MANILA, Philippines – To combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Philippines, the health department has established the Hypertension and Diabetes Club where patients can avail themselves of free maintenance medicines.

"The current dilemma in addressing NCDs in the Philippines is that patients usually seek treatment in hospitals when they are already sick or already in long-term complications," Health Secretary Janette Garin said in a statement.

"In order to fight NCDs, it is important to practice healthy lifestyle choices early. Also, early detection and care using cost-effective and sustainable health care interventions that are integrated in primary health care facilities are essential," she added.

To join the Hypertension and Diabetes Club, patients must go to the nearest health center or primary health care facility and undergo assessment, screening, and management through the Philippine Package of Essential NCD Intervention protocol.

Once diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes, or both, the patient will be enrolled in the club, where he or she can access the following medicines:

• For hypertension: Losartan, Amlodipine, Metoprolol
• For diabetes: Metformin

The member can also join activities that promote healthy lifestyle to control blood pressure and blood sugar, and prevent complications of the diseases.

The Department of Health said it is also implementing an expansive PhilHealth coverage and utilization, and upgrading health facilities all over the country – interventions that will help facilitate risk assessment in communities and ensure regular follow-up of patients diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes.

The upgrading involves the distribution of blood pressure apparatus to barangay health workers, and glucometers to every health care facility.

According to the World Health Organization, NCDs are the top killers in the Philippines, especially cardiovascular diseases (33% of deaths related to NCDs), cancer (10%), diabetes (6%), and chronic respiratory diseases (5%) – dubbed the "fatal four" NCDs.

"Unhealthy habits such as smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and unhealthy diet have sparked an epidemic of diseases which together constitute the leading cause of death," the DOH said.

The National Nutrition Survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed an increasing prevalence of diabetes and a decreasing prevalence of hypertension in the Philippines from 2008 to 2013:

• Diabetes: From 4.8% to 5.4%
• Hypertension: From 25.3% to 22.3%

– Rappler.com

Diabetes concept image via ShutterStock.

NEW YORK, USA – The new Argentine government reopened talks with bondholders in New York Wednesday, January 13, that for years have blocked the struggling country's access to global capital markets.

The previous administration of Cristina Kirchner had refused to compromise with the creditors, mainly hedge funds it branded "vultures," after a US court ordered the country to pay the full value of bonds that Buenos Aires defaulted on some 15 years ago.

Talks between representatives of the new government of President Mauricio Macri, who has pledged to reform and revitalize the Argentine economy, and the bondholders opened Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan, under the guide of the court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack.

Speaking in Buenos Aires, Argentine Economy Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay said the South American country would negotiate "with toughness" but was committed to finding an agreement.

"This is a first introductory meeting. Don't expect a concrete proposal. Let's hope the holdouts show the responsibility to negotiate fairly and settle," he told journalists.

On Tuesday, January 12, Macri said he hoped for a "reasonable agreement" with the creditors, who have demanded 100% payment of their bonds even though most of the creditors in the country's $100 billion default in 2001 accepted sharp losses in a negotiated debt restructuring.

"We will tell the mediator that there has been a change, another vision for our debts and how to stop being a defaulter and to resolve the pending issues," Macri said.

The leaders of the so-called "holdout" group, the hedge funds NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management, bought up Argentine debt cheaply around the time of the default and over the next decade refused to join 93 percent of bondholders in restructuring the debt.

To the dismay of the country and its restructured bondholders, NML and Aurelius won a New York court judgment in 2012 that ordered Argentina to repay the full value of their bonds.

That decision roiled the sovereign bond world, where holdouts to post-default restructurings were assumed to not have valid claims for repayment.

The court said, moreover, that Buenos Aires could not make payments on the restructured bonds without first paying off in full the two hedge funds. And it forbade banks from handling any other bond payments before the hedge funds were paid.

Kirchner's government refused, and talks on an ostensible compromise went nowhere.

Heavy price tag

The two hedge funds hold about $1.3 billion worth of bonds, whose accrued value is now about $1.7 billion.

Last October, the New York court further ruled that 49 other holdouts were covered by the 2012 ruling and also had to be paid first, adding another $6.1 billion to the sum Argentina is ordered to pay. Pollack has said the total amount owed to holdouts is around $10 billion.

The Argentine economy minister said the US court ruling gave the creditors lavish interest payments – up to 95 cents out of every dollar Buenos Aires has been ordered to pay, in the case of certain bonds.

"That is what we want to discuss quickly and resolve the problem," he said.

But he blamed the Kirchner administration for the heavy price tag.

"This is the cost of washing our hands of the problem for more than 10 years," he said.

With foreign reserves believed at less than $30 billion, Kirchner's government said it could not afford to pay, and Macri's government will face the same challenge. 

The conservative new president has launched into a program of difficult structural reforms for the economy that includes a more than 30% devaluation of the peso.

He has indicated he wants to resolve the problem with the bond holdouts quickly, as it impedes the country's access to global capital markets.

Within days of assuming office on December 10, Macri sent representatives to let Pollack know the country was ready to negotiate in earnest.  – Mariano Andrade, AFP / Rappler.com

OTTAWA, Canada – Canada has welcomed its 10,000th Syrian refugee, the government announced Wednesday, January 13, although almost two weeks behind schedule and far fewer than it had originally planned to resettle by now.

A plane carrying asylum seekers landed in Toronto late Tuesday, January 12, putting the number of arrivals at 10,121 since November, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals took office.

In a statement, Immigration Minister John McCallum called it a "significant milestone" on the way to meeting the Liberal's overall pledge to take in 25,000 Syrians.

"Many people have worked day and night to bring these refugees to Canada," he said, "and Canadians have opened their communities and their hearts to welcome them.

"Canada continues to set an international example with its response to the worst refugee crisis of our time."

Trudeau had promised during an election campaign last year to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by December 31.

