SUBIRATS, Spain – Four suspects detained during the investigation into the deadly Catalonia attacks will appear before a judge for the first time Tuesday, August 22, after the 8 other members of the jihadist terror cell were killed.

"The 12 principal targets are detained or dead," the Catalan police tweeted Monday, August 21, at around 8pm (1800 GMT).

On Monday, Spanish police shot dead Barcelona terror suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub, in a dramatic end to a massive manhunt for the Moroccan national who was wearing a fake suicide belt and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) when he was killed.

The Moroccan was the last remaining member of a 12-man cell suspected of plotting last week's deadly vehicle rampages in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils that were claimed by the Islamic State organization (ISIS) – its first in Spain.

Four men have been detained, and the rest have been killed, either by police or in an explosion believed to have been accidentally detonated by the suspects themselves in their bomb factory in the seaside town of Alcanar.

After 5 days in detention, the 4 remaining suspects will appear before a judge Tuesday in Madrid at a special tribunal for terrorism. The judge will then decide whether they are to be charged.

Among those killed in the explosion was a Moroccan imam at the heart of the cell, Abdelbaki Es Satty, Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero confirmed Monday.

'Easy to hide'

Four days after his van rampage on the tourist-packed Las Ramblas boulevard, police gunned down the 22-year-old Abouyaaqoub in the village about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Barcelona, after receiving multiple tip-offs on sightings of the fugitive.

Arnau Gomez, who lives about a kilometer away from where the suspect was shot, described the village of 300 people as being an ideal hideout as "it is far from everything".

"In the hills there are many homes of seasonal workers, it's easy to hide," he told Agence France-Presse.

In Abouyaaqoub's hometown Ripoll, where many of the suspects grew up or lived, Moroccan factory worker Hassan Azzidi said he was "happy and sad all at once" that the suspect had been gunned down.

"This had to end, because we're living as if in a war, but at the same time, someone brainwashed such a young boy," he said.

Authorities earlier Monday raised the death toll to 15, confirming that Pau Perez, a 34-year-old man found stabbed to death in a Ford Focus outside Barcelona on Friday, August 18, was killed by Abouyaaqoub.

Investigators believe that Abouyaaqoub had hijacked the car from the victim to make his getaway.

The police had fired at the car as it forced its way through a checkpoint shortly after the Barcelona carnage, and later found Perez in the vehicle.

Imam's influence

Investigators seeking to unravel the terror cell had homed in on the small border town of Ripoll at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains.

Satty, aged in his 40s, has also come under scrutiny as he is believed to have radicalised youths in Ripoll.

Police said the imam had spent time in prison and had once been in contact with a suspect wanted on terrorism charges but was never himself charged with terror-related incidents.

In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told Agence France-Presse that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen – next to the city's airport – between January and March 2016.

In the Moroccan town of M'rirt, relatives of Abouyaaqoub have accused the imam of radicalizing the young man as well as his brother Houssein.

"Over the last two years, Younes and Houssein began to radicalise under the influence of this imam," their grandfather told Agence France-Presse.

The suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for "one or more attacks in Barcelona", Trapero said Sunday, revealing that 120 gas canisters and traces of TATP – a homemade explosive that is an ISIS hallmark – had been found at their bomb factory.

The accidental explosion in the house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona, may have forced the suspects to modify their plans.

Instead, they used a vehicle to smash into crowds on Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard, killing 13 people and injuring about 100.

Several hours later, a similar attack in Cambrils left one woman dead. Police shot dead the five attackers, some of whom were wearing fake explosive belts and carrying knives.

Hundreds of Muslims rallied Monday at Las Ramblas, holding slogans like "No to terrorism" and "We are Muslims, not terrorists". – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Customs broker and fixer Mark Ruben Taguba revealed on Tuesday, August 22, how the "friend and handler" of Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte helped him with his transactions with the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Taguba, the broker involved in the P6.4-billion worth of smuggled shabu from China, said he first sought the help of a certain Jojo Bacud for his other shipments. But when Bacud allegedly encountered problems and could no longer help him, Bacud referred Taguba to a certain "Tita Nanie."

Taguba said he first met with Tita Nanie in a mall in Quezon City. The latter supposedly told him that the Davao Group would help him with his shipments but he had to  pay a one-time "enrolment fee" of P5 million first. Other members of this group include a certain "Small" and "Jack."

Taguba identified Small as Davao Councilor Nilo “Small” Abellera Jr, saying he met with him and Jack at a Davao restaurant in January 2017 to pay the P5 million.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that Abellera has close ties to Paolo Duterte and showed pictures to support this.

Senate blue ribbon committee chair Richard Gordon said the panel invited Abellera to the hearing but the Davao official could not attend due to "hypertension."

During the hearing, Taguba read messages from Tita Nanie, who said Jack is the “handler of Paolo [Duterte]” and that Jack could arrange Taguba’s meeting with the presidential son. But Taguba said he had never met the Vice Mayor.

Reading a January 11 text from Tita Nanie, Taguba said: “Good am, final arrangement with Jack. He is the handler of Paolo. Now, we have to advance the [enrolment fee]. He can fly to Davao to arrange a meeting with Pulong asap.”

Pulong is the nickname of the Vice Mayor.

Payments

On top of the P5-million enrolment fee, Taguba said he paid the Davao Group P10,000 per container. Taguba said he averaged 100 containers a week, amounting to P1 million. Jack, he said, would fly to Manila every Friday to get the money from him.

With the help of the Davao Group, Taguba said the BOC stopped tagging his shipments. Their smooth relationship went on for 3 months, until one day, Taguba said he received an alert for his shipment.

This prompted him to seek Tita Nanie’s assistance again because Jack stopped helping him. Tita Nanie then referred Taguba to another group, also supposedly based in Davao.

Taguba said this group includes a certain “Noel” and “Big Brother,” whom he called "General Capuyan."

Trillanes identified him as Allen Capuyan from the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983 and said he is assigned in Davao City. No further details about the supposed second Davao Group are available to date.

Gordon earlier said there is no evidence linking Paolo Duterte to the 604 kilos of smuggled shabu from China.

