A second fish kill struck a lake in Leyte province this week, decimating villagers’ livelihoods and raising questions about nearby mining safety – despite test results that indicate sanitation and over-population issues.

Peasant groups and residents are blocking Nicua Mining Corporation from bringing heavy machinery into the village, demanding the immediate suspension of mining activities in the area. The company extracts magnetite sand some 200 meters from the shore of Lake Bito in MacArthur town.

After the first kill, on March 14, fecal coli from human and animal wastes was found during water testing by the Bureau of Food and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). Many houses on stilts surrounding the lake were found to have no sanitary toilets.

Authorities also blamed overpopulation in fish pens and cages to have caused  depletion of oxygen. Fish enclosures occupied 49 of the lake’s 115 hectares, well beyond the 10 percent limit.

Dr. Nancy Dayap, regional head of BFAR’s environmental and monitoring sector, said the fish kill was due to domestic pollution, aquaculture malpractices and “possible” contamination from a nearby mine site.

The lake provides a living to almost 90 percent of residents around the body of water, which holds fish pens and cages for tilapia, carp, milkfish, shrimps and other freshwater fish.

Around 22 tons of tilapia worth about 1.87 million pesos US$43,500) were lost when the first fish kill hit.

The Promotion of Church People’s Response, Eastern Visayas, blames the mining corporation for the kills, said spokesperson Rev. Irma Mepico-Balaba.

The government granted the company a permit to operate in the area in 2010.

Balaba said the local government and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau allowed mining operations without properly consulting the affected villages.

Tests also found traces of oil and grease coming from the mining site. Mercury intake of fish, however, was below international standard and no heavy metal contamination was found in water samples.

Roger de Dios, mines director for Eastern Visayas, said his office is awaiting the result of another investigation conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau to settle the issue.

BFAR has called on the local government of MacArthur and the villagers to address domestic pollution in the area as a condition for the release of new fingerlings to fishermen and to ensure that government aid will not be wasted.

The provincial government has also approved a resolution regulating fish pens and cages in Lake Bito.

Report from ucanews.com

Aquino told Bombo Radyo that a new tax reform measure is necessary to remove the monopoly of one multinational company that was a product of a merger over other competitors.

He said the old law apparently favors only one firm, which in effect discouraged other potential investors to join the market.

The existing law has diminished competition in the industry and eventually led to a monopoly that only proved to be detrimental to tobacco farmers.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said if the House ways and means committee approves the sin tax reform measure, the government expects to earn P60 billion in new revenues.

He said the new tax revenues would boost the Aquino government’s programs.

Once the priority bill goes past the legislative mill and is enacted into law, it “will not only improve revenue and tax efficiencies in government” but more importantly, it will help secure the government’s fiscal position in ensuring the success of its programs.

“As originally proposed, it is expected to generate at least P60.7 billion in revenues, the bulk of which will go to critical health services,” Abad said in a statement, describing the old sin tax laws as “outdated and ineffective” that do not serve the people’s interests.

The important government programs include assistance to indigents and the informal sectors under the National Health Insurance Program, as well as the rehabilitation and development of regional health units and district, provincial, and regional hospitals.

Report from philSTAR.com

In Granville Ampong’s article, Pacquiao voiced his opposition against homosexual union, but what irked the gay community the most was the Bible verse allegedly quoted by Pacquiao.

The verse, which came from Leviticus 20:13, says: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Ampong clarified that Pacquiao was not quoted saying the verse, nor did the boxer invoke it during their interview.

“As we see, nowhere in my supposition and integration of my interview with Pacquiao did I mention that Pacquiao recited this Leviticus 20:13 nor did I imply that Pacquiao had quoted such,” he said in his Examiner report.

Ampong said he merely used the verse to remind “how God made it clear in the Old Testament time that such practice of same-sex marriage is detestable and strictly forbidden.”

He also blamed biased writers for twisting his column.

Ampong was referring to USA Today’s Tom Weir and LA Weekly’s Dennis Romero, who both reportedly linked Pacquiao to the Leviticus verse.

“I hereby demand both Weir and Romero to apologize to Pacquiao,” he said.

Ampong himself apologized to the reading public and the Filipino boxing superstar.

