Aquino Misinformed on Hostage Updates

By Thea Alberto

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on Tuesday revealed he received the wrong information on the Qurino Grandstand hostage crisis.

“I was informed that the SAF [Special Action Force] will be the primary unit task in case there is a need to employ the final option—a lot of these things did not happen,” Aquino told reporters.

Instead of Philippine National Police’s elite unit SAF, it was members of the Special Weapons and Tactics who stormed the bus taken hostage by former policeman Rolando Mendoza. It took the SWAT hours before they were able to neutralize the lone gunman who held at least 15 tourists from Hong Kong.

“At the end of the day I’m Commander in Chief, I was in touch with [PNP] Director General Verzosa, I asked who the ground commander was, I was informed it was Magtibay, I was also informed that the NCRPO was there to back up Magtibay,” added Aquino, lamenting that things turned for the worse.

At the height of the crisis, Aquino was in a meeting with several officials in a restaurant in Manila.

Aquino said the misinformation will also be among the key points of the probe into the hostage crisis that left eight foreign tourists dead and a blackeye to the new government.

Napolcom official’s fault?

Aquino also noted that a member of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) was at fault for the failed negotiation with the hostage taker and even made matters worse by acting as the government’s talking head.

“There was this member of the Napolcom who was on TV, who was performing a role as a talking head and I’m not sure where he got the permission to do so. While he was talking he was already shutting the door on the demands of Captain Mendoza,’ said Aquino.

He refused to identify the official pending investigation.

Aquino said this Napolcom official complicated the situation and even refused to heed his order to stop talking.

“He should have thought best before uttering those utterances…unfortunately that person contrary to my wishes proceeded to become a talking head again in an evening program, so he will be disciplined,” added Aquino.

Aquino also defended his appointed Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo by noting that it was Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno who was designated to be in charge of the PNP.

Investigation finished in two weeks

Aquino said he is hoping investigations will wrap up in three weeks.

“It will definitely not be three weeks, probably it wont even be two weeks, but rather that I put a fixed date to it, in case there are some new developments, new forensic evidence that crops up, I’d rather not give them a fixed deadline,” said Aquino.

OFW Loses Job in Hong Kong

GMANews.TV - Wednesday, September 1

Another overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Hong Kong was fired from her job following the bloody hostage crisis in Manila last week, which left eight tourists from Hong Kong killed, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Tuesday. DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that a Filipina domestic helper, whose name was not disclosed to media, was fired after her employers in Hong Kong found it “uncomfortable" to have someone from the Philippines in their household after the hostage-taking incident. This page requires a higher version browser She however added that the DOLE managed to find another job for the Filipina OFW days after she was fired. Baldoz likewise said that she does not expect any more OFWs to lose their jobs after the bloody hostage-taking.

“Hindi ako nag-eexpect ng backlash… I don’t think it [the situation] will worsen, and it will only be a few cases," she said in an interview aired over “24 Oras" on Tuesday.

She however advised OFWs in the Chinese territory to “respect" the “grief" being felt by Hong Kong residents due to the tragedy. “Patuloy pa rin irespeto ang national grief na nararamdaman ng buong gobyerno ng Hong Kong… Doblehin pa ang maayos na serbisyo sa employers nila," she said in the same television interview.

(Let’s continue to respect the national grief being felt by the entire Hong Kong government. Let’s redouble the good service we provide their employers.) Baldoz added that there have been no further reports of maltreatment and discrimination among OFWs in Hong Kong as of posting time.

On August 23, dismissed Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos. After an 11-hour hostage drama, nine people died— the hostage-taker and eight Hong Kong tourists. (See: Hostage crisis ends in bloody carnage; 8 hostages dead) Filipinos based in Hong Kong are reportedly feeling the backlash of growing outrage over the way the police handled the incident. The Philippine Consul General in Hong Kong confirmed last week that a domestic helper was dismissed by her employer in reaction to the hostage crisis. Some 150,000 Filipino workers are currently based in the Chinese territory, based on government records.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV

Manila Hostage Bus, Inspected By Hong Kong Police

By JIM GOMEZ,Associated Press Writer - Tuesday, August 31

MANILA, Philippines – Hong Kong forensic experts on Monday inspected the bullet-peppered bus in which a hijacker killed eight tourists in Manila last week, as the Philippines worked to calm China's outrage over the bloodshed.

