NAIROBI, Kenya – Pope Francis said the world was facing a "grave environmental crisis" as he arrived in Kenya on Wednesday, November 25, on a landmark Africa trip just days before a crucial UN summit aimed at curbing climate change.

"The grave environmental crisis facing our world demands an ever greater sensitivity to the relationship between human beings and nature," he told Kenyan political leaders in the capital Nairobi, shortly after arriving in the east African country.

"There is a clear link between the protection of nature and the building of a just and equitable social order."

Francis has taken on a vocal role in the fight against climate change, injecting a moral voice into a debate usually dominated by economic and political concerns. 

His remarks come on the eve of a United Nations climate conference in Paris which will gather more than 145 world leaders for a 12-day summit aimed at securing a climate rescue pact. 

The 78-year-old pontiff said environmental concerns should be at the forefront of "responsible" economic development. 

"Kenyan people... are known for a culture of conservation, which does you honor," he said.

"We have a responsibility to pass on the beauty of nature in its integrity to future generations, and an obligation to exercise a just stewardship of the gifts we have received. These values are deeply rooted in the African soul.

"In a world which continues to exploit rather than protect our common home, they must inspire the efforts of national leaders to promote responsible models of economic development."

The pontiff also drew a "clear link" between climate concerns and social justice. 

"In effect, there is a clear link between the protection of nature and the building of a just and equitable social order," he said. "There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature, without a renewal of humanity itself."

A firm stance

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics took a firm stance on environmental issues earlier this year, issuing a lengthy encyclical which said climate change was primarily man-made and one of the main challenges facing humanity. 

The text called for action to phase out fossil fuels but also pointed the finger at big industry, and blamed first-world countries for failing to act.

He is also expected to address climate issues again on Thursday when he visits the Nairobi headquarters of the UN's Environment Programme (UNEP) and Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

Earlier this year, the Argentine pope said the world was at a "critical moment" in the fight against climate change, describing it as "a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation."

His environmental message is likely to resonate in Africa where climate change is already being felt and where the poaching of endangered species such as elephants and rhinoceroses is rampant. 

President Uhuru Kenyatta echoed those concerns during a welcome address to the pope on Wednesday in which he warned that "climate change, greed and poaching" threatened Kenya's natural heritage.

Francis is not the first pope to be interested in green matters. Since the early 1960s, popes have paid increasing attention to the relation between pollution, waste and poverty, with Paul VI warning in 1971 of the potential for ecological catastrophe and need for change in human behavior. – Hazel Ward, AFP / Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea – North and South Korean officials were to sit down Thursday, November 26, for rare talks aimed at paving the way for a sustainable high-level dialogue that has constantly eluded the two rivals.

The meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom marks the first inter-governmental interaction since August when the two sides met to defuse a crisis that had pushed them to the brink of an armed conflict.

That meeting ended with a joint agreement that included a commitment to resume high-level talks, although no precise timeline was given.

Although any dialogue between the two Koreas is generally welcomed as a step in the right direction, precedent offers little hope of a successful outcome.

A similar effort back in June 2013 saw both sides agree to hold what would have been the first high-level dialogue for six years – only for Pyongyang to cancel a day before the scheduled meeting.

In the end, it was a matter of protocol – the North felt insulted by the South's nomination of a vice minister as its chief delegate – that smothered the initiative before it had even drawn breath.

Devil in the details

Thursday's talks in Panmunjom will try to avoid a repetition of that failure by thrashing out an agenda, a venue and such protocol issues as who should attend the full-fledged dialogue.

"We will do our best," said Kim Ki-Woong, the head of the South Korean Unification Ministry's special office for inter-Korean dialogue.

"We are resolved to maintaining the momentum for dialogue that was started by the August agreement," Kim said before leaving Seoul for Panmunjom at the head of the three-member delegation.

Likely topics to be placed on the agenda include South Korea's desire for regular reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War that cemented the division of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea, meanwhile, will want to discuss the resumption of South Korean tour groups to its scenic Mount Kumgang resort.

The tours, a source of badly needed hard currency for the cash-strapped North, were suspended by the South in 2008 after a female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard.

"The overall atmosphere for a successful conclusion of these talks is really not that favorable," said Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst with the Sejong Institute think tank in Seoul.

"The two sides always find it hard to agree on the ranks of chief delegates to high-level talks, and there are a number of issues causing friction in cross-border ties at the moment," Cheong said.

He cited Pyongyang’s irritation with recent South Korean military exercises and Seoul's participation in international moves to censure the North for human rights violations.

Shifting diplomatic sands

Thursday's talks come amid diplomatic shifts in the Northeast Asia region that have left North Korea looking more isolated than ever, with Seoul moving closer to Pyongyang's main diplomatic and economic ally China, and improving strained relations with Tokyo.

Earlier this month, the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan held their first summit for more than three years in Seoul.

Although the focus was on trade and other economic issues, the three declared their "firm opposition" to the development of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea is already under a raft of UN sanctions imposed after its 3 nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye recently reiterated her willingness to hold face-to-face talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un – but only if Pyongyang showed some commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

The two Koreas have held two summits in the past, one in 2000 and the second in 2007.

The United Nations is also understood to be in discussions with North Korea over a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon – possibly before the end of the year.

Ban had been scheduled to visit in May this year, but Pyongyang withdrew the invitation at the last minute after he criticized a recent North Korean missile test. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Aside from her citizenship, Senator Grace Poe's qualification to run as president in the 2016 elections is also being questioned on the basis of her residency in the Philippines.

The Philippine Constitution not only requires a president to be a natural-born citizen – he or she should also be a resident of the Philippines "for at least 10 years immediately preceding such election."

Poe's critics believe she has not met this 10-year requirement and should therefore be disqualified as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. (READ: Poe not qualified? Let her run first, lawyer tells Comelec)

At least two of the 4 petitions now lodged at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) questioned Poe's residency before the poll body. (READ: TIMELINE: Grace Poe's citizenship, residency)

But the basis of the petitioners vary, according to their statements during and after oral arguments at the Comelec First Division on Wednesday, November 25.

2012 COC

Former senator Francisco "Kit" Tatad based his claim on Poe's certificate of candidacy (COC) for the 2013 midterm elections. Back then, she wrote that she has been a resident of the Philippines for 6 years and 6 months.

