validly appoint the next Chief Justice even with a constitutional ban on presidential appointments some three months before her term ends on June 30.

Former Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero said Ms Arroyo could still appoint the next chief justice but he also conceded that the issue would be ultimately decided by the Supreme Court itself.

The former dean of the law schools of the University of the East and of the Manuel L. Quezon University said Ms Arroyo has been mandated by the Constitution to appoint Puno’s successor within 90 days after his retirement on May 17, a day well within the constitutional ban.

“Should (Ms Arroyo) decide to fill the vacancy to be created by the retirement of Chief Justice Puno, the appointment she issues would be considered valid,” Tuquero said in a legal opinion.

“Only the Supreme Court, in an appropriate case that may be lodged with, can declare the same null and void,” he added.

The Judicial and Bar Council decided last week to start the nomination process for the post that Puno would leave a few days after the elections in May.

It, however, deferred its decision on whether to submit the list of nominees to Ms Arroyo or to her successor after her term ends.

The JBC has taken note of the contrasting opinions on whether Ms Arroyo can still appoint the next Chief Justice considering the ban on “midnight appointments” late in her term.

It resolved to welcome all opinions related to the matter before deciding on when and whom to submit the shortlist of nominees to.

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Bernas: JBC Difficult Situation on SC Chief Issue

The Judicial and Bar Council’s duty of selecting nominees for chief justice could be useless for the next president, a constitutionalist said.

“It’s something like an act of Congress which if not acted on in one session, that’s all forgotten and start all over again,” Fr. Joaquin Bernas, dean emeritus of the Ateneo School of Law said.

The current Judicial and Bar Council will be reduced to just three members from eight. Only retired Supreme Court Justice Regino Hermosisima, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) representative Conrado Castro and private sector representative Justice Aurora Santiago-Lagman will remain when the JBC members from both chambers of Congress are replaced after the elections and appointment of new House committee members. The Justice Secretary will also be replaced when the next President appoints new Cabinet members. Dean Amado Dimayuga’s term meanwhile will end after three years and Chief Justice Reynato Puno will retire on May 17.

“The JBC might just follow it up. That is their discretion,” Bernas said.

The constitutionalist said currently, the JBC is in a difficult position.

“If the JBC submits it to President Arroyo, implicitly, the JBC is saying that, ‘yes, you have the power [to appoint despite ban under the Constitution]. On the other hand, if the JBC refuses to submit, then the JBC implicitly be saying ‘no you don’t have the power’ [to appoint],” Bernas explained in an interview Friday.

Under Article VII Section 15, political appointments are prohibited two months before a presidential election and until the end of the incumbent’s term.

Bernas said the prohibition will start March 10 and end June 30, close to one and-a-half months after Puno’s retirement.

“If Arroyo will appoint, it will be a violation of the Constitution,” Bernas said.

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Teodoro Not Bothered about Lack of Support from Administration

MANILA, Philippines—Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro on Thursday shrugged off suspicions that President Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, were not solidly behind him in his bid for President in the May elections.

Over dinner at the office of the Inquirer, Teodoro said he had no doubts about the support of President Arroyo and the Lakas-Kampi-CMD hierarchy led by its party president, Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez.

“As party members, they should [support my candidacy]” Teodoro said. “My job is to expose myself."

“Whether there is distance, whether there is closeness, at the end of the day, it’s my decision that counts,” Teodoro, who served as Ms Arroyo’s secretary of national defense, said.

He described his relationship with the President as “professional.”

According to Dominguez, 70 percent of all electoral positions in the May elections could be won by the Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidates. He also dismissed survey results showing Teodoro in fourth place, after Senator Aquino, Senator Villar and former President Joseph Estrada.

“We had a late start [in the political advertising race]. We are hoping to correct this once the official campaign period starts this February,” he said.

The 46-year-old Teodoro, who is a reserved colonel in the Armed Forces and a licensed pilot, described himself as a “winnable, not winning, but winnable candidate.”

A bar topnotcher with a master’s degree in law from Harvard, Teodoro began his law career as litigation lawyer at the law firm of Marcos-era Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, handling various ill-gotten wealth cases filed against his uncle, businessman and known Marcos crony Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.

In 1998, Teodoro joined Cojuangco’s Nationalist People’s Coalition and won a seat in the House of Representatives for the First District of Tarlac. The Second District seat was won by his second-degree cousin, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, now the standard-bearer of the Liberal Party.

But Teodoro quit the NPC and joined the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, which drafted him as standard-bearer for the presidential elections late last year.

Neither Cojuangco nor the NPC has endorsed Teodoro’s candidacy.

He said he would also move to increase the strength of the Armed Forces and contain the threat groups in Mindanao.

“Employing international paradigm shift in Mindanao will not work. There is no danger whatsoever [of the threat groups winning the rebellion], “ he said.

