From the Manila Standard Today (Nov 16): Terror suspect nabbed in Zambo
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission on Friday said operatives arrested Wednesday an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf Group over the kidnapping of six Jehova’s Witness members in Zamboanga City.
The commission identified the suspect as Ustadz Nidhal Pajiran alias Abu Rahman and Abu Kudama, among responsible bandits in their abduction in Patikul, Sulu in 2002.
Pajiran was apprehended in Barangay Tictapul by agents of the Special Project Mindanao Khilafa Islamiya, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in a PAOCC-assisted operation.
“Pajiran was nabbed on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued by Branch 266 of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court for kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom,” PAOCC said.
He was allegedly part of the group that abducted the members of the religious organization while doing door-to-door sale of cosmetic products in Patikul in August 2002. Two of the victims were beheaded a day after they were kidnapped, while the remaining four were rescued by the military following weeks of operation.
Pajiran was also involved in the abduction of American Jeffrey Schilling in 2000 in Sulu.
Schilling was held for seven months by the ASG, which threatened to kill him unless his family pays a US$10-million in ransom and Washington releases prisoners held in the United States. In April 2001, Schilling escaped.
According to authorities, Pajiran has been a member of the notorious group since 2000 when he joined Khadaffy Janjalani in Patikul, Sulu.
They said Pajiran had studied Madrasah in Barangay Muti, Zamboanga City where he met the ASG’s bomb experts Abdulla and Amilhamja Ajilul. He also went to Al Farouk Institute in Palawan in 1995 and graduated at the top of his class, they added.
Pajarin is said to be one of the religious leaders and trainers of the ASG in various trainings held in Sulu since 2003.
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/11/16/terror-suspect-nabbed-in-zambo/
Friday, November 15, 2013
Army ‘tiles’ program wins peace
From the Manila Bulletin (Nov 15): Army ‘tiles’ program wins peace
The Philippine Army’s 3rd Mechanized (Makatarungan) Infantry Battalion, Mechanized Division has implemented another approach in its quest to battle insurgency not with guns, but with nation-building efforts as the multi-agency program dubbed “Tiles for Peace.”
Partnering with local authorities and non-government organizations (NGOs), the army is getting everyone involved in masonry work; repairing the tiling in washing and lavatory facilities; and a general cleaning-up of schools.
Just recently, the army swooped down on Mapalacsiao Elementary School, Burgos Elementary School and Ungot Elementary School where they conducted voluntary social activities, said Lt. Col. Jose Rico D. Atencio, Maratarungan Battalion commander.
Ungot School Principal Rio B. Miranda remarked: “We’re winning the peace rather than winning the war (on insurgency).”
http://www.mb.com.ph/army-tiles-program-wins-peace/
The Philippine Army’s 3rd Mechanized (Makatarungan) Infantry Battalion, Mechanized Division has implemented another approach in its quest to battle insurgency not with guns, but with nation-building efforts as the multi-agency program dubbed “Tiles for Peace.”
Partnering with local authorities and non-government organizations (NGOs), the army is getting everyone involved in masonry work; repairing the tiling in washing and lavatory facilities; and a general cleaning-up of schools.
Just recently, the army swooped down on Mapalacsiao Elementary School, Burgos Elementary School and Ungot Elementary School where they conducted voluntary social activities, said Lt. Col. Jose Rico D. Atencio, Maratarungan Battalion commander.
Ungot School Principal Rio B. Miranda remarked: “We’re winning the peace rather than winning the war (on insurgency).”
http://www.mb.com.ph/army-tiles-program-wins-peace/
Obama: ‘More help is on the way’
From the Manila Bulletin (Nov 15): Obama: ‘More help is on the way’
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday (Friday Manila time) reassured the Filipino people that “more help is on the way” for the victims of the deadliest storm to hit the country this year.
Speaking during the press briefing on the cancellation of health-care policies under the Affordable Care Act at the White House, Obama described the tragedy in the Philippines as a “heartbreaking reminder of how fragile life is.”
“So our prayers are with the Filipino people and with Filipino-Americans across our country who are anxious about their family and friends back home,” he declared.
Obama further reiterated the promise he gave President Benigno Aquino III last Wednesday during their telephone conversation that the US will continue to offer whatever assistance it can.
He said American military personnel and the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) team are already on the ground “working tirelessly” to deliver food, water, medicine, shelter and to help with airlift.
Likewise, Obama said the US aircraft carrier U.S.S. George Washington and other ships are already in the Philippines to help with the search and rescue, as well as to deliver supplies, offer medical care and extend logistical support.