The European migrant crisis was full-blown and images of drowned Syrian child Aylan Kurdi whose body washed up on a Turkish beach appeared on the front page of most dailies, leading the Liberals to criticize the Tory government of not doing enough for Syrian refugees.

But after the Liberals assumed power the target date was pushed to the end of February, following criticism that the new government was moving too fast amid security concerns in the aftermath of deadly attacks in Paris, as well as due to logistical issues.

A new interim target of taking in 10,000 by December 31 was set, but only 6,000 Syrians travelling from camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey made it onto Canadian soil by year's end.

Outside parliament, McCallum said: "There's little doubt in my mind that 25,000 will have arrived by the end of February."

"But I think now attention should turn or has turned to the resettlement," he said.

"We have now demonstrated, I think, an ability to get the machine up and to deliver the refugees to Canada. The next phase – and it won't be easy, it won't always be totally smooth – is to... ensure that they find a place to live and get services that they require."

The minister dismissed concerns about possible clashes such as those that occurred recently in Germany, saying the situations are "quite different."

Last week, newly-arrived Syrian refugees were pepper-sprayed at a welcome event in Vancouver in an attack condemned by Trudeau.

"We are obviously very mindful of the situation in Germany and the problems that Germany has been having, but let me remind you that we are talking about 25,000 Syrian refugees (while) Germany has accepted close to a million.

"Most of them (coming to Canada) are not single men. Most of them are family members, whereas Germany accepts everybody that comes to its borders," he added.

The UN refugee agency estimates that more than 4 million Syrians have fled the civil war ravaging their country. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the total number of dead at more than 260,000 people.

Canada takes in an average of 250,000 refugees from around the world each year. – Michel Comte, AFP / Rappler.com

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuador said Wednesday, January 13, it will cooperate with Swedish prosecutors after they formally requested permission to interrogate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at his hideout in the Ecuadoran embassy in London.

"We will cooperate with the Swedish authorities so they can take some statements. We have said that from the beginning," said Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino in an interview with news site Ecuadorinmediato.

He said the interrogation would take place under Ecuadoran law because the 44-year-old Australian, who faces a rape allegation, "is under our country's jurisdiction."

He said he did not know "exactly what the procedure is," but that Ecuadoran prosecutors would carry out the questioning – though Swedish prosecutors could also be present, he added.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy since 2012.

He has repeatedly refused to travel to Sweden to answer to the rape allegation, saying he fears he would then face extradition to the United States and trial over the leaking of hundreds of thousands of classified US military and diplomatic documents in 2010.

Patino questioned why it had taken Swedish authorities "so long" to agree to question Assange under Ecuadoran law, and said it fueled "suspicions."

"We believe there really is a process of persecution" against Assange, he said.

Last March, Swedish prosecutors offered to question Assange in London, dropping their demand that he come to Sweden. 

But Quito refused to allow an interrogation until the two countries signed an agreement on general legal cooperation – which they finally did in December.

Swedish prosecutors dropped a sexual assault probe against Assange in mid-August after the 5-year statute of limitations expired.

But they still want to question him about a 2010 rape allegation, which carries a 10-year statute of limitations.

Assange has denied all the allegations and insisted the sexual encounters were consensual. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – Facing an uphill battle in New Hampshire and tightening polls in Iowa, US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is on the offensive – not just against Republicans, but also against Bernie Sanders, her chief rival in the Democratic nomination race.

Long seen as the frontrunner on a glide path to becoming her party's standard-bearer despite a lingering email scandal, Clinton suddenly finds herself under threat of losing the first two state contests: Iowa on February 1, and New Hampshire 8 days later.

"I always expected that this would be a tight race," she told CBS as part of a full-court press on 4 television networks Wednesday, January 13, in which she intensifies her attacks on Sanders.

"Now we're in the sprint and it is time to draw contrasts," Clinton added on ABC.

Sanders, an independent senator, says his rival is getting "very nervous" about his success in the polls, which reflect growing enthusiasm among young voters for the self-described democratic socialist.

The avuncular Vermonter often has an air of a disheveled professor when he preaches his message about income inequality, and the need to rein in Wall Street and expand health care to all Americans.

Buoyed by his recent rise, Sanders was positively beaming Tuesday, January 12, when he entered the House chamber to hear President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address.

Asked by NBC if he imagined himself giving that speech, Sanders chuckled before confessing: "That thought did go through my head."

Nationally, Sanders has narrowed the gap with Clinton to single digits, according to the RealClearPolitics poll average. In Iowa, it's a dead heat, while in New Hampshire, which borders his state of Vermont, Sanders is up by 6 percentage points.

"I don't pay attention to the polls," Clinton insisted, even as she pushes back and rolls out some impressive firepower.

Her husband Bill Clinton, the former president, has been out campaigning for her and did so again Wednesday at three New Hampshire events.

Their daughter Chelsea came out swinging against Sanders when stumping for her mother Tuesday, saying he "wants to dismantle Obamacare," a move she said could "strip millions and millions and millions of people of their health insurance."

Hillary doubled down on her daughter's remarks.

"I have said what I would do to improve the Affordable Care Act," she told ABC.

Sanders "wants a national health insurance single payer system," she added. "OK, tell the American people how much it's going to cost them."

She also accused Sanders of being a "pretty reliable vote for the gun lobby."

'Not nervous'

Team Clinton was concerned enough about her rival that they held a conference call Wednesday to draw sharp contrasts between the two.

On taxes, Clinton's senior policy advisor Jake Sullivan implied to reporters that a Sanders presidency would result in higher taxes for the middle class.

"Secretary Clinton believes the last thing we should be doing is raising taxes on the middle class," Sullivan said.

Clinton, seeking to repel Sanders's charge that she is cozy with billionaires, this week unveiled a "fair share surcharge" that would increase taxes by four percent on individuals making $5 million or more annually, a move her campaign said would raise $150 billion over 10 years.