Documents from 2007, however, showed Paolo Duterte's alleged involvement in the smuggling of luxury cars and used clothes, among others.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he would resign if there is evidence to prove his children's links to corruption. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano criticized a Supreme Court (SC) justice for using the "wrong facts" when he said China is invading Sandy Cay in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Cayetano, however, refused to disclose the facts about the Chinese ships reportedly guarding Sandy Cay, a sandbar near Pag-asa Island (Thitu Island) in the disputed waters.

"We cannot go into all the facts or some of the facts, at times, because it will harm our job. My job is to protect the Philippine claim and the Philippine public," Cayetano said in an interview with reporters on Tuesday, August 22.

The Philippines' top diplomat did not want to answer questions as basic as how many Chinese ships were there, what the ships were doing, and how long they stayed near Sandy Cay.

Cayetano said: "We will tell you that we are taking the diplomatic actions, but if we tell you every step of the way, and all the facts, et cetera, it will not help, unless there is something that happens that the public has to know or that will not affect the negotiations."

Cayetano made these remarks after SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio described Chinese presence near Sandy Cay as "an invasion of Philippine territory."

Cayetano hits 'wrong facts'

Carpio said this after revelations made by both Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano and the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies about the Chinese ships near Pag-asa Island.

Carpio then challenged President Rodrigo Duterte and Cayetano to "vigorously protest" this – even as Cayetano said it is no longer the Philippines' strategy to file diplomatic protests against China.

According to Cayetano, "the problem with some of the press statements that came out" was that these statements "had the wrong facts" about the issue. "So wrong premise, wrong conclusion."

One of these wrong conclusions, he said, is that there is an invasion of the sandbars near Pag-asa Island.

Cayetano said: "Paano magkakaroon ng invasion kung wala namang umagaw o tatayo sa sandbar na 'yun?" (How can there be an invasion if there was no one who stole or built structures on that sandbar?)

"What's the proof?" he said. "What are the facts?" – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – “Mr. President, I keep [my] faith with you. I am just sad because I don’t think you kept your faith in me until the end.” 

As she was giving her farewell speech before employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday, August 22, outgoing secretary Judy Taguiwalo turned emotional when she reached this part of her talk.

Taguiwalo's impromptu remarks included reminders to DSWD workers, reiterating her continuing trust to President Rodrigo Duterte. 

“Still, thank you for allowing me to serve the Filipino people as a member of your Cabinet; for showing the Filipino people that the Left is capable of serving genuinely with compassion and no corruption,” she continued in a mix of English and Filipino. 

“I keep my faith with President Duterte,” she stressed while she asked the President to back the confirmation of agrarian reform secretary Rafael Mariano. Like Taguiwalo, Mariano is also a nominee of the Left to the Cabinet. 

In a Rappler Talk interview on August 17 – a day after the Commission on Appointments rejected her appointment as DSWD secretary– Taguiwalo said that she tried to set up a meeting with Duterte before the hearing. Duterte did not accept it, however.  (WATCH: Rappler Talk with 'People's Social Welfare Secretary' Judy Taguiwalo)

Duterte, on the other hand, said he regretted Taguiwalo leaving her post. 

"The voting was secret. Pero sayang. She was really – at tsaka bright (But it's too bad. She was really – bright too),” he said Monday night, August 21. 

He explained that he did not want to interfere with the CA’s procedure since it was part of the government’s checks and balances. 

"We can't do anything if they reject. I do not want to attribute or impute something, motive. It's a discretion and they voted secret,” he said. 

Duterte has not appointed a permanent replacement to Taguiwalo. He said he was considering a female senator and some choices from the private sector. 

Over the weekend, Malacañang announced the appointment of DSWD Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco as the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the department. Leyco used to be a professor of public policy at the Asian Institute of Management prior to joining the DSWD. 

Leyco said that he was called to the President’s office after the CA decision. 

Asked about the President’s directive, the incoming OIC said: “Ang sabi sa akin, mag-OIC at siguraduhin na di maantala at hindi maiinterrupt ang operasyon ng department.” (What the President told me was that I would be OIC and that I must ensure that the operations of the department would not be interrupted.) 

He said that the President did not say how long he would lead the agency. – Rappler.com 

HONG KONG – With hair newly shaven in accordance with Hong Kong prison rules, jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was in court again Tuesday, August 22, on more protest-related charges.

Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were sent to prison last Thursday, August 17, for their leading role in the initial protest that sparked the months-long Umbrella Movement of 2014 – demonstrations and street blockades calling for democratic reforms. 

Their jailing has been slammed by international rights groups and politicians and has prompted accusations that the independence of Hong Kong's courts has been compromised under pressure from Beijing. 

Tens of thousands turned out in protest Sunday, August 20. 

Wong was at High Court Tuesday as part of another case dating back to the Umbrella Movement. 

He is one of 20 activists charged with contempt of court for violating an order to clear the Mong Kok protest camp – scene of some of the most violent clashes during the demonstrations.

In closing arguments prosecutor Victor Dawes said that by obstructing bailiffs the defendants had intended to "interfere with the administration of justice" which amounted to criminal contempt.

Dawes added that the large crowd meant there were safety and public order concerns.

Supporters packed the courtroom and the areas outside. 

Veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung, known as Long Hair shouted: "They have Rimsky Yuen – you have the Hong Kong people!" before the case began, referring to the city's justice minister at the centre of the controversy over the jailings. 

Joshua and fellow defendant Raphael Wong, who is also in custody, responded with a cheer from the dock, surrounded by four uniformed guards.

Hong Kong was returned from Britain to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" arrangement, guaranteeing freedoms unseen on the mainland, but there are growing concerns those rights are disappearing as an assertive Beijing tightens its grip.

The government has vehemently denied there was political interference in the decision by the Court of Appeal last week to overturn previous non-custodial terms for Wong, Law and Chow and instead jail them for six to eight months after a sentencing review brought by the department of justice.

Prosecutors have filed a raft of cases against pro-democracy activists with fears that more will be jailed in the wake of last week's judgement. 

Lester Shum, another prominent Umbrella Movement activist and one of the defendants in court Tuesday, said before the hearing that he felt relaxed about his case, adding he was inspired by the "determined attitude" of other jailed activists. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) started their week on Tuesday, August 22, in a somber mood.

