911 Davao

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio announced Monday the creation of a transition team, which will temporarily man the operations of the city's Central Communications and Emergency Response Center (Central 911).

This after Mario Verner Monsanto was ordered relieved from his post as chief of Central 911 chief effective March 12.

Guns Down In Davao

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio submitted a resolution Tuesday requesting the Philippine National Police (PNP) to declare a gun ban in Davao City for the whole March.
The Davao City Peace and Order Council (DCPOC) approved the resolution in line with the month-long 75th Araw ng Dabaw celebration.

“It will be for the whole month of March instead of four days, which was the original plan,” the mayor said.
Araw ng Dabaw is one of the biggest events in the city, aside from Kadayawan Festival. It is expected to draw thousands of visitors from provinces and other countries.

Davao A Wonder

The city government of Davao is intensifying its campaign to be enlisted in the  nomination round for the New7WonderCities.

It hopes  to qualify for Phase two by gaining the most number of internet votes in the Philippines. By March 7, the campaign will bring down the list to 300 cities, that includes one city per country plus the 77 cities voted in Phase 1.

Jail Break From Kidapawan

Dozens of black-clad gunmen armed with grenades and bombs stormed a southern Philippine jail trying to free a detained comrade, but they were repulsed by police in a chaotic night battle that killed three people, officials said Monday.

Fifteen people were wounded, most of them civilians caught in the firefight late Sunday outside Kidapawan's city hall compound and along a key commercial road. Military and police officials blamed former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but a spokesman for the Muslim rebel group denied the claim.

Tourism Hit In Mindanao

THE travel advisories against Mindanao have been hurting tourism in Davao City, where foreigners accounted for only 10 percent of all visitors last year, an official said Friday.

“Some countries are very obedient to travel advisories,” Davao City Tourism Office head Jason Magnaye told the Manila Standard on the sidelines of the National Tourism Statistics Conference 2012 in Manila.

Davao City has what it takes to become a premier tourist destination, but the negative travel advisories against some areas as a result of violence or the presence of insurgents or bandits have been hurting Davao, Magnaye says.
Some 730,000 people visited Davao City last year, but “90 percent of them were local tourists and the rest were foreigners,” he said.

Troops Looking For Kidnap Victims

Around 5 000 troops were sent to search for two European birdwatchers abducted in the southern Philippines, a provincial official said on Saturday.


Elwold Horn, 52, from Holland and Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 47, of Switzerland were kidnapped on February 1 while on a small boat off the island town of Panglima Sugala in Tawi-Tawi province, 1 050 kilometres south of Manila.

Child Kidnapping

The police on Thursday filed charges of kidnapping with serious illegal detention against a couple for allegedly snatching last Tuesday night a three-year-old boy in Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur, a police official said.

Chief Inspector Roberto Carao, chief of the Magsaysay police, identified the suspects as Percida Abrea, 39, of Barangay Lower Bala, Magsaysay; and Abdurahim Utto Akas, 31, an Arabic teacher from Cotabato City.

Carao said complaints of violation of the Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code were filed against the suspects at the Davao Provincial Prosecution Office in Digos City.

The suspects were placed under inquest proceedings and have remained in the custody of the Magsaysay Police.

Carao said his men apprehended the couple inside Room Number 9 of the Bansalan Lodge in Bansalan town, also in Davao del Sur, after authorities received tips from their informants the suspects were staying in the area with the victim.

Do Not Extort Foreign Husbands

THE newly designated chief of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Davao City warned Filipinas against extorting from their foreigner husbands.
"Do not use our office as a vehicle to harass foreigners," said Florentino G. Diputado, new BI Davao acting alien control officer.

Diputado, who is acting alien control officer of BI Cagayan de Oro before he assumed the Davao post on February 6, said there were many instances when Filipinas file complaints before their office claiming to be battered wives.

He said not all complaints are held true based on BI investigation.
"Case-to-case basis kasi kami," he said, adding they would immediately call the attention of the foreigners involved and give his right to defend themselves.
He said they would later find out that most complaints were extortion related.
Wikipedia.com defines extortion as not only the unlawful demanding and obtaining of something through force, but additionally, in its formal definition, the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant.

Bird Watchers Kidnapped

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   Police said Friday that local thugs, not al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants, were likely to have abducted two European tourists this week in the southern Philippines.
  Police Director Felicisimo Khu said the kidnappers had not contacted authorities or made any ransom demand.
  
  
  Ewold Horn of the Netherlands, Lorenzo Vinciguerra of Switzerland and their Filipino guide, Ivan Sarenas, were abducted Wednesday during a bird-watching trip to Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines’ southernmost province. They were the latest kidnap victims in an impoverished region infested with al-Qaida-linked militants and criminal gangs that often seek ransom for their foreign hostages.
  Sarenas escaped hours later by jumping off their captors’ boat after he saw some fishermen, who rescued him.