With many Americans "feeling the Bern," as the Sanders campaign likes to say of his supporters, NBC asked Clinton point blank if she was nervous.

"I'm not nervous at all. I'm working hard, and I intend to keep working as hard as I can until the last vote or caucus-goer expresses an opinion," she said.

In 2008, Obama won in Iowa in a stunning upset, propelling his upstart campaign to ultimate victory over Clinton.

Clinton's campaign appears confident that Sanders will not be able to conjure up a similar brand of political magic this time around.

Iowa's and New Hampshire's delegates make up about two percent of the national total in the nomination race, and Clinton has noted that it is not a mathematical necessity to win the first two states in order to secure victory.

"I want to win but I have a very long view about this," she said.

Clinton has raised huge funds for her presidential bid, but war chests are made to be padded, especially if a long slog lies ahead.

She acknowledged to ABC that she bought a ticket for Wednesday's Powerball lottery drawing, estimated at a record $1.5 billion. 

And if she wins? 

"Well, I'll fund my campaign," she said. – Michael Mathes, AFP / Rappler.com

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's opposition moved Wednesday, January 13, to break political deadlock in the crisis-hit oil producer by removing from the state legislature three of its deputies rejected by the government.

The move followed more than a week of tense squabbling over the congress that threatens to compound citizens' economic hardship in the South American state.

The opposition bowed to a ruling by the Supreme Court which ordered 3 of its lawmakers to be suspended while it investigates them on government charges of vote-buying.

The opposition accuses President Nicolas Maduro of using the Supreme Court to block its rivals' 2/3 majority which could enable them to launch constitutional steps to drive him from office.

In the assembly on Wednesday, opposition lawmakers voted to accept a request from the 3 to give up their seats while they defend themselves in the case.

"In a game of double or quits, it was better to do what the deputies have done to preserve the institution," said the speaker of the assembly, Henry Ramos Allup.

"Sometimes truces are needed because you have to sacrifice a part to save the whole," he said in a television interview.

The government side hailed it as a retreat by the opposition, which has mounted the biggest challenge to its authority in 17 years of socialist rule.

"They retreated live before the world's media," said Maduro's number two, Diosdado Cabello.

"This gives us satisfaction and serenity. The minority prevailed, and will do so whenever it is right, with the law on its side."

Congressional quibbles in crisis

Analyst Luis Vicente de Leon, head of the pollster Datanalisis, said the MUD's decision was "a pragmatic move so as not to paralyze" its majority.

"The government has the advantage of controlling the Supreme Court and is prepared to use that unreservedly. The assembly's powers will depend on its performance."

The MUD vowed to devise measures within 6 months to force Maduro from power when it defiantly swore in all its deputies last week.

Ramos reiterated that plan even after Wednesday's move.

With the suspension of the 3 opposition lawmakers and a pro-government one also targeted in the fraud case, the number of deputies in the chamber fell from 167 to 163.

The opposition holds a majority of 109 seats instead of the 112 "supermajority" it had claimed.

But it claims its majority should now be calculated based on 163 seats rather than 167 – which would still give it a two-thirds "supermajority".

Analysts say the dispute can only be settled by the Supreme Court, which the opposition claims is packed with Maduro's allies.

The court had declared that any legislation passed by the assembly with the 3 accused deputies in it would be null and void.

"They are trying to carry out a hold-up of the assembly," Ramos said of the court judges.

Further complicating the opposition's mission are signs of division within the broad MUD coalition.

Radicals in the group want to get rid of Maduro at all costs while moderates say the priority should be to fix the economy.

Venezuela, the country with the world's largest oil reserves, has sunk ever deeper into economic crisis as crude prices have plunged in recent months.

Analysts have warned the political uncertainty will compound the hardship of ordinary Venezuelans, who have to queue for hours to buy rations of cooking oil, toilet paper and other basics.

Maduro's socialist PSUV party lost its legislative majority for the first time in nearly 17 years in elections last month.

A deep recession and what analysts say is the world's highest inflation rate have fueled discontent with Maduro, whose term runs until 2019. – Maria Isabel Sanchez, AFP / Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea – Recent satellite images suggest the nuclear reactor seen as North Korea's main source of weapons-grade plutonium is still not operating at full capacity, a US think tank said Thursday, January 14.

North Korea mothballed the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it after its third nuclear test in 2013.

When fully operational, the reactor is capable of producing around six kilos (13 pounds) of plutonium a year – enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say. 

Analyzing satellite imagery from late 2014 to the end of 2015, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) concluded the reactor has been operating intermittently or at low power throughout the period.

Using tell-tale operational markers, including steam emissions and hot water discharges, the ISIS experts discerned a pattern of limited operations for a few weeks, followed by an apparent shutdown.

"The reasons for this type of operation are unknown," the institute said.

Its findings contradict a North Korean statement in September last year that all facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex were working normally.

The ISIS experts did detect signs that a gas centrifuge plant for enriching uranium was operational, given snow melt on the roofs of the plant's main buildings.

Activity at Yongbyon is closely monitored for any sign of reprocessing activity.

At some point North Korea is expected to shut down the reactor, discharge the spent fuel, and chemically process it in a nearby radiochemical laboratory to extract weapons-grade plutonium.

North Korea has carried out four nuclear tests since 2006, the most recent being last week when it announced it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb.

Experts have disputed the H-bomb claim, saying the yield from the test was far too low for a full-fledged thermonuclear device. – Rappler.com

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities have arrested 4 suspected militants and confiscated a weapon along with Islamic State group (ISIS) documents, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Saturday.

Security forces have been on high alert in the predominantly Muslim country in the wake of deadly coordinated attacks in neighboring Indonesia earlier this week that were claimed by ISIS. Seven people, including 5 assailants, were killed during the incident.

"Congratulations E8 CK (anti-terror unit) for arresting one male suspect on Friday at a train station.... Weapon and IS documents were confiscated (from the suspect)," the police chief said on his Twitter account.

