Gabriela Expresses Support for Cornejo

Gabriela Women's Party lawyer Alnie Foj said in an interveiw on GMA News "24 Oras" that accusing someone of rape is not something that women do lightly.

"Kailangan niya (rape victim) i-consider yung kanyang career, kanyang mga magulang, kanyang mga kaibigan. Namamayani kasi iyong kultura sa atin na meron tayong tendency na mag-victim blaming," Foja added.

She also said that most men who are accused of rape usually claim that their victims even consented to the act.

High-profile defense lawyer Lorna Kapunan in a separate interview warned that a simple "no" should be enough to ward off unwanted sexual advances.

"When women say 'no', we mean no. To claim an attempted rape, you don't even need to struggle," she said.

She also warned that even if no intercourse happens, some sexual activity done without consent can still fall under rape.

"(Rape is) the insertion of any instrument, the instrument can be the male organ or it can be any other instruments into any opening (of the body)."

Who is Cedric Lee?

Cedric Lee the person who is involve in Vhong Navarro's beating last January 22 is a managing director and a major shareholder of Colossal Mining Corporation according to his LinkedIn profile. It also says that he is a Business Management graduate of De La Salle University and was involved in some companies that includes large mining firm.

Some companies that he listed includes, contractor Izumo Contractors Inc., landfill manager Waste Management Inc., and dredging operator Phil-Asia Dredging and Reclamation Corp. It also say that he is a managing director and a major shareholder of Colossal Mining Corporation.

Colossal Mining Corporation is a member of the Chamber of Mines, that states that they are engaged in mining and production of iron concentrates in the Philippines.

Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares in an interview said that she will looked into Lee's associates who are facing tax evasion raps.




Henares also mentioned that one of Lee's business partners is Tyrone Ong, who was charged for tax evasion by the BIR in June 2012. The BIR charged Ong, president of Mandaluyong City-based Enviroaire, Inc., in June 2012 for failure to pay his tax obligations in 2007 amounting to almost P184 million.

Enviroaire has supplied the Philippine National Police (PNP) with motor equipment, and is also into the emission testing business.

Ong is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame after having been ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan in August 2013 on graft and malversation charges for the fictitious repair and maintenance of V-150 armored vehicles worth P385.48 million in 2007.

The anti-graft court did not allow him and his co-accused to post bail.

Hong Kong imposes sanctions Against Philippines over 2010 hostage deaths

HONG KONG - Hong Kong (HK) has announced the removal of visa-free access for all Philippine diplomatic and official passport holders after Manila failed to issue a formal apology for a deadly hostage-taking in 2010.

The victims' families of eight HK tourists who were killed in the Manila shooting have demanded an apology and compensation, punishment for officials who dealt with the crisis and enhanced tourist safety, in a row that has soured ties.

Hong Kong and the Philippines have close economic relations, with more than 100,000 Filipino domestic helpers working in the city, but emotions still run high over the killing of the tourists on a bus by a sacked police officer who opened fire amid a bungled rescue attempt.

"The sanctions we just announced are just and justified. We welcome the continuation of dialogue between us and the Philippines to bring the matter to a final conclusion," Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying told a news briefing.

The sanction will take effect next Wednesday, when Philippine diplomatic and official passport holders will no longer enjoy 14-day visa-free access.

Source: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Hong_Kong_imposes_sanctions_on_Philippines_over_2010_hostage_deaths.html?cid=37840344

Please take note that "Ordinary passport holders" are people like you and me, and still not affected by this sanction. 

Official passport holders are diplomats or consular officers which are stationed elsewhere.

Vhong Navarro CCTV

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) showed the CCTV footage on Wednesday, and it seems to shows that the actor Vhong Navarro's version of events on the night of January 22 is true that lead to his beating.

Before it was shown, the words of Navarro and Deniece Cornejo 22, has been pitted against each other. But now the CCTV clearly shows Cornejo entering her building's elevator and then exiting the building shortly after Navarro arrived. She did not appear like she had just survived a rape attempt, and casually examined herself in the elevator mirror.

Navarro was mauled by businessman Cedric Lee and his friends that night, after Lee said he found the actor on top of Cornejo. But the video appears to show that Navarro and Cornejo were not in the condo unit at the same time.


