BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – There is no 2016 budget for the newly-created Negros Island Region (NIR).

Negros Occidental Planning and Development officer Ma Lina Sanogal said that under the proposed 2016 budget, the budget of the two provinces comprising the NIR remains with the regions where they previously belonged to.

The NIR was created through Executive Order (EO) 183, signed by President Benigno Aquino III on May 29. The order separated Negros Occidental from Western Visayas (Region VI), and Negros Oriental from Central Visayas (Region VII).

Sanogal said the budget of the two provinces is still included in their previous regions because there was no time to go over the budget again with all the line agencies.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has noted that line agencies can later on submit a budget proposal includion in next year’s supplemental budget.

Sanogal added that the DBM released a draft of the budget circular, stating that line agencies can utilize their savings for capital outlay expense and relocation allowance for its personnel.

The draft budget circular is expected to be signed next month, at the Technical Working Group meeting.

Negros Oriental Vice Governor Edward Mark Macias said it’s not a problem if there’s no budget for the NIR next year.

He added that the EO was signed “late,” which was why it was not included in the proposed 2016 General Appropriations Act.

“At first, we were pushing to include Negros Island Region in the budget through amendments but we did not make it,” the vice governor said.

“Anyway, it is only the first year. There is still next year. By then, we can have the budget already,” he added.

He said that 2016 will be the first year of operation of the new region.– Rappler.com

SYDNEY, Australia – Piercing screaming and shouts of "I'm going to kill you" prompted Australian police to rush to a Sydney home at 2am, only to find an embarrassed man and a large spider.

New South Wales's police said officers raced to the apartment in the harbourside suburb of Wollstonecraft last Saturday after reports of a violent domestic dispute between a man and a woman.

Neighbours reported a woman screaming hysterically, a man yelling "I'm going to kill you, you're dead! Die, Die" and sounds of furniture being tossed around.

"Numerous police cars responded to the address and began banging on the door," Harbourside Local Area Command said on their Facebook page.

A man aged in his 30s, out of breath and flushed, came to the door and was immediately asked where his wife or girlfriend was.

"Umm, I don't have one," he answered.

When police explained they had reports of a domestic and a woman screaming, he replied: "I don't know what you're talking about, I live alone".

Pressed about the threats to kill, the man became sheepish and even apologetic as it emerged what had caused the ruckus.

"It was a spider, a really big one!!" he said, admitting he was chasing the large arachnid around his apartment with a can of insect spray.

Asked about the woman screaming, he replied: "Yeah, sorry, that was me, I really hate spiders."

Authorities were not able to say what kind of spider was involved, beyond "a big one" and that it had met its end.

"I hate spiders with an absolute passion," said Inspector Dean Lindley who attended the scene.

"I don't get close enough to check out what kind of spider it is mate," he told 2UE radio on Friday.

Lindley said the apartment was "foggy" with pest spray when officers entered and it was "lucky he wasn't smoking as the whole unit would have gone up".

Australia is home to a startling number of the world's deadliest creatures, including snakes, spiders, jellyfish and octopuses.

Funnel-web spiders are particularly feared because their bite can be fatal, although there have been no deaths since an anti-venom was developed in the 1980s.– Rappler.com

'Spider web' image courtesy Shutterstock

MANILA, Philippines – The fighter jets have landed.

Two of a squadron of FA-50 Lead-In Fighter Trainers (LIFT) that the Philippines acquired from South Korea arrived Saturday morning, November 28, at the former US air base in Clark, Pampanga. 

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) flew S-211 trainer jets in a diamond formation to meet the FA-50s over Tarlac. A Water Cannon Salute – a ceremony where firefighting vehicles spray water on newly arrived aircrafts – was given to the jets while they were taxiing. Guests and the media witnessed the show.

The arrival of the fighter jets marks the return of the Philippine Air Force to the supersonic age. 

The jets were flown to the Philippines by South Korean pilots and will only be formally turned over to the Philippine Air Force after a series of acceptance flights. Another ceremony is expected.

"All air without force" had been a long-running joke after the Air Force retired the last of its US-designed fighters in 2005. 

Ten more FA-50s will arrive between 2016 and 2017 to complete the squadron that cost the government P18.9 billion ($401.6 million).

It is one of two big-ticket projects, along with the P18-billion frigates project, funded from the P85-billion ($1.806 billion) initial fund provided by the administration of President Benigno Aquino III under the Revised Modernization Program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The military modernization comes as the country faces the aggressiveness of China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), where it has built artificial islands. (READ: PH to tribunal: China island building destroys seabed)

Strictly speaking, the FA-50 is a lead-in fighter trainer aircraft but it is also called a fighter jet because of its minimum fighter capabilities. The FA-50 design is derived largely from the US' F-16. This means it won't be a problem if the Philippines, in the future, gets the money to upgrade to the more expensive designs.

The KAI website describes the FA-50 as a "light combat derivative of the T-50 supersonic advanced jet trainer."

It can carry 4.5 tons of weapons, including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, machine guns, and precision guided bombers, among others. It is also equipped with Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS), Radar Warning Receiver (RWR), and the Counter Measure Dispenser System (CMDS).

The country used to have one of the most capable air forces in the region, and was the first to have fighter jets. The Philippine Air Force became famous in 1962 when  its fighter jets – upon the request of the United Nations – helped secure the airspace of Congo, and deal with secessionists.

In 1963, the Air Force also sent its men to Bali, Indonesia, after the eruption of Mount Agung affected thousands.