Anger has been rising in Hong Kong since the Aug. 23 carnage in which a disgruntled former Philippine police officer took the busload of tourists from the Chinese territory hostage in a bid to win his job back. Hong Kongers have blasted a failed rescue operation and botched negotiations that seemed to enrage the hostage taker, who was eventually killed by a police sharpshooter.

Organizers said about 80,000 people marched in Hong Kong on Sunday, denouncing the Philippines and demanding justice for the dead.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered a thorough investigation into the crisis and the police response, and on Monday the Philippines allowed Hong Kong forensic experts to inspect the bus.

"We want to appease them and show that we're not hiding anything," Philippine National Police spokesman Agrimero Cruz said. "This is a show of transparency."

Guided by Filipino investigators, the Hong Kong team used flashlights as they looked at the bloodied passenger compartment, taking pictures of bullet holes and shattered windows. Another checked the bus tires shot out by police to prevent the hostage-taker from moving out of a police cordon.

The Hong Kong investigators refused to talk to a throng of Chinese and Filipino journalists.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima met Hong Kong officials Monday to discuss the protocol for their investigation in Manila, while stressing that the Philippines still was in charge of the probe.

Philippine investigators plan to question Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who helped oversee the hostage negotiations, as well as journalists who interviewed hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza by phone during the drama, de Lima said. They may also travel to Hong Kong to talk to survivors of the nearly 12-hour standoff.

The investigation will take two to three weeks to complete, and until then those involved will not be allowed to comment publicly, de Lima said.

Still it is unclear if that will be enough to stem the anger in Hong Kong, which has discouraged its residents from traveling to the Philippines. About 140,000 Hong Kong tourists visit the Philippines yearly and hundreds have canceled planned trips.

Concerns have also been raised about a possible backlash on the more than 100,000 Filipinos working in the territory, mostly as maids.

Also Monday, Filipino anti-crime activists placed flowers at the site of the carnage in a Manila park. One carried a wooden cross bearing the names of the slain hostages.

"The Last Exorcism" Beats the Star-studed the "Takers"

LOS ANGELES - The fright flick "The Last Exorcism" and the heist thriller "Takers" were in a photo finish for the top spot at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Lionsgate's "The Last Exorcism" had a thin lead with a $21.3 million debut, closely followed by Sony's "Takers" with a $21 million opening. They were close enough that rankings could change after final numbers are released Monday.

After two weekends in the No. 1 spot, Lionsgate's action romp "The Expendables" slipped to third place with $9.5 million, raising its total to $82 million.

Playing in narrower release, a 3-D special edition of "Avatar" pulled in $4 million, lifting the sci-fi sensation's domestic total to $753.8 million. The new version of the 20th Century Fox blockbuster adds nine minutes of footage.

Both "The Last Exorcism" and "Takers" debuted well above studio expectations, though the openings were modest compared with most big summer debuts.

Overall revenues came in at $115 million, down 8 percent compared with the same weekend last year, when the horror tale "The Final Destination" opened on top with $27.4 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"We've had two weeks of films being all stacked up very closely to one another, and that's a really tight margin between these two," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "But it's sort of a battle in a marketplace that really isn't setting the world on fire."

With summer blockbuster season generally over, late August often is a solid time to release scary movies such as "The Final Destination" and "Halloween II," which opened over the same weekend last year.

"You don't see many low-budget genre films released in June or July or even early August," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. "You don't want to put 'The Last Exorcism' up against 'Inception' or these big blockbuster films."

"The Last Exorcism," about an exorcist trying to cast out a demon from a teenager, cost just $2 million to produce, and Lionsgate bought domestic distribution rights for less than $1 million.

"Takers," which cost a modest $32 million to make, features Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Paul Walker and Idris Elba in a thriller about bank robbers pursued by a tough cop.

Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution, said he expected "Takers" to remain in second place, slightly behind "The Last Exorcism," once final figures are released Monday. Yet the two movies were pacing Hollywood to a strong finish to the summer season, he said.

"I do think both pictures were pretty terrific for ending summer with," Bruer said. "To have two pictures at $20-plus million at the end of August is a good thing."