The train station is located near the iconic Petronas Towers in the heart of the capital Kuala Lumpur and houses a huge shopping mall frequented by foreigners.

The country's counter-terrorism assistant director Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay later confirmed to AFP that a knife and ISIS documents were confiscated at the suspect's house.

In a statement, Khalid said the 28-year old Malaysian admitted that he was planning to be a suicide bomber.

"The suspect admitted that he had planned a suicide attack in Malaysia and was awaiting instructions from a member of IS in Syria," he said.

The police chief added that on January 11, three Malaysian ISIS suspects were arrested by security forces after being deported from Turkey.

"They were first detained in Turkey while attempting to sneak into Syria to join IS fighters," Khalid said.  

Earlier this week, local media reported that a 16-year-old boy clad in militant attire held a woman at knife-point at a supermarket in northwestern Malaysia. 

"Investigations revealed that he was influenced by the IS movement through social media and wanted to prove that he was capable of such acts by threatening the woman," Khalid said.

The teenager was later arrested and is being held in police custody.

Muslim-majority Malaysia practices a moderate brand of Islam and has not seen any notable terror attacks in recent years.

But concern has risen in the multi-faith nation over growing hardline Islamic views and the country's potential as a militant breeding ground.

Authorities say dozens of Malaysians have travelled to Syria to fight for the radical ISIS group and warn they may seek to return home and import its ideology.

Since 2015, police have arrested numerous suspects whom they say were ISIS sympathizers plotting attacks.

Opposition lawmakers, however, say the terror arrests have been shrouded in secrecy, making it difficult to gauge the actual threat level. – Rappler.com

TAIK KYI, Myanmar – Pushed from their forest home by encroaching farm land, wild elephants are driving fearful villagers in a Myanmar township to seek refuge in tree houses while the animals storm their rice paddies looking for food.

The elephants have trampled crops, destroyed homes and even, villagers say, killed people in their path - forcing families in Kyat Chuang to build new shelters made of wood and bamboo on higher ground. 

"We have had to move our huts into the trees, so we are safe," explained San Lwin, who dashes several meters up a tree to his thatch-roofed shelter when the elephants are near. 

Villagers in Kyat Chaung, a farming community 100 kilometers north of Yangon, told AFP they yearned for the days before the elephant rampages started three years ago. 

Now they scamper up home-made bamboo ladders to their elevated huts whenever they hear the thundering sound of elephant feet, which is usually several times a week.

"We want them to be taken away ... so we can live peacefully," said Than Shin, a 57-year-old farmer.

Spurred by the loss of their forest habitats, the elephants, and villagers they have been terrorizing, are some of the casualties of Myanmar's alarming rate of deforestation, one of the fastest in the region.  

The country lost almost 20 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2010, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Experts say the chief drivers of forest loss are logging and large-scale land concessions for commercial agriculture handed out under decades of opaque junta rule.

Myanmar's population of wild Asian elephants is thought to be one of the largest in the region, according to the World Wildlife Fund. 

But the endangered species is increasingly threatened by habitat loss, a thirst for ivory, and traffickers who smuggle the animals into Thailand for the tourist industry. 

The newly-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) -- the pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi that swept to a thumping majority in landmark elections in November -- said Thursday it would address Myanmar's medley of environmental issues after assuming office later this year. 

"We will try to restore the environment in Myanmar that has been ruined for many decades," Soe Nyunt, vice chairman of the NLD's Environmental Conservation Committee told AFP.

"It will not be easy," he added.– Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Grace Poe vowed to give a larger chunk of the national budget to Mindanao and create further economic opportunities in the region, if elected president.

Poe said in a statement that peace and development in Mindanao – which has a high incidence of poverty – would be her administration's priority if she is elected.

"Mindanao is my priority. Just like any parent would prioritize a child that has more needs, I believe that the government needs to invest more in Mindanao and give it more development projects. Growth must be inclusive and must leave no one behind," she said.

According to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, hunger incidence in Mindanao were at 13% in the fourth quarter of 2015, indicating some 658,000 families experienced hunger in the region.

According to a 2012 survey by the National Statistical Coordination Board, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) remains the poorest among all the regions. Nearly half of its population lives below the poverty line, with 10 Mindanao provinces among the 16 poorest provinces in the country.

Poe pointed out that "most of the lowest-ranked provinces in Mindanao are conflict-ridden." She said this is why it is important to achieve genuine and sustained peace.

Poe wants to allocate 30% of the national budget to develop Mindanao, particularly its infrastructure, for the region to capitalize on the country’s economic momentum and build on its potential as a tourist destination.

"People in Mindanao deserve the same support and attention that people in Metro Manila or Luzon are getting, if not even more,” Poe said.

Mindanao was previously a bailiwick of Poe's father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. The region's support for the senator's presidential bid, however, has waned, with voter preference surveys indicating a drop of 10 percentage points– from 20% to 10% – for Poe between September and December. –Rappler.com

TAIPEI, Taiwan (3rd UPDATE) – Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan's main opposition party will become the island's first female president in a landslide victory over the ruling Kuomintang on Saturday, January 16, as voters turned their backs on closer China ties.

KMT candidate Eric Chu conceded defeat in a disastrous rout for the party, addressing tearful crowds at the party's headquarters in Taipei.

The vote count is continuing but live television figures from polling stations show Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has secured a historic landslide victory, with around 60 percent against 30 percent for Chu.

That would be the biggest ever win for any president in Taiwan – the previous record was 58.45 percent for current KMT president Ma Ying-jeou in 2008. 

"I'm sorry... We've lost. The KMT has suffered an election defeat. We haven't worked hard enough and we failed voters' expectations," said KMT candidate Eric Chu addressing tearful crowds at the party's headquarters in Taipei.

Chu also said the KMT had lost its parliamentary majority, the first time it has ever lost control of the island's legislature.