The country hosted a US air base in Clark, Pampanga, until the Senate voted to evict the US bases in 1991. The Philippine Air Force has since deteriorated. – with reports from Carmela Fonbuena/Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – What do Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have at stake in the Philippines' historic arbitration case against China over the South China Sea? 

A leading maritime law expert explained that more countries sent observers to the second round of hearings at The Hague because the tribunal's ruling will have implications beyond the Philippines, especially on other claimant countries. 

Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said a ruling striking down China's 9-dash line will affect how other claimants deal with Beijing. 

“If that claim is granted, we can say that the Philippines will have achieved victory even if the remaining claims are not. Why? Because the 9-dash line is ultimately the source of all these problems. If the tribunal declares it to be illegitimate, then China's negotiating position and arguments in dealing not only with us, but with its neighbors will be seriously undermined,” Batongbacal told Rappler. 

A 48-member Philippine delegation is at The Hague to argue the merits of Manila's claims after the tribunal ruled in October that it has the power to decide the case. The hearings last from November 24 to 30, with a final ruling expected in mid-2016. 

Batongbacal said that a ruling declaring the 9-dash line invalid under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will strengthen the negotiating position of the Philippines and other claimant countries.    

He cited Vietnam, which figured in a standoff with China last year after Beijing sent an oil rig about 120 nautical miles off its coast, in what Hanoi considers its exclusive economic zone. It led to the worst breakdown in Sino-Vietnamese ties since a brief border war in 1979. 

“It's on the same basis, the 9-dash line. In those respects, the situation of the parties are similar. Vietnam would be able to use the findings of the tribunal as well in its dealings with China. In that way, Vietnam's hand will be stronger as well,” Batongbacal said. 

China uses the 9-dash line to claim practically the entire South China Sea. The Philippines calls the parts it claims as the West Philippine Sea. 

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also have claims to the strategic waterway, believed to sit atop vast deposits of oil and gas. 

Indonesia also recently asked China to clarify its claims over the sea, warning that it could take Beijing to court over the dispute. Indonesian President Joko Widodo called for a de-escalation of the dispute in a regional summit in Malaysia over the weekend. 

“Indonesia actually is interesting because it is not a claimant but it has been experiencing very similar activities, acts of assertion from China with respect to fishing in waters close to the Natuna islands. If that happens again, Indonesia can actually bring China to court,” Batongbacal said. 

The professor said the same thing goes for Malaysia, which has been experiencing interference from China in its oil and gas activities off Borneo. 

As for new observers Australia and Singapore, their interests lie in freedom of navigation in a sea where $5 trillion in shipping trade passes through each year. 

“All the ships that go to Australia between the Asian mainland, particularly China, have to pass through the South China Sea. On the other hand, Singapore, being a port state, it's entirely dependent on shipping and that passes through the sea. They do have an important interest in keeping the sea stable, safe for commercial shipping,” Batongbacal said. 

'Environment claims have chance of winning'

Batongbacal laid out different scenarios for the final ruling called the arbitral award. 

He said the Philippines can lose all 15 of its claims but the scenario is unlikely as some arguments have “a very good chance” of being granted. 

These include the claim that China's fishing and reclamation activities violated UNCLOS provisions to protect the marine environment. Another is the claim that Chinese law enforcement vessels' activities against Philippine ships endanger safety and life at sea. 

“Those obligations exist regardless of where you are at sea: whether you're at territorial sea, the high seas, those safety obligations apply. Those kinds of claims stand a very good chance of being granted,” he said. 

The second scenario is to have a mixed ruling, where some claims are granted while others are not. 

The third possibility is for the Philippines to win all its claims, with the tribunal invalidating the 9-dash line and Chinese activities. 

“Certain activities will clearly be defined to be illegal and illegitimate, therefore, China has to stop them.” 

'South China Sea the ultimate loser' 

World leaders including US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced support for arbitration as a means of peacefully settling the dispute. Manila is banking on international opinion to pressure Beijing to comply with a ruling unfavorable to China. 

Yet Batongbacal said these statements of support will have no immediate impact on China. 

“China has never bowed to international pressure. All you need to do is look at Tibet. Look at all the human rights issues being raised against China, the dissidents. What international pressure does however introduce is it's like sowing winds of change in China. That decision-makers and policymakers become aware that they need to be more careful in their policies and activities towards the region,” he said.  

“That will cause them to take different tracks on their strategies, on their dealings, how they deal with these other countries, and that is where the change will come.”

With China vowing to defy a ruling, Batongbacal said the Philippines will likely turn to its treaty ally, the United States, and other members of the international community to balance Beijing's military weight. 

Washington began sending warships and planes near China's artificial islands in October to challenge Beijing's claim that these features generate maritime rights. 

In the long-term, Batongbacal foresees increased military presence in the region as the US continues its freedom of navigation patrols, and as the claimant countries try to engage in their own resource exploration and exploitation activities.  

“Ultimately, the loser will actually be the South China Sea – not even the countries but the sea itself. We're going to see those resources subject to the so-called tragedy of the commons because every other country will be racing to try to exploit its resources before the other one does.” – Rappler.com 

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he is ready to accept any Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision on the petition essentially seeking to disqualify him from the presidential race.

Duterte made the statement on Friday, November 27, when asked about the petition filed by broadcaster Ruben Castor before the Comelec to declare as null and void the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Martin Diño, who was initially PDP-Laban's presidential candidate.

The Davao mayor filed his COC for president on Friday, as a substitute for Diño who had withdrawn his candidacy. (READ: FAST FACTS: Candidate substitutions in past elections)

"That is for the Comelec  to decide," the local official told a gathering of friends on Friday, in response to the disqualification case which he learned about then.