The gloomy atmosphere due to the rains of tropical storm Isang was a fitting backdrop for the the workers’ sentiments as they officially said goodbye to outgoing social welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo. She was leaving DSWD after she was rejected by the Commission on Appointments last August 16. 

Speeches of appreciation delivered by members of the department’s executive committees, song numbers rendered by the staff and flowers from employees handed with kisses from their children punctuated the emotional Tuesday morning for the agency.

“Aalis na ako with [my] heart full sa pag-ibig talaga (I will leave with my heart full of love),” Taguiwalo said as she opened her last address to the employees in her last appearance as an official during the agency’s flag-raising ceremony. 

While the 67-year-old retired university professor reminded the employees of the many work that has yet to be completed, she urged them to protect the budget from vested interests as deliberations continue. 

“Sinikap ko na protektahan ang departamento natin sa mga vested interest… whether this is in aid of reelection, sinikap ko 'yan, alam niyo ,yan, alam niyo 'yan. Within and outside the department ang pera ng bayan, ang pera ng mga mamayan ay para sa kanila,” she said. 

(I worked hard to protect the department from vested interests… whether this is in aid of reelection, I worked hard for it. You know that, you know that. Within and outside the department, the state funds, the money of the citizens are for them.) 

She also encouraged the employees to be radical social workers and go beyond just giving assistance to the poor but also helping them to uplift their conditions. 

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“Alam niyo ba ang ibig sabihin ng radical? Ang ibig sabihin ng radical, puntahan niyo ang roots. Huwag kayong magkasya sa sintomas lang. Huwag kayong magkasya sa financial assistance, sa cash assistance lang,” she said. 

(Do you know what radical means? Radical means going to the roots. Don’t be contented with knowing the symptoms. Don’t be contended with financial assistance and cash assistance.) 

“While we accept the fact that we are really the ones addressing the symptoms like Biogesic, we should go beyond [it] and [address] what causes extensive poverty,” she added in a mix of English and Filipino. 

President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to pick the next secretary of the department. Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco was assigned to be the officer-in-charge of the agency in the meantime. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – As the public continued to rage over the death of teenager Kian delos Santos in a police operation, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said on Tuesday, August 22, that he now favored strapping body cameras to cops to ensure transparency in their operations.

"'Sang-ayon ako diyan. Maganda po 'yan para walang pagdududa sa lahat ng lakad ng ating kapulisan. Transparent tayo dapat (I agree with that. That is good so that there is no doubt in all police operations. We need to be transparent)," Dela Rosa said in an interview with radio dwIZ on Tuesday.

The country's top cop was asked about the proposed measures in the Senate and the House seeking to require policemen to wear body cameras.

This is in contrast to his dismissive tone on the proposal in August last year, when he was asked to issue body cameras to cops following the rising death toll in the government's war on drugs.

In a media briefing on August 16, 2016, Dela Rosa said in response to the call for cops to wear body cameras: "We're having a hard time buying bullets and guns for our personnel and you're thinking of buying cameras? Let's cover the basics that our personnel need to defend themselves and not to defend the other party." (READ: Dela Rosa on Tasers vs drug suspects: 'Do you want us to die?')

A year later, Dela Rosa changed his tune, saying that body cameras would aid the PNP in its  "internal cleansing" or purging its ranks of erring cops.

Referring to the body cameras, he said on Tuesday: "Magiging detrimental 'yan sa mga pulis na may masamang layunin dahil mabubulabog 'yung ginagawa nilang kalokohan, dahil recorded 'yan hindi ba? Pero kapag ikaw ay pulis na matino hindi po 'yan detrimental."

(That will be detrimental to police who have bad intentions because their illegal activities will be foiled, because that will be recorded, right? But if you're a good cop, it won't be detrimental.)

He said, however, that he would have to check if the PNP's proposed budget  for 2018, which is under deliberation in Congress, can accommodate the purchase of the recording tools.

Citics of the war on drugs have pushed for the use of body cameras, saying this would provide an unedited narration of police raids, as in the case of Delos Santos and other questionable deaths in legitimate operations. (READ: Our son, Kian: A good, sweet boy)

While the cops maintained that Delos Santos was  a drug runner who was killed after he fired shots at police, CCTV footage and eyewitness reports claimed that it was a case of extrajudicial killing.

The 3 cops behind the death had been placed restrictive custody of the PNP, and are under investigation by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Cops and cameras

This is not the first time that cameras stood in the spotlight in a police operation in line with the PNP's war against drugs and criminality.

The latest incident was on July 30, when the police conducted a pre-dawn search operation on the home of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog that killed the mayor, wife Susan, and 14 others.

The members of the raiding police claimed the crime and drug-linked family and their supporters shot at them first, prompting them to retaliate. Prior to the operation, cops disabled the CCTV cameras in the residence, supposedly to prevent recording the identity of informants who were with them during the raid.

Dela Rosa had said that the shutdown of the Parojinogs' surveillance system was "wrong," but defended the bloody operation as legitimate.

Youth groups demanding justice for Delos Santos accused the police of deliberately conducting operations in poor communities that cannot afford to set up CCTVs. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The death of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos during a police raid in Caloocan was among the major topics journalists grilled President Rodrigo Duterte about during their dinner on Monday, August 21.

That night, hundreds of people staged a rally at the People Power Monument to protest Delos Santos' killing at the hands of police. (READ: 'Nakaluhod tapos nasubsob': How Kian was shot, according to PAO)

Protesters demanded justice for Delos Santos and blamed Duterte for goading police to kill supposed drug addicts without giving them a chance to defend themselves in a proper court.

Duterte was ready to answer the questions. He had watched the CCTV footage that convinced many that Delos Santos was murdered by police in an alley and not killed during a shootout, as police claimed.

In the formal press conference held during the dinner, Duterte promised that the cops involved in Delos Santos' death would go to jail. He too believes the CCTV footage challenges the narrative of police that Delos Santos fought back.

But further grilling by journalists at the dinner table showed Duterte won't let Delos Santos' death stop the momentum gained by his bloody war against drugs.

The Grade 11 student's death won't change the way he will implement the anti-drug campaign and won't stop him from protecting police.

Below are questions by journalists and Duterte's answers to them:

Pia Ranada (Rappler): Sir, will you change the way the drug war is conducted given Kian's death?