“You know, one of our core principles is when friends are in trouble, America helps,” the US President pointed out. “America’s strength, of course has always been more than just about what our government can do; it’s also about what our citizens can do. It’s about the bigheartedness of the American people when they see other folks in trouble.”
Once again, Obama encouraged Americans who want to help to visit WhiteHouse.gov/ typhoon to find out how they can support the relief efforts.
“Our friends in the Philippines will face a long, hard road ahead, but they’ll continue to have a friend and partner in the United States of America,” he stated.
This is the third time that Obama issued a statement about typhoon Yolanda.
Last Nov. 11, he said the US government is providing $20 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to benefit typhoon-affected populations, including the provision of emergency shelter, food assistance, relief commodities, and water, sanitation, and hygiene support.
The following day, President Obama spoke with President Aquino over the phone to express deep condolences on behalf of the American people for the lives lost and damage caused by one of the strongest storms to ever hit land.
He discussed with his Filipino counterpart the need for a speedy assessment of what further American resources would be most helpful to assist in the Philippine recovery effort.
President Obama also affirmed that the thoughts and prayers of the American people go out to the millions of people in the Philippines affected by the calamity.
http://www.mb.com.ph/obama-more-help-is-on-the-way/
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday (Friday Manila time) reassured the Filipino people that “more help is on the way” for the victims of the deadliest storm to hit the country this year.
Speaking during the press briefing on the cancellation of health-care policies under the Affordable Care Act at the White House, Obama described the tragedy in the Philippines as a “heartbreaking reminder of how fragile life is.”
“So our prayers are with the Filipino people and with Filipino-Americans across our country who are anxious about their family and friends back home,” he declared.
Obama further reiterated the promise he gave President Benigno Aquino III last Wednesday during their telephone conversation that the US will continue to offer whatever assistance it can.
He said American military personnel and the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) team are already on the ground “working tirelessly” to deliver food, water, medicine, shelter and to help with airlift.
Likewise, Obama said the US aircraft carrier U.S.S. George Washington and other ships are already in the Philippines to help with the search and rescue, as well as to deliver supplies, offer medical care and extend logistical support.
“You know, one of our core principles is when friends are in trouble, America helps,” the US President pointed out. “America’s strength, of course has always been more than just about what our government can do; it’s also about what our citizens can do. It’s about the bigheartedness of the American people when they see other folks in trouble.”
Once again, Obama encouraged Americans who want to help to visit WhiteHouse.gov/ typhoon to find out how they can support the relief efforts.
“Our friends in the Philippines will face a long, hard road ahead, but they’ll continue to have a friend and partner in the United States of America,” he stated.
This is the third time that Obama issued a statement about typhoon Yolanda.
Last Nov. 11, he said the US government is providing $20 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to benefit typhoon-affected populations, including the provision of emergency shelter, food assistance, relief commodities, and water, sanitation, and hygiene support.
The following day, President Obama spoke with President Aquino over the phone to express deep condolences on behalf of the American people for the lives lost and damage caused by one of the strongest storms to ever hit land.
He discussed with his Filipino counterpart the need for a speedy assessment of what further American resources would be most helpful to assist in the Philippine recovery effort.
President Obama also affirmed that the thoughts and prayers of the American people go out to the millions of people in the Philippines affected by the calamity.
http://www.mb.com.ph/obama-more-help-is-on-the-way/
US deploys 1K Marines in storm-ravaged isles; China should send warships to RP — state media
From the Daily Tribune (Nov 16): US deploys 1K Marines in storm-ravaged isles; China should send warships to RP — state media
In Washington, the US military said Thursday it was deploying 1,000 Marines to support emergency relief operations in the Philippines following super typhoon “Haiyan” (“Yolanda”).
About 900 troops will board two US Navy amphibious ships — the Japan-based USS Germantown and USS Ashland — and are due in the Philippines in about six days, Marine Forces Pacific said in a statement.
An additional 100 Marines from the same unit will travel to the region by aircraft.
The ships were set to bring heavy engineering equipment — including backhoes, dump trucks and wreckers — amphibious assault vehicles, a tracked vehicle that can operate in the water and on land, generators and “water bull” portable water tanks.
Up to eight MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were also set to fly to Manila’s international airport in the coming days, doubling the number of Ospreys available in the area.
The Marines, who will assist with road clearance and relief supply distribution, will travel by landing craft utility boats, landing craft air cushion vehicles, assault amphibious vehicles, small boats and rotary wing aircraft.
The announcement came hours after the USS George Washington arrived in the Philippines with 5,000 sailors aboard, bearing badly needed equipment, supplies and expertise for the thousands left homeless and hungry by one of the strongest storms in history.