"I'm telling the Comelec now, 'Go ahead, decide the way you want it, as you see it legally. Do not worry about me. I can accept any decision from you,'" he said.

He added: "To you guys, to the Republic of the Philippines, that's no big deal. I  do not die today if I don't become a president."

Duterte said, "I would be happy if things will be done legally."

Diño, initially the presidential bet of political party PDP-Laban, later withdrew his COC for president to make way for his substitute – Duterte, who filed his COC for president on Friday.

In his petition, Castor said Duterte “should not substitute for Martin Diño whose COC is void, legally inexistent, and without legal effect; hence, substitution shall likewise be void.”

Castor’s claim is based on an error in Diño’s COC. (READ: EXPLAINER: Can Duterte run for president?) – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The fate of the world may just be decided at a conference in Paris that starts next week, November 30.

This United Nations climate change conference, known as the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), hopes to come up with the world's action plan to combat global warming.

But the road to this Paris summit began 3 decades ago at the world's first major climate change conference in 1979. Since then, there have been a series of conferences organized by the UN.

How did these conferences shape global climate action and what makes the upcoming meeting so important?

Retrace the history of climate summits through this infographic (hover over the red circles to read the milestones during each year):

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– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – It's been a busy month for the Asia-Pacific as annual summits, the resumption of arbitration hearings at The Hague, and US freedom of navigation patrols put the South China Sea on top of the regional agenda. 

What was initially a dispute between China, and the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries is increasingly becoming global as the US, Japan, and even India voiced concern about China's massive land reclamation. Washington also sent warships and planes to challenge China's claims to maritime rights based on artificial islands. 

Leading Filipino maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal told Rappler that the involvement of the US and Japan pushes the Philippines' historic arbitration case to the sidelines in what is now becoming a proxy war among superpowers. 

“We're not able to influence anymore the external powers in how they deal with each other. It's just them. They are the ones accusing each other of provocations while we are still in The Hague….The South China Sea and the region are becoming the arena for competition between these great powers,” he said. 

What does this rivalry mean for the rest of the region? Rappler sits down with Batongbacal to link the different events with the wider geopolitical picture. The head of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea expects greater military activity, and a heightened contest for resources in the region. 

Here is our wide-ranging interview. 

You've said that China's reclamation influenced the tribunal to decide to hear the case. How does the island-building impact on the arbitration case? 

Clearly, the reclamation has brought the case into focus for the tribunal because China's actions really challenge international law. Can you imagine, while a case is pending, activities are undertaken which directly contradict the norms of international law with respect to how you're supposed to take care of the marine environment, and how states are supposed to conduct themselves if there is a dispute pending? 

So if China continues all of these actions, naturally, those actions would bring to question the entire system of international law. I would think the tribunal would have been, at the very least, motivated to act on the case. They themselves as arbitrators would also be concerned about their own reputation, their own institution being called into question by these kinds of activities. 

In the recent APEC and ASEAN summits, more world leaders and countries supported arbitration while expressing concern about China's reclamation. What impact does this have on Beijing? 

Let's put it this way. China has never bowed to international pressure. All you need to do is look at Tibet. Look at all the human rights issues being raised against China, the dissidents. So in that sense, I don't think we can expect compliance based on international pressure.

What it does however introduce is it's like sowing winds of change in China. That people there become more aware, especially decision-makers and policymakers, that they need to be more careful in their policies and activities towards the region. That will cause them to take different tracks on their strategies, on their dealings with these other countries, and that is where the change will come from. 

Now, any change that comes through that process is going to take a lot longer, again as you've seen with Tibet, it's been decades and we've not seen any major change really. But with respect to say the economy, the openness of their economy, we've seen some interesting changes. I don't expect it to make a significant impact at this point. Any effect it might have would be more long-term.

The Philippines and Vietnam signed a strategic partnership on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Manila. How does this alliance affect the way they handle the dispute? 

For the Philippines, it is important for it to have a partner so it does not stand alone in the disputes. China would not want these two countries to become full-blown allies, especially from a military standpoint. In the sense that it gives the Philippines a little more leverage against future Chinese assertions, it's good.

For Vietnam, it's very important, and it's even more leverage for their part because Vietnam has been quite adept at using all of the means available in bringing them to bear on the dispute. So everything from diplomatic to legal, they've been able to employ. 

Now with the arbitration case, the award on jurisdiction, that's an additional legal tool they have. A strategic partnership with the Philippines will add an element of military coordination, which is important because the Philippines is a treaty ally of the US. Therefore, there is a linkage formed, and that's something China will definitely be very concerned about. So it really helps both of them.

China says it will continue its reclamation activities while the US plans to pursue its freedom of navigation patrols. How do you see this playing out? Won't this escalate tensions in the region? 

Yes, it does chiefly because China responds to the US and not to anyone else. It's the US and Japan that make them react. Where is this all going? Well, the reclaimed islands will stay there. They're not going to pack up and leave. From those islands, China will begin to extend the resource extraction and exploitation activities that they're already undertaking. 

Because of the military potential of those islands, the US and its allies will probably ensure that they will always have more military assets within the vicinity. That includes freedom of navigation patrols. So you will see the South China Sea becoming more congested in terms of these activities. So in addition to all the shipping that's projected to increase over the next few years, you will also have increased military presence. 

If the Philippines loses its case, I think that then it will take a geopolitical turn towards fully exploiting the US alliance. A return of the US military bases is not out of the question at this point – a full return, not just under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. 