"This is an unprecedented drastic change for the KMT," he said.

Support for Tsai has surged as voters have become increasingly uneasy about a recent rapprochement with China under Ma, who must step down after a maximum two terms. (READ: Drama and democracy: Taiwan's political evolution)

As the economy stagnates, many are frustrated that trade pacts signed with the mainland have failed to benefit ordinary Taiwanese.

The DPP has a much warier approach to China, although Tsai has repeatedly said she wants to maintain the "status quo".

"We want to congratulate the DPP's victory, this is the Taiwan people's mandate," Chu said.

He bowed deeply in a sign of apology and declared his resignation as chairman of the party.

Risk to China ties

Jubilant crowds gathered at the DPP headquarters in Taipei, where Tsai was due to speak later Saturday.

Vendors were selling everything from cups to key chains bearing Tsai's image.

One small group held up a banner saying: "Taiwan is not part of China. Support Taiwan independence." 

"China has no right to claim Taiwan and we want to say that to the world," said one member of the group, Angela Shi, who returned from San Francisco to vote. 

Tsai has walked a careful path on her China strategy, but the DPP is traditionally a pro-independence party and opponents say Tsai will destabilise relations. 

Ma has overseen a dramatic rapprochement with China since coming to power in 2008.

Although Taiwan is self-ruling after it split with China following a civil war in 1949, it has never declared independence and Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

The thaw culminated in a summit between Ma and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.

Yet despite more than 20 deals and a tourist boom, closer ties have exacerbated fears that China is eroding Taiwan's sovereignty by making it economically dependent.

Low salaries and high housing prices are also riling voters.

Beijing has warned it will not deal with any leader who does not recognise the "one China" principle, part of a tacit agreement between Beijing and the KMT known as the "1992 consensus".

The DPP has never recognized the consensus.

Observers say it is unlikely Tsai will do anything to provoke Beijing if she wins.

Analysts also agree there will not be any immediate backlash from China, as alienating Taiwan would play against Beijing's ultimate aim of reunification.

In the latest cross-strait drama, the plight of a teenage Taiwanese K-pop star dominated local news coverage, with presidential candidates drawn into the row.

Chou Tzu-yu, 16, of girl-band TWICE who is based in South Korea, was forced to apologize after sparking online criticism in China for waving Taiwan's official flag in a recent Internet broadcast.

Her remorseful video went viral within hours, with Tsai, Chu, and president Ma all leaping to her defence Saturday and demanding answers from China and South Korea over her treatment. – Benjamin Yeh and Amber Wang, AFP/Rappler.com

Last of 3 parts

Part 1: Fil-Ams pursue political history in San Mateo, California 
Part 2: Fil-Am political history: A Metro Manila in California

DALY CITY, USA – One election can turn allies into adversaries, especially when the stakes are historic.

And that has flustered Filipino American engineers of the voting shift in San Mateo County – from at-large or countywide to in-district – who have high hopes of  FilAms uniting behind one candidate, the first County Supervisor of Filipino descent. 

“I would be heartbroken if a Filipino did not get elected to the board next year,” Guy Guerrero, the spearhead of efforts behind the shift 5 years ago, told Rappler.

Am entrepreneur who has lived in California since the 1950s, Guerrero resides further south of Daly City, the heart of brewing hostilities between two council members seeking the seat to be vacated by a termed-out former fellow Daly City council member.

The Burlingame or District 1 resident has seen many political dreams rise and fall.  For someone who insists on being apolitical – he, in fact, sat on the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury tasked with reviewing and making recommendations on the conduct of the county government – Guerrero has become the voice of the Filipino American community through his constant commentaries in the county daily newspaper.

Sage to some and gadfly to others, Guerrero upped his political capital 5 years ago when he took on the then-silent attempt to shift how the county elects its top officials.

“I was angered when I saw the 2010 Census, and that San Mateo County's population was composed of 52% racial minorities and the members of the SMC Board of Supervisors were 100% white from as far back as anybody could remember,” he told Rappler, explaining how he got involved with his current pursuit.

“I began to ask questions,” he said, stating the obvious. He talked to his district supervisor, who had proposed the switch from countywide to in-district, but was voted down by his colleagues on the board  “despite recommendations from both the SMC Charter Review Committee and the sitting Civil Grand Jury in support the position.”

Guerrero’s motivation was boundless; his research, fruitful.

He learned that a civil rights lawyer was contemplating a lawsuit against San Mateo County for violation of the California Voting Rights Act precisely for the same reason incensing Guerrero.

“The countywide voting system so obviously harms the voting rights of minorities in San Mateo County,” he said.  He met with lawyer Robert Rubin several times to engineer a strategy.

As Guerrero pressed on, 3 Filipino Americans known in the political landscape either as bankrollers or candidates – Ray Satorre, Mario Panoringan, and Bradley Roxas – signed on as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

All 3 concur with Guerrero that the candidate to beat would be Mike Guingona, the first Filipino American elected in, and 5-time mayor of, Daly City, and the seniormost council member in District 5.

“We would be defeating the object of our lawsuit (by voting against a Filipino candidate),” Roxas replied to Rappler, when asked recently which of the dueling Daly City council members he was supporting.

Satorre held no punches when he announced he had joined Guingona’s camp in April, after he took his oath as Daly City Planning Commissioner. Guingona swore him in.

"We can only attain empowerment if FilAms will be united and harmoniously reconciled," Satorre said, expressing his change of heart to this writer. "Other people will always divide and rule Filipinos (for their own agenda). Do we want to progress politically or do we want to be puppets?"

 With the primary a full year away, the campaign has sent flares online.

One hit piece accuses Canepa of complicity in bogus Tweets during a recent campaign. Canepa denied the charge and attributed it to “dirty tricks” out of “fear.”  

Guerrero swears he had nothing to do with the item. He did admit to forwarding the email to his contacts.