The Department of Tourism on Friday seemingly laid the blame for the kidnapping of two Europeans in Tawi-Tawi squarely on the victims' shoulders.
In a press statement issued late Friday, the DOT stressed that "the issuance of travel advisories is part of the regular functions of embassies in line with ensuring the safety and security of their citizens in a foreign country. For the Philippines, advice against travel to some parts of Mindanao has been constant and common." The DOT then added: "The Tawi-Tawi incident is considered unfortunate and could have been avoided had the visitors taken necessary precautions many European tourists usually take in heed of these advisories."

Bukidnon Grenade

The Philippine military says an accidental grenade blast killed a communist rebel and wounded 11 civilians, including seven children.
Col. Leopoldo Galon said rebels were conducting lectures in a village in southern Bukidnon province’s Kibawe township when a guerrilla accidentally dropped a grenade.

Flooding in Southern Mindanao

Hundreds of people were evacuated in two Southern Mindanao provinces as floods struck several towns following heavy rains, authorities said.

Several towns in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley were under water, forcing villagers to flee their homes.

Maj. Jacob Obligado, civil military officer of the 10th Infantry Division, said as of 7 a.m. on Saturday villages in the municipalities of Laak, Asuncion, New Corella and Kapalong, all in Davao Del Norte, were under water.

American Murdered in Davao City

REPRESENTATIVES from the US Embassy in Manila arrived in Davao City to gather information on the death of an American national who was killed inside his house at a posh subdivision in Ma-a, Davao City.

US Embassy representative Richmond Jimenez and Megan Bartholome, deputy chief of the Non-Immigrant Visa Unit, visited the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) to get updates on the development of police investigation on the killing of Basil Joseph Griffin, 73, a retired auto salesman and native of Oregon, USA.

Griffin was found with head injuries inside the comfort of his house at Woodridge Subdivision on January 3.

Griffin's sister Carol Malta wrote a letter and requested the US Embassy in Manila to look into the death of her brother.

Mt Apo Boulder the Challenge

Rat Urine Now Killing Survivors

The Philippines is struggling to help about 429,000 people on the southern island of Mindanao after the country’s worst storm in three years as the first outbreaks of disease are reported and more rains forecast.

Tropical Storm Washi, locally known as Sendong, killed 1,257 people on Mindanao, many as they slept, as rivers overflowed and inundated coastal cities in the early hours of Dec. 17. As anger over a slow government response mounted, Civil Defense Administrator Benito Ramos said by phone yesterday that five people have died from leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that spreads in water contaminated with rat urine.

Australian Pleads For Release

A former Australian soldier kidnapped in the southern Philippines is seen in a video sent to his family pleading for his life and urging Manila and Canberra to raise a $2 million ransom being demanded by his captors.

The video of 53-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell, along with four photographs showing him in handcuffs and apparently wounded in the right hand, were mailed to his Filipino wife before Christmas, Philippine police officials said. The Associated Press saw a copy of the video and pictures Thursday.

Immigration Sign Up

A TOTAL of 101 foreigners in Davao City appeared before the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for their annual report.

"We do expect more than 3,000 registered aliens in Davao to report towards the end of the first 60 days of this year," said lawyer Nimfa Edroso, BI-Davao officer-in-charge.

In the BI's official website, BI commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the annual report is provided under the Alien Registration Act of 1950, which directs foreigners to report to the bureau within the first 60 days of every calendar year.

Rat Fever

he health authorities declared an outbreak of a deadly rat fever on Monday in the flood-hit areas in the southern Philippines.

At least five people were already dead and as many as 200 were diagnosed in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro with leptospirosis, a fatal animal-borne disease that can result in high fever, internal bleeding and organ failure.

The latest fatality, an old woman, died late Monday due to complication.

Dr. Jaime Bernadas, regional health minister, said they fear the number of patients displaced by typhoon Washi could increase in the coming days.

Congressman Rufus Rodriguez has called on people affected by the floods that killed over 1,200 people to avail of the government's vaccination against the deadly disease.

Death Of Al Barnett

My post:
Uncle Alan you may be gone but you will never ever be forgotten, you will always be in our hearts and our thoughts.
I am devastated that I have never had the opportunity to meet him and now I will never have the chance.
I have fond memories of Uncle Alan when I was young he used to phone every year to speak to us at Christmas time. 