10:38 p.m. - Navarro entered the lobby, wearing a shirt, shorts and cap and carrying something in a paper bag.
10:40 p.m.- Cornejo appears in the same lobby, leaving the building alone.
- a separate CCTV camera in the elevator showed Cornejo leaving the elevator just a minute after Navarro arrived, she was shown casually examines herself in the elevator’s reflective door.

10:41 p.m. - Lee entered the lobby and headed to the elevator. Then followed by two other males entered the lobby. One of them has been identified as a certain Ferdinand Guerrero.

In Navarro’s statement he said that when Deniece left him inside the unit, two men, who came from Cornejo’s room, beat him up. One of them pointed a gun at his face.

10:56 p.m. - Lee’s sister Bernice Lee entered the lobby and left with Cedric three minutes later. The two were having a conversation inside the lift, with Bernice gesturing with her hands as if counting.

11:01 p.m. - Cornejo and the Lee siblings entered the building again and headed to the elevator to go back up to Cornejo's unit on the second floor.

11:13 p.m. - Navarro, the Lees, Cornejo and five other men were seen in the lobby leaving the building together. The footage shows Navarro being escorted out with his hands bound behind his back.

Deniece Millet Cornejo Before and After Picture

On social media there is a Before and After Picture of Deniece Millet Cornejo spreading, were the before picture don't look as good as the present. It want to make it appear that she had a facial reconstruction to have a prettier face. However, it is not verified if both picture is of the same woman.

Vhong Navarro Scandal

Vhong Navarro Lawyer Atty. Manalo said that the group who mugged him asked him to admit that he tried to rape Denise Milet Cornejo and ask him to pay them 2 million pesos and keep quiet about the incident. The group also took videos of him naked with his privates exposed. The group also threatened to kill him and his family, Navarro's lawyer claimed.

Vhong also said that he recognized Cedric Lee, Bernice Lee, and Mike who are with the group who beat him up.

My take, just check the CCTV of the condominium who arrived in the condo first the group of Cedric Lee or Vhong Navarro, they you'll know who is lying.

Denise Milet Cornejo is the Woman allegedly involved in Vhong Navaro Assault

Deniece Milinette Cornejo with Atty. Gozon of GMA Network posted on her FB page

Vhong Navarro mentioned the name Denise Milet Cornejo during his exclusive interview in “Buzz ng Bayan” as the woman behind the assault. She is also the one who reported the alleged rape try by Vhong Navaro.

On the social media they said that she’s a grand daughter of the Atty. Gozon of GMA.

She captioned the photo: “with my lolo rod of GMA7 with lolo att. gozum.” Though she mispelled it.

FAKE Vhong Navarro’s CCTV Footage being beaten up

You can see tons of fake CCTV Video of Vhong Navarro’s brutal attack at The Fort on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

Be careful on clicking the links since they know this news if viral and these scammers and spammers are using it to steal your personal info or identity using a Trojan virus.

People are advised not to click or open the video link, just like the picture above appearing on Facebook news feeds. The video is fake!

The original CCTV that they are showing is of a Brazilian fashion designer’s shop being robbed and not the attacking incident of Vhong Navarro at The Fort on Wednesday, January 22.

Shocking Photos of Vhong Navarro after being beaten at The Fort. Unidentified Girl Accused Vhong Navarro for Attempted Rape.

GMA-7 24 Oras Weekend reported that there is a police blotter that had Ferdinand Navarro's (Vhong's real name) signature showed the complaint filed by an unidentified 22-year-old student.

According to the complainant, Vhong came to her condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City at around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

While inside the unit, the woman got surprised when the “It’s Showtime” host allegedly touched her hand and pulled her hair.

The 22-year-old student claimed to have fought back and ran to her bedroom to seek refuge—but Vhong supposedly chased after her, forcibly pushed her to bed as the TV host attempted to pull down her shorts.

Two men allegedly came in and made a “citizen arrest” to rescue their friend from Vhong’s advances.

They then brought the TV host to the police station where they filed a blotter.

At the end of the affidavit, the woman said she would no longer pursue a case against Vhong.

Metro Manila temperature at 15.8° Celsius

Temperatures in Metro Manila reached a new low Sunday, going down more than one degree Celsius from Saturday's 16.9° C, PAGASA forecasters said.

PAGASA said its measurements at the Science Garden in Quezon City showed the predawn Sunday temperature at 15.8° C, radio dzBB's Rodil Vega reported.