President Duterte: No, no, no, hindi ako puwede mag-atras diyan. Kung magkamali dito, kung mawala ako, alam mo na, you try to imagine a scene na nag-crash eroplano ko pag-uwi ko, who is in the best position to carry out the fight against drugs?

(No, no, no, I cannot back down there. If there is a mistake, if I am gone, you try to imagine a scene in which my plane crashes when I go home, who is in the best position to carry out the fight against drugs?)

Ranada: Sir, you don't have to compromise on capturing drug lords but you can just make it harder for people to kill innocent people.

Yes, because, in the first place bawal talaga 'yan (it's not allowed), so it is punishable.

Ranada: Don't you think your messaging directly led to the death of [Kian]?

No, because I said I want to destroy the apparatus. If you are a member of the apparatus and you are killed, wala akong– basta (I have no – if) you are killed in the process, within the bounds of the law, you get into a fight with the police, you fight the military violently, pero kung sabihin mo 'yung ganoon, sabi nila rubout, nakaano na, hindi man puwede talaga 'yan (but you say it's a rubout, it's really not allowed). Even in war, there is articles of war, the military says you have to follow.

Ranada: Some people say your words embolden police – (Duterte: Yes correct.) – to be corrupt.

Hindi. Because noon, walang pulis magtrabaho kasi takot sa kaso, 'yan ang totoo. That is why it (the drug trade) flourished. Ang police takot kasi 'pag suspended sila, alam mo ganito 'yan, you have perfected the art of defending the drug industry. Ang resbak niyan is magdemanda rin, that he was a victim of abuse of the police. So malagay mo sa compromise 'yung police. Kaya noon, nagdami itong drugs. Bakit nagkaganoon?Because ang pulis takot ng kaso. Ayaw pumatay, ayaw mag-operate kasi baka mamatay, may kaso, kaya ang guarantee ko sa kanila, due, tama, due performance of duty.

(No. Because before, no police would work because they were afraid of cases, that's the truth. That is why it flourished. The police were scared because they could get suspended. This is how it works, you have perfected the art of defending the drug industry. Their way of getting back is, they will file cases, claim he was a victim of abuse of the police. So you will put the police in a compromising situation. That's why before, drugs proliferated. Why did it reach that point? Because the police are scared of cases. They don't want to kill, don't want to operate because someone might die, there will be a case. So my guarantee to them is due, meaning correct, due performance of duty.)

Joseph Morong (GMA-7): Sir, may nagsasabi na kaya nangyayari 'yung nangyari kay Kian is that the police are involved in and they think that it is now state policy, 'yung pagpatay sa mga addict.

(Sir, some are saying that drug-related killings similar to Kian's are happening because police are involved and they think that it is now state policy to kill addicts.)

What would be the reason also for a police to do that and get into trouble? Alam nila 'yan because 'pag raid niyan maraming tao nakatingin (They know that because when there is a raid, a lot of people are watching). The neighborhood itself is focused on the police activity going on so why would they try to get into trouble? Alam man nila na marami nang pulis nakulong (They know many cops have been imprisoned). Would you try to? Ewan ko, 'yung mga ito (I don't know about these people). Every time you commit a mistake you always compromise your position.

Doris Bigornia (ABS-CBN): Sa intel na binigay sa inyo, naniniwala ba kayo na runner talaga itong si Kian? (From the intel given to you, do you believe Kian was really a runner?)

No, intel is intel. There is no probative value, you cannot use it in court. Those are just information gathered by the police or the miitary. It is an internal thing. 'Di mo masabi itong intel na ito, mali 'yan (You cannot base things on intel, that's wrong).

Ina Andolong (CNN Philippines): What do you think about what you saw in the CCTV?

Well, I saw two presumably policemen, parang (it seemed that), how do I put it, moving a person or apparently dragging his head or maybe wounded or lasing (drunk). Ang aking nakikita, karamihan diyan lasing. Inaakay tawag diyan (From what I see, when a lot of people are drunk, they are dragged that way). I cannot go beyond the footage, at marami 'yan (and there's a lot). 'Yung footage lang (The footage just) has to be proven, the time and ano (what), who placed the camera there, how long was it there? If you cannot answer the questions, you cannot present that in court. Who was taking the video? Who was the cameraman? What was the equipment used? What was the brand? What was the time that you filmed it?

– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the ban on the shipment of poultry and poultry products from Luzon to other parts of the Philippines following the bird flu outbreak in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol made the announcement in a news briefing on Tuesday, August 22.

"Today, on the recommendation of the biosecurity team…and with the conformity of the National Meat Inspection Service, I will be signing after this press conference an administrative order lifting the ban on the shipment of poultry and poultry products from Luzon to other parts of the country on certain conditions," Piñol told reporters.

The conditions are as follows:

• These products must not come from within the 7-kilometer radius of San Luis, Pampanga, and the 7-km radius of San Isidro and Jaen in Nueva Ecija. 
• Any shipment to be made must be validated by quarantine officers and must carry certification that this came from accredited and inspected farms in Luzon, and the products must carry the seal of the quarantine officers.
• Fresh eggs will be allowed. Balut eggs will be allowed, provided that they are cooked before they are shipped. 
• Chicken meat will be allowed. Chicks will be allowed. All other products not mentioned but coming from accredited farms inspected by DA's quarantine officers and certified to be free from any diseases will be allowed.

Piñol said their main consideration for lifting the ban was the recommendation of biosecurity experts, but they also considered the effect of the ban on the industry.

"I think this was the more emotional consideration – the fact that we also have to listen to the pleadings of the farmers na kung tingin namin na safe na naman, payagan na silang mag-ship ng product nila (that if we think it's safe already, that we allow them to ship their products already)," he explained.

Piñol said the DA will coordinate with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Philippine National Police, and other concerned agencies regarding the lifting of the ban.

Bong Inciong, president of the United Broiler Raisers Association, said Piñol's decision is necessary to move forward from the effect of the outbreak on the industry.

"Our main agenda here is to restore consumer confidence, producer confidence to really assure everyone that the products we're producing outside of the containment zones are safe, period," he added.

Since the bird flu outbreak was announced last August 11, at least 447,703 birds have already been culled within the contained (1-km radius) and controlled (7-km radius) areas in San Luis, Pampanga.

