Garcia goes missing By Angie M. Rosales 01/25/2011

BUT SOLON ADMITS INFO IS UNVERIFIED____

Garcia goes missing

By Angie M. Rosales 01/25/2011

Former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia has gone missing, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV alleged yesterday, even as he also admitted that the information he had received on Garcia is unverified.

Quoting sources and information that he said reached him, the senator said the controversial retired military officer could no longer be contacted as of yesterday, the eve of the called Senate investigation into the plea bargain agreement that the Office of the Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman and Garcia entered into in December last year.

“As of (yesterday), I was told that nobody could reach him anymore. But we have yet to ascertain the veracity of the information. That’s what we heard though. That’s the report because everybody is trying to locate him, actually all for good

reasons, but some people may not want that to happen,” the senator said, hinting that Garcia’s absence may be something other than voluntary absence on the former military comptroller’s part..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110125hed1.html

Probe focuses on police, gov’t execs’ link to car thefts — DILG 01/25/2011

Probe focuses on police, gov’t execs’ link to car thefts — DILG

01/25/2011
As long as the motives of the suspects in the kidnap-slay of car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano are not yet firmly established there is no reason to consider the cases of the victims as closed or are already nearing conclusion, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo yesterday said.

He stressed that the deep investigation they are pouring into this case is in seeking to establish the connections that the Dominguez carjacking syndicate allegedly has with the authorities, including police officers themselves and some govern-ment officials.

Robredo said this angle on the case stemmed from prime suspect Raymond Dominguez’s long criminal history in which authorities have found out that he actually already has 31 different cases under his name but was able to escape 19 of it owing to the bail bonds he had posted.

“The first report that came to me was that Dominguez has 19 standing cases. In another report that was given to me earlier, there were actually 31 cases, 20 of which are related to car theft. In that 19 cases that were reported to me, you would be surprised because one of which was non-bailable yet he was able to post bail. That means we need to investigate and scrutinize who are behind those non-bailable offenses that were granted bail,” Robredo told a news conference in Malacañang..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110125hed2.html

RP should prosecute Somali pirates —US Navy official By Michaela P. del Callar 01/25/2011

RP should prosecute Somali pirates —US Navy official

By Michaela P. del Callar 01/25/2011

An American naval official urged the Philippines on Monday to consider prosecuting Somali pirates in the country and ban Filipino sailors from working in ships that don’t take enough safeguards against piracy, saying the danger that lurks off Somalia won’t go away soon.

Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Chief of Staff Capt. Chris Chambers, who made a presentation on the piracy situation and the CMF’s anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin at the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the number of Filipinos being taken hostage in Somalia will be reduced if they are to work in ships that comply with international best management practices to thwart attacks.

“We need the maritime industry to help protect itsef through best management practices, understanding the risks, training and protecting itself (and the sailors). Your citizens should not board ships not following best management practices,” Chambers said, stressing that piracy in Somalia is “not an easy problem.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110125hed3.html

Ethics panel at loggerheads with Speaker on Gutierrez impeach raps By Gerry Baldo 01/25/2011

Ethics panel at loggerheads with Speaker on Gutierrez impeach raps

By Gerry Baldo 01/25/2011

The chairman of the House Ethics committee, Iloilo Rep. Neil Tupas, is reportedly on a warpath with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte on the issue of the pending impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, which has been put on hold by the Supreme Court.

Tupas wants to push through with the impeachment complaint while Belmonte wants to wait for the high court deci-sion on the status quo ante order.

In a press conference yesterday, Tupas said the panel will have to proceed with the impeachment hearings by March because if this is not done, then the 60 session days given the panel to resolve the complaint shall have expired.

“We will proceed to do our constitutional duty,” Tupas said yesterday even as he noted that the Speaker has requested the panel to wait for a reasonable period before proceeding with the hearings..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110125hed4.html

Radioman shot dead in Palawan 01/25/2011

Radioman shot dead in Palawan

01/25/2011
A hard-hitting radio commentator was shot dead in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, yesterday morning, police said, becoming the second journalist to be murdered in the eight-month-old Aquino administration.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr. identified the victim as Dr. Gerry Ortega of Radio Mindanao Network’s dzAR based in the city.

According to Cruz, Ortega was shot in the head while shopping in a clothing store just after finishing his latest broadcast.

Police quickly caught his attacker but the motive for the killing was not yet known, he said.

“Recovered from the suspect’s possession was a .45 cal. pistol,” the police official added..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110125hed5.html

Lim’s deputy also nixed HK invitation on hostage probe By Pat C. Santos 01/25/2011

Lim’s deputy also nixed HK invitation on hostage probe

By Pat C. Santos 01/25/2011

After Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim declined an invitation from the Hong Kong government to testify in an inquiry it is holding on the fatal hostage taking crisis that resulted in the death of eight residents of the Chinese territory, it was Vice Mayor Isko Moreno’s turn yesterday to pass up on the invitation and even accused some government officials of selling him and Lim as scapegoats in the incident.

Instead of protecting Filipinos, they are using us as scapegoats, Moreno told reporters in a press briefing.

The Palace seems not inclined to intervene in persuading the invited witnesses to accept Hong Kong’s invitation saying they are not compelled to respond to the invitation.

Lim’s rejection to cooperate in the public inquest prompted one survivor from the bus hijacking incident, Li Yick Biu, to accuse the Aquino administration of insincerity as reported by a Chinese daily, South China Morning Post, over the weekend..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110125hed7.html

2,448 abused OFWs in Saudi repatriated to Manila—DFA By Michaela P. del Callar 01/25/2011

2,448 abused OFWs in Saudi repatriated to Manila—DFA

By Michaela P. del Callar 01/25/2011
A total of 2,448 abused and distressed Filipino nationals have been repatriated to Manila from Western Saudi Arabia in 2010, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Funding for the repatriation of 1,539 of them came from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office/Overseas Workers Welfare Authority, 844 by the host government, 43 were shouldered by the employer/sponsor and 37 at workers’ personal expense. The DFA said it also provided funds for those cases which are not covered by other sources.

The DFA said Philippine Consulate staff members also conduct regular visits at the Khandara Bridge in Jeddah where overstaying nationals of various nationalities in the city and the eastern regions, including Filipinos workers, often congregate themselves.

Overstaying nationals usually congregate at the so-called Khandara Bridge, which is an overpass and not a bridge traversing waters, to call the attention of local immigration authorities in the hope that their subsequent arrest from said public place would lead to expedite deportation proceedings.

Some temporarily camp out at said place, while others return to their respective homes or those of friends during mid-day or at night..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110125nat3.html