“I sincerely apologize for the confusion my column has caused,” he said.

In article posted on his official website, Pacquiao said: “I’m not against gay people… I have a relative who is also gay. We can’t help it if they were born that way. What I’m critical of are actions that violate the word of God. I only gave out my opinion that same sex marriage is against the law of God.”

Report from ABS-CBN.com

In his privilege speech supported by LGBT communities in the country, the congressman said his colleagues, whether they are straight, gays, lesbians, transgenders or bisexuals, should lead the elimination of all forms of discrimination in aid of legislation.

“I rise on a matter of personal and collective privilege to take up the cause of one of our marginalized and discriminated sectors who are not officially represented in this Congress – our gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons,” said Casino, one of the advocates of LGBT rights in and out of the House of Representatives.

The Bayan Muna leader added: “Let me start with a question: Is there any congressman in this august chamber who will openly declare that he is gay? Is there a congresswoman in this room who will admit she is lesbian?”

Casino, a straight man and father of two sons, admitted it is difficult to deal with the issue of homosexuality in the Philippines.

“I wish to make clear that exposing a lawmaker’s sexuality is not the point of this privilege speech. That is not the expose our group wishes to expose to the public,” said Casino.

The congressman has filed House Bill 4653 entitled An Act Declaring May 17 of Every Year as the National Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia to promote respect for gay rights.

Report from All Voices

“We had shortcomings, let’s admit it,” Aquino said in an interview with Bombo Radyo. “But I assure you that, eventually, we will be able to arrest these people.”

Reyes is accused of masterminding the murder of environmental activist and journalist Gerry Ortega. Palparan is accused of human rights violations, while Ecleo has been convicted for the murder of his wife last month.

Palparan has a P1-million bounty on his head, while the government has offered P1.55 million for the immediate arrest of Reyes and his younger brother, Coron town Mayor Mario Jr. The National Police has offered P150,000 for information leading to Ecleo’s arrest.

The Interpol has placed Reyes and Mario Jr. in its “red notice” at the request of Ortega’s family, which welcomed it.

“While speculations arose that the brothers have left the country illegally, this development surely gives us much hope that eventually they will be captured and tried in a court of law,” the family said in a statement issued by Ortega’s eldest daughter Mika.

“We call for the brothers to surrender immediately and peacefully. Our family will not stop until the perpetrators of my father’s murder are behind bars.”

In March, the Justice Department ordered the indictment of the Reyes brothers, former provincial administrator Romeo Seratubias, close-in aide Arturo Regalado, and Valentin Lecias after a reinvestigation by a second panel of state prosecutors on the complaint filed by Ortega’s wife Patria Gloria.

The panel upheld the testimony of Rodolfo Edrad Jr., another suspect who tagged the Reyes brothers as the masterminds of Ortega’s killing.

Report from Manila Standard Today

Mary Sheila Mercurio, compliance manager of Nakeen Corporation, denied the allegations by the International Fact-Finding Mission (IFFM) that the company “has forcibly driven away the Higaonons from their ancestral lands and that they have been strafed and arrested.”

Higaonons are indigenous people that inhabit North-Central Mindanao.

Nakeen Corp., a subsidiary of A. Brown Company Inc. (ABCI), operates an 11,350-hectare palm oil plantation in three villages of Opol town.

Mercurio said the company has the blessing of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, people’s organizations and the village council.

“These ‘institutions’ were even present during the opening of our operation in Opol,” she said during a press conference Wednesday.

“The entry and expansion of ABCI’s plantation is accompanied by gross human rights violations, including strafing, illegal arrest and holding farmers at gunpoint,” the IFFM said, adding that the lumad’s (native settlers) crops were also destroyed.

The IFFM also said that ABCI’s guards fired at eight farmers on March 10, 2011, which prompted some families in Bagocboc village to leave the area.

The IFFM, led by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific, Asian Peasant Coalition, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization, went to Tingalan and Bagocboc to hear the complaints of Higaonons.

“The IFFM itself experienced harassment as delegates were barred by the company guards from visiting a lumad’s house that was located inside the plantation, claiming that it was ‘private property’,” the statement read.