The extended version of James Cameron's "Avatar" played in just 812 theaters, compared with 2,874 for "The Last Exorcism" and 2,206 for "Takers."

Besides $4 million domestically, the "Avatar" special edition added $4.3 million overseas. The extra revenue is mere icing for the biggest modern blockbuster, whose initial release took in $2.7 billion worldwide.

"There is no unhappy attached to 'Avatar,' because it's the greatest. It's always done business. It's the biggest picture in history," said Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. "People bought tickets everywhere this weekend. There's no bad."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Last Exorcism," $21.3 million.

2. "Takers," $21 million.

3. "The Expendables," $9.5 million.

4. "Eat Pray Love," $7 million.

5. "The Other Guys," $6.6 million.

6. "Vampires Suck," $5.3 million.

7. "Inception," $5.1 million.

8. "Nanny McPhee Returns," $4.74 million

9. "The Switch," $4.7 million.

10. "Piranha 3D," $4.3 million.


Report Courtesy of Yahoo

July 2010 Philippine NLE Results

Finally, the long wait is over, fellow newly registered nurses see your names here and cherish this memorable moment. Congratulations to all of you, may you all fulfill your dreams as nurses!!

See the full list of passers here:

July 2010 Philippine NLE Results

Donald Tsang Failed to Contact President Aquino During Hostage Crisis?

Why did Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang fail to speak with President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III over the phone as the hostage crisis was taking place on Monday?

Malacanang officials earlier claimed that Aquino was speaking with officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government when Tsang called but apparently the story goes deeper.

On Thursday, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang said Tsang contacted Aquino through the Malacanang trunk line at around 5:00 p.m. on Monday.

"Normally when there is a high-level call like that, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) will notify us that there will be a call. That didn't happen. Since he came through the trunkline which was not usual, the President's aide didn't want to pass it on without some kind of verification," said Carandang.

"So what he (aide) did was he told a secretary, he said, 'put the phone down and we will call you through our foreign minister'," said Carandang.

Carandang said the Palace aide called up Romulo's office and told the DFA that Donald Tsang's office called.

The DFA said it would call back the Palace, and then later claimed that it couldn't get in touch with Tsang until 10 p.m.--more than an hour after the crisis ended.

"By then, it was too late. Donald Tsang had issued his angry statement saying that he couldn't get through to the President," said Carandang.

Carandang said there was no truth to reports that Malacanang did not know who Donald Tsang was when the Hong Kong chief executive called.

"He was Donald Tsang. They knew who he was. It just didn't go through the normal channels," he said.

Aquino finally managed to talk to Tsang over the phone Tuesday afternoon, when he called up the Hong Kong leader after he met with Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao in Malacanang.

On Monday, former police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza hijacked a tourist bus carrying 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipinos in front of the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

The hostage drama turned bloody when the hostage-taker reportedly became angry after seeing his brother being arrested on a live television broadcast of the incident.

The bus driver escaped and shouted as he ran that everyone on the bus was already dead. It was then that the police launched an assault on the bus. At the end of the 12-hour confrontation, Mendoza and eight tourists from Hong Kong were found dead.

The Aquino administration's handling of the crisis has drawn much criticism locally and abroad, with experts and analysts pointing out that police who handled the incident appeared to be poorly trained and ill-equipped. –VVP, GMANews.TV

Hong Kong Mourns for Manila Hostage Victims

HONG KONG, Aug 26, 2010 (AFP) – Teeming Hong Kong fell silent on Thursday mourning for eight tourists killed in a hostage bloodbath in Manila, after their bodies returned home amid growing outrage against Philippine authorities.

The southern Chinese territory held three minutes of silence with government work suspended and flags lowered to half-mast at a special ceremony overseen by Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang on the city's harbour waterfront.

Emotions are running high in Hong Kong over blunders by Philippine police in the chaotic climax to a day-long bus siege Monday, when a disgraced former policeman held a group of Hong Kong tourists hostage for 12 hours.

The bodies of the eight tourists killed at the end of the siege -- including three members of one family -- were flown back to Hong Kong on Wednesday, with bagpipers playing "Amazing Grace" at a mournful airport ceremony.

An elderly woman wept as she laid her hands on the coffin of the 31-year-old Hong Kong tour guide who was praised for alerting his travel agency to the crisis. Other relatives laid wreaths on victims' coffins.