Tatad's lawyer Manuelito Luna said that if one computes using this "judicial admission," then Poe would still be short by 5 to 6 months on the day before May 9, 2016.

But George Garcia, one of Poe's counsels, explained what happened in 2012: The senator supposedly started counting from March 2006 up to September 2012, instead of until May 2013.

"Sometime po noong March 2006, bumalik siya dito sa Pilipinas, kasama ang asawa niya, na at that time po nag-resign na rin po bilang isang empleyado sa America, wala nang trabaho sa America. So pagbalik po niya, dun niya kinount yung 6 years and 6 months na nakalagay sa kanyang certificate of candidacy sa pagka-senador, sa March 2006," he said.

(Sometime in March 2006, she came back to the Philippines together with her husband, who, at that time, already resigned as an employee in America, and no longer has a job in America. So when she came back, that's how she got the 6 years and 6 months written in her certificate of candidacy as senator, from March 2006.)

Oath of allegiance to PH 

For De La Salle University professor and political analyst Antonio Contreras, meanwhile, the residency count should start from July 7, 2006, when Poe took an Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines. With this count, Poe would still fall short of two months.

Contreras cited the 2002 case of Coquilla vs Comelec, where the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the decision of the Comelec in ordering the cancellation of the COC of Teodulo Coquilla for mayor of Oras, Eastern Samar, in the May 14, 2001 elections.

The SC said the term "residence" refers to domicile or legal residence – the place where one has a permanent home, and where he intends to return or remain. But in the 2002 case, Coquilla lost his domicile of origin when he became a US citizen.

"By having been naturalized abroad, he lost his Philippine citizenship and with it his residence in the Philippines. Until his reacquisition of Philippine citizenship on November 10, 2000, petitioner did not reacquire his legal residence in this country," the decision read.

For Contreras, this is the controlling jurisprudence in Poe's case.

Return to PH

When Poe filed her COC for the 2016 elections, she wrote that her period of residence in the Philippines up to the day before elections is 10 years and 11 months.

Her count started from May 24, 2005, when she returned to the Philippines after they, as a family, decided to stay here.

According to Garcia, there are 3 prerequisites to establish residence in the Philippines: intent to remain, physical presence, and intent to abandon the former domicile.

"When it comes to the issue of residency, you always look at the totality. You cannot look singularly at each and every evidence," he said.

Their basis is Poe's sworn questionnaire in 2011, when she executed an Oath/Affirmation of Renunciation of Nationality of the United States (US) before the Vice Consul at the US Embassy in Manila. On page 4 of the questionnaire, Poe wrote:

"I became a resident of the Philippines once again since 2005. My mother still resides in the Philippines. My husband and I are both employed and own properties in the Philippines. As a dual citizen (Filipino-American) since 2006, I've voted in two Philippine national elections. My three children study and reside in the Philippines…."

Garcia said when Poe wrote that, the senator then had "no inkling, no intention yet" to run "for even the barangay (village) chairman."

"That was a declaration under oath. As far as the respondent is concerned, to her mind, she had been a resident of the Philippines since 2005, she had bodily presence since May 24, 2005 – immediately after the death of her father, she returned to the Philippines to join her grieving mother," the lawyer explained

A month after her return to the country, Poe's children already started attending Philippine schools, while in July 2005, she secured her Philippine Taxpayer's Identification Number (TIN) to settle her father's estate. –Rappler.com

MOSCOW, Russia – Turkey's military said Wednesday, November 25, it did not know the warplane it shot down on the Syrian border was Russian, adding that it was ready for "all kinds of cooperation" after Moscow called the incident a "planned provocation".

In a statement issued after tensions surged between Ankara and Moscow and Turkey's NATO allies appealed for calm, the Turkish armed forces said they had made significant efforts to find and rescue the two pilots after shooting down the jet on Tuesday, November 24.

The sole surviving pilot said he had received no warning and the aircraft did not violate Turkish air space, prompting the Turkish army to release audio recordings it said showed the Russian jet was repeatedly warned to change course.

"This is Turkish Air Force speaking on guard. You are approaching Turkish airspace. Change your heading south immediately," a voice in one of the recordings can be heard saying in English, repeating the message several times.

The downing has threatened ties between two major rival players in the Syrian war and raised fears it could escalate into a wider geopolitical conflict.

Ankara and Moscow are on opposing sides in the 4-year Syrian conflict, with Turkey wanting to see the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad while Russia is one of his last remaining allies.

While both sides have given conflicting versions of what led to the jet being shot down, they have been at pains to stress they want to avoid a military escalation in the already volatile region.

Turkey's armed forces said in a statement later on Wednesday that they had invited Russian defense and military attaches to their headquarters in the Turkish capital to explain the circumstances surrounding the incident.

"The nationality of the plane was not known... and the rules of engagement were automatically used" after the plane did not respond to the warnings, the military said.

It added that it had been in touch with Moscow's military authorities to express readiness for "all kinds of cooperation".

'No war'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday he had "serious doubts about this being an unpremeditated act, it really looks like a planned provocation".

But he added: "We do not plan to go to war with Turkey, our attitude toward the Turkish people has not changed."

His comments came a day after a furious Russian President Vladimir Putin branded the downing of the jet a "stab in the back committed by accomplices of terrorists", and told Russians not to visit Turkey, a key tourist destination. 

In Moscow several hundred activists hurled stones and eggs at Turkey's embassy and brandished anti-Turkish placards in a brief protest over the jet downing. 

In another apparent reaction to the incident, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow would send its most hi-tech S-400 air defense system to its airbase near the Syrian Mediterranean port of Latakia.

Turkish media, citing military sources, reported the Turkish air force had also stepped up border patrols with 18 F-16s.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to turn down the heat over the incident, insisting Ankara was simply defending its border.

"We have no intention to escalate this incident. We are just defending our security and the rights of our brothers," Erdogan said.

Turkey insists it gave the downed jet 10 warnings in the space of five minutes, an account backed up by its NATO ally the United States which spearheads a coalition against Islamic State jihadists in Syria.

'No contact at all'

Turkey's ambassador to the UN, Halit Cevik, said in a letter to the Security Council that two planes were involved in the incident.

He said both had flown 1.36 miles (2.19 kilometers) into Turkish airspace for 17 seconds in a final violation at 0724 GMT and that one was shot down and the other left Turkish airspace.