In Nueva Ecija, meanwhile, at least 61,219 quails have already been culled in the town of Jaen, while another 34,400 layer chickens have been culled in the town of San Isidro.

The DA announced the confirmed bird flu cases in these two towns last August 18. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – An opposition lawmaker on Tuesday, August 22, said a Chinese flag mounted on a steel pipe was found planted on a sandy cay close to Kota Island in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). 

Kota Island is part of the Kalayaan Islands, which is controlled by the Philippines. It is also being claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. 

In a press briefing, Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano cited “information [he] received” that the 3 meter-high Chinese flag was discovered around the 3rd week of July 2017. 

“The continuous activities of China in the disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea are very concerning. These recently reported incidents only reveal that Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea have not stopped amid warmer relations between the Philippines and China,” said Alejano.

He had earlier revealed “extraordinary activities” by China in the West Philippine Sea, including the barring of a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel from approaching the area.  

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano downplayed the reported activities by Chinese vessels, but photos from a Washington-based think tank appeared to corroborate Alejano’s claims. 

Alejano said the foreign affairs department was made aware of the most recent alleged activity of China in the area. “Yes. I know alam nila 'yan, [pero] ayaw lang nila sabihin,” said Alejano. (I know they know about this. They just don’t want to talk about it.)

Again citing sources whom he refused to name, Alejano said it was a Chinese civilian ship that planted the flag. 

“On this account, I call on China, as part of the family of nations, to stay true to its public pronouncements and assurances by matching its actions on the ground. This has become a pattern wherein one [thing] is said and another is done,” said the lawmaker. 

“I also reiterate my call for Philippine government officials, in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs, to be transparent on issues regarding the West Philippine Sea. Their denial or silence and inaction are not helping while things like these happen on the ground,” said Alejano, a former Marine. 

Alejano said that the government doesn’t need to give the public all the details, “but they must release something for the consumption of the public.” 

“Ang sa atin dito…maramdaman din ng China na alam natin. Kasi 'yung ang weapon natin: monitoring, support ng public, ng international community. Pag i-downplay 'yan, ano pa leverage mo?” said Alejano. (My point here is to let China know that we know what they’re doing. Those are our weapons – monitoring, public support, the support from the international community. If you downplay it, what leverage do you have?)

The lawmaker said he did not know whether the flag was still there as he spoke, but said the act in itself was a “manifestation of ownership.” 

“There are non-military and non-confrontational options to defend our territories and assert our rights as opposed to the confined and limited view of the President of going to war. For once, the President should not think of violent and forceful means to solve problems,” he added. 

Philippine and Chinese relations during the last administration soured over the dispute in the West Philippine Sea. President Rodrigo Duterte has pushed for an “independent foreign policy” that has so far manifested in distancing from the United States and working closely with China and Russia. – Rappler.com 

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Pentagon chief Jim Mattis was in Baghdad Tuesday, August 22, to show US support for Iraqi forces as they pressed an assault on Tal Afar, the Islamic State (ISIS) group's last major bastion in the country's north.

Mattis flew in for talks with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other top officials, as well as Massud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, saying he wants to help keep the regime focused on eradicating ISIS jihadists.

"Right now our focus is on defeating ISIS inside Iraq, restoring Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity," Mattis told journalists ahead of his trip to Baghdad.

Iraqi troops, supported by the forces of a US-led international coalition, routed ISIS in Mosul in July after a grueling 9-month fight for Iraq's second city.

On Sunday, August 20, they launched an assault on Tal Afar, once a key ISIS supply hub between Mosul – around 70 kilometers (45 miles) to the east – and the Syrian border.

In the desert plains around Tal Afar, convoys of tanks and armored vehicles could be seen heading Monday for the jihadist-held city, raising huge clouds of dust.

Mattis would not make any predictions on the fight.

"ISIS's days are certainly numbered, but it's not over yet and it's not going to be over anytime soon," said the US defense secretary.

Iraqi forces "fought like the dickens in Mosul, (it) cost them over 6,000 wounded, somewhere over 1,200 killed," he noted.

Yet that comeback restored the confidence of the Iraqi security forces after their shock loss of Mosul to ISIS in 2014.

Mattis stressed that retaking Mosul would not have happened "without... Abadi's steady hand reconstituting that army, that was so shattered in 2014, an army he inherited."

But the comeback also leaned crucially on extensive training, planning and firepower support from the US military.

The future of that support still must be settled, and there will be resistance from Shiite militia and Iranians, said Nicholas Heras, Middle East Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

Kurdistan referendum challenge

Mattis said discussions will focus on the way ahead, including how to keep Iraq from again politically fragmenting or falling further under Iran's influence, after 4 years united around battling the jihadists.

"Secretary Mattis is going to be very much focused on a pathway for the United States to continue to have to a residual force in Iraq to continue to train Iraqi security forces" and avoiding a successor from ISIS rising up, said Heras.

A key issue is Iraqi Kurdistan's plan for an independence referendum on September 25, strongly opposed by the US as an event that could undermine Abadi politically and distract from the fight against ISIS.

"A referendum at this time would be potentially catastrophic to the counter-ISIS campaign," said Brett McGurk, the White House envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition.

"It's not just the United States; every member of our coalition believes that now is not the time to hold this referendum."

McGurk said the initial push on the outskirts of Tal Afar was "going well", with 235 square kilometers (90 square miles) cleared in the first 24 hours.

"That will be a very difficult battle," he said, but added that Iraqi and US forces are "moving faster, more effectively, more efficiently," in part due to US President Donald Trump having given Mattis more authority to decide on tactics and resources needed.

Mattis, who is on a five-day swing through Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Ukraine, said he would also talk about reconstruction and resettlement of hundreds of thousand of Iraqis driven from their homes and towns by the fighting, especially Mosul.

"It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to be a heavy lift for them going forward." 

But Heras said Mattis, whom he said has earned firm trust among Iraqis, needs to help Abadi further build his power as a moderate for the post-war, with elections looming for next year.

"That will be a political pickle that Mattis will have to work Abadi through," he said.