If it wins, the fact that China will not comply with the judgment, China will probably increase or continue its current course of increasing its exploitation uses of the South China Sea. That will cause the countries to again turn to the US as well as other allies – Japan, EU, and Russia – to try to keep balancing the military weight of China. 

In terms of the resource activities, that's where we'll probably see some trouble brewing because the only response possible is for the other countries to also increase their resource exploration, exploitation activities; otherwise all of that will be siphoned away by the massive activities of China. We're still looking at the possibility of greater friction, greater potential disputes between different countries, especially in terms of resources.

Ultimately, the loser will actually be the South China Sea – not even the countries but the sea itself. We're going to see those resources subject to the so-called tragedy of the commons because every other country will be racing to try to exploit its resources before the other one does. 

You've said the Philippines is losing control of the dispute to the US and Japan. What do you mean by that? 

Already we're seeing that events concerning the South China Sea are being influenced not by us directly but rather by the US and Japan and China. They're all reacting to each other, and even the arbitration case is becoming a side issue. 

If you look at the week during the time the award came out, and you notice what was being reported, the award was there but they were also talking about the US freedom of navigation patrols. Subsequent to that, they're talking about how China is reacting to the patrols. 

So it's like the arbitration case is now like on the sidelines, like a bystander, while these things are happening. We're not able to influence anymore the external powers in how they deal with each other. It's just them. They're the ones talking about what to do, what not to do. They are the ones accusing each other of provocations while we are still in The Hague. 

So it is now becoming a contest between superpowers? 

Yes, and it's actually a concern shared by the rest of the region. Our discussion with academics elsewhere indicate that they're also thinking along those lines. 

The South China Sea and the region are becoming the arena for competition between these great powers. That is the biggest concern of Indonesia, Malaysia, for example. They do not want that to happen. Vietnam does not want to see the South China Sea becoming a Chinese lake, neither does the Philippines or say Malaysia, Indonesia. 

But more important, they do not want this to become a battleground between external powers because that's what happened in World War II. Ultimately, who suffered? The inhabitants. That's what they don't want to happen. That's why they are very concerned.

How then does the region avoid that? 

That's where ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and its centrality come in. Theoretically, what should happen is it should be the countries that are resident in the region that determine the state of relations between them, as well as the state of relations between the external powers that are involved or have interest in the region.  

After all, it's their area. It's their place. They should be the ones who can tell what happens and does not happen in the region. Obviously that's not what's going on right now. Rather, it's the external powers dictating the situation. – Rappler.com 

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – If Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will have his way, he will stop the labor policy on contractualization.

Taking the shoes of the workers, Duterte pointed out: "How can they sustain the needs of their family, fend for their children if you employ them for 3 months only? They do not have security which results to unrest and instability back home." (READ: Duterte files COC for president)

As it is now, companies and business establishments hire workers through an agency and employers do not have a direct hand in hiring workers, which means there is no employer-employee relationship that binds them. 

Labor contractualization is adopted in the United States and other developed countries with a stable economy "but for a country like Philippines, when the economy is still building, you don't practice this," said Duterte.

"It is difficult because the long term effect is [that] you destroy the work force. If you do that here, you destroy the economy," he added.

The Philippines has adopted the Herrera Law, which allows big companies to hire employees on a 6-month contractual basis.

Labor rights advocates have expressed their disapproval of the law because it does not provide the necessasry benefits to employees nor does it develop an employer-employee relationship since workers are hired through human resource agencies.

"In 6 months, the employee cannot develop his or her skills. It is not good because you don't hire them as permanent. But if they are hired, enhance their skills, make them more productive. Because they have the skills and you place them in a regular position, they enjoy benefits not just for themselves but also for their  family. The economy back home is stabilized," Duterte said.

He thumbed down the policy, and urged those who support it to make sure he loses in the presidential race.

"I will not run a country that way. If those who have money won't accept this, then you campaign against me. Make sure tatalunin ninyo ako (Make sure you will beat me). I will not go for it, It is not a policy. It is not good," Duterte said. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Saturday, November 28, said President Benigno Aquino III will witness the signing of a deal in Italy that will allow direct flights between Manila and Rome when he goes on an official visit to Italy next week.

In an interview over state-run dzRB, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said Aquino’s trip to Rome, Italy, includes the “expansion of the Air Services Agreement that will open direct commercial flights between Manila and Rome.”

“Further improvement on bilateral trade and investments between Manila and Rome is also expected, as the President will witness the signing of an Air Services Agreement, which is seen to benefit Filipino workers and investors coming from Italy,” Malacañang said in an earlier statement.

Philippine Airlines “last flew to Italy in 1994,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said. 

Now, Philippine and Italian airlines can resume direct flights to and from the Philippines and Italy, after the European Commission in June lifted its ban on Philippine carriers. 

Helping thousands of Filipinos

“This agreement will benefit some 170,000 Filipinos and their families who work and reside in Italy, among other overseas Filipino workers based in Europe, by affording them the option to take direct flights back home, help boost tourism, and encourage increased business travel between the two countries,” the DFA said. 

Aquino is flying to Europe along with members of his Cabinet on Sunday, November 29, for a trip that will bring him to France, Italy, and Vatican City.

In France, Aquino will attend the highly anticipated UN climate summit known as “COP 21,” or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 21st Conference of Parties. (READ: What's happening in Paris in December? 10 things to know)

Then, on December 1, Aquino will proceed to Rome before going to Vatican City. 