Moscow said Russian and Syrian special forces had rescued one of the two Russian pilots who ejected from the Su-24 bomber as it plunged to the earth in a fireball. The second airman and a soldier sent to rescue him died.

In his first interview, rescued pilot Konstantin Murakhtin told Russian state media there had been no prior warning before his plane was shot down by Turkish F-16 fighters. 

"There was no warning, not by radio exchange nor visually. There was no contact at all," Murakhtin said at Moscow's base in Syria, with his back to the cameras.

Putin said Murakhtin would be given a medal, along with those involved in the rescue operation and the second pilot who was shot dead by rebels after parachuting out.  

There are fears the shooting could derail efforts to bring peace to Syria that were gaining tentative momentum following the November 13 Paris attacks claimed by ISIS extremists who control swathes of northern Syria.

Russian warplanes carried out heavy raids in Syria's northern Latakia province on Wednesday, the same area where the jet was downed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

French President Francois Hollande flies to Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin, with both struggling to make good on demands for a broader coalition to fight ISIS. – Maria Panina with Dilay Gundogan in Istanbul, Turkey, AFP / Rappler.com

SAMAR, Philippines – Church and civil society groups in Samar have launched  a province-wide signature campaign to protest the plan of the provincial government to obtain an P800-million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The No to P800 Million Loan Coalition, which aims to gather 600,000 signatures in Samar, was prompted by the bid of the provincial government to secure a loan from Landbank, for the construction of roads and a provincial hospital.

Lawyer Alma Uy-Lampasa told Rappler that in a special session on July 1, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board) approved a resolution authorizing Governor Sharee Ann Tan to negotiate a loan with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) or Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

Lampasa was the lone provincial board member who opposed the passage of the so-called “borrowing ordinance.” 

The amount – P851,104,860.90 – is to finance the construction and improvement of roads in remote villages of the province, and the construction of the provincial hospital.

Lampasa said that a day later, July 2, the provincial board came up with a Joint Committee Report recommending a “borrowing ordinance” that gives the governor  blanket authority to enter into a loan contract with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for the said amount. 

She said it was made to appear then that the DBP provided better terms.

But months later, in a regular session on October 29, the provincial board approved another borrowing ordinance, citing the same purpose approved by the board in July – road improvement and construction, and the construction of the provincial hospital.

DBP vs Landbank

The only difference between the July and October ordinances, Lampasa said, was that the latest one now gives Tan the authority to enter into a loan contract with Landbank and not with the DBP, and in the amount of P800 million with an annual interest of 5% per annum, using 20% of the provincial internal revenue allotment (IRA) as collateral.

“We are now groping in the dark as to the real reasons why the DBP loan did not push through and the provincial governor is now negotiating with LBP, securing a loan of P800 million,” she said.

Lampasa said Tan did not make a formal report to the provincial board on why the Landbank loan is more advantageous to the provincial government and Samar. 

“The people of Samar are being deprived of the opportunity to deal and to negotiate loans, with other banking institutions that offer better loan terms,”  she said.

Lampasa has written the president and chief executive officer of Landbank, as well as Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, seeking to block the proposed loan to the Samar government.

In her letter to Landbank, she asked for details of the loan process, including the date when the negotiations began, the persons who represented the bank and the province in the negotiations, and the terms and conditions arrived, among others. 

Letter to DOF

In her letter to Purisima, Lampasa appealed for the disapproval of the proposed loan and to deny the issuance of a certification of borrowing capacity of the provincial government of Samar.

She cited the following reasons: 

• Samar province has been a recipient of adverse Commission on Audit findings in previous years
• The projects for the loan are not included in the approved Annual Investment Plan for the current year
• The provincial government has not shown compliance with the Full Disclosure Policy of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, as embodied in DILG Memorandum Circular No 2010-83.
• The loan is “unconscionable” and way beyond the capacity of the province to pay because, among others, the provincial government is faced with massive corruption issues and is heavily dependent on the Internal Revenue Allotment as gleaned from the COA Annual Reports

Lampasa stressed that deducting yearly amortizations from the IRA of the province will have have an adverse effect on the delivery of basic services to the people of Samar.

Stop the loan

“We are calling on the government to stop the loan and to conduct investigation regarding the claims and loans of the province,” said Raul Baldeviz, spokesperson of the No to P800 Million Loan Coalition.”

“We want to gain economic justice for the poor people in Samar as they should have what they need to live. We don’t want the money to be used for the nearing elections,” Baldeviz said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Francis Joseph Grey, provincial president of the Youth Sector of Bag-o nga Samar Movement, said that gains in civil rights have not improved lives in Samar.

“Political corruption in Samar [remains] continuously unchecked and because of this, our trust in politicians is damaged,” Grey said.

“We and the rest of the people of Samar are here, poor, and our local officials made us this way…and we’ve come to stay until they do something about it.’ Grey said.

Reshil Yrigon of the People Surge Western Samar  lamented: “We are in the midst of a crisis where the people no longer trust their government. People are suffering, and the government doesn’t seem to serve and care for the people.”

Yrigon noted that the provincial government has chosen to prioritize securing loans for the construction of farm-to-market roads, when victims of typhoons Seniang and Ruby, and Super Typhoon Yolanda continue to need help. – Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines on Thursday, November 26, said it warned a United Nations-backed tribunal that China’s island building activities have destroyed the seabed in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The Philippines also slammed China for its “flagrant and persistent” violations of international law as Manila proceeded on Wednesday, November 25, with the second day of hearings on the merits of its case against Beijing. 

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that during the hearings, lawyer Andrew Loewenstein showed the tribunal satellite images “of various installations constructed by China on Mischief Reef,” found in the West Philippine Sea, among others.

“A video simulation was also shown to the tribunal to demonstrate how a cutter suction dredger destroys the seabed and transfers sand to a pre-selected area,” Valte said in a bulletin sent from The Hague, the Netherlands.

Loewenstein argued “that by engaging in these activities, China has violated the sovereign rights of the Philippines with regard to living and non-living resources” in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

The EEZ is the area 200 nautical miles from a coastal state’s baselines, or “edges,” within which it has the exclusive rights to fish and exploit sea resources.

China has been building artificial islands to assert its claim over the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines has protested these reclamation activities.

The Philippines earlier said China’s reclamation activities have destroyed 311 hectares of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea. That is 5 times the size of Manila’s Rizal Park. 