For Mattis's meeting with Barzani, Heras added: "All signs point to it being one of those tough-love talks." – Rappler.com

TOKYO, Japan – Fukushima's operator on Tuesday, August 22, started freezing the last section of a $320 million ice wall designed to combat widespread water contamination at the site of the worst nuclear accident in a generation.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) began pumping coolant into the remaining 7 meters (23 feet) of its 1.5-kilometer underground wall which encircles the 4 reactors along Japan's northeast coast.

Underground pipes circulate the coolant and freeze soil around the buildings.

The 30-meter deep wall is designed to block underground water from nearby mountains from flowing into the shattered complex and then seeping into the Pacific.

It is reportedly expected to take more than two months until the wall is completely frozen.

The huge utility has been building the barrier since March 2016 with the government picking up its 34.5 billion yen ($320 million) price tag.

Even now, with the ice wall almost complete, about 140 tonnes of underground water flows into the plant daily, forcing the company to pump it out and store it in on-site tanks.

"When the ice wall is completed, we estimate that the amount of underground water flowing into the complex will be less than 100 tonnes," a company spokesman said.

But some experts have cast doubt on the ice wall, and the country's Nuclear Regulation Authority said it has not yet done an independent analysis.

"We doubt the ice wall is going to be as effective as TEPCO claims it will be," said an NRA official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We're going to monitor its progress after it is finished to check the impact."

In June, the NRA's acting chief Toyoshi Fuketa publicly accused TEPCO of lying about the wall's effectiveness.

The same month, three former company executives went on trial, facing the only criminal charges laid in the accident.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake off Japan's northeastern coast sparked a massive tsunami that destroyed entire towns and villages along the Pacific shore, leaving nearly 18,500 people dead or missing.

The huge flow of water overwhelmed cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) northeast of Tokyo, causing meltdowns in three reactors in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Workers had to keep pouring water onto the reactors to prevent the temperature of the nuclear fuel from rising uncontrollably. 

Storing and treating that radioactive water continues to be a daily struggle with the cleanup expected to take decades.

Fukushima's operator is working on a plan to extract highly radioactive fuel -- believed to have broken through pressure vessels to collect at the very bottom of the reactors -- in a major step towards decommissioning the plant.

Radiation spread over a wide area and forced tens of thousands of area residents to evacuate. Some may never be able to go home. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Education Secretary Leonor Briones promised strict confidentiality in the conduct of the forthcoming random drug testing among high school students.

The Department of Education (DepEd) chief gave the assurance after she was asked about the safety of students who will undergo the drug test following the death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos in an anti-drug operations conducted by the Caloocan City police.  

DepEd is about to begin the random drug testing of students in September through DepEd Order Number 40, series of 2017. DepEd also ordered the random drug testing of teachers and the mandatory drug testing of all DepEd employees.

“The circular is very, very clear. This is not a punitive law enforcement exercise. It is a preventive exercise. And this was planned as early as last year pa in response to public demand. Now every effort is going to be made to protect the identities of whoever will be identified in the test as related to drugs,” Briones told Rappler on Tuesday, August 22.

She added specific details about the student undergoing the test – their personal information, the name of the schools, and drug test results – will not be publicized. 

“And so, you will not even know the school. And we’re not going to have a press conference. The test will not be done under your eye. You will not be interviewing the persons, etcetera, etcetera. The press will not be involved here. The thing is going to be confidential,” said Briones. 

“If there will be a leakage, it will probably be from other sectors, not from us. Never, never, never from us because we have strict penalties for release of confidential information,” she added.

Several netizens and lawmakers are concerned over the safety of students undergoing drug tests to be administered in schools after the death of Delos Santos.

The Grade 11 student, labelled by the police as a drug runner, was killed in Caloocan City last week. Cops claim Delos Santos fired the first shots. 

But CCTV footage and witnesses said Delos Santos was blindfolded by cops, beaten up, forced to hold a gun, before he was shot by the police. Autopsy results showed he was killed by 3 bullets that entered the back of his head.

Lawmakers already slammed the Commission on Higher Education for allowing colleges and universities to implement mandatory drug testing among students and student applicants. (READ: Mandatory drug tests could lead to ‘tokhang’ in schools, warns students’ union)

Briones said the DepEd will make sure parents of students who will be chosen for the random drug test will be informed about the guidelines for the drug test. A written notice will also be given to the parents. 

But failure to return the acknowledgement slip of this notice “shall not be a bar to the conduct of the drug testing and of the said students’ inclusion in the sample.” This means with or without the parent’s consent, a student chosen for the random drug test would have to go through with the procedure. 

“Because according to the law, consent is not needed. What is important is that they are informed,” explained Briones.  

Still, the DepEd chief said the department order has laid out the necessary safeguards to protect the students.  

Students who test positive will undergo confirmatory tests. If these second tests yield another positive result, the students will be referred to a DOH-accredited physician and health facility, where they will be subjected to a drug intervention program.

Briones said drug test results will not be a basis for the school to punish the student.– Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA –  A train crash in the eastern US city of Philadelphia injured 42 people early Tuesday, authorities said.

Heather Redfern, a spokeswoman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, said a high-speed train ran into another one that was stationary and unoccupied at the 69th Street Terminal in the city's Upper Darby suburb.

"All 42 people on board the train that was moving were injured and all appear to be non life-threatening," she said, adding the cause of the crash just after midnight was being investigated.

A passenger named Ronnie told local news channel NBC10: "My face hit the wall, put a big hole in the wall and I went straight down and I blacked out.

"There was blood everywhere. The driver is all banged up and there was this one girl bleeding out of her face pretty bad."

Thirty-six people were left with minor injuries when two New York subway train cars careened off the tracks in June.

The US rail network suffers from chronic underfunding and accidents are not infrequent, particularly on the busy East Coast corridor. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Australian Animal Health Laboratory confirmed the presence of bird flu in San Luis, Pampanga, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

Piñol announced the results of the confirmatory test during a press conference on Tuesday, August 22.

"To debunk suggestions that we were hasty and imprudent in making the announcement, I would like to report to you that this is already the result from Australia," Piñol said.

He added: "The result of the laboratory test [from the] Australian Animal Health Laboratory confirms positive presence of bird flu in San Luis using as samples those specimens submitted by the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Animal Industry."