On Saturday, PAGASA said the 16.9° C was so far the lowest temperature recorded this year.

The dzBB report quoted PAGASA forecaster Aldczar Aurelio as saying the cold weather is due to the northeast monsoon, which may continue until February.

Last Jan. 18, temperatures in the National Capital Region fell to 17.5° C.

But the record-low temperature in NCR was at 15.1 on Feb. 4, 1987 and Dec. 30, 1988.

Vhong Navarro tied, blindfolded, and beaten by 6 men

TV host-comedian Vhong Navarro was tied, blindfolded, and beaten by 6 men in a condominium unit in The Fort, Taguig City, Philippines last Wednesday January 22. As of the moment, he is recuperating in a hospital. He will be needing an operation for the injuries he sustained.

It is still unknown what he was doing in that condominium. There were speculations on social medai that a girl who owned the unit accused Vhong Navarro for allegedly attempted to rape her.

President PNoy Aquino Accused of Plunder

MANILA, Philippines — INQUIRER reported that Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, a militant peasant group has filed a plunder case against President Benigno Aquino III and 12 others at the Office of the Ombudsman on the alleged pillage of P125 million from the Malampaya Gas Funds purportedly benefiting dummy non-government organizations linked to the Department of Agrarian Reform.

They filed on Tuesday morning a plunder case against Aquino together with Department of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad, DAR Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes and “pork-barrel queen” Janet-Lim Napoles.

Whistle-blower Benhur Luy and eight others connected to the Napoles scam were also charged with the felony.

KMP chairperson Rafael Mariano said that the complaint would show that the DAR is a pipeline that corrupt public officials use to steal from the national funds.

“This plunder complaint will show that under the Aquino regime, the DAR is not only a conduit of big landlords, like the Cojuangcos, in strengthening their control over vast haciendas but a conduit in plundering the nation’s coffers.”

In a 16-page, 70-evidence complaint the KMP accused Aquino of using the Malampaya Funds for projects that violate a law that a former president has passed.

KMP said that Aquino violated Presidential Decree 910, a law that the late president Ferdinand Marcos passed that would make all energy-related funds to be used solely for power and energy.

“The President and the respondent public officials of the DBM should know and should have known that the Malampaya Funds were earmarked for energy development or energy-related projects,” KMP said in the complaint.

According to the group, bogus NGOs that received the P125-million fund from Malampaya were under the watch of Luy and John Raymond De Asis, the alleged driver-bodyguard of Napoles.

“The projects that the DAR entered with the NGOs… are not in any way related to energy-development,” the group said in their complaint.

“Worst, those projects were never implemented. Not a single centavo was spent for the said projects and not a single farmer received any benefit.”

Abad, together with his Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, were also charged as “principals by indispensable cooperation” since the two approved the release of funds to the DAR which would be used for projects unrelated to energy-development.

The KMP added that the proponents on the complaint used the predicament of farmers as “justification for the release of public funds they have squandered.”

reported by INQ

Senator Bong Revilla accuses Benigno Aquino of being a dictator

Senator Ramon Revilla accused President Benigno Aquino of personally pleading him to vote for the impeachment of former Supreme Court Chief of Staff Renato Corona in 2012.

Revilla quoted Aquino as saying, in a breakfast meeting at the President’s residence in Malacanang, “Please do me a favour. He (Corona ) must be impeached.”

The breakfast took place after Revilla and Secretary Mar Roxas "boy pick up" drove from the latter’s house in Cubao, suburban Quezon City to the presidential palace.

The senator said he had kept to himself, for almost two years, the story of Aquino’s “intervention” in an impeachment trial that was “supposed to be legal and independent”.

Watch his privilege speach above.

Baguio temperature falls to 8.1 degrees Celsius

Temperature in Baguio City falls again to a new low of 8.1 degrees Celsius making it even chillier before dawn Sunday.

Radio report said that PAGASA Baguio reported that the new low was recorded at about 5:10 a.m., a week after the previous low of 9.6 degrees Celsius was noted. It added PAGASA expects temperatures to be much colder in higher areas in Benguet province such as Atok and Mankayan.

The report noted PAGASA recorded the lowest temperature in Baguio at 6.3 degrees Celsius on Jan. 19, 1961.

Earlier, PAGASA forecaster Jori Loiz said in an interview on dzBB radio that the cold weather may continue at least until late February.