China claim ‘hopeless, indefensible’

On the second day of hearings in The Hague, Professor Philippe Sands, another member of the Philippine team, said China interferes with the Philippines’ rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Sands cited incidents wherein private companies, contracted by the Philippine Department of Energy, “were prevented from exploration” in the West Philippine Sea.

He also discussed China’s fishing ban “covering even areas in the Philippines’ EEZ.”

Philippine delegation member Lawrence Martin, for his part, presented testimonies from Filipino fishermen “to prove China’s interference in the traditional fishing activities of Filipino fishermen around the South China Sea, particularly Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal.”

Valte said a map from 1784 “was presented to prove that Bajo de Masinloc has always been part of the Philippines.”

Loewenstein added that China’s claim over the West Philippine Sea is “hopeless and indefensible.”

A day earlier, the Philippines complained to the tribunal that China has robbed the Southeast Asian country of its right to fish in the West Philippine Sea. 

Loewenstein also presented 8 maps to the tribunal, “the first of which dates back to the Ming Dynasty,” according to Valte.

These maps “show that China’s territory did not include that which it claims now under the 9-dash line,” the demarcation China uses to claim the West Philippine Sea.

This round of hearings ends on November 30. The Philippines expects a definitive ruling by 2016. – Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – Unlike the previous UN climate conferences, the one in Paris will kick off with world leaders meeting to set the tone of the summit.

When it happens on November 30, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III will join about 146 other heads of state as they seek to forge humanity's action plan against global warming. 

MANILA, Philippines – For female candidates in the 2016 elections, giving women access to decent work is crucial in helping them escape poverty and become independent citizens.

In a forum on Wednesday, November 25, senatorial candidate Lorna Kapunan said: “My challenge to all of you is to go against the grain of learned helplessness. Through women power and women vote, we are challenged as women leaders to break that chain of learned helplessness.”

For several other women candidates in the 2016 elections, the key is recognizing that poor women are among the most vulnerable in society, and solving their concerns involves a multi-sectoral approach. (READ: Women senatorial bets vow to prioritize labor, human rights) 

“Rural and urban poor women are presently the easiest victims of gender injustice and inequality – whether in the workplace, within the family or the community at large – simply because they are caught in two types of vulnerabilities: class and gender vulnerability,” former justice secretary Leila de Lima said in the forum held in Makati City.

The Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidate explained that women are vulnerable because first, many of them are poor and have little economic means. Secondly, women are “victims of male domination within their own economic class.”

Risa Hontiveros, another LP Senate bet, added that this is worsened by the traditional notion that women must be the manager of the household. 

The International Labor Organization assessed in 2013 that Filipinas’ labor market participation is lower than men’s because of “inadequate employment and decent work opportunities, domestic labor and care constraints, and social norms.”

“Who provides the care and ensures the well-being of each and every Filipino? Magandang pakinggan na ang sagot ay si nanay. Si nanay ang nag-aaruga sa bawat isa. There is almost a romantic, nostalgic, heroic feel to that statement. Pero si nanay ay may mga sariling pangarap din,” Hontiveros said. 

(Who provides the care and ensures the well-being of each and every Filipino? It’s nice to hear the answer is mother. There is almost a romantic, nostalgic, heroic feel to that statement. But mother has her own dreams as well.)

“The right answer to the question of who provides the care and ensures the well-being of each and every Filipino should be everyone, each one of us – men, women, parents, children, the government, civil society.”

Apart from De Lima and Hontiveros, vice-presidential candidate Leni Robredo, senatorial candidates Lorna Kapunan, Princess Jacel Kiram, and Susan “Toots” Ople, and Iloilo fourth district representative candidate Mitch Monfort Bautista spoke at the forum on Wednesday. 

De Lima was not able to personally attend the event and instead delivered her speech through video. 

They were invited by the Women’s Business Council, the Business and Professional Women Makati PH, and TOWNS Foundation Incorporated.

Stories on the margins

Most of the female candidates in their speeches cited the World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Gender Gap Report, which said that the Philippines jumped from 9th to 7th place among 145 countries in closing the gender gap. (READ: Philippine gender gap narrow but women leaders still needed)

However, the report also said that economic and participation gaps in the country have not been fully closed, a finding that Ople and Robredo affirmed.  

Former labor undersecretary Ople, a known advocate of the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), shared the story of an abused OFW in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia called “Fatima,” whose story was picked up by the media in 2013.

Fatima accidentally dropped the thermos containing hot water she was supposed to use to prepare her lady employer’s coffee. Her employer then reportedly poured the rest of the scalding liquid onto Fatima’s body, leaving severe burn marks.

Ople said she is still fighting to bring Fatima home because a photo of the OFW’s wounds went viral, and prompted Fatima’s employer to file a still-pending slander case against her.

Ople, a guest senatorial candidate under the United Nationalist Alliance and the Poe-Escudero tandem, said it is hard to stay in the margins “when you see stories of social injustice unfold right before your eyes.” 

'Very dependent on husbands'

Camarines Sur Third District Representative Robredo agreed. She recalled how difficult it was to rescue women victims of domestic violence during the time she served under the Public Attorney’s Office. 

Robredo said that most women, even those in rural areas, already know they are being victimized.

“Bakit bumabalik yung victims of violence sa kanilang bahay? (Why do victims of violence return to their homes?) Because they are not economically powered. Even if they know they are victims of violence, even if they do not want to go back to that situation again, they are forced to go back because they cannot fend for their children… They are very dependent on their husbands for financial support,” she said.

For lawyer Kapunan, the biggest problems of the country remain to be poverty and hunger caused by unemployment.  

She said the current minimum wage set at P481-P444 is too little to ensure that a typical Filipino family of 5 would be able to meet their daily needs.  

Kapunan said the Philippines needs laws to support basic industries in the country and guarantee work for millions of Filipinos. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A lawyer has asked the Supreme Court (SC) not to allow all detainees in the Philippines to vote in the 2016 elections unless the Commission on Elections (Comelec) meets certain requirements.

In a petition dated November 12, lawyer Victor Aguinaldo requested the SC to bar the Comelec and other agencies from implementing Comelec Resolution 9371. 

Promulgated in March 2012, Comelec Resolution 9371 covers “rules and regulations on detainee registration and voting” in the 2013 and subsequent elections.