Echoing calls by China's central government in Beijing, high-ranking Hong Kong official Henry Tang demanded that Manila "conduct a comprehensive, thorough and impartial investigation".

"We have been overwhelmed with grief by the events of the past three days," Tang, the Hong Kong government's chief secretary, told reporters.

"The truth would be the best consolation for victims and their families."

Chek Lap Kok airport, one of Asia's busiest, took part in the three-minute silence with tannoy announcements just before 8:00 am (0000 GMT) urging passengers and staff to pay their respects.


Report Courtesy of Yahoo News

Miss Mexico - The Crowned 2010 Miss Universe

By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer  Tue Aug 24, 10:09 AM PDT

From flags to Facebook, 22-year-old Jimena Navarrete has quickly made it clear what she plans to promote as the world's newest Miss Universe — her home country of Mexico.

"I want the whole world to know about my country and my people," the Guadalajara native said after beating 82 competitors for global bragging rights at the pageant in Las Vegas.

"I imagine that they're all going crazy in Mexico right now," she said through an interpreter. "I'm extremely proud and I'm sure they're very proud, too."

She donned a flowing red dress, strutted confidently in a violet bikini, and said onstage that the Internet is indispensable and requires parents to impart family values.

The model-turned pageant queen then posed for pictures with a Mexican flag and Mexico's last Miss Universe as congratulations from her countrymen came pouring in.

"Her triumph is a source of pride and satisfaction for all Mexicans, who see in her the fruits of perseverance," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a statement. Immediately after her win, Calderon said on Twitter that her victory would help Mexico's image as a country.

"We won, long live Mexico!" Navarrete said on her fan page on Facebook, spurring 478 "likes" and 218 comments in about one hour.

She was cheered by Spanish-speaking reporters clamoring to talk with her after the pageant, and twice answered questions about Arizona's recent immigration law.

"Every country has the right to impose and enact their laws," she said, wearing her new sash and sparkling tiara. "But I tell you that all the Mexicans and the Latins that are living here in the United States are hardworking people — people who want to improve on their quality of life."

The Miss Universe pageant is known for grabbing headlines — and Navarrete appears ready to make her mark.

She's Mexico's second Miss Universe. Lupita Jones — Navarrete's national pageant director — won in 1991. Navarrete has been modeling since she was 15 and came to Miss Universe after winning for Jalisco, then Mexico, in the country's Nuestra Belleza pageant.

Navarrete replaces Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela. She also spoiled a bid by Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson from giving the South American country a third consecutive victory. Neither Gibson nor Miss USA Rima Fakih made the top 15 finalists.

With fans in some 190 countries watching on television and keeping tabs on social networks, Navarrete and her competitors introduced themselves while wearing over-the-top national costumes. They then danced in silver and black dresses for the show's opening number before the last 15 finalists were announced.

The final 15 walked in swimsuits while Cirque du Soleil musicians played Elvis Presley songs including "Viva Las Vegas." The last 10 impressed in their gowns while John Legend and the Roots played a soulful medley including "Save Room."

By the end of the show, seven of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter had to do with the pageant, its contestants, its judges or owner Donald Trump. The mogul co-owns the pageant with TV network NBC.

The show was without any major gaffes, except for Miss Philippines' answer when asked what her biggest mistake in life was and how she fixed it.

"In my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major," Venus Raj said.

Before the pageant, Raj was rated among the top contestants in an online poll on the pageant's website. She finished in fifth place.

Asked by Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek how she felt about unsupervised Internet use, Navarrete said the Internet is important.

"I do believe that Internet is an indispensable, necessary tool for the present time," she said through an interpreter. "We must be sure to teach them the values that we learned as a family."

Lysacek was one of this year's nine celebrity judges. The others were actresses Jane Seymour and Chynna Phillips; actors Chazz Palminteri and William Baldwin; magician Criss Angel; MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall; drummer Sheila E.; and supermodel Niki Taylor.

Navarrete won a package of prizes including an undisclosed salary, a luxury New York apartment with living expenses, a one-year scholarship to the New York Film Academy with housing after her reign, plus jewelry, clothes and shoes fit for a beauty champion.