“My sole purpose is to see the day that the SMC Board of Supervisors reflect the demographics,” he said.  “My motives have nothing to [do] with business.  My civil rights have been violated.”

Guerrero, whose name is Spanish for warrior, has introduced his candidate to potential donors.  He has persuaded business owners to remove opponent's posters to be replaced by his bet at a strategic time.

"I'm convinced no one is more qualified than Mike Guingona for Supervisor," Guerrero said.  "His victory will prove Filipinos' mettle as politicians and as a people." – Rappler.com

TOKYO, Japan – Japan, South Korea and the United States on Saturday, January 16, ratcheted up pressure on China to support the "strongest possible" punishment against North Korea, following Pyongyang's nuclear test earlier this month.

Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their South Korean counterpart Lim Sung-Nam held a one-day meeting at a Tokyo guesthouse, where they called on Beijing to support a strong UN Security Council resolution targeting Pyongyang.

"We strongly hope that China, as its neighbor and the most influential country on North Korea, will fully cooperate with the international community to adopt a strong resolution," Saiki told a joint news conference.

Saiki said the three countries are aiming to help adopt a UN resolution with the "strongest possible contents at the earliest timing".

China, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is North Korea's economic benefactor, but traditional ties have become strained as Beijing's patience has worn thin with Pyongyang's behaviour and unwillingness to rein in its nuclear weapons ambitions.

But China's leverage over Pyongyang is mitigated, analysts say, by its overriding fear of a North Korean collapse and the prospect of a reunified, US-allied Korea directly on its border.

"It's our expectation along with our colleagues... that China will demonstrate a real leadership at the Security Council with us in assuring that there are significant consequences for North Korea's actions," Blinken said.

"The bottom-line is that the failure to take significant measures now almost guarantees that North Korea will continue to repeat this exercise of testing nuclear weapons," he added.

The call came after South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Wednesday also urged the international community, and in particular China, to back harsh sanctions targeting Pyongyang over the nuclear test.

North Korea says its latest nuclear test was of a miniaturized hydrogen bomb – a claim largely dismissed by experts who argue the yield was far too low for a full-fledged thermonuclear device.

But whatever the nature of the device, it was North Korea's fourth nuclear test since 2006, and further evidence of Pyongyang's intention to continue developing its nuclear weapons capability in the face of international censure. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipinos abroad who registered as overseas absentee voters for the 2016 national elections breached the 1-million mark.

Based on the final figures of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on January 12, there are 1,376,067 overseas Filipino voters (OFV) registered worldwide for the 2016 polls.

Among them, 1,326,728 are land-based voters, while 49,339 are seafarers.

They join the 54.4 million registered voters in the country in electing the next set of leaders on May 9.

The certified list of overseas voters is available on the Comelec website, as well as the list of OFVs whose voter records had been deactivated for failure to vote in 2 successive elections.

There were only 737,759 overseas voters in the 2013 midterm elections.

Automated polls in 30 overseas posts

Meanwhile, more overseas posts will adopt the automated mode of voting in 2016.

In a minute resolution signed in December, the Comelec will implement the automated election system in 30 posts, as follows:

In addition, 26 posts will adopt the postal mode of voting, while 26 will adopt personal voting or personally appearing in the overseas posts. Both modes of voting will remain manual.

Voting will be suspended in 3 overseas posts – in Baghdad, Iraq; Damascus, Syria; and Tripoli, Libya – due to ongoing conflict in those areas.

In the 2013 elections, precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were brought to 7 overseas posts to have an automated mode of voting: in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuwait, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Challenges

The challenge now for the Comelec is to increase the turnout for overseas absentee voting. In the 2013 polls, the overseas voter turnout was only 16.11%.

Comelec Commissioner Arthur Lim said in a previous interview with Rappler that the poll body is now being aggressive in its efforts to combat voter apathy and have more of the country's "modern-day heroes" involved in the electoral process.

"Bayan mo ito. Wherever you go, maapektuhan ka ng mga policy ng mga pinuno natin. Kung hindi ikaw, kamag-anak mo sa Pilipinas," said Lim, who also chairs the Comelec Office of Overseas Voting.

(This is your nation. Wherever you go, you will be affected by the policies of our leaders. If not you, your family and relatives here in the Philippines.)

"So, bumoto ka (go forth and vote). Let your voice be heard in choosing our leaders, because these leaders will rule over us and will lay down policies that will really affect you as overseas Filipino workers," he added.

Addressing the overseas voters who may think they're "just a small lot," Lim argued, "They're a million in number, pwedeng humalal ng Presidente iyan (it could determine the next President)."

"Importante sila, hindi natin sila nililimot (They are important, we will not forget them)."

Overseas absentee voting for OFVs will last a month, from April 9 to May 9, 2016. They can vote only for president, vice president, at most 12 senators, and a party-list representative. –Rappler.com

ATHENS, Greece – Around 2,500 people demonstrated in Athens on Saturday, January 16, to condemn a planned overhaul of Greece's pension system demanded by its international creditors, police said.

Adedy public sector union said in a statement the march on Syntagma square, next to parliament, was called to say "no to the dissolution of the security system."

"So long as those in power fail to understand, the workers will take to the streets," read the banner of the main private-sector union, GSEE.

Greece is under pressure from its creditors in the European Union and IMF to reduce spending on pensions which is the highest in the European Union.

Greek unions have announced a general strike – the third in as many months – on February 4 over the reforms.

The country's leftist government has announced plans to lower the maximum pension to 2,300 euros ($2,500) from 2,700 euros currently, and introduce a new minimum guaranteed basic pension of 384 euros.

It also wants to increase social security contributions by both employers and staff.

Greece must save 1.8 billion euros from state spending on pensions under a three-year bailout signed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF in July. – Rappler.com

BEIJING, China – Freshly elected Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen disappeared from China's most popular social network on Saturday, January 16, with censors working swiftly to block any mention of the Beijing-wary politician as she stormed to victory on the island.