But he said the AFP was not prepared to handle an asymmetric warfare, such as bombings, in the metropolis.

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Tatlong Natabunan sa Haiti Naririnig

Hindi nawawalan ng pag-asa ang mga awtoridad kasabay ng taimtin na panalangin na buhay pa ang tatlong sundalong Pinoy kabilang dito ang dalawang babae na na-trap sa gumuhong gusali ng United Nations sa Haiti.

Sa natanggap na impormasyon ni Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., tagapagsalita ng military, mula kay Col. Cayetano ng AFP Peacekeeping Operations Center nakatanggap ang huli ng balita na may naririnig ang mga rescuers na paggalaw at boses ng mga tao at iba’t ibang tunog na likha ng mga ito sa ilalim ng guho.

Aniya, ang mga tunog ay nanggagaling mula sa pagpalo sa pader na gumuho, tubo, bakal at mga bagay–bagay na nakakagawa ng ingay kapag may kontak.

Dumating na rin aniya ang mga rescue heavy equipment mula sa iba’t ibang bansa para matanggal ang mga malalaking tipak ng pader mula sa mga natutukoy nang nakatabon sa mga biktimang nasa loob.

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Noynoy: ‘Di mo Tinularan ang Tatay Mo'

Pinatutsadahan ni Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer at opposition Senator Benigno Simeon ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dahil sa pagsuway at pagbalewala nito sa mismong aral ng kanyang ama na si dating Pangulong Diosdado Macapagal.

Rumesbak si Aquino kay Mrs. Arroyo matapos payuhang magdahan-dahan sa pagbibitaw ng salita, katulad ng banta ng una na hindi kikilalanin ang lahat ng midnight appointment, partikular itatalagang chief justice kapag manalong presidente ito.

Ayon kay Aquino, mismong ama ni Mrs. Arroyo si dating Pangulong Macapagal ang bumara sa midnight appointment ni dating Pangulong Carlos P. Garcia subalit ngayo’y kabaliktaran sa ginagawa ng kanyang anak.

Kung magkaiba ang posisyon ng mag-ama, ito’y hindi ikinagulat ni Aquino dahil nangyayari aniya ang ganitong sitwasyon kapag hindi natutunan ng anak ang kagandahang asal ng mga magalang nito.

“Ganito po ang nangyari kapag hindi tinutularan ng mga anak ang magandang asal ng kanilang magulang,” ani Aquino.

Inihalimbawa ni Aquino ang midnight appointment ni Garcia kung saan kinuwestyon ng ama ni Mrs. Arroyo, partikular ang pagtalaga ng bagong gobernador ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“Ang isang halimbawa po nito ay si Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na nagbabalak na hindi sumunod sa ginawa ng kanyang sariling ama na si dating Pangulong Diosdado Macapagal nang balewalain nito ang pagtatalaga ni dating Pangulong Carlos P. Garcia ng gobernador ng Bangko Sentral dahil nilabag nito ang batas ukol sa midnight appointment, nakapaloob sa ating Saligang Batas,” ani Aquino.

Ngayong magkaiba ang posisyon ng mag-ama, mas lalo pang ipinakita ni Mrs. Arroyo ang kawalan ng intensyong bumaba sa trono at ginagamit ang lahat ng kapangyarihan upang mapalawig ang termino nito.

“Ipinapakita lamang po nito sa ating mga Pilipino na hindi po titigil ang administrasyon sa hangarin nitong palawigin ang kanilang impluwensiya at kapangyarihan sa pamama­gitan ng paglabag sa mismong batas na dapat nitong pinagpapatibay,” dagdag pa nito.

Samantala, ipinagtanggol naman ni Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Erin Tañada si Noynoy sa pagsabi na hindi umano puwedeng tawaging iresponsable o mayabang ang binitawang pahayag ng LP presidential bet na nagsabi na hindi nito kilalanin ang susunod na SC chief na itatalaga ng pangulo sakaling mahalal ito sa May elections.

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Nicanor Perlas and Danilo Lim Tatakbong Muli

Muling pinayagan si Nicanor Perlas sa pagtakbo sa pagka Presidente at si detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim sa pagka Senador ng COMELEC.

Nabilang rin sa COMELEC's Official List sina Emilio Osmeña, Nanette Espinosa at Adz Nikabulin.

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Dalawa Patay sa Prosesyon ng Itim na Nazareno

Two people died and more than 200 were hurt in the crush of some two million mostly barefoot devotees who took part in the tortuous procession of the Black Nazarene from the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park to Quiapo Church in Manila yesterday.

The wooden, life-sized Black Nazarene, carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines in the early 17th century, is taken out of the Quiapo Church on Jan. 9 each year for the largest known religious procession in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Thousands more lined the streets to see the icon, dressed in maroon robes and paraded in a wooden carriage, in a festival that has been held in the former Spanish enclave for more than 200 years.