The IFFM said the company’s personnel also reportedly threatened to abduct villagers who will join the IFFM’s focus group discussion.

Opol Mayor Dexter Yasay said the area where the plantation was located cannot be owned by an individual or a firm because it is declared a timber land thus “could never be titled.”

“I don’t think I have the reason to go against this palm oil plantation. In my first two months as mayor in Opol, most of its inner areas were not developed. For as long as ABCI will not violate any law or agreement, we will back them up together with the barangay council,” Yasay said.

Report from Sun.Star

According to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ director, Atty. Asis Perez, “If a fishing closure will contribute to a better situation, we are to impose such. Besides, it will also help regenerate the dwindling population of fishes within and in the nearby waters of the Island.”

China was the first to declare its ban noon of Wednesday. The Philippines followed shortly thereafter.

China’s ban in the South China Sea also took effect Wednesday and will last until August 1. However, China’s closure is an annual event.

Perez pointed that BFAR was already contemplating on imposing a short closure period in order to have the area “rested and rehabilitated”. This, even before the President decided to impose a two-month fishing closure.

Furthermore, BFAR had been explaining to small fishermen that fishing in the Panatag area is counter-productive.

“Fishing in the Panatag Shoal is not what we exactly recommend to our small fishermen. The area is too distant for small fishermen equipped only with the traditional bancas,” Perez explained.

The BFAR imposed the closure Wednesday. It will last for two months. It also has the authority to review and recommend an extension should the Bureau determine that the two-month closure will not be enough to repopulate the fish stocks.

Report from Inquirer.Net

Mallari’s appointment was officially announced in Rome on Tuesday and was relayed to the media by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto through the Media Office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

“I write to inform you that the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has appointed HE Most Rev. Roberto C. Mallari, until now Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando as Bishop of San Jose,“ Pinto said in his letter to Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, CBCP Media Director.

The 54 year-old prelate will take over the post left vacant by Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, who was transferred to the Diocese of Pasig last April 2011.

As bishop of San Jose, Mallari will lead a territory of 2,540 sq km and a Catholic population of around 665, 715.

Born on March 27, 1958 in Masantol, Pampanga, Mallari was ordained priest on Nov. 27, 1982.

He is currently the vice chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Family and Life which is leading the Church’s campaign against the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill.

On January14, 2006, the Benedict XVI named Mallari as Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando currently headed by Archbishop Paciano Aniceto. His Episcopal ordination was on March 27, 2006.

Mallari has also served as spiritual director of the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary and parish priest of the Lord’s Ascension Parish, both in Pampanga.

No date has been set yet for the installation of the new bishop of San Jose.

Report from Tempo

The president met with Kim Yong-nam, chairman of North Korea’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly – the impoverished country’s highest organ of power – in Jakarta Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation.

“President Yudhoyono should have urged North Korea to curb its human rights abuses, which have long been a global concern,” Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), told a press conference yesterday.

He said the meeting was the perfect moment for the president to raise the subject of human rights violations in North Korea.

Azhar said the commission, which is also a member of the Tokyo-based International Coalition for North Korea, has recorded many serious human rights violations in the Stalinist country, including the repression of press freedom and harsh crackdowns on any forms of dissent.

He pointed to what he said were around 154,000 political prisoners being held in six big camps in North Korea.

“They were sent to these camps without trial even though North Korea’s new constitution claims to respect human rights,” he said.

The Indonesian government showed its ignorance during the meeting by only searching for benefits through economic cooperation, he said.

Report from ucanews.com

“Our leaders have brought us to this sickening state where Nepalese are fighting among ourselves,” Chintamani Yogi told religious leaders.

Three weeks of protests have paralyzed western Nepal, and two dozen people were reportedly injured Tuesday. The same day, the government announced Nepal would be divided into 11 states, governed by a president elected by the people and a prime minister elected by a 376-member parliament.

The government refrained from naming the 11 states and will form a Central Federal Commission to address the issue later. Two of the 11 states haven’t even had their boundaries set.

Conflicts over how Nepal will be divided has sparked the strikes and protests, which have been largely in the western region. Kathmandu is expected to be hit with strikes this week, while hill districts are seeing food, water and gas shortages.