If the SC grants Aguinaldo's petition, this would mean “not allowing all the detainees in the entire Philippines to register and vote in the 2016 coming elections unless clear parameters or guidelines have been set as to cover all circumstances or incidents on detainee registration and voting.”

He said the Comelec resolution, for one, is unclear on the situation of high-profile detainees such as former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo 

He said, “What about those who are currently incarcerated under hospital or house arrest or in another jail not within their residence just like former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr, Senator Jinggoy Ejercito, and other detainees in similar situations?”

'Unconstitutional' resolution?

In his petition, Aguinaldo also said the SC should declare certain provisions of Comelec Resolution 9371 “as unconstitutional because of their imperfections, inadequacies, and deficiencies” in their application.

Aguinaldo enumerated the following “loopholes, uncertainties, gaps, and ambiguities” in the application of Comelec Resolution 9371:

• The law “did not provide for its ‘Implementing Rules and Regulations’ for its application and implementation so that it may cover all circumstances as to who, what, when, why, how these detainees should be allowed to vote and register”

• The passage of Comelec Resolution 9371 “did not undergo any public consultation or public hearings”

• The Comelec resolution “has created partiality, inequality, prejudice, and injustice because certain detainees were given greater rights or privileges by allowing them to register and vote in the elections as compared to an ordinary or regular voter, or even to an absentee voter”

Nearly 44,000 prisoners had been allowed to vote in 2013. – Rappler.com

BANGKOK, Thailand – Myanmar and Bangladesh face renewed pressure to tackle "the root causes" of an annual migration crisis after Thailand on Thursday, November 26, announced a regional summit ahead of the new sailing season.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled western Myanmar in recent years, joined increasingly by Bangladeshis escaping poverty, on dangerous and often fatal sea journeys through the Bay of Bengal towards Malaysia.

Boats crammed with migrants traditionally depart following the end of the monsoon season expected in November.

It is not clear whether migrants will take to the seas in the same numbers this year after Thailand launched a crackdown on major human trafficking rings in May.

That resulted in thousands of migrants being abandoned in fetid jungle camps and at sea and the arrest of scores of people, including a Thai general and other officials for orchestrating the multi-million dollar trade.

Stories of kidnap, coercion and hunger emerged from the hundreds who staggered ashore or were belatedly rescued by Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian authorities after weeks at sea.

In a statement announcing the December 4 summit in Bangkok, Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the crackdown had resulted in a "substantive" reduction of the trade.

But it added that "more needs to be done to solve this problem effectively and permanently".

"Affected countries in the region and relevant partners must work together to address the root causes as well as all the contributing factors along the way," the statement said.

Thailand has invited Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia to participate in the summit as well as representatives from the United Nations, the United States, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, the European Union and NGOs.

Bangkok's use of the phrase "root causes" is a nod to Myanmar's ongoing persecution of the Rohingya, many of whom live in apartheid-like conditions in western Rakhine state following deadly clashes with local Buddhists in 2012.

The government does not recognize the term Rohingya, arguing that the Muslim minority are in fact illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite many families tracing generations-long ancestry.

Myanmar has so far refused to acknowledge that the Rohingya are fleeing persecution.

Bangladesh has also been accused of not doing enough to stop its impoverished citizens leaving its southeastern shores.

Thailand held a similar summit at the end of May during the height the migrant crisis.

But human rights groups criticized the May summit for being little more than a talking shop in a region known for favouring consensus diplomacy ahead of direct confrontation.

With the sailing season nearing, rights groups are now closely watching for signs the smuggling gangs are still active. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Despite failing to transmit 23% of election results in 2013, Venezuelan firm Smartmatic won a P500-million ($10.61-million) deal to provide the same services in the presidential elections in 2016.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez on Thursday, November 26, said Smartmatic bagged a P507-million (P10.76-million) contract to transmit election results for the May 2016 polls.

Smartmatic reportedly submitted the “lowest calculated responsive bid.”

“We don’t have any preference for any provider, and we have to make the decision based on those who joined the bid,” Comelec Commissioner Christian Lim explained, as quoted by ABS-CBN News. 

Smartmatic provided the same services in the Philippines’ first two automated elections, in 2010 and 2013.

In 2013, Smartmatic failed to transmit around 23% of election results from vote-counting machines.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said he was dismayed at the transmission rate in 2013.

Given failures like this, critics have then urged the Comelec to blacklist Smartmatic from providing election-related services. They claim that Smartmatic's PCOS machines can be easily rigged. (READ: Poll watchdog pushes for 'laptop count' to replace PCOS)

Still, Smartmatic won another major deal that allows it to lease 93,000 vote-counting machines to the Comelec for May 2016. – Rappler.com

*$1 = P47.09

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate approved on Thursday, November 26, the proposed P3-trillion ($63.66-billion) national budget for 2016.

Out of the 15 senators present during the 3rd and final reading of the proposed appropriation bill, 14 voted in favor of it. Only one senator, Aquilino Pimentel III, voted against the proposal.

The approved Senate budget bill now goes to the bicameral conference committee, where it will be reconciled with the version of the House of Representatives.

The House approved their version of the proposed budget on October 9, practically without touching the version that Malacañang submitted in July.

As in the House version, the Department of Education (DepEd) still received the largest allocation in the Senate bill – P 411.89 billion ($8.74 billion), which is a 28% or P90-billion jump from P321 billion ($6.81 billion) in 2015.

Senator Loren Legarda said the increase in the deparment's budget is aimed to support "the implementation of the senior high school curriculum under the K-12 program" next year.

As for the Department of National Defense (DND), Senate approved a P116.2-billion ($2.47-billion) budget for the department. This allocation is higher than the P115.8-billion ($2.46-billion) budget approved by the House of Representatives for the defense department.

The Senate version of the DND budget includes an additional P250 million ($5.31 million) for its quick response funds (QRF), and P150 million ($3.18 million) allocation for the Philippine Army to enhance the army’s intelligence funds and fund new machinery, equipment, and construction of buildings and other structures.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said that lawmakers from both houses of Congress will devote their time next week for the bicameral conference committee meetings on the 2016 budget.

He also expressed confidence that the budget will be signed by President Benigno Aquino III before the year ends.
 
“We expect to submit the budget to the President by December 14. That's our target date so that the President will have a week to 10 days to review the budget and see whether he will exercise his line-item veto as he would traditionally,” Drilon said.

