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Text, photos and video by MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL EDDIE, 61, used to be family chauffeur in Manila. One day last month, he was held and beaten up by a group of young men on Recto Avenue. He lost his legs and has since could barely transport anyone, including himself. Eddie no longer sits on the

The commander of United States Pacific Fleet said it is the stand of the United States that international law allows them to conduct military activities in the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones of other countries. Admiral Scott Harbison Swift , who was in the country last week as part of his familiarization tour having

Text and photos by OFELIA KAYAT Baguio City — A total of 254 would-be voters turned up to register at the special satellite registration in a mall here Friday. Dubbed as “No bio, No boto” project of the Commission on Elections, the registration was open to the public, with priority given to persons with disabilities

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE Republic of China (ROC) or Taiwan has its issue with mainland China (PROC-People’s Republic of China) but in matters of ownership of almost the whole of South China Sea, they have the same line. In the statement released by Taiwan Tuesday, it asserted that Nansha islands also known as

By VERLIE Q. RETULIN CUSTOMS Commissioner Alberto Lina is just starting to warm his seat but is already facing graft and plunder charges before the Office of the Ombudsman. The newly-appointed chief assumed office vowing to continue the reforms initiated by his predecessor in what is believed to be one of most graft-ridden agencies of government.

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS and TESSA JAMANDRE Despite the presence of a high-level Philippine team at the hearing of the Philippines’ case against China before the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) this week, the issue of who owns the contested islands in the South China

By YVETTE B. MORALES What does a trafficking victim look like? A female who hails from a far-flung area, came a quick answer from the audience. Tara Dermott, project leader of the International Organization on Migration X (IOM X) was quick to correct the misimpression, saying everyone can be a trafficking victim. “There is no

The Commission on Elections will hold satellite registrations at five SM malls in Metro Manila on July 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Persons with disabilities and senior citizens will be given priority. The participating malls: SM North Edsa: Quezon City- District 1 only SM Megamall: Mandaluyong- All districts SM Southmall: Las Pinas- All

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL WITH over four million Filipino voters facing possible disenfranchisement, a coalition of government agencies and civil society organizations launched a campaign to promote voters’ education less than a year before the 2016 presidential polls. The group, Samahan para sa Tunay na Eleksyon sa Pilipinas (STEP), launched on Tuesday #ListaNaYan, urging voters

By YVETTE B. MORALES With the threat of tsunami from the Manila Trench and the anticipated 7.2 magnitude earthquake of the West Valley Fault, the Redemptorists of Baclaran have decided to be more proactive instead of reactive in disaster management. As a first step, the National Shrine of the Mother of Perpetual Help conducted Friday

By JAKE SORIANO Photos and video by DANIEL ABUNALES IT was not a typical scene during voters’ registration. Hundreds of prospective voters from Quezon City, including persons with disabilities (PWDs), lined up early morning of Independence Day at a covered court in Barangay Bagumbahay. But while waiting for their turn, they were treated to a

DAVAO CITY – After almost a year of waiting, persons with disabilities (PWD) in Davao City can now avail themselves of services in the newly opened PWD Affairs Office here. Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive order creating the interim persons with disability affairs office on July 21, 2014. But it was not

LOOKING at the almost 300- year-old Philippine map by Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde which businessman Mel Velarde acquired for P12 million in an auction in London last year, one can see that the Jesuit priest is a great storyteller.

By JAKE SORIANO COTABATO City — The May 2016 presidential elections are less than a year away, but only a handful of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are eligible to vote. More than 100,000 PWDs of voting age are still not registered or have not validated their registration

  The Philippine government will be submitting to the Permanent Court of Arbitration  in The Hague this week an almost 300-year-old map of the Philippines showing the disputed Scarborough Shoal being part of Philippine territory as far back as three centuries ago. The map debunks the so-called nine-dash-line China has been using as proof of

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS LONG before China built lighthouses in reefs they are occupying in the disputed Spratlys, the Philippine government under President Fidel Ramos had planned to build lighthouses in Reed Bank and two other reefs but inter-government wrangling over money stalled the project until it was overtaken by events. Last Tuesday, China announced

By JAKE SORIANO THE “Visit the Philippines” 2015 campaign is well underway and those involved in the program are working to ensure that persons with disabilities will also get to enjoy the best the country has to offer. Stakeholders from the tourism, transportation and disability sectors are pushing for measures to pursue what they call “accessible

Fiery Cross before and during the reclamation By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE standard press statement of Malacañang and foreign affairs officials prior to the President’s attendance in the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is for the Philippines to push for the adoption of the Code of Conduct in the South China

 By TESSA JAMANDRE and ELLEN TORDESILLAS THE Philippines and Vietnam have agreed to conduct joint naval drills and scientific studies amid concerns over China’s intensified reclamations in the South China Sea. The planned activities are part of the soon-to-be signed “Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the Republic of the Philippines

By JAKE SORIANO THE head of the country’s disability council has this to say to companies that hire PWDs as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs: “We don’t want that.” “No. It should not be part of your CSR program. It should be a part of your recruitment policy,” declared Carmen Zubiaga, acting

A PERSON with disability (PWD) is among the first batch of high school graduates who are beneficiaries of the government’s PantawidPamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). And she graduated with honors. Seventeen-year-old Edy Rose Tayab, born with no feet and left hand, finished ninth in her class in a school in Bukidnon, the Department of Social Welfare

By JAKE SORIANO DESPITE a drop in the number of smokers, the Philippines still needs to adopt “more drastic measures” to further reduce tobacco use, said an anti-smoking advocate and cancer survivor. Emer Rojas, who uses an electrolarynx and is described as a walking graphic health warning against smoking, said measures such as raising the

Text and photos by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES LOS ANGELES, California—Before participating in the nine-day 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the 52-member Filipino delegation will be welcomed and celebrated in Santa Clarita City. Santa Clarita is among the 100 host towns where Special Olympic athletes will be staying from July 21 to 24. It will

By TESSA JAMANDRE CHINA has created new artificial islets in two more reefs in the disputed South China Sea, which the Philippine military fears is meant to choke off its access to Ayungin shoal, where a crumbling Philippine Navy ship is beached. In an interview, former Air Force officer Rep. Francisco Acedillo, now partylist representative