Yogi, highly regarded throughout the nation, is president of the Nepal Interfaith Manch (forum), a popular Hindu spiritualist, and the founder of Hindu Vidyapeeth schools. In his statement, he said Nepalese have been forced to identify themselves solely by caste or tribe.

Report from ucanews.com

The advertisement which has been endorsed by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and approved by district officials reads: “Everyone has the right not to be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.”

It is the brainchild of Lee Gye-duck, a gay activist who is also funding the campaign.

Lee said he wants the public to be better informed about homosexuality and how wrong discrimination is.

“Every citizen has the right not to be discriminated against” on the ground of sexual inclination, Lee said citing the constitution.

However, conservative and religious groups have branded the advertisement immoral, say it advocates gay sex and are calling for it to be banned.

The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) issued a statement yesterday urging district offices to immediately ban the advertisement.

“The Seoul mayor’s endorsement and approval by district officials may lead people to think that government offices are a window for the interests of minorities,” said Reverend Hong Jae-chul, president of the CCK.

The Protestant Korean Association of Church Communication went as far as saying on Monday that the advertisement will encourage homosexuality among people and “finally make South Korea a country of homosexuals.”

However, an official from the Seoul city government said the advertisement is not breaking any laws and that “each district office has the right to approve advertisements on the streets.”

Gay and lesbian groups have praised Lee’s initiative.

The opposition by conservative groups is “a violation of human rights itself,” said Chang Byoung-gwon, director of the Solidarity for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Human Rights group.

“By criticizing, they think gay people deserve to be discriminated against,” he said.

Report from ucanews.com

The charity organization that deals with global health, safety and environmental issues Tuesday said it was suspending a “distinction” award to Vedanta Aluminum Limited in view of pollution allegations from activists and the firm’s failure to disclose the death of a worker in April at its refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa state.

A BSC press release called for a proper investigation into the allegations.

The council was to present the award at a gala dinner on Friday in London.

Welcoming the BSC decision, Prafula Samantara, convener of the National Alliances of Peoples’ Movements, wondered how a firm that he alleged was looting natural resources and tribal people could be chosen for the award and invited to an event billed as the Oscars of health and safety measures.

“It makes a mockery of safety measures,” he said.

Sandeep Pattnaik, who coordinates the National Center for Advocacy Studies in Orissa, alleged tribal and dalit (former untouchable) groups face harassment and arrests for protesting pollution and an ash pond near their villages.

The Orissa Pollution Control Board has noted that the pond has caused tuberculosis and skin diseases among people living nearby, Pattnaik said.

He said the award would have validated the crimes committed by the mining group and regretted that the state government remained a mute witness to it all.

“This shows that life in India is cheap,” he said and demanded stringent action against the Vedanta group for hiding facts from the BSC.

Report from ucanews.com

A source from the US Embassy said the attack submarine is on its routine port visit to Subic and is scheduled to depart from the Philippine waters on May 19.

The USS North Carolina docked at Subic Bay Freeport on Sunday.

The presence of the US war vessel came a day before the Chinese government sets to impose a one-and-half month fishing ban in large swaths of South China Sea starting May 16, including the disputed Scarborough.

Reports reaching www.philstar.com also disclose that more war vessels will be coming to Philippine shores in the coming days.

Apart from the disputed shoal, the China Fisheries Administration Bureau announced that the ban covers the entire area of Spratlys and other islands and reefs dotting the South China Sea.

The ban was announced amid escalating tension between Manila and Beijing over Panatag (Scarborough), which the Philippines said has been part of Masinloc town in Zambales since Spanish times.

Chinese authorities has said the directive means no fishing will be allowed except for mono-layer gillnets, and hook and line fishing, adding that it will confiscate boats, fish catch and fishing gear of violators.

Report from philSTAR.com

Two Catholic archbishops on Monday said it was high time the Catholic Church seriously considered issuing an Oratio Imperata for the peaceful resolution of the ongoing standoff between the two countries claiming rights over the shoal.

Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles pointed out that an Oratio Imperata is a powerful prayer that has helped the country overcome crises and has spared it from numerous disasters in the past.