In Rome, he will hold bilateral talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella. 

In Vatican City on December 4, Aquino will meet with Pope Francis to again thank the pontiff for his Philippine trip in January of this year, and to update him on rehabilitation efforts for areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – When love dies between a couple, they should be allowed to end the marriage without their pockets having to suffer for it.

This was the sentiment of several female candidates in the 2016 elections who were invited to a forum held at the Dusit Thani Manila hotel in Makati City on Wednesday, November 25. 

Avoiding a lengthy debate when asked where they stand on the issue of divorce, Liberal Party (LP) vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo, Senate bets Risa Hontiveros, Lorna Kapunan, Princess Jacel Kiram, and Susan “Toots” Ople, and Iloilo 4th District Representative candidate Mitch Monfort-Bautista said the country’s existing grounds for annulment should be revisited instead.

Lawyers Robredo and Kapunan said that Article 36 of the Family Code is one existing remedy in the country that will get Filipinas out of abusive marriages. 

The provision allows annulment or when the marriage is declared void from the start and the couple may remarry on the grounds of “psychological incapacity.”

Divorce, meanwhile, is the legal dissolution of marriage focused on what happened during the marriage, which may include abandonment, violence, and non-performance of marital obligations. Divorce remains banned in the country, along with Vatican City. (READ: Divorce: Yes, we need to talk about it)

Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Robredo said her concern with Article 36 is that the requirement for the couple to undergo psychological tests is “not accessible to the more vulnerable women of our society." 

She shared that in Naga, a psychological test costs around P100,000.

“So ‘yung binubugbog nang binugbog ng asawa who wants out of the marriage already, titiisin na lang na kasal pa rin siya kasi wala naman siyang P100,000. Kahit libre pa 'yung abogado niya, wala siyang pambayad ng psychological test.” 

(So the battered wife who wants out of the marriage already will endure her husband’s beating because she doesn’t have P100,000. Even if her lawyer is pro-bono, she doesn’t have the money to pay for her psychological test.)

Kapunan, who is running for the Senate under the Poe-Escudero ticket, shared the same sentiments.

“Tanggalin na lang natin 'yung napakahirap na procedural requirement (Let’s remove the difficult procedural requirement): you need a lawyer, you need a psychologist. It is very expensive,” she said. 

‘Expensive, oppressive’ requirement

This is a suggestion that Ople agreed to, having annulled her own marriage in 1999. 

She recalled during the forum how difficult it was to pay for her and her then-husband’s psychological tests, and how tedious it was to have her legal documents reverted to her maiden name.  

“Now looking back, it’s so expensive, it’s so oppressive. So definitely, there has to be some reform in that aspect,” said Ople, a guest candidate under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and the Poe-Escudero tandem.

“When I had my marriage annulled, I felt liberated. It’s like reclaiming my sanity and I would want that for other women as well,” she added. 

For her part, UNA senatorial candidate Kiram said Muslim women are luckier in the Philippines because the Sharia law allows divorce. 

“In Islam, it’s accepted. It’s one way of protecting women mostly, because if the couple [already find it difficult to stay together for various legally acceptable reasons], then there’s no reason at all for the couple to stay together,” she said. 

If it walks like a duck… 

During the forum, Kapunan even sugested that Article 36, often referred to as the declaration of nullity of marriage, be called as divorce instead. 

"There is conventional wisdom in the saying, ‘If it talks like a duck, walks like a duck, smells like a duck, fucks like a duck, it is a duck,'" said Kapunan.  

“You can get married again? Same as divorce. You can assume your single name? Same as divorce. The children remain legitimate? Same as divorce. Property relationship is abolished or divided? Same as divorce,” she added.

LP Senate bet Hontiveros had a more nuanced answer, however, calling for the start of public conversation on divorce.

“There are several starting points. Immediately, child support is one. How many separated, abandoned women whose husbands are living [and] who just disappeared into thin air and [the women] receive nothing in child support? Two, if we have a proper contracting of marriage, should there not also be a proper dissolution of marriage?” Hontiveros said.

Bautista added the issue of divorce involves fostering a harmonious environment within the family first. 

“I think what we should do is really educate people on how to build happy relationships, because I don’t think that this country is ready for divorce yet,” she said. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is searching for 13 missing crew members of a Panamanian-registered cargo vessel which recently capsized in the waters off Vigan in Ilocos Sur.

PCG Northwestern Luzon district commander and Captain Leovigildo Panopio said on Saturday, November 28, that they have dispatched two search and rescue (SAR) vessels to find the crew of M/V Fortune Life, which sank Friday past 8 pm while bound for Malaysia. 

“Under the SAR plan, the search is perpendicular. We are looking for the survivors who were able to float,” he said.

According to Panopio, the PCG could not send a diver because the ship was too deep underwater. The rough sea condition is also hampering the ongoing search for missing persons.  

Panopio said he is not yet aware of the identities and nationalities of the M/V Fortune Life crew members. 

When the foreign vessel sank on Friday, 3 vessels – M/V Great Tang, M/V Yue Dian, and M/T Ashley – helped in the SAR.

The PCG reported that M/T Ashley “rescued 6 crew members” of M/V Fortune Life before continuing its passage to Japan.

The two other vessels are still in Philippine waters as of posting time.– Rappler.com

KANO, Nigeria – The death toll in a suicide bombing on a Shia Muslim procession near the northern Nigerian city of Kano has risen to 22 after one more person was confirmed dead, one of the organizers said Saturday, November 28. 