Campbell won the Miss Congeniality Universe award. Miss Thailand Fonthip Watcharatrakul won Miss Photogenic Universe and a second award for having the best national costume.

First runner-up was Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell.

Fakih, a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Dearborn, Mich., spurred celebrations among Arab-Americans when she won Miss USA. Pageant records aren't detailed enough to show whether Fakih is the first Arab-American, Muslim or immigrant to win Miss USA.

Miss USA has not been named Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997.

Hostage Taking in Quirino Grandstand: 10 Killed

By Mynardo Macaraig, Agence France Presse
and  Yahoo! Southeast Asia

(UPDATE 23) Philippine security forces stormed a bus full of Hong Kong tourists on Monday to end a dramatic hostage crisis that unfolded live on global television, leaving at least ten people and the gunman dead.

Hong Kong eventually issued its top-level black travel alert for the Philippines on Monday after Hong Kong tourists were killed in Manila in a bus hijack by an armed ex-policeman.

The Hong Kong government said it was “very disappointed” about the outcome of a dramatic hostage siege.

The day-long ordeal began when a disgruntled ex-policeman armed with an M-16 assault rifle hijacked the bus in Manila’s tourist district in a desperate bid to get his job back.

Negotiations broke down after nightfall when the gunman, a highly decorated former senior police inspector identified as Rolando Mendoza, began shooting the passengers, and commandos stormed the bus.

Police said Mendoza was shot dead by a sniper after he used his captives as “human shields” in the final moments of the 12-hour standoff.

“I shot two Chinese. I will finish them all if they do not stop,” Mendoza told a local radio station as the police assault was about to get underway.

“I can see a lot of SWAT (special weapons and tactics police) coming in. I know they will kill me. They should all leave because anytime I will do the same here.”

Ten of the Hong Kong tourists were confirmed killed, according to doctors at hospitals in Manila and the Hong Kong government, although exactly how they died was not immediately clear.

Seven tourists, including children, and two Filipinos were freed at various times throughout the day from the bus parked at Rizal Park, a popular tourist destination just a few blocks from police headquarters.

The Filipino bus driver jumped out of a window and escaped moments before police stormed the vehicle, with his escape and the rest of the crisis broadcast live on television.

Another four hostages were seen scrambling out of the bus after the siege ended, but the fate of the remaining Hong Kong tourists originally on board the bus remained unknown late on Monday.

The Hong Kong government issued its top-level black travel alert for the Philippines after the crisis ended, but said it was sending in two charter planes to Manila for the families of the hostages.

Police were unable to get inside the bus for more than an hour after negotiations broke down and they decided to storm it.

They encircled the bus, smashed its windows and fired at it, but Mendoza held them off by shooting back.

The crisis eventually ended when police threw tear gas inside the bus, and fired again.

“He used the tourists as human shields. But he panicked and retreated to the front of the bus. He was then met with a valley of gunfire,” the assault team’s leader, Superintendent Nelson Yabut told reporters afterwards.

“One of our snipers managed to shoot him in the head.”

Mendoza, 55, was honoured by police chiefs in 1986 as one of the top 10 officers in the country.

But he was discharged in 2008 for his alleged involvement in drug-related crimes and extortion, and he hijacked the bus in a desperate bid to clear his name, according to police.

“He wants to be reinstated in the service,” Manila district police chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay said early in the day.

Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, said the tourists on the bus were aged between four and 72.

They were on a three-day tour with Hong Thai Travel and were scheduled to return to Hong Kong late Monday.

“A serious kidnap incident happened in the Philippines. Hong Kong residents should avoid all travel to the country,” a Hong Kong government spokesman said in a statement.

“Those who are already there should attend to their personal safety and exercise caution.”

Monday’s bus hijack recalled a similar hostage-taking in 2007, when a troubled civil engineer armed with a grenade took over a bus and held 30 children but freed them after a 10-hour standoff with police.

The 2007 drama took place near Manila city hall, just off Rizal Park.

Monday’s tragedy also added to a fast-growing number of attacks of foreigners in the Philippines.

Gunmen shot dead a South Korean man in a separate attack on Monday morning in another section of Manila. Police said the incidents were not related.

Last month, an American, a South African, a Briton and their Filipina partners were killed in spate of murder-robberies in Angeles City north of Manila. The alleged killer was arrested.

 To see photos, click here