The proposed 2016 budget represents a 15.2% increase from this years's budget of P2.6 billion ($55.19 million). It is also the first time the proposed national budget reached the trillion-peso mark. – Rappler.com

$1=P47.11

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia on Thursday, November 26, pledged broad retaliatory measures against Turkey's economy in revenge for the downing of its warplane, as recriminations between Moscow and Ankara reached fever pitch.

While Moscow conspicuously ruled out any military retaliation against NATO member Turkey, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he had given ministers 2 days to work out "a system of response measures" in the economic and humanitarian spheres. 

He said the broad punitive steps for what he termed "this act of aggression" could include halting joint economic projects, restricting financial and trade transactions and changing customs duties.

Measures could also target the transport and tourism sector after Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier backed a warning to citizens not to travel to Turkey, where nearly 3.3 million Russians went on holiday last year.

Russia also attacked Turkey's agricultural sector, tightening checks on food imports over alleged safety standard violations.  

The move could have a major impact on the economy of Turkey, which over the past 10 months has exported agricultural produce and food worth just over $1 billion (940 million euros) to Russia.

In another move likely to infuriate Turkey, lawmakers from the Kremlin-friendly A Just Russia party introduced a bill calling for a maximum punishment of five years in jail for those who deny the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 was a genocide.

Turkey has always denied the killings were a premeditated attempt by the Ottoman Empire to wipe out the Armenians.

'Wider geopolitical conflict'

Meanwhile, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traded barbs, with the Kremlin strongman demanding an apology for Tuesday's downing that led to the death of one of two pilots and a soldier who took part in a failed rescue operation -- Russia's first combat losses since the start of its Syria campaign.

Erdogan in turn dismissed Moscow's claims he was propping up the Islamic State and accused the Kremlin strongman of slander.

The downing raised fears it could fuel a wider geopolitical conflict and highlighted the difficulty of forging consensus on the fate of Syria as Putin prepares to host French President Francois Hollande on Thursday.

The shooting down of the aircraft is thought to be the first downing of a Russian plane by a NATO member since 1952 when US pilots shot down a Soviet plane near Vladivostok during the Korean War.

"We still have not heard any articulate apologies from Turkey's highest political level nor any proposals to compensate for the harm and damage nor promises to punish criminals responsible for their crimes," Putin said.

"We believe treacherous stabs in the back from those who we considered partners and allies in the anti-terror fight to be absolutely inexplicable," said Putin, who also accused Turkey of buttressing the ISIS jihadists financially and militarily.

'Shame on you'

In Ankara, Erdogan insisted his country did not buy any oil from the Islamic State group, apparently shaming the Russian strongman without referring to him by name.

"They claim Turkey is buying oil from Daesh," Erdogan said, using another name for ISIS. 

"Shame on you. Those who claim we buy oil from Daesh are obliged to prove it. If not, you are a slanderer."

The Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded to calls for an apology by saying: "We don't need to apologize on an occasion that we are right."

Turkey insists its forces repeatedly warned the Russian jet on Tuesday, an assertion backed up by the United States.

Some observers believe Ankara shot down the jet out of anger over Moscow's strikes against ethnic Turkmen in Syria, a minority it views as an ally in its struggle against Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Moscow claims the plane never crossed over the border from Syria, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has branded the incident a "planned provocation."

Turkey's military said it did not know the warplane was Russian and that it was ready for "all kinds of cooperation" in an apparent bid to defuse tensions.

The raging tensions have threatened to derail Hollande's marathon effort to try to cobble together a broad anti-ISIS coalition that would include global and regional players.

After jihadists killed 130 people in Paris this month in attacks claimed by the IS group, the French leader travelled to Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama and then met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris.

Few expect the Kremlin talks to produce a breakthrough, however.

Experts say it is hard to imagine Russia and Turkey in the same anti-ISIS coalition given their stark differences on the Syrian conflict and the new tensions over the Russian jet. – by Anna Smolchenko and Fulya Ozerkan in Ankara, AFP/Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea – The two Koreas agreed Thursday, November 26, to hold a rare high-level dialogue next month, in line with an accord struck in August aimed at easing cross-border tensions, the Unification Ministry in Seoul announced.

A ministry official said the two sides would meet at the deputy minister level on December 11 in the Kaesong joint industrial zone, just inside North Korea.

The agenda would include "pending issues related to the improvement of ties", the official said without elaborating.

Agreement on the dialogue was reached at working-level talks held Thursday in the border truce village of Panmunjom.

Although any dialogue between the two Koreas is generally welcomed as a step in the right direction, precedent suggests it is still too early to hope for any significant breakthrough.

A similar effort back in June 2013 saw both sides agree to hold what would have been the first high-level dialogue for six years – only for Pyongyang to cancel a day before the talks were scheduled to begin.

In the end, it was a matter of protocol – the North felt insulted by the South's nomination of a vice minister as its chief delegate – that smothered the initiative before it had even drawn breath.

Likely topics for the eventual agenda in Kaesong include South Korea's desire for regular reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, which cemented the division of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea, meanwhile, will want to discuss the resumption of visits by South Korean tour groups to its scenic Mount Kumgang resort.

The tours, a source of badly needed hard currency for the cash-strapped North, were suspended by the South in 2008 after a female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard.

Thursday's meeting in Panmunjom marked the first inter-governmental interaction since August when the two sides sat down to defuse a crisis that had pushed them to the brink of an armed conflict.

That meeting ended with a joint agreement that included the commitment to resume high-level talks. – Rappler.com

KANO, Nigeria – A suicide bomber on Friday, November 27, blew himself up among crowds at a Shia Muslim procession outside the north Nigerian city of Kano, in the latest violence to hit the troubled region.

The attack happened in the village of Dakasoye, some 20 kilometers south of the city, during a march by followers of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.

The group, led by Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, said on its website the blast happened at 2 pm and that "scores" had been killed.

But there was no official indication of casualties and one of the organisers told AFP, "It's a huge crowd so it's too early to give a precise figure of casualties."

"We now have the other suspect in custody."

The organizer, who asked to remain anonymous, said the bomber ran into the crowd before he could be spotted and detonated his explosives.

"He was dressed in black like everyone else. His accomplice was initially arrested and confessed they were sent by Boko Haram," he added.