"For now, we have 22 deaths following the death of one more person yesterday. Thirty-eight people have also been injured, two of whom have been discharged from the hospital," Ali Kakaki told Agence France-Presse.

Kakaki said that, despite the attack on Friday, November 27, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria members had continued their march from Kano to Zaria in neighboring Kaduna state, where their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky is based.

The march is to mark Ashura, which commemorates the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

"Following the attack, many more of our members have joined the procession," Kakaki said, adding that they aimed to arrive at their destination next week.

Bomber clad in black

Friday's attack took place in the village of Dakasoye, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) south of the city of Kano.

One of the procession's organizers said a bomber clad in black ran into the crowd and detonated his explosives.

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. 

Boko Haram, whose 6-year insurgency has left at least 17,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless, condemns Shias as heretics who should be killed.

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

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

MANILA, Philippines – Running a presidential campaign is no easy feat, more so if faced with 4 disqualification cases.

For presidential polls front runner Senator Grace Poe it may even be a harder battle, as she has neither a political party nor solid experience to back her.

The support of her high school barkada, however, helps her get through it all. As the saying goes, “High school never ends.” 

In sorties or events, try to look for the group of ladies in a corner wearing matching shirts – either white, Poe’s color, or their own designed Grace Poe T-shirts. These women of stature have known Poe since the 1980s, when they were all kids and teenagers studying at the exclusive all-girls school, Assumption College in Makati.

Up until now, their bond has remained and has extended to their respective families. 

“Yes we just wanna give Grace our full support. She’s working so hard. We just want her to know we’re behind her every step of the way,” Malu Gamboa, one of Poe’s best friends, told Rappler on the sidelines of a press conference in Lipa City, Batangas on Friday, November 27. 

“Well, aside from moral support, we just try to keep it interesting and fun for her. ‘Yung group naming mga best friends, pang moral support. (Our group of best friends, we're for moral support) When we’re here nagugulo na siya, naaaliw na sa amin. (When we're here we make her happy.) We make sure she eats, stuff, and just tell stories with her,” Gamboa added. 

While not everyone in the group has a political background, that is hardly an issue. Poe, after all, relies on her all-girls group for moral support.

In fact, the moment Poe exited the venue on Friday, she was warmly welcomed by Gamboa, Kitty Jacinto, Tina Bonoan, Joanna Duarte, Lynet Villa-real, and Manet Dayrit, just some of the women present on Friday’s event as other friends could not make it.

On November 17, hours before the Senate Electoral Tribunal released its decision on the disqualification case against her, Poe was unable to hold back her tears before the public in Laguna as mixed emotions of fear and nervousness filled her.

The moment she found out about the favorable SET decision, the same group was there to celebrate with her – all jumping for joy. (READ: Senate tribunal denies disqualification case vs Poe)

Campaign funds

Aside from giving moral support to the senator, her friends also conduct their own fund-raising and other events for the campaign. They said they have their own committee preparing the campaign materials.

While Gamboa said they give funds out of their own pockets, there are people who come up to them and offer help.

“We’re supporting financially as much as we can. But it’s been great. Well, actually people have been coming to us telling us, ‘when you’re ready let us know.’ It’s not just financial [help]. Some would like to donate T-shirts or stickers, campaign materials that would be very helpful once we start really campaigning full blast,” she said.

Poe also bounces off ideas on them. The ladies, meanwhile, make it a point to relay to Poe the messages they receive from other people.

“We tell people why we’re so impressed with her, why she is our presidential choice. She also sounds off her ideas with us. So we tell her what people tell us about her, what they want to know about her, what they want to happen to our country, so we’re also a sounding board. It’s just that we’re just happy to be with her and give support,” she said. – Rappler.com

CAIRO, Egypt – Masked gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead 4 Egyptian policemen south of Cairo on Saturday, November 28, the interior ministry said.

The gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle, killing those inside, in an area between the famed Giza pyramids west of Cairo and the Saqarra pyramids to the south, the ministry said in a statement. 

The attackers' affiliation was not immediately clear. 

Islamist militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers, mostly in the Sinai Peninsula, since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Attacks have also targeted policemen and government buildings in the capital, several of them claimed by an Islamic State group affiliate.

The extremists often claim that their attacks are retaliation for a police crackdown on Islamist protesters, which has killed hundreds and left thousands in prison since Morsi's overthrow. – Rappler.com

ARBIL, Iraq – A bomb-rigged mass grave believed to hold the remains of more than 120 people killed by the Islamic State group has been found in north Iraq, an official said Saturday, November 28.

It is the sixth mass grave discovered in or near the town of Sinjar since it was recaptured from ISIS jihadists earlier this month, Mahma Khalil, the official responsible for the area, told Agence France-Presse.

ISIS overran Sinjar in August 2014 and carried out a brutal campaign of massacres, enslavement and rape targeting members of the Yazidi minority, who made up most of its inhabitants. (READ: For ISIS, women are ‘war booties’ with price tags)

The United Nations has described the attack on the Yazidis, whose faith ISIS considers heretical, as a possible genocide.

The gravesite, which is estimated to contain the remains of 123 people, based on accounts from people who witnessed the executions, was surrounded by a large number of bombs, Khalil said.

Bombs are a key part of both offensive and defensive operations by ISIS, which overran large parts of Iraq last year.

Explosives continue to pose a major threat even after the jihadists are gone and prevent displaced residents from returning home.

The grave, located some 10 kilometers (six miles) west of Sinjar, has not yet been excavated, but the victims were not buried deeply, and some of their remains have been exposed by rainwater, Khalil said.