“There should be an Oratio Imperata on the conflict over Scarborough Shoal [because] quarreling won’t solve anything,” Arguelles, also former chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Episcopal Commission on Military Ordinariate, said over Church-run Radio Veritas on Monday.

The senior prelate said his archdiocese in Lipa was already reciting a prayer for the amicable settlement of the dispute, adding that it would not do the Philippines good if it were to engage such a giant country in a fight.

“We should show China that we are a Christian nation and it is peace that we are promoting,” said Arguelles. “Prayers are the most effective tool for this kind of problem. Our history as a nation has proven and tested that many times.”

An Oratio Imperata is an ordered prayer for a special intention besides the ones prescribed by ritual that the pope or the bishop of a diocese may require to be said during Holy Mass.

Report from Inquirer.Net

“The Philippines is a nation of Davids. But we must flex our prayer and worship muscle against the giant Goliath. China has warships, but we have the power of worship,” Pastor June Alonzo of the Jesus’ Mountain Praise Ministries told ENInews.

Alonzo’s group is among the organizers of a 15 to 16 May regional prayer gathering in Baguio City, which will bring together some 5,000 leaders and members of Evanelical and Pentecostal churches and fellowships.

Alonzo said for two days participants will pray for the nation, especially for peace and prosperity amid the tension over the marine-rich and reportedly oil-rich Scarborough Shoal, which China is now claiming.

Also on May 19, a national group of small churches and fellowships called the Intercessors for the Philippines and Nameless, Faceless Servants and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches will hold what they call “worship warfare intercession.”

“Waging war is not ours but God’s. We can win not by our own strength but by the Spirit of God, whom we can invoke to intercede for us through prayers and worship,” Bishop Daniel Balais, IFP chair, told the Pilipino Star Ngayon newspaper.

The shoal, 124 nautical miles from Zambales province, is part of the Philippines’ economic zone. But China is claiming the shoal to be its “inherent territory,” although it lies more than 500 nautical miles from the nearest Chinese port of Hainan.

Report from Ekklesia

“It is not only the responsibility of the police… but it is also the responsibility of the community,” CAAC spokesperson Teresita Ang-See said.

See said that it is not just police business considering the country is undermanned in terms of police population.

See cited some incidents that show that the public is not that involved in helping the police such as the kidnappings in Binondo and Antipolo where people were not able to give a lead to the police.

“We could understand that they don’t want to report the incident to the police but afterwards they should at least share the information. If they don’t want to do it with the police then they can do it to MRPO (Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order),” the spokesperson said.

She added these incidents have been happening for so many years now. Parents should not tire of giving reminders to their children to be careful in talking to strangers, she added.

See said the citizens are called to help in the anti-crime campaign so that it is not only in the side of the police which is fighting against crime but it is also a responsibility of everyone to prevent crime.

Report from Inquirer.Net

Reports reaching Manila quoted Bishop Jose Cabantan of the Diocese of Malaybalay in Central Mindanao’s Bukidnon province as saying that the murder of Margarita Cabal of Task Force Save Pulangi River is the latest of the spate of killings taking place in the province.

“We condemn of the series of killings here in Bukidnon… not just the environmentalists because many people here are being killed. Criminalities are going on,” Cabantan told Church-run Radyo Veritas.

Unidentified men shot and killed Cabal, a known leader of a group campaigning against the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Pulangi River, the Pulangi V Hydropower Project.

The church official added that the killing of Cabal might have something to do with her advocacy to protect the Pulangi River and her campaign against mining in the province.

Report from Gulf News

Bishop Jose A. Cabantan said that because of the recent killings in Kalasungay and Aglayan in Malaybalay and in Lantapan, Cabanglasan, Kibawe and other municipalities, the province is now in a “crisis situation” and thus needs the united efforts of its leaders.

“We need leaders to act as one. There are many problems and issues that have to be resolved. This is no time for bickering,” Cabantan told MindaNews Monday, referring to the squabble between Gov. Alex Calingasan and Vice Governor Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr.

He stressed that the killings have to stop, adding that he was worried that “people will take [the killings] as normal and take these for granted.”