"They were part of the young men abducted by Boko Haram in [the Borno state town of] Mubi last year and taken to Sambisa Forest where they were given some military training.

"They were sent to Kano 11 days ago and kept in a house specifically for this attack."

The bomber detonated his explosives after realizing his accomplice had been arrested, the organizer added.

6-year insurgency

Boko Haram, the radical Sunni jihadists who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, has previously been blamed for attacks on Shia Muslims in the region.

Last November, at least 15 people were killed and some 50 others injured in a suicide bombing targeting the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura in the city of Potiskum, in Yobe state.

Ashura marks the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

In April, a suicide bomber targeted a group of Shiite Muslims outside an open-air mosque, also in Potiskum. He killed himself and wounded three worshippers.

Boko Haram, whose 6-year insurgency has left at least 17,000 dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless, condemns Shias as heretics who should be killed. (READ: UN fears stigmatization of rescued Boko Haram abductees)

The followers were on a "symbolic trek" from Kano to Zaria, in neighbouring Kaduna state, where Zakzaky is based, to mark the 40th day of Ashura.

Their arrival on December 3 is designed to coincide with the gathering of pilgrims at Hussein's tomb in the Iraqi city of Karbala.

Friday's attack came after a female bomber killed 8 in the northeastern city of Maiduguri last Sunday and 4 teenage girls blew themselves up in northern Cameroon on Saturday, killing 5.

Boko Haram has increasingly used suicide bombers against "soft" civilian targets since the start of a military offensive earlier this year that has pushed them out of controlled territory.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has given his military commanders until next month to end the conflict but there are fears suicide and bomb attacks may persist.

Senior military, security, and intelligence figures on Thursday questioned the deadline and said it was "unrealistic" because of the wave of bombings in the region.– Rappler.com

NAIROBI, Kenya – A top Burundian government official narrowly survived an assassination attempt in the capital Bujumbura on Friday, November 27, police said, with gunmen killing his bodyguard as they opened fire on his convoy.

A presidential advisor and a top member of the ruling CNDD-FDD party, Zenon Ndaruvukanye is one of the most influential figures in the government of the troubled central African nation.

Senior police official said two "criminals" were arrested and a large haul of weapons seized following the attack in Bujumbura, including 27 AK-47 rifles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and a mortar.

Burundi descended into violence in April after President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a now successful bid for a 3rd consecutive term in office, despite concerns over the legality of such a move. At least 240 people have been killed and more than 200,000 have fled the country since.

Presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho confirmed an assassination attempt on a "political figure."

In August, top general Adolphe Nshimirimana – widely seen as the country's de-facto internal security chief – was killed in a rocket attack. In September, army chief Prime Niyongabo escaped an ambush. 

Armed clashes between gunmen and security forces are a near daily event. On Thursday, a civilian and a policeman were killed in a grenade attack, while at least 6 people were killed Tuesday and Wednesday in separate clashes across the capital.– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – To avoid worsening the expected heavy traffic in Metro Manila during the holidays, several malls will be extending their operating hours starting next month.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it signed a manifesto of support with 15 mall operators to adjust their operating hours from 10 am to 11 pm, starting December 1, 2015 until January 3, 2016.

“This has been a yearly practice for us to sign this agreement in order to ease vehicular and pedestrian traffic during the holiday season,” MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos said.

Mall owners will also be coordinating with the MMDA during special events, such as concerts, promotions, and sales.

This will allow the agency to adjust traffic management around the mall areas, Carlos said. –Rappler.com

LOS ANGELES, USA (2nd UPDATE) – At least 3 were killed and 11 injured on Friday, November 27, when a shootout erupted between police and a gunman at a Planned Parenthood family planning center in the US state of Colorado. 

Four police officers have been injured in the standoff inside the facility in Colorado Springs, police spokeswoman Catherine Buckley said.

The gunman eventually surrndered on Friday, with Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers saying the "situation has been resolved." "There's no continuing peril to the citizens of Colorado Springs but there's a huge crime scene that has to be processed," he added. 

The mayor would later tell reporters that at least 2 civilians and one police officer died after the standoff. "I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," said Suthers.

Buckley said that there appeared to be only "one active known shooter... but we always train for the possibility of additional people."

"The officers inside the building have encountered the individual and they're working on that at this time," she said, describing an "exchange of fire."

Abortion is one of the services provided for women by Planned Parenthood and the association has become an lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.

News footage from the snowy scene showed a sheriff's department SWAT team with an armored vehicle arriving at what an officer told AFP was an ongoing situation.

Buckley said the shooter is armed with some kind of "long weapon" with a shoulder stock such as a rifle and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire.

Quan Hoang, the owner of a nearby nail salon, told CNN that when he heard the gunfire break out he feared a robbery was under way at a bank in the shopping area.

Police told him and his customers to take shelter in the back of his store and they were still there more than two hours later as the crisis continued.

"And we see cops, SWAT, the bomb squad, a whole bunch of people just trying to take cover around the Planned Parenthood area," he said by telephone.

"An officer came back in and said, 'Is everyone safe?' We asked him questions and he said they've barricaded him inside the Planned Parenthood and he was shooting out from the windows."

A White House official said that President Barack Obama had been notified of the incident by his Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco.

Earlier, Colorado Springs police had warned residents to steer clear of the area, tweeting: "Responding to call of active shooter... the area is NOT secure."

"A police operation is still under way," a police source told AFP, adding that "multiple" people had been shot.

Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said that she was hoping for a peaceful resolution.

"At this time, our concern is for the safety of our patients, staff and law enforcement," Cowart said, according to NBC News. – Rappler.com

CHICAGO, USA – Thousands of protesters blocked traffic and barred shoppers from entering stores during the Black Friday sales extravaganza to demand justice for a black teen killed by a Chicago police officer.

Tensions flared in this Midwestern city after officials released a dashcam video on Tuesday showing officer Jason Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald 16 times after the teenager walked away from him in October 2014.

The graphic video is the latest in a string of police shootings caught on camera that have sparked mass – and sometimes violent – protests and engulfed the United States in a debate over racism and the use of deadly force by police.

"All they think we're going to do is grow up to be thugs," Jared Steverson, 27, shouted at a black police officer who stood guard outside a shop on the city's upscale "Magnificent Mile" shopping strip.

"It wasn't about him fearing for his life, it was him not wanting to see that boy live."