Searches for "Tsai Ing-wen" and "Taiwan elections" on the Twitter-like Weibo network turned up a message that read: "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, the results for this search cannot be shown," a signal for words blocked by China's army of Internet gatekeepers.

The island's first female president won in a landslide victory over the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) on Saturday, as voters turned their backs on closer China ties.

Support for Tsai has surged as voters have become increasingly uneasy about a recent rapprochement with China under the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou.

Tsai wasted no time in warning China that "suppression" would harm cross-strait ties in her first comments to international media following her win, adding that "our democratic system, national identity and international space must be respected."

China has some of the tightest Internet controls in the world, deleting online content it deems to be sensitive and blocking Western websites and the services of Internet giants including Facebook, Twitter and Google with the so-called "Great Firewall of China".

Tsai's historic victory was initially reported very briefly by the majority of Chinese news websites in the aftermath of the KMT conceding, describing her as "the leader of the Taiwan region". 

The term "president" is viewed as conferring legitimacy on the island's claim to sovereignty.

Although Taiwan is self-ruling after it split with China following a civil war in 1949, it has never declared independence and Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Earlier in the day, searches for the Taiwanese girl-band member Chou Tzu-yu, 16, were also censored after she was forced to apologize for waving Taiwan's official flag in a recent Internet broadcast, angering mainland Chinese fans.

Her remorseful video went viral within hours, with Tsai, her defeated KMT opponent Eric Chu, and outgoing president Ma all leaping to her defense and demanding answers over her treatment.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office blamed "political forces in Taiwan" for using Chou's case to "provoke conflict", according to a report from state news agency Xinhua, posted on the affairs office website. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA (4th UPDATE) – The United States granted clemency to 7 Iranians and dropped charges against 14 more in exchange for the release of 4 Americans held in Iran, a US official said on Saturday, January 16.

"Through a diplomatic channel that was established with the focus of getting our detained US citizens home, we can confirm Iran has released from imprisonment four Americans detained in Iran: Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini, Jason Rezaian, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari," he said. 

A fifth American, identified as Matthew Trevitick, was also to be released as part of a different process. 

"We offered clemency to 7 Iranians, six of whom are dual US-Iranian citizens, who had been convicted or are pending trial in the United States. The United States also removed any Interpol red notices and dismissed any charges against 14 Iranians for whom it was assessed that extradition requests were unlikely to be successful."

Hekmati is a former US Marine arrested in August 2011, Abedini is a Christian pastor detained since December 2012. Rezaian is a Washington Post reporter detained in July 2014. Little is known about Khosravi-Roodsari. 

The US official also said that Iran has promised to help the United States determine the whereabouts of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent that went missing in Iran in March 2007.

The seven Iranians to be freed by the US are Nader Modanlou, Baharam Mekanik, Khosrow Afghahi, Arash Ghahraman, Touraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh, and Ali Sabounchi, according to Iran's judiciary and the state broadcaster.

The announcement came as Iran and world powers led by the United States were expected to finally implement last July's nuclear deal, which will lift international sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic. – Rappler.com 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan announced this week that authorities have executed 332 criminals and militants since lifting a moratorium on the death penalty in 2014, the first time an official tally has been released.

The South Asian nation unveiled a sweeping plan to curb militancy after Taliban assailants gunned down more than 150 people, most of them children, at an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014.

A six-year moratorium on the country's death penalty was lifted and the constitution amended to allow military courts to try those accused of carrying out attacks.

Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism, but in March they were extended to all capital offenses.

In a written reply submitted to the parliament on Friday, the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control said 332 people had been executed in the country.

However, opponents of the policy stress that Pakistan's legal system is unjust, with rampant police torture and poor representation for victims during unfair trials, while the majority of those who are hanged are not convicted of terror charges.

"They (government) are hanging petty criminals but known terrorists on death row are awaiting their punishment for years," Asma Jahangir, a lawyer and human rights activist in Pakistan, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The plan "can succeed only if it is fully implemented, but here we see a selective or very little implementation," she said.

She went on to accuse the government of failing to act consistently, citing the men convicted of murdering journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, who were handed death sentence years ago but have yet to be hanged.

But supporters of the plan argue that executions are the only effective way to deal with the scourge of militancy in Pakistan.

According to the report submitted to parliament, 172 religious seminaries across the country have been also been closed on suspicions of having links to militant organisations.

Ten websites related to militant activity had also been blocked, it said, while more than 70 shops have been shuttered throughout Pakistan for selling material deemed to promote hate speech.

Meanwhile, two thousand people have been arrested under the plan's scope while a similar number of cases of hate speech have also been registered. 

In June 2014, the army launched the "Zarb-e-Azb" operation in a bid to wipe out militant bases in North Waziristan tribal area and so bring an end to the bloody decade-long Islamist insurgency that has cost Pakistan thousands of lives.

And since 2013, paramilitary troops and police have been engaged in an anti-militant and crime operation in Karachi. 

Thousands of criminals have been arrested in the operation's wake along with 890 militants in the city. Militant attacks have fallen by 80 percent as a result, according to the report. – Rappler.com

MALÉ, Maldives – The Maldives' opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed, who is serving a 13-year jail term following a controversial trial, has been given permission to travel to Britain for surgery, the government said on Saturday, January 16.

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader in 2008, has complained of a spinal cord problem requiring specialist surgery that is not available in the small Indian Ocean archipelago.

"The government of the Republic of Maldives has granted permission to former president Mohamed Nasheed to travel to the United Kingdom to undertake a surgery at his request," the foreign ministry said in a brief statement.

The concession was on the "condition (Nasheed) serve the remainder of the sentence upon return to the Maldives after the surgery", it said.

Nasheed's lawyers had demanded for months that he be allowed specialist treatment abroad. 