It has only been recently that I have discovered the amazing work that Alan and Robalyn did, I am truly inspired by the Bite for a Byte program, as a Primary Teacher myself this charity foundation really struck a chord with me. I would be very greatfull to have the opportunity to visit Al,s Diner and to see the work that Alan did for the local schools and community in Daveo city.

Kind regards

Kirsty Barnett - Alan's niece (Chris Barnett's daughter)

Two Thousand Maybe Dead

Philippine authorities yesterday doubled the number of dead and missing in deadly floods to more than 2,000, as relief groups rushed in aid for desperate survivors.

Water, toilets and other facilities are all urgently needed to head off potential epidemics, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokeswoman Angela Travis said.

“The water situation is still difficult and we are worried about what this means for their health,” Travis said, adding that damaged tap water systems meant firetrucks had to deliver to the camps.

Nearly half a million people require immediate assistance, UN agencies estimate, including nearly 50,000 at evacuation centers and those reduced to living with relatives and on the streets.

Grenade in Mabuhay Village

 Four children were wounded when a live ammunition from a 40-mm mortar exploded in a village in the southern Philippines early Sunday afternoon, the military said Monday.

The kids were playing when the explosive from an M-203 grenade launcher went off in Mabuhay village, Tandag city in the southern province of Surigao del Sur around 2:30 p.m., said Maj. Julio Eugenio Osias IV, spokesperson of the army's 4th Infantry Division.

Osias said the live ammunition could have been from the leftist New People's Army (NPA) rebels who on Friday raided the village hall where soldiers doing community works were resting. The rebels killed five and wounded two other government troops.

Osias did not elaborate on how the explosion was triggered.

533 died and 309 remain missing

Disaster agencies on Monday rushed to deliver body bags, food, water, and medicine to crowded evacuation centres in the southern Philippines as officials considered digging mass graves for hundreds killed in weekend flash floods.

The national disaster agency said 533 died and 309 remain missing, while the local Red Cross put the toll at 652 killed and more than 800 missing.

Casualties from the flashfloods exceeded the more than 450 people killed in 2009 when a tropical storm dumped heavy rains on the main Luzon island, inundating nearly the entire capital Manila.

Typhoon Washi slammed ashore in the Mindanao region of the Philippines while residents slept at the weekend, sending torrents of water and mud through riverside villages and sweeping houses out to sea.

In the aftermath, radio stations and local governments have been deluged by calls and appeals from survivors asking for help to bury the dead or find missing relatives.

"My suggestion is, so that illnesses won't spread, let's have mass graves," Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, said in a radio interview. "This will be the discretion of local governments and the DOH (Department of Health)."

"From the helicopter, we saw four major river systems, all houses along the riverbanks were totally destroyed."

Al From Als Diner In Davao City

It is with regret we announce the death of a well known and industrious expat living here in Davao City. Al was always helping schools and assisting in many charity operations. In fact a percentage of his takings from the famous Al's Diner went to charitable projects in and around Davao City.

Al had been suffering from a heart condition for several years. This December 2011 he died.

Below you will see a video that if you look closely includes Al outside the diner.

Child Porn In Davao

Influential persons are behind a syndicate using children here to sell pornographic materials mainly through the Internet and this was the reason the illegal operation persists, a nongovernment organization (NGO) working for children’s welfare said.

Bernardo Mondragon, of the NGO Alert Davao, said the information came from three victims, who were recently rescued.

Mondragon would not identify who the influential persons were but said some of them are “people in authority.”

Based on the accounts of the victims, Mondragon said the sex syndicate would recruit children—preferably males aged 16 to 17—and use them in making pornographic films.

The filming is done in small houses along the Davao Gulf with the use of cameras, laptops and spotlights.

The rescued victims, he said, gave the exact location of the shanties where the pornographic films are being produced.

He said sometime in June this year, police raided a house in Sasa here, seized pornographic materials and arrested several suspects.

Flooding And Deaths In Mindanao

Flash floods sparked by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines have killed more than 200 people and left hundreds missing, officials say.

Many of the victims were asleep when it struck Mindanao island, killing many in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to higher ground, the authorities say.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster rescue agency, said reports were still coming in and the casualty figures could rise.

Mr Ramos said the floodwaters had risen alarmingly fast overnight as people slept.

"Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City," he said

Boy Freed By Police

Philippine police stormed a kidnappers' hideout and rescued a 4-year-old American boy who was held for ransom for eight days, officials said Friday. Five suspects were arrested in the second recent case of a kidnapped U.S. minor in the Philippines.

The boy, who was living with his Filipino mother and American father, was seized in Manila on Dec. 6 by three gunmen who cut off the car he was traveling in with the mother, said Isagani Nerez, head of the police anti-crime unit.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2102639,00.html#ixzz1gnL9qmng