“The Black Nazarene gives us strength,” said Zenaida Villasanta, 47, who traveled from the province with her two sisters to pray for another sick sibling. “We are praying that He will heal my sister. She has cancer and we pray for a miracle,” she said.

Another devotee, Bernard Ponce, said he had joined the procession for two years to ask the Nazarene for another child.

It’s tiring, but after you go on the procession, you feel really good,” Ponce said. “It feels like a heavy weight is lifted, as if you’re starting a new life.”

The procession snaked through some of the oldest and narrowest streets of Manila with devotees pushing and shoving their way to touch the Black Nazarene.

“This is beautiful, unexpected,” Elena Zhirnova, a Russian tourist on her first visit to Manila, said. “I didn’t know about this tradition and suddenly I come and see this ceremony. It’s very nice. It’s very new for me,” she said. The Black Nazarene is also paraded through the streets on Good Friday.

“They look like giant waves,” Senior Inspector Oscar Hoguera, head of Manila’s mobile police division, said of the sea of humanity swarming around the carriage being pulled by barefoot devotees holding lengths of stout rope.

“There are a lot more participants today than last year,” Holguera said estimating the size of the crowd at several hundred thousand people.

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Cardinal Disapprove Excessive Devotion for Nazarene

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales has disapproved of the "excessive" devotion shown by thousands of Catholics who virtually mobbed the Black Nazarene icon during its annual procession and in the process, hurt each other.

At least two people died and about 400 were injured last Saturday in which as many as four million people were estimated by police to have participated in the five-kilometer procession from the Luneta to Quiapo Church in Manila.

“Some of what we saw was an excessive expression of faith. There are many impurities that need cleansing,” said Rosales on Saturday night after the 15-hour procession.

“We still have a long way to go and there are many things to purify even in religious matters, because there are excesses,” he said.

“Another way of showing excess of faith is when you do it only for yourself, which should not be,” he said.

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Balik Eskwela na ang mga Bata sa Albay

Pagkatapos ng mahirap na dinaranas ng mga taga Albay sa nakaraang pasko dahil sa pag-alburoto ng bulkang Mayon balik eskwela na ang mga bata sa Albay sa pagbukas ng kanilang klase sa bagong taon.

Binaba na ng PhilVocs ang Alert Level kaya ay nagbalik na ang mga klase sa nasabing Probinsya.

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- drindz -

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Philippine Volcano Evacuees Return

LEGASPI, Philippines (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Filipinos evacuated from the shadow of a volcano that began spewing ash and lava prepared to head home on Saturday after the alert level was lowered.

The lowering of the alert level for the Mayon Volcano on the main island of Luzon means that people evacuated from an eight-kilometre (five-mile) danger zone can return home, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

Around 50,000 people around Mayon were evacuated after the alert was raised to four on a five-point scale on December 20, signaling that a major volcanic eruption could be imminent in the disaster-prone Philippines.

"Definitely it is over... for now," said Joey Salceda, governor of Albay province, which includes Mayon.

However the institute warned that the "overall state of unrest remains relatively high," and that people should remain outside a six-kilometre "permanent danger zone".

"The situation could change and we could raise the alert level again. This is what happened in 2001 when Mayon paused for a long time and then resumed erupting," said institute director Renato Solidum.

Solidum warned there were still signs of magma rising in the volcano and that rocks, lava and volcanic ash already on the slopes could come crashing down in avalanches or mudslides.

An August 2006 eruption caused no immediate deaths but the following December a passing typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from the mountain's slopes that left 1,000 dead.

More than 46,000 people living some seven to eight kilometres around Mayon will be allowed to return home while over 3,000 who live in a six-kilometre zone will have to remain in evacuation centres, Salceda told AFP.

On Saturday the institute lowered the alert level to three, meaning "there is less probability of a hazardous explosion."

Salceda said all families leaving evacuation centres would be provided with food rations for three days and cash for home repairs.

Many evacuees were eager to leave, complaining that the evacuation centres -- mainly government schools -- did not have enough facilities or food supplies.

"Some bathrooms could not be used and the place was overcrowded. Sometimes the relief goods were not enough. We did not even get any food yesterday," said 20-year-old Rosa Mantes, whose parents have a farm in the foothills of Mayon.

"We wanted to go back earlier but the government really tightened security in the danger zones."

Elba Bana, 60, said she was happy to go home but added: "We are always afraid, especially when the rain is strong and there may be lahar," a kind of volcanic mudflow. "If there is strong rain, then we may be evacuated again."

Salceda said the evacuation had shown the country was well prepared in the case of a future eruption. "We have proven already that we can easily bring them back to the evacuation centres."

Located about 330 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Mayon has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa.

Source: Yahoo! News

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