Nearby areas including Benguet had also been experiencing chilly weather, with Benguet farmers worried frost may be affecting their vegetables.

Filipina caregiver sings "My Way" wins Israel's X-Factor

Filipina singing caregiver Rose Fostanes has emerge as the first season winner of "X Factor Israel." In the live finale show on Tuesday (Wednesday morning in Manila), Fostanes sang the Frank Sinatra classic "My Way" with an orchestra on the background. Judges and audience gave her a standing ovation after her song.

The other song she performed are Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” and ”Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics.

"Thank you so much for those Israeli who like my voice...thank you for giving me the chance to be in the X Factor Israel," Fostanes said after she won.

Placing second was a young female singer, Eden Ben Zaken, who was mentored by rock singer, Rami Fortis.

PhilHealth chief Will not return P1.65B bonuses despite COA order

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President Alexander Padilla said that the distribution of the P1.65 billion worth of bonuses and incentives to its employees in 2012 are legal and only a court ruling could prove otherwise. This despite of the Commission on Audit (COA) order for 31 government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) including PhilHealth to return the bonuses that amount to P2.313 billion.

COA’s annual financial report that was released last December said that these GOCCs have released “bonus(es), allowances and benefits to the board of directors and employees without or in excess of legal basis or proper authority.”

PhilHealth has the biggest bonus in 2012 next with Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) with P216 million.

PhilHealth also released its bonuses to employees in 2013 amounting to P1.448 billion despite the COA’s notice.

Other GOCCs ordered by the COA to refund the government their 2012 bonuses in millions of pesos are Region 7 water districts, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-ibig), Butuan City Water District, Development Academy of the Philippines, Philippine National Oil Co. Exploration Corp., and Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority.

Stolen art sale gets Imelda Marcos ex-aide six years in New York prison

NEW YORK - A former aide of Imelda Marcos was sentenced on Monday to up to 6 years in a New York prison for a scheme to sell art that once belonged to the former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos that includes a Claude Monet water-lily painting that is worth $32 million.

Claude Monet Water Lilies painting

Vilma Bautista, 75, was convicted last November for conspiracy and tax fraud charges related to the sale or attempted sale of four museum-quality paintings acquired by Marcos during the two decades that her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, was president of the Philippines.

The art disappeared around 1986, when Marcos was ousted from power. He died three years later.

The judge sentenced Bautista to between 2 and 6 years in prison for the count of tax fraud and between one and three years for the conspiracy charge.

Bautista, who had faced up to 25 years in prison, was also ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution to the state of New York. Bautista was charged in the state because she lives in New York City.

Prosecutors said Bautista secretly held on to the artwork for more than two decades until 2010, when she sold Monet's "Le Bassin aux Nympheas," part of his famed series of water-lily paintings, to a London gallery for $32 million.

"Le Bassin aux Nympheas" - Claude Monet

  
She was also accused of secretly keeping and attempting to sell Monet's "L'Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil," Alfred Sisley's "Langland Bay" and Albert Marquet's "Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said," with help from her two nephews.

"L'Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil" - Claude Monet

"Langland Bay"- Alfred Sisley

 

.

Albert Marquet's Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said (1946)

During her month-long trial last year, prosecutors said Bautista knew the art was stolen from a Manhattan townhouse that was once used by Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos. They argued she hid the multimillion-dollar pieces until she tried to sell them for personal gain, keeping the money tax-free.

Bautista's lawyers argued that she had been given permission to sell the artwork and had intended to return the money to the Philippine government, but it was seized by the Manhattan district attorney's office before she could do so.

One of Bautista's attorneys on Monday told Reuters Television that she planned to appeal the conviction.

"We will be filing an appeal, and the appeal is going to be somewhat expedited and we're hoping that the appellate division agrees with us," attorney Fran Hoffinger said.

Bautista was released on $275,000 bail pending her appeal.

Bautista was a member of the Philippine foreign service and was a close confidante to the former Philippine first lady, serving as her unofficial New York-based personal secretary while assigned to the Philippine mission to the United Nations from the early 1970s through 1986, prosecutors said.

During her husband's rule, Imelda Marcos amassed art, jewelry and other valuables using state assets. The Philippine government is still trying to recover many of the items.

After Bautista's trial, the Philippine government said in a statement it welcomed her conviction and said it would try to recover the art.