Another mass grave found in the area was believed to hold the bodies of some 80 women aged from 40 to around 80 who one official said may have been executed because they were deemed too old to enslave and rape.

The town of Sinjar was recaptured from IS on November 13 in a major operation led by forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, backed by air support from a US-led coalition. – Rappler.com

LONDON, United Kingdom – Around 4,000 people joined a protest in London Saturday, November 28, against Britain potentially joining air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in Syria.

Parliament is expected to vote on the issue next week after Prime Minister David Cameron pushed MPs to back the move in the wake of this month's Paris attacks. (READ: France, Britain raise stakes on ISIS in Syria)

The demonstration was organized by the Stop The War Coalition protest movement.

Its chairman Andrew Murray urged demonstrators to "stand behind" Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main opposition Labor party and a former Stop the War Coalition chairman, in opposing air strikes.

"This is a conflict that cannot and will not be solved by bombing," Murray told the crowd.

One demonstrator, 65-year-old John Offen, said he and others were worried about a "lack of planning" in the proposed military action.

"We've had adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan," he added, referring to Britain's role in previous conflicts. "We've destabilized all these countries."

Actor Mark Rylance and musician Brian Eno handed a letter in to Downing Street urging Cameron not to join the international air strikes.

"I don't think this is the way to support our friends in France," Rylance, star of "Wolf Hall" and "Bridge of Spies," told reporters. "We've tried this way before."

Britain is already involved in air strikes against ISIS jihadists in Iraq but has not so far taken part in bombing the group's positions in Syria.

Cameron's previous government suffered a humiliating defeat in 2013 over military action against the Assad regime and did not push joining air strikes in Syria to a vote last year, amid resistance from Labor.

Corbyn is facing deep splits in his party over the looming vote.

He opposes air strikes while many of his MPs are in favor and he must decide imminently whether to let individual lawmakers vote with their consciences or try and force them to oppose it. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, United States (3rd UPDATE) – US President Barack Obama declared "enough is enough" and made an impassioned call for tighter controls on military-style weapons Saturday, November 28, a day after a gunman killed three people at a family planning center.

The alleged shooter, Robert Lewis Dear, 57, entered a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs on Friday in a six-hour siege that left a policeman among the dead and nine others wounded.

Dear eventually surrendered and is in police custody, after just the latest deadly rampage to convulse the United States, although officials remain tight-lipped as to the gunman's motives.

Obama said the suspect was armed with an assault weapon and had held hostages at the Planned Parenthood center, from which he opened fire at people outside.

"This is not normal. We can't let it become normal," a clearly frustrated Obama said in a statement.

"If we truly care about this – if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience – then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them.

"Enough is enough."

The tragedy came a day after Americans celebrated their cherished Thanksgiving holiday, a time to relax with family, and which ushers in the holiday season in earnest.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Peter Carey told a press conference that he was "not aware" of any specific threat to the clinic, which performs abortions – a highly emotive and divisive issue in America.

Planned Parenthood – a major provider of women's health services that receives funding from the government – offers preventive checkups, contraceptives and abortions.

It has 700 clinics around the United States and has been violently targeted before.

Community in mourning

The gunman entered the Planned Parenthood building around noon Friday and started shooting from a window. Police surrounded the building, and after an exchange of gunfire and a standoff stretching into the evening, the gunman surrendered.

Several people had managed to flee the building, running out in tears into the freezing outdoors, while others made it into the sanctuary of a safe room in the clinic.

Police and officials were giving little away about Dear, whose police booking photos showed him sporting a bushy gray beard.

However, The Colorado Springs Gazette said he had arrest records in South and North Carolina on misdemeanor charges and said he also faced peeping tom charges in 2002 in South Carolina, but the charges were dismissed.

Mayor John Suthers, who along with police and other officials watched the drama unfold on the clinic's security cameras, paid tribute to police for hauling in the gunman without further bloodshed.

The wounded included five police, but none of the injured were seriously hurt.

"We are in mourning today," Suthers told a news conference, saying that police, particularly SWAT teams were "responsible for saving many many lives yesterday."

The dead policeman was identified as Garrett Swasey, 44, a campus officer at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who had raced to the scene of the shooting.

Officials expect to name the two other dead on Monday.

Colorado Springs, which is traditionally a conservative bastion in Colorado, was "immersed in sorrow and grieving," said Governor John Hickenlooper.

'Continued attacks'

Local media said that extra police were sent to protect the three other Planned Parenthood clinics in the Denver area.

The organization was the focus of intense media interest earlier this year when anti-abortion activist David Daleiden spent more than two years secretly filming meetings with Planned Parenthood officials.

He had passed himself off as an intermediary that works with abortion clinics and research facilities.

He says the videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue and changing rules to leave certain organs of an aborted fetus intact. The organization says the videos were doctored.

Nevertheless, Planned Parenthood has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.

Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, lamented the
"horrific tragedy."

"We share the concerns of many Americans that the continued attacks against abortion providers and patients, as well as law enforcement officers, is creating a poisonous environment that breeds acts of violence," she said in a strongly worded statement.

"But we will never back away from providing critical health care to millions of people who rely on and trust us every day." – Daniel Woolls, AFP/Rappler.com

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – A "well-loved" senior bishop in El Salvador who is also a prominent Church historian was Friday, November 27, condemned by government officials and a rights organization after being accused of repeatedly raping a girl in the 1980s.

Bishop Jesus Delgado, 77, was on Thursday suspended from his functions as number three in the country's archdiocese after the alleged victim, today a 42-year-old woman, came forward with her account.

