LOS ANGELES • ORANGE • INLAND EMPIRE
VOL. XIX, NO. 40 Since 1992
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JULY 2 - 5, 2011 Another Pinay condemned to death in China MANILA, July 1, 2011 (AFP)
– A Filipina teacher was sen- tenced to death for smuggling heroin into China, three months after three drug mules from the Philippines were executed, the foreign ministry in Manila said Friday.
The woman, who was not named, was sentenced last week the ministry said, quoting a report from the Philippine consulate in Guangzhou.
“She was arrested for drug- smuggling in October 2010 at the international airport in Guang- zhou, for carrying 1,996 grams (67 ounces) of heroin concealed in a foil packet,” in her suitcase, the ministry said in a statement. Although the case will be
ACTIVISTS and supporters light candles with slogans during an overnight vigil in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday March 29, 2011, near the home of one of three Filipinos that are set to be executed in China. Activists and supporters called for the government to help save the lives of three Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are set to be executed March 30, after being sentenced by Chinese authorities for drug traffi cking. China is set to execute the three Filipinos despite appeals for clemency by the Philippine Government, offi cials said.(MNS photo)
Hundreds fined for smoking in Manila
MANILA, July 1, 2011 (AFP) – Hundreds of people were fined as a smoking ban in public places went into force in the Philippines’ sprawling capital Friday. Manila government “environ- ment enforcers” wearing mint- green Polo T-shirts fanned out across the city of 12 million peo- ple to start handing out penalties of 500 pesos ($11.50), following a month-long trial period. “We’ve given the public one month of warnings. That is enough,” Metropolitan Manila Development Authority spokes- woman Christina Velasco told AFP, adding at least 249 people were caught for lighting up in public places on Friday. Under the new ban, people caught smoking at schools, gyms, parks, hospitals, elevators and stairwells of all buildings, buses
and bus depots, restaurants, and government facilities will be hit with the 500-peso fine. If they fail to pay, they will be ordered to perform eight hours of community service. If they refuse the community service, they could be charged and jailed for up to seven days.
The Philippines has a chaotic brand of democracy, with tough laws on many issues that in theory should ensure an orderly society but in reality are too often flouted. However the Manila develop- ment authority said it was serious about enforcing the smoking ban. It said on its website that “En- vironmental Enforcers” would be deployed in teams, made up of two people with the authority to issue the fines, plus a photog- rapher and someone to fill out the See SMOKING, page 14
Pres. Aquino – poll
MANILA, July 1, 2011 (AFP) – Millions of extremely poor Fili- pinos are enjoying eating more food, with hunger rates dropping to their lowest levels in four years, according to a national survey released Friday. A spokesman for President
Benigno Aquino, who marked 12 months in office this week, said the data released by Social Weather Stations could be a sign that his government’s efforts to fight poverty were starting to have an impact.
The Manila-based Social
A FARMER takes a break from harvesting rice stalks at Bangaan rice terraces in Ifugao province, north of Manila June 30, 2011.(MNS Photo)
Weather Stations said 15.1 per- cent of respondents in June re- ported suffering hunger, defined as not having enough to eat sev- eral times in a month, compared with 20.5 percent in April. Projecting the figures on a nationwide scale, the polling firm said three million families were still going hungry, but this was down from 4.1 million families and the best figure since 2007. Aquino’s spokesman Ricky Carandang, welcomed the data although he said the the govern- ment did not take full credit. “I’m not necessarily saying it is because we did it, but we have been committed to reducing poverty, and reducing poverty will have an effect on reducing hunger,” Carandang told AFP. One in four Filipinos live on a dollar a day or less, according to a government survey in 2009. ■
Fewer hungry in PHL under
brought to the Guangdong High People’s Court for automatic review, the ministry warned that China was known for its “firm stance” in drug-smuggling cases. The woman, however, was given a two-year reprieve, ac- cording to the ministry. Such con- victs in the past have been able to use the reprieve to get their death sentences commuted.
In March, Chinese authori- ties executed three Filipino drug mules despite repeated pleas by the Philippine government for clemency.
Earlier this year, the foreign ministry said more than 500 Filipinos – men and women – are currently languishing in foreign jails on drug-related cases. ■
MANILA, July 1 (Mabuhay) – Filipinos are among the migrant workers trafficked to Taiwan through recruiters and brokers, a recent US State Department report showed.
U.S. report: Pinoys traffi cked to Taiwan via recruiters, brokers
Filipinos and seven other na- tionals are trafficked to Taiwan to perform low-skilled work and as domestic workers and home caregivers, the report said, quot- ing news site Taiwan Times. The news site said the U.S. State Department’s report identi- fied Filipinos, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesians, Chinese, Cambodi- ans, Bangladeshis, and Indians to do low-skilled work in Taiwan’s manufacturing and fishing indus- tries. Taiwan is still in the U.S.’ trafficking list for remaining a
destination country for trafficked people, as well as a source and transit territory for men, women, and children subjected to state trafficking and forced labor, the US report said.
“Many of these workers fall victim to labor trafficking by unscrupulous brokers and em- ployers, who force workers to perform work outside the scope of their contract and often under exploitative conditions,” it said. “Some women and girls from China and Southeast Asian coun- tries are lured to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages and de- ceptive employment offers for purposes of sex trafficking and forced labor,” the US report added. (MNS) ■
SWELL SHARKS: A new species of swell shark from the deep sea. It can
infl ate its stomach with water to bulk up and scare off other predators. PHOTO: STEPHANIE STONE, CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
New shark species found in PHL
MANILA, June 29, 2011 (AFP) – Lobsters without shells and a small shark that bulks up with water to scare off predators are among hundreds of potential new species found in the Philippines, according to a US-led biodiversity survey. The California Academy of Sciences said it discovered more than 300 previously unknown animals and plants during a recent 42-day marine and land survey of the vast but ecologically threat- ened Southeast Asian archipelago.
“The Philippines is one of the hottest of the hot spots for diverse and threatened life on Earth,” expedition leader Terrence Gosliner See SHARK, page 15
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