The black officer stood stone-faced and avoided Steverson's gaze as he stood inches (centimeters) away, swearing and waving his hands as he accused the officer of guarding the wrong neighborhood and betraying his race.

"When you go home and put on clothes like me, you're black and they're going to pull you over because you're just like me," Steverson shouted.

He stepped away, and wiped tears from his eyes.

"I've lost too many little brothers," he told AFP, then turned back to the police and said "I'm not a thug. I don't sell drugs. I went to college. You all ain't got to treat us like dogs, man."

'No one cares, clearly'

Prosecutors and city officials have come under fire for waiting until a judge ordered the release of the video to charge Van Dyke with murder.

Several protesters held signs demanding the resignation of Chicago's embattled police chief and chanted "16 shots 13 months" to voice anger that it took so long to charge Van Dyke when there was clear evidence he was never threatened by McDonald.

Police had initially said that McDonald, who was high on PCP, lunged at Van Dyke while brandishing a knife.

Protesters say the shooting illustrates deeper injustices both in Chicago and nationwide.

Many liken McDonald's case to that of Michael Brown, the black teenager shot dead by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri last year.

His death triggered 15 months of sometimes violent demonstrations over perceived police brutality against black men.

Samantha Vazquez, 18, joined those locking their arms in front of stores to block shoppers from the high-end shops on Michigan Avenue.

She wanted to stand up for McDonald because she feels like it could have been her or one of her friends shot 16 times and left to bleed out alone on the pavement.

"We're going to hold down these doors so nobody can buy anything, so nobody makes money until people understand how bad this is, how this is affecting Chicago," Vazquez told AFP as she stood outside Cole Haan.

"No one cares, clearly, they're just walking by shopping. And no one cares that somebody's dead, that other kids have been shot and nobody's doing anything."

Okunola Jeyifous and his wife Megan brought their nine-month-old twins to the demonstration, braving freezing rain.

Jeyifous, 41, is a research scientist at the University of Chicago. He said he feels that the color of his skin means he cannot trust the police. And he worries that his children could end up dying on the street one day.

"This is an important moment," he told Agence France-Presse.

"I want them to live in a world and live in a society that values them and in which they feel they have equal protection under the law." – Mira Oberman, AFP/Rappler.com

PARIS, France – Billions of dollars in environmental aid were announced Friday, November 27, as cities worldwide prepared for marches to pressure leaders heading for Paris to negotiate a historic pact to tame global warming.

In Ottawa, the Canadian government announced climate funding of 2.65 billion Canadian dollars ($1.98 billion. 1.87 billion euros) over the next five years, while the 53-nation Commonwealth bloc agreed to set up a billion-dollar "Green Finance Facility" for environmental projects.

French President Francois Hollande, addressing the Commonwealth summit in Malta as head of the climate conference's host nation, called for humanity to unite in the fight against global warming.

"Man is the worst enemy of man. We can see it with terrorism," said Hollande, who spoke after leading ceremonies in Paris to mourn the victims of the November 13 terror attacks in the French capital.

"But we can say the same when it comes to climate. Human beings are destroying nature, damaging the environment. It is therefore for human beings to face up to their responsibilities for the good of future generations."

Looking to the UN talks opening in Paris on Monday, he called for "a binding agreement, a universal agreement, one that is ambitious."

But he also spoke of fears that a handful countries – which he did not name – may stymie consensus if they felt the deal lacked guarantees.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who attended the meeting in the Maltese capital Valletta, said he was encouraged "by such a strong commitment" by Commonwealth leaders.

"This is virtually the last political milestone before we meet in Paris," he noted.

Earlier Friday, tens of thousands marched in Melbourne, with protesters young and old echoing the call for a phase-out of fossil fuels blamed for climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.

Many waved placards reading: "There is no Planet B" and "Stop messing with my future".

NGO organizers in Paris said they expected hundreds of thousands to take to the streets Saturday in Manila, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Edinburgh, with similar events set for Sunday in Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, New York and Mexico City.

Under heightened security two weeks after France's worst terror attack, around some 150 heads of state and government will on Monday launch a highly-anticipated UN conference tasked with inking a post-2020 195-nation climate rescue pact.

The negotiations themselves, conducted by rank-and-file bureaucrats, have been brought forward to Sunday.

In Paris, French authorities cancelled two rallies following the coordinated onslaught by gunmen and suicide bombers which killed 130 people at restaurant terraces, a concert hall and the national stadium on November 13.

French authorities placed 24 climate activists under house arrest using state of emergency powers declared after the Paris attacks.

The city's main climate rally was to have started on Sunday from a square very near the scene of some of the violence, followed by another on December 12 at Le Bourget airport, where the conference is taking place. The talks are due to wrap up on December 11.

In the French capital, still under a state of emergency, activists now plan to create a two-kilometer (1.2-mile) human chain along the original march route on Sunday.

They will break the chain as they pass the Bataclan concert hall, where the worst violence claimed 90 lives, as a mark of respect to the victims.

History in the making

Activists also plan to leave scores of shoes on Place de la Republique square to symbolize the thousands left frustrated in their plans to march.

One pair of shoes will be placed on behalf of Pope Francis, inscribed with his name and the name of the Papal encyclical he issued earlier this on the threat of global warming.

On Monday, Le Bourget will host the largest climate gathering of heads and state and government ever.

Leaders including Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin are meant to inject a sense of mission into the conference tasked with crafting the first truly universal climate pact.

The goal is to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change.

This week, the UN's weather body said the average global temperature for the year 2015 is set to touch the halfway mark at 1 C.

And analysts say voluntary carbon-curbing pledges submitted by nations to bolster the Paris pact, even if fully adhered to, put Earth on track for warming of 3 C.

A report by the Asian Development Bank Friday warned that climate disasters may double in the next two decades unless carbon dioxide emissions are cut.

The Paris conference will gather some 40,000 people, including 10,000 delegates from 195 countries, plus journalists, observers, scientists, exhibitors and visitors.

About 2,800 police and soldiers will secure the conference site, and 6,300 others will deploy in Paris.

Obama has urged world leaders not to let a recent string of extremist attacks around the world deter them from coming to Paris, where questions of world security are likely to intermingle with climate on the conference agenda. – Marlowe Hood, Mariëtte Le Roux, AFP/Rappler.com