She told authorities and church officials that Delgado started raping her when she was a nine-year-old girl and continued until she was 17.

El Salvador's government expressed solidarity with the woman and offered assistance.

"We regret and condemn the case of pedophilia for which the clergyman Jesus Delgado has been suspended of all his priestly, pastoral and administrative functions," said a statement issued by the presidency.

A coordinator for the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador, Miguel Montenegro, told Agence France-Presse that the news had a "big impact" in the country.

"It's a reprehensible act that has shocked people because it has to do with a priest who was well loved by parishioners," he said.

"Even though he has accepted his responsibility, it's important that the matter is made clear and that the church opens up so that there is no repeat of this type of repugnant act," Montenegro said.

Delgado was holed up in a Catholic center but so far no legal complaint or charge has been filed against him.

El Salvador's archbishop, Jose Luis Escobar, was to make a pronouncement about the case on Sunday.

Delgado, who was ordained in 1962, was a prominent man of God in El Salvador. 

He notably wrote a biography of a Salvadoran archbishop who was murdered during mass in 1980, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, and was in the front row at the Vatican a month ago to thank the pope for beatifying Romero earlier this year. – Rappler.com

MADRID, Spain – Several thousand people marched Saturday, November 28, in Madrid against Spanish involvement in the Syrian conflict as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, facing December general elections, stressed he would not rush into a decision. (READ: Protest in London as Syria air strikes vote loom)

"No to war," chanted many among some 6,000 demonstrators according to march organisers as they rallied outside the Reina Sofia museum in the Spanish capital. 

Protesters answered a "not in our name" petition from dozens of artists demanding Spain does not become embroiled in the Syrian conflict.

The petition has received some 34,000 online signatures to date as European governments consider armed intervention against Islamic State following the November 13 Paris attacks for which it claimed responsibility.

With December 20 polls fast approaching Rajoy's conservative government has been holding off on any decision.

"Decisions have to be well thought though, as in any aspect of life," said Rajoy, who added Madrid was in touch with its allies pending a clear plan of action.

Rajoy's Popular Party is mindful of how in March 2004 under his predecessor Jose Maria Aznar, who had backed the US intervention in Iraq a year earlier, lost general elections which took place three days after Islamic extremists killed 191 people in a series of Madrid train bombings.

Aznar's stance on Iraq was in stark contrast to that of the public in a traditionally pacifist country. (READ: World leaders condemn string of 'barbaric' attacks)

Leftist opposition parties have voiced opposition to Spanish military involvement in the region while the leader of far-left grouping Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, backs putting the issue to a referendum. – Rappler.com

MOSCOW, Russia – Moscow on Saturday, November 28, slapped economic sanctions on Turkey in the latest tit-for-tat move over the downing of a Russian warplane, as Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was "saddened" by the jet incident.

With the row showing no sign of abating, the Kremlin released the text of a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that announced an end to charter flights between the two countries, a ban on Russian businesses hiring any new Turkish nationals and import restrictions on certain Turkish goods.

It also asked Russian tour operators to refrain from selling trips to Turkey, normally a top holiday destination for Russian tourists.

The new measures come into effect from January 1, 2016. The list of Turkish goods subject to "bans or limitations" has not yet been made public.

The Kremlin announcement came just hours after Erdogan made his most conciliatory comments to date over the shooting down of the jet, saying he wished Tuesday's incident had never happened.

Turkey claims the Su-24 warplane strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to change course, but Russia has insists it did not cross the border from Syria.

The incident is thought to be the first downing of a Russian plane by a NATO member in more than half a century.

"I'm really saddened," Erdogan said. "We wish it had never happened, but it happened. I hope something like this doesn't happen again.

"We hope that the issue between us and Russia does not escalate any further, become corrosive and have dire consequences in the future," he added.

He also renewed a call to Putin for a face-to-face meeting in Paris on the sidelines of a UN climate summit on Monday.

But the Turkish leader stopped short of apologizing for the incident, as a furious Putin had earlier demanded.

"Russia is important for Turkey as much as Turkey is important for Russia. Both countries cannot afford to give up on each other," Erdogan said.

A day earlier the Turkish leader had struck a more combative tone, warning Moscow not to "play with fire" as Russia announced it was halting visa-free travel for Turkish visitors, also from January 1.

Turkey's foreign ministry on Saturday warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Russia "until the situation becomes clear."

'Unacceptable'

UN chief Ban Ki-moon told France 24 that the jet incident was "regrettable" and urged both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue, stressing that they were key members in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group.

One of the Russian pilots aboard the downed plane was shot dead in Syria after parachuting from the burning aircraft, while the second was found safe and sound. One Russian soldier was killed in a rescue operation.

Moscow has ruled out any military response, but has pledged broad measures targeting entire sectors of the Turkish economy including tourism, agriculture and possibly key energy projects.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said Turkey had "crossed the line of what is acceptable" and warned the incident could severely undermine Turkey's national interests.

The two countries have established significant trade ties in recent years and Russia is already energy-poor Turkey's biggest oil and gas supplier.

But they are on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, with Ankara backing rebels fighting to topple Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad while Moscow is one of his last remaining allies.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu meanwhile sought to ease tensions and appealed for the world to unite against ISIS, in an editorial published in The Times newspaper.

"The focus should be to tackle, head-on, the international threat that Daesh (ISIS) poses, securing the future of Syria and seeking a solution to the current refugee crisis," he wrote. – Max Delany with Dilay Gundogan in Istanbul, AFP/Rappler.com