On August 11, when Piñol first confirmed the avian influenza or bird flu outbreak in Pampanga, he said what hit the town and killed thousands of birds is avian influenza type A subtype H5.

Arlene Vytiaco of the Bureau of Animal Industry said the N component is still for testing.

"It so happened na kinulang sila ng sample, so ipo-propagate pa 'yun to conduct further testing for the N component (It so happened that they lacked samples, so they will still have to propagate that to conduct further testing for the N component)," Vytiaco explained, adding that further testing will take 1 to 3 days.

The agriculture secretary emphasized that they hear no other reports of possible bird flu outbreaks outside San Luis, Pampanga, and the towns of Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija.

To assure the public that there's nothing to fear amid the outbreak, Piñol said he will ask President Rodrigo Duterte to eat balut with him in Pampanga.

"On the suggestion of the stakeholders, and I agree with this, we will ask the President to join us whenever he's available next week in an itik, manok, and balut (duck, chicken, and fertilized duck embryo) festival in San Fernando, Pampanga," he shared.

He added: "We will ask the President to eat balut with us para ma-assure 'yung mga public na kung 'yung presidente hindi takot kumain ng balut, eh lalo pa kayo (to assure the public that if the President is not afraid to eat balut, then all the more should the public not be afraid)."

Piñol had earlier asked the President for P100 million for the poultry industries of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. On Tuesday, he said P51 million is now ready for the compensation of farm owners in San Luis.

Piñol also announced the lifting of the ban on the shipment of poultry and poultry products from Luzon to other parts of the Philippines. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – Northern Police District (NPD) Chief Superintendent Roberto Fajardo has been relieved by the Philippine National Police (PNP), Director General Ronald dela Rosa announced on Tuesday, August 22.

Dela Rosa said Fajardo was put in "administrative relief" during a dzMM radio interview and later confirmed to Rappler by Metro Manila police chief Director Oscar Albayalde.

As the NPD chief, Fajardo handled the Camanava region encompassing Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela.

Fajardo was relieved to prevent him from influencing PNP probes done by its Internal Affairs Service (IAS) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

In a text message to Rappler, Fajardo said he welcomes the temporary eviction.

"I always believe that things happen for a reason. If they feel that administratively taking me out will be the solution to pacify the public, then so be it," Fajardo said.

This comes while the PNP has been put into hot water after Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old student, was gunned down and killed by Caloocan cops in an operation.

CCTV footage and eyewitness reports claimed the Delos Santos was manhandled, forced to shoot, run, and shot at. His case has since then sparked public outrage.

Fajardo earlier maintained that the operation was regular and that Delos Santos was known as a drug runner in their neighborhood before his death. 

Replacing Fajardo is Chief Superintendent Amando Empiso, the Metro Manila police Deputy Regional Director for Operations. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said there is no evidence that presidential son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte is involved in smuggling.

Pimentel's statement came after a Bureau of Customs (BOC) broker and fixer on Tuesday, August 22, claimed that he personally paid Paolo Duterte's "friend" and "handler" in exchange for swift transactions.

"Madali gumawa ng kwento but kwento is not evidence (It's easy to create stories but stories are not evidence)," Pimentel said in a Rappler Talk interview on Tuesday.

Customs broker Mark Taguba claimed at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that he gave P5 million as initial payment to Davao City Councilor Nilo "Small" Abellera Jr and to a certain Jack, Vice Mayor Duterte's alleged handler. The two are supposedly members of the so-called Davao Group, known to have strong connections inside the BOC.

Also during the Senate hearing, opposition senator Antonio Trillanes IV said Abellera is a known "friend" of the vice mayor, even showing pictures of the two. Trillanes also reiterated his claim that the younger Duterte was clearly linked to smuggling.

Despite this, Pimentel sees no reason to invite Paolo Duterte to the Senate just yet.

"Why not call the friend first? Ganoon muna (Let's do that first). We follow the evidence, we do not follow immediately all the stories. Madali lang po talaga gumawa ng storya ngayon (It's really easy to make up stories nowadays)," Pimentel said.

The Senate President is a staunch ally of President Rodrigo Duterte and is the president of the ruling party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

Senator Richard Gordon, another administration senator, earlier said there was no proof linking the presidential son to the P6.4 billion worth of smuggled shabu from China, the subject of the Senate blue ribbon committee probe.

Shielding the President?

Despite his close ties to the executive, Pimentel denied shielding the President and his family from controversies. (READ: Koko Pimentel: His father's son, the President's 'protector')

Pimentel said such criticism hardly affects him because he is "not doing that."

"Wala (Nothing); we're not doing that. I know there is criticism but I am personally not hurt because I'm not doing that. I am a party mate of the President, I am the follower of the President but we will follow the evidence," he said.

Pimentel added that he would also keep a close watch over serious allegations against Duterte.

"We will also follow serious and grave charges. 'Wag naman kada lahat na lang ng kritisismo (but not each and every criticism), as if the President can do nothing right – that's also an attitude which is also objectionable or wrong," he said.

Pimentel is a strong supporter of Duterte's bloody drug war and his declaration of martial law in Mindanao, where the senator hails from. He had also defended the President against allegations that the Chief Executive ordered extrajudicial killings. – Rappler.com

HELSINKI, Finland – A Finnish district court on Tuesday, August 22, placed in custody the main suspect in last week's stabbing spree that left two dead, which is being investigated as the country's first terror attack.

"The offender in Turku incident is suspected on probable cause of murders and attempted murders with terrorist intent and placed in detention," the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in a Twitter post.

The suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Moroccan citizen Abderrahman Mechkah, an asylum seeker who arrived in Finland in early 2016.

Police have said he targeted women in the Friday afternoon attack at a market square in the southwestern port city of Turku. Two women were killed and six women and two men were injured.

Mechkah, who was shot in the thigh by police minutes after the attack, appeared before the Turku court on Tuesday via video link from hospital.

Most of the hearing was held behind closed doors, but press photos taken at the beginning showed the suspect lying in his hospital bed, his head propped up on a pillow and his face shielded by a white sheet.

The motive for the attack is unclear, but the country's intelligence agency SUPO said Monday that he might have been radicalised. – Rappler.com

CASAMICCIOLA TERME, Italy (UPDATED) – Rescuers on the Italian holiday island of Ischia pulled the last trapped child from rubble on Tuesday, August 22, after a magnitude-4.0 earthquake toppled buildings and left two people dead.