At the May 7 convocation program of the provincial government, Zubiri was supposed to give an inspirational talk. But he used his time instead dressing down Calingasan and defend himself from brewing reports he would be suspended after the Commission on Audit investigated a complaint filed by an anonymous group accusing him of various wrongdoings, including releasing public funds not following standard procedures.

Report from MindaNews

Funded by the United Kingdom’s Darwin Initiative, the three-year project will aid the country in maintaining and improving the ecosystem in Verde Island Passage, Palawan, Danajon Bank, Bohol, Polillo Islands and Lanuza Bay until March 2016.

The grant assistance amounts to £294,151 or about P20.2 million.

“The project… will be a really valuable addition to the Darwin portfolio. It goes to the heart of those sustainable development challenges: how we reconcile conservation needs with sustainable livelihoods and better resource management,” British Ambassador Stephen Lillie said.

Since its launch in 1992, the Darwin Initiative has been assisting countries that are rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to meet their commitments under international conventions to protect marine and other endangered species.

Two other states from Southeast Asia receiving the same assistance are Myanmar and Cambodia.

The Philippines’ coral reefs and marine biodiversity are one of its greatest assets, Lillie said.

With more than half of Philippine communities located in coastal areas, he said these assets can make a huge contribution to the country’s future development if managed properly.

Report from GMA News Online

Acting director of the Paris Ricci Institute, officials from the Guangdong provincial cultural bureau and Zhaoqing city attended the opening ceremony on Sunday.

The new Matteo Ricci Cultural Exchange Exhibition Center details the life of the Jesuit priest, known as Li Madou to Chinese people, through an array of exhibits and written accounts.

The center is located near the ruins of the first church and Jesuit house that Fr Ricci and his confrere Fr Michele Ruggieri were allowed to build after they arrived in China in 1583. The church, called “Xianhua Temple” out of respect for Buddhist custom, was dedicated to the Blessed Mother.

At that time Zhaoqing was the capital of Guangdong province.

The location of the church was next to a 500-year-old Buddhist pagoda on the banks of the Xijiang (West) River, from where the two missioners arrived by boat.

Father Gabriel Li Jiafang of Jiangmen, who attended the opening, hoped the exhibition, which is designed to boost tourism, would make more people aware of the missionary and the Catholic faith.

Report from ucanews.com

Activists said they would continue with relay fasts at Idinthakarai, a Catholic fisherfolk-dominated coastal village, to protest the 2,000-megawatt nuclear plant in the southern Indian state.

The Koodankulam nuclear plant, built with Russian technology, was scheduled to start operations in December, but they were suspended indefinitely after widespread protests over safety concerns.

“Yesterday, 64 women and three men ended their indefinite hunger strike after Justice A.P. Shah [former chief justice of the Madras high court] appealed to us to make space for mediation,” activist Victoria Pushparayan said.

Protestors are demanding the total shutdown of the project, although some speculate that they may go for a compromise if a safety drill is conducted before the plant goes online and if the government makes public the liability agreement if anything happens in the future.

Justice Shah assured protestors that he would mediate for an early settlement of their demands, said Pushparayan, a former priest and a leader of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE).

Report from ucanews.com

The project includes forming environmental protection groups in slums, appointing garbage collectors, distributing more than a thousand dustbins and eight wheelbarrows to collect the garbage in a city that produces about 9,000 tons of solid waste each day, according to Dominic Gill, executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan Karachi (CPK).

“Less than 50 percent is dumped into open landfills, while the rest is left unattended. Slums on the outskirts suffer the most,” he said at the handing over of 150 dustbins among 75 families at Saif-ul-Marri Goth, 60 kilometers from Karachi.

The project is being administered by a livelihood program at CPK that has already implemented initiatives on kitchen gardening, tree plantation and the use of more fuel efficient stoves in the area.

“Each family will pay 30 rupees [approximately US$ 0.33] for the salary of garbage collectors. Future plans include teaching them the converting of waste into soil fertilizers and encouraging recycling,” said Mansha Noor, Caritas’ livelihood program coordinator.

Ayub Shafi, a local beneficiary, hailed the Caritas Pakistan project. “Our children used to play around heaps of garbage thrown in empty plots. Cholera and malaria were common diseases,” he said.