The Philippine government charged Imelda Marcos and her husband with corruption in 1987, seeking billions in U.S. dollars in damages for plundering the Asian nation's wealth.

(Additional reporting by Sharon Reich; Editing by Scott Malone, Amanda Kwan and Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stolen-art-sale-gets-imelda-marcos-ex-aide-175843914.html

Yolanda Temporary Shelters in Leyte that cost P830,000 Each Soaked due to roof holes

The Bunkhouses or temporary shelters for Yolanda survivors being built by Philippine government that cost P830,000 (US$18,624) each in Leyte, Samar got soaked due to holes on the roof.

These Bunkhouses are being built in different areas in Leyte and Samar. These will be the temporary shelter of typhoon victims while the government is still preparing permanent housing for them.

The bunkhouses will be made of coco lumber wooden frames, GI sheet roofing, plywood walls and flooring, and cement footing.

A bunkhouse with a common toilet/wash area and kitchen will be composed of 24 units with an area of about 8.64 square meters per unit to accommodate a family of five members.

SWS: Poverty In the Philippines Increasing end of 2013

MANILA, Philippines - The year 2013 ended with more Filipino families considered themselves poor (mahirap), the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in their report.

The survey was done from December 11 to 16 with 55% of the respondents or  11.8 million Filipino families consider themselves as poor, it is up from 50% three months earlier. 8.8 million or 41 percent of the respondents considered themselves food-poor, which is 4 points above the September result.

SWS interviewed a total of 1,550 adults in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and they were asked to rate themselves whether their families were poor, not poor, or borderline poor.

The rise in both self-rated poverty and food poverty was “roughly due to increases in all areas except Mindanao,” the SWS said.

The 2012 self-rated poverty was at 52%.

Wall St. Cheat Sheet: Worlds Worst Airport Naia 1 number 8

What else is new? Wall St. Cheat Sheet a financial media company in the U.S. tagged the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as number 8, among the 10 Worst Airports in the World because of overcapacity issues in terminals 1 and 3.

Those that are included are known for unkept and smelly bathrooms, extensively long lines, and rude airport staffs. NAIA’s terminals 1 and 3 are said to be “particularly crammed.”

The article even quoted CNN Travel: “Beleaguered by ground crew strikes, unkempt conditions, soup kitchen-style lines that feed into more lines and an overall sense of futility, NAIA brings the term ‘Stuck in the 1970s’ to a new level.”

It also stated that: "Despite overcapacity issues, Terminal 1 seems particularly crammed, and Terminal 3, which is new, is only occupied by minor carriers at the Manila-based airport."

The Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil, topped the worst airports list.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/10-worst-airports-in-the-world.html/

Cebu Pacific to take over Tigerair Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) Cebu Pacific a Philippine budget carrier announced that they will buy Tigerair Philippines for $15 million.

Cebu Pacific said that they will acquire 100% of Tigerair Philippines which includes the 40% stake of Singapore's Tigerair Holdings and stakes of private shareholders.

Cebu and Tigerair Holdings will collaborate on international and domestic routes to and from the Philippines.

Group CEO of Tigerair Koay Peng Yen says the alliance aims "to establish a win-win partnership to forge a more competitive Tigerair."

Each carrier will brand itself as a partner of the other airline and all routes they operate will be marketed on each airline's website.

Tigerair flies to about 50 cities in Asia and the South Pacific.

NBI Clearance Long Lines January 3, 2014

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Taft Avenue Manila has been inundated by people who are applying for an NBI Clearance. In Philippines NBI Clearance is an important document if you want to apply for a job.

Long lines reached the outer gate of their office along United Nations Avenue up to the corner of Maria Orosa Street.

NBI Officer-in-Charge Atty. Medardo de Lemos said on the news that they have a new and better system in processing NBI clearance that they have created themselves, but because it was new it resulted to confusion among their workers and caused long lines. He also said that it was implemented because the contract of the previous contractor Realtime Data Management Services Incorporated (RDMSI) has expired on Dec. 31, 2013.

De Lemos also said that the hardware that is needed for the project for all the clearance centers nationwide have not yet been purchased and the connection of all the 22 districts and 17 regional offices of the NBI is still need to be fixed.

The new system will only require the applicants to pass through 5 steps instead of 11, and expected finish the process in only 30 minutes, from 95 minutes with the previous system.