Firefighters dug with their bare hands to reach 11-year old Ciro, the last of 3 brothers buried in debris when the quake struck.

"There was silence for a while, they were tired. Then they began speaking again and we drew comfort from that," said Luca Cari, a firefighter spokesman.

A woman was killed in Casamicciola, in the north of the small tourist island, by debris that fell from a church, while the body of another was spotted in the rubble of a collapsed house, local media reported.

Firefighters broke into applause as a dusty Mattias, 7, was pulled free from under the bed where he had taken refuge. His 11-year old brother Ciro was the last to emerge, rescued after 16 hours in the dark and loaded into a waiting ambulance.

The boys' father, whose hands were bandaged after spending the night digging through the rubble alongside the firefighters, could be seen tearfully hugging relatives as his eldest son was saved.

Emergency workers had previously recovered the boys' seven-month-old brother, Pasquale, crying but alive, after hours of effort overnight. Their pregnant mother had sounded the alarm.

Two small communes, Casamicciola and neighbouring Lacco Ameno, bore the brunt of the quake, according to the civil protection agency.

The quake hit the northwest of the island at 8:57pm (1857 GMT) on Monday, at a depth of just five kilometres (three miles). 

Italian authorities first put the quake at a 3.6 magnitude, but later revised it upward to 4.0 -- in seismic terms, a modest event.

The main earthquake was followed by 14 smaller aftershocks. Several buildings collapsed while others had large, ominous cracks.

Thirty-nine people were injured, one seriously.

"Italy is united with Ischia in sorrow for, and solidarity with, the victims. We stand side-by-side with those taking part in the rescues," Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Twitter.

'A horrible experience'

Many holidaymakers packed their bags and rushed to catch special overnight ferries back to the mainland.

The quake struck just days ahead of the first anniversary of the 6.0 magnitude quake that killed nearly 300 people in and around Amatrice in central Italy. In October 2016 and January 2017 three other earthquakes hit the same region.

Francesco Peduto, head of Italy's National Geologists Association, on Tuesday slammed shoddy construction and a lack of earthquake prevention measures, saying a 4.0-magnitude quake should not have brought down buildings.

"It's frankly extraordinary that people continue to die for earthquakes of this size," he said.

The quake response has benefited from the presence of emergency responders who were on the island to fight forest fires that have plagued Italy this summer, local media said.

"I was on the couch watching TV. Blackout, shaking, something fell on my head. I scream, my mother grabs me and we ran outside," one witness wrote on Twitter.

Teams of firefighters, including two units specialized in extracting people from rubble, were quickly mobilized, said Bruno Frattasi, who oversees the fire department.

Ischia's only hospital was also hit and had to be partially evacuated, with five patients transferred to another medical facility by helicopter.

Restaurants were packed and many stores were still open when the shaking began, witnesses said on Twitter.

"A horrible experience, everything was shaking, plunged into darkness, houses were collapsing... a nightmare," one wrote.

Ischia is often hit by earthquakes, with its worst dating back to July 1883, when an estimated 5.8-magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people.

Italy straddles the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, making it vulnerable to seismic activity when they move. – Rappler.com

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines – Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) no longer wants to pursue the construction of its fiercely opposed Nickelodeon-branded attraction and resort in Coron town.

In a press statement sent to Rappler on Tuesday, August 22, VIMN said it decided to “mutually agree” with project developer Coral World Park (CWP) “to discontinue the IP licensing agreement” for the said Nickelodeon-branded tourism infrastructure.

“Therefore, VIMN and Nickelodeon will no longer be involved with this proposed development,” said Adeline Ong, VIMN Asia’s Senior Director of Corporate Communications.

The statement comes a few weeks after Greenpeace urged VIMN to end its partnership with CWP which the green groups found to have “no historical background of any conservation effort anywhere else in the Philippines.”

“Drop this outrageous project as early as possible, or else face a possible reputational backlash,” warned Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines, said in a press conference in Puerto Princesa on July 27.

Cinches said the CWP had yet to submit a master plan since the global media company announced in January its plan to build the “world’s first undersea attraction and Nickelodeon’s first resort in Southeast Asia." (READ: Nickelodeon to build Philippine underwater theme park)

Slated to open in 2020, the ambitious project aimed to develop a 400-hectare area, with 70 hectares set aside for the resort’s accommodation and 30 hectares for the themed attraction.

The planned attraction drew flak from environmental and civil society organizations, including the Tagbanua Tribes of Coron Island Association, Incorporated (TTCIA), which asserted Coron was not just a place of ecological importance boasting spectacular sceneries but also a place of cultural value that needs to be preserved. (READ: Tagbanua to Nickelodeon: 'We don't need an underwater theme park in Coron')

“Chances are, we’ll not be able to do our traditional practices should we let them in,” said Armil Pe Abella, a member of Tagbanua tribe who acquired a certificate of ancestral domain title, which grants them authority over 24,264-hectare land and seascape around the municipality of Coron.

An online petition against the project had garnered over 263,000 signatures.

"Why do Coron and the Philippines need artificial attractions? Coron is already so beautiful in its natural state," said petitioner Anna Oposa, Save Philippine Seas executive director.

AA Yaptinchay, executive director of Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, lauds VIMN for making such an announcement.

“This is a welcome development. We congratulate VIMN for discerning, not only which responsible companies they partner up with, but we hope with sincere concern on how these developments can negatively affect the natural environment,” he told Rappler.

Yaptinchay added the conservation community will remain watchful, in case the developer decides to push through with the project. “We are still cautious though that the planned development by Coral World Park is still active, possibly with a new, less responsible partner. We will be vigilant,” he added.

Cinches said VIMN’s abandonment of the project partnership with CWP is a warning to other investors who may consider engaging with the latter in the future.

“It’s not wise to partner with Coral World Park at this moment because Nickelodeon already abandoned that kind of partnership, so the [project] could not be revived anymore,” he told Rappler.

In a joint statement, conservation groups in the country urged the local government of Coron, the provincial government of Palawan, and Philippine environmental regulatory institutions to reject any potentially destructive project proposals anywhere in the province and the country. – Rappler.com