Report from ucanews.com

“I’m a guilty person in the eyes of the law. No owner will allow me to rent an apartment if I want to live with my partner. Even at the workplace I’ve been looked down on and humiliated,” said Tauhidul Ahmed (not his real name), a Muslim and one of the founding members of Boys of Bangladesh.

Yet on Thursday, Boys of Bangladesh – which estimates that between 1 and 3 percent of the country’s 160 million people are LGBT – will observe the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, commemorating the World Health Organization’s decision to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. The group will hold a public gathering with a discussion and film showing at the Alliance Franҫais in Dhaka.

Activists say they hope that events like these will help combat what the UN has called a “culture of collective denial” of homosexuality in Bangladesh. The UN says the idea is often dismissed as western.

“People need to know that it is not a disease or sin,” Ahmed said.

In a 2009 report, the UN found “gross violations of rights have often been reported in the forms of abduction, arbitrary arrests, detention, beatings and gang rape by the law enforcing agencies and local thugs” against LGBT people. The UN also cited anecdotal evidence that gay and lesbian patients received mistreatment from medical professionals and said there was an overall misunderstanding of LGBT issues.

“We teach Muslims to keep away from such sinful acts that have grabbed European countries. I think those states will be ruined one day because Allah will destroy the homosexuals,” said Mazharul Islam, a cleric. According to the 2001 census, Muslims made up almost 90 percent of Bangadesh’s population.

Christians in the country, particularly the Catholic Church, also oppose homosexuality and will continue to do so, asserted Catholic priest and lawyer Albert Rozario.

Report from ucanews.com

The Philippines does not recognize China’s announced fishing ban, which runs from May 16 to August 1, as it encompasses waters the Philippines considers its own.

But Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Aquino welcomed the chance to replenish fish stocks and that the Philippines would issue its own ban.

“We do not recognize China’s fishing ban in as much as portions of the ban encompass our exclusive economic zone (EEZ),” Del Rosario said in a statement.

“However, the president has decided that in view of the accelerated depletion of our marine resources, it would be advisable for us to issue our own fishing ban for a period of time to replenish our fish stock,” he said.

The standoff at the disputed shoal began when China blocked an attempt by the Philippines on April 8 to arrest Chinese fishermen who were allegedly taking government-protected marine species from the area.

The two nations have since stationed non-military vessels at the shoal in an effort to assert their sovereignty over the area.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said that no dates or exact areas had yet been set for the Philippine fishing ban.

Report from GMA News Online

ECOP president Edgardo Lacson Monday said his group would create ethical guidelines that would serve as an “important tool” for both ECOP and local government units (LGU) in their campaign for decent work among household service workers.

“Domestic workers play an indispensable role not only in the family but also in society in general. Economic activities function well because of the help and contribution of domestic workers,” Lacson said.

Lacson said that guidelines would be in line with the International Labor Organization’s Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. He said ECOP would also align the measures with national laws and global and local realities and trends.

“ECOP, therefore, sees the need to protect the industry and its workers. It is just and humane to protect and advance their rights to allow them to grow economically empowered,” said Lacson.

Report from InterAksyon.com

Worst, Recto said, an estimated 4.8 million of those going hungry are skipping meals once in three months.

Under this situation, Recto said the government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), should now re-assess its CCT strategies to determine if the intended beneficiaries are being served.

“In spite of the CCT, the number of the poor and hungry is increasing. There must be something wrong there,” Recto, Senate ways and means panel chairman, said.

“Are we really hitting the intended beneficiaries? We might need to rethink the strategy.”

Recto said before the government heeds calls from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to expand the CCT program through an enlarged budget, the government must endeavor to identify the strategic loopholes.

He said one probable loophole is the use of the National Household Targeting System (NHTS) as “search engine” for locating and identifying the CCT beneficiaries.

Recto, however, noted that a report by the Commission on Audit (CoA) revealed that some businessmen and landowners were also enrolled in the CCT.

“Before we decide to expand it, there must be re-assessment of the strategies and data,” he said. “If we must overhaul and revalidate the NHTS and purge it with contaminated data, then we should do it.”

Report from Tempo

The Right to Know, Right Now Coalition urged Rep. Ben Evardone, chairman of the House Committee on Public Information, to call hearings and complete the committee report before the second regular session ends on June 7.