A spokeswoman for the ex-leader's Maldivian Democratic Party said lawyers had concluded a previously arranged meeting with Nasheed at a prison island near the capital Saturday when the hardline government's surprise announcement came.

"We have seen the statement from the government, but we want to see it in writing. we want to see what the conditions are," Nasheed's lawyer Hassan Latheef told Agence France-Presse (AFP) by telephone. 

"We have requested a special meeting with president Nasheed at the prison tomorrow (Sunday) to discuss this development."

The 48-year-old was confined to jail in March 2015 on terror charges relating to the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge in 2012, when he was still in power. 

The UN has said his trial was seriously flawed and that he should be released and provided compensation for wrongful detention.

The government of President Abdulla Yameen has refused to accept the UN ruling and is resisting international pressure to release Nasheed.

His lengthy jail sentence was commuted to house arrest in July, but two months later police took him back to prison, in a surprise move that drew fresh criticism from the UN and the United States.

London-based barrister Amal Clooney is on the legal team pressuring the government of Yameen to unconditionally release Nasheed or face targeted sanctions from the international community.

Diplomatic maneuvers

The sudden change of heart by the Maldivian government came amid a flurry of high-level diplomatic activity involving neighboring India, Sri Lanka, and former colonial power Britain.

India's Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar visited Male for talks with the government and stopped over in Colombo this week while Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera made an unscheduled visit to Male on Thursday. 

Britain's Deputy Foreign Minister Hugo Swire was due in Male Saturday shortly after the government's concession was initially announced on Twitter by the Maldivian foreign ministry.

None of the countries has commented publicly on what was discussed during the visits, but diplomatic sources told AFP that backroom maneuvering had contributed to the decision to allow Nasheed to travel. 

President Yameen, a half brother of former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled for 30 years until his defeat at the first multi-party elections by Nasheed in 2008, has cracked down on dissent and arrested political opponents.

Yameen has said that a blast aboard his speed boat in which his wife and two others were injured in September was an attempt to assassinate him.

He sacked his defense minister and impeached his deputy president Ahmed Adeeb over allegedly attempting to kill him.

In July, Yameen sacked his then deputy and running mate at the 2013 elections, Mohamed Jameel, on a charge of treason.

Jameel remains in self-imposed exile abroad while several opposition activists are either in jail or face prosecution for alleged anti-government activities.

Nasheed was forced out in what he called a coup led by the military and police in February 2012. Since then, the Maldives, a leading destination for upmarket tourists, has remained in political turmoil. – Rappler.com

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan's main opposition party sent a warning to China after a landslide victory to become the island's first female president on Saturday, as voters turned their backs on closer ties with Beijing.

Fireworks lit up the sky at the headquarters of Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as thousands gathered to celebrate the historic win over the ruling China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT).

In her first comments to media, Tsai warned that Chinese "suppression" would damage ties with the mainland.

"Our democratic system, national identity, and international space must be respected. Any forms of suppression will harm the stability of cross-strait relations," she said.

Support for Tsai has surged as voters have become increasingly uneasy about a recent rapprochement with China under outgoing KMT president Ma Ying-jeou.

Her victory came on the same day that outrage erupted over the treatment of 16-year-old Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu, who was forced to record a video apology after angering Chinese netizens by flying a Taiwanese flag in a recent online broadcast.

Tsai specifically referred to Chou in her address, saying her case had "shaken Taiwanese society".

"This particular incident will serve as a constant reminder to me about the importance of our country's strength and unity to those outside our borders," she said.

Tsai has toned down the DPP's traditionally pro-independence message to assuage Beijing and calm nerves in the United States – Taiwan's major ally – which does not want to see tensions flare.

In her address to media she pledged to "work towards maintaining peace and stability" in relations with China, but emphasized it must reflect public will.

Jubilant supporters expressed their faith in Tsai as she later addressed the crowds, promising to be a strong leader.

"I'm very confident – we were cheated by Ma's government for so long," said Jimmy Lai, 45.

The United States congratulated Tsai on the victory. "We share with the Taiwan people a profound interest in the continuation of cross-strait peace and stability," the statement from US State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also congratulated Tsai and said he hoped Taiwan and China would "continue their dialogue to resolve differences and maintain the recent trend of constructive relations".

Tsai remains president-elect until she takes office on May 20.

KMT disaster

Tsai secured 56.12 percent of the vote, according to the Central Election Commission, with Chu on 31.04 percent.

It was by far the biggest mandate ever won by a DPP president. 

KMT candidate Eric Chu called the defeat "an unprecedented drastic change for the KMT" as the party also lost control of the legislature for the first time.  

"This is a stunning result that completely overturns the history of Taiwanese elections. Never before has the DPP got anywhere near such a level in national elections," said Jonathan Sullivan, professor of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham.

Analysts said ties with Beijing would inevitably cool as China watches Tsai closely.

"Cross-strait ties will be slowing in the near term as Beijing considers her to be independence-leaning. Future developments will depend on her actions," said Li Fei of the Taiwan Research Institute of China's Xiamen University.

Tsai disappeared from China's most popular social network following her victory, with censors working swiftly to block searches for "Tsai Ing-wen" and "Taiwan elections" on the Twitter-like Weibo network.

Although Taiwan is self-ruling after it split with China following a civil war in 1949, it has never declared independence and Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Ma has overseen a dramatic rapprochement with China since coming to power in 2008 culminating in a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.

Yet despite more than 20 deals and a tourist boom, closer ties have exacerbated fears that China is eroding Taiwan's sovereignty by making it economically dependent.

Low salaries and high housing prices are also riling voters who feel they have not benefited from the warming relations.

Beijing has warned it will not deal with any leader who does not recognise the "one China" principle, part of a tacit agreement between Beijing and the KMT known as the "1992 consensus" which is the bedrock of the rapprochement.

The DPP has never recognized the consensus. – Benjamin Yeh and Amber Wang, AFP/Rappler.com