The coalition said any further delay in committee action could spell the “second death” of the FOI bill, which was almost passed in the 14th Congress, but got aborted in the final session days when the House leadership refused to put the bicameral conference report to a ratification vote. When it did so in the last session day, proceedings were aborted due to lack of quorum.

The coalition shared the observation of Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr., a committee member, that the window to pass the measure is fast closing. In a privilege speech, Baguilat said the 15th Congress is already in the homestretch of its legislative work.

“Historical experience tells us that by the third regular session, the coming elections will not only become the preoccupation of many of us, the election period will in fact cut short our time for legislation so that when we adjourn in February next year, legislation will virtually come to an end,” Baguilat said.

Report from InterAksyon.com

Greenpeace aired the appeal as the Supreme Court granted its petition for a writ of kalikasan stopping field trials of Bt eggplant in the Philippines.

“Greenpeace believes the granting of the writ of kalikasan to be a recognition of the threats that GMOs pose to human health and the environment. We welcome this as a positive development. GMOs and GMO field trials clearly violate every Filipino’s constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology, and their invasion into our fields and our diets must be stopped,” said Daniel Ocampo, sustainable agriculture campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

Greenpeace said the DA had been lax in approving GMO foods, giving the green light to a total of 67 GMOs for importation, consumption and propagation since 2001, without rejecting a single application.

“The Supreme Court has given hope to Filipinos as its decision now puts into spotlight the country’s flawed GMO approval system, which has never rejected any GMO application, allowing dangerous GMO crops to be planted and eaten by Filipinos. This is an outrage and such a regulatory system that clearly disregards the public good must be scrapped,” he said.

Greenpeace urged the DA to inform the public of GMO foods that enter the country, saying the long-term health effects of these crops and products on the public’s health and on the environment had yet to be fully known.

On April 26, Greenpeace, along with other groups, petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus against GMO field trials.

The petition sought to stop immediately the field trials on the Bt eggplant, which the group said had led to signs of toxicity in the livers and kidneys of test rats.

A writ of kalikasan is a remedy available to a person or group whose constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology is violated or threatened by an unlawful act of a public official, private individual or entity and affects a big number of people.

A writ of continuing mandamus, on the other hand, is issued by a court in an environmental case directing an agency of the government to perform an act decreed by final judgment until the judgment is fully satisfied. It is filed by the aggrieved party.

Report from Inquirer.Net

In its study, the group found that nine out of 25 school supplies bought from street vendors and bargain stalls in Manila’s Divisoria market district, as well as from several bookstores, contained harmful chemicals.

EcoWaste made the discovery after screening the supplies for heavy metals such as antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury using a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device.

According to the coalition, health authorities have said that there are no safe levels for lead exposure among children, even in very low doses.

It said that lead is classified as a neurotoxin or a substance capable of damaging the central nervous system, causing behavioral, body movement, emotional and intellectual disorders.

Report from Manila Times

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., for one, said a corrective surgery out of the country that is being requested by the camp of the former president has to be validated by local experts before she could be allowed to travel.

It was said that Arroyo’s previous neck surgery gave rise to life threatening complications and that she must be operated on by foreign doctors.

But Belmonte said that while only the courts could decide on whether she could leave the country or not, part of the process would require the verification of her medical condition to know if the corrective operation cannot be done in the country.

According to him, the procedure to check the health condition of the former chief executive could be made easily with dispatch as she is at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) where she is detained following an electoral sabotage case against her at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court under Judge Jesus Mupas in connection with the 2007 polls.

“I think we need to hear from the specialists,” said Belmonte, who even wished Arroyo to be well.

House Assistant Majority Leader Sherwin Tugna of Citizens Battle Against Corruption echoed Belmonte’s pronouncement, adding that Arroyo still has to be under the jurisdiction of the Philippine government.

“The State has an interest and a duty to its people to make sure that persons charged with non-bailable offenses should be in the territory and jurisdiction of the State,” he said.

“A thorough examination of her health is needed to verify the necessity of going abroad for medical treatment,” Tugna added.

Report from Manila Times