It is one of eight American ships currently in the region as part of “Operation Damayan” — Tagalog for “solidarity.”
US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, urged Americans to donate generously to their former Asian colony.
In Beijing meanwhile, Chinese state media said China should send warships to the Philippines as part of the typhoon disaster relief effort to counter US and Japanese influence, state-run media said Friday.
Beijing and Manila are embroiled in a row over disputed islands, but if the Philippines rejected the warships proposal, that would only “underscore its narrow mind and will be of no loss to China”, the Global Times said in an editorial.
An eight-strong flotilla of US vessels, headed by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, arrived off the Philippines Thursday bearing badly needed equipment, supplies and expertise for the thousands left homeless and hungry by one of the strongest storms in history.
Tokyo is tripling its emergency aid package for the Philippines to more than $30 million, and plans to send as many as 1,000 troops to the disaster zone — the largest single relief operation team sent abroad by its de-facto military.
“We believe China should send its warships to the Philippines too,” said the Global Times, which is close to the Communist Party, adding such a move would be “well-intentioned”.
The dispute over islands in the strategically vital South China Sea — which Beijing claims almost in its entirety — has been running for years.
Manila says Chinese vessels have occupied Scarborough Shoal, which it claims itself, since last year, and it is open to question whether it would welcome a Chinese navy presence in its waters.
The US and Japanese militaries’ part in the relief efforts was an element of Washington’s Asia strategy and may have “more intentions hidden behind the humanitarian aid”, the newspaper — which often strikes a nationalist tone — said in a separate report.
Beijing could send a hospital ship, the Peace Ark, escorted by warships if dispatching its newly commissioned aircraft carrier the Liaoning was “sensitive and premature”, said the editorial.
It came after China said Thursday it would provide a further $1.6 million aid to the Philippines, mainly in tents and blankets, after widespread criticism of its initial modest response of a $100,000 government donation, matched by the Chinese Red Cross.
The country was cautious about sending troops overseas in the past because of “a lack of capabilities, experience and many other concerns”, said the Global Times editorial, which was similar in both English and Chinese editions.
But now, it said: “The Chinese military must gradually assume a more forceful role in China’s diplomacy.
“There is no need for a stronger China to worry about what we should do if our offer is rejected by the Philippines or if we are criticized by global public opinion due to poor performance,” it added.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/us-deploys-1k-marines-in-storm-ravaged-isles-china-should-send-warships-to-rp-state-media
In Washington, the US military said Thursday it was deploying 1,000 Marines to support emergency relief operations in the Philippines following super typhoon “Haiyan” (“Yolanda”).
About 900 troops will board two US Navy amphibious ships — the Japan-based USS Germantown and USS Ashland — and are due in the Philippines in about six days, Marine Forces Pacific said in a statement.
An additional 100 Marines from the same unit will travel to the region by aircraft.
The ships were set to bring heavy engineering equipment — including backhoes, dump trucks and wreckers — amphibious assault vehicles, a tracked vehicle that can operate in the water and on land, generators and “water bull” portable water tanks.
Up to eight MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were also set to fly to Manila’s international airport in the coming days, doubling the number of Ospreys available in the area.
The Marines, who will assist with road clearance and relief supply distribution, will travel by landing craft utility boats, landing craft air cushion vehicles, assault amphibious vehicles, small boats and rotary wing aircraft.
The announcement came hours after the USS George Washington arrived in the Philippines with 5,000 sailors aboard, bearing badly needed equipment, supplies and expertise for the thousands left homeless and hungry by one of the strongest storms in history.
It is one of eight American ships currently in the region as part of “Operation Damayan” — Tagalog for “solidarity.”
US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, urged Americans to donate generously to their former Asian colony.
In Beijing meanwhile, Chinese state media said China should send warships to the Philippines as part of the typhoon disaster relief effort to counter US and Japanese influence, state-run media said Friday.
Beijing and Manila are embroiled in a row over disputed islands, but if the Philippines rejected the warships proposal, that would only “underscore its narrow mind and will be of no loss to China”, the Global Times said in an editorial.
An eight-strong flotilla of US vessels, headed by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, arrived off the Philippines Thursday bearing badly needed equipment, supplies and expertise for the thousands left homeless and hungry by one of the strongest storms in history.
Tokyo is tripling its emergency aid package for the Philippines to more than $30 million, and plans to send as many as 1,000 troops to the disaster zone — the largest single relief operation team sent abroad by its de-facto military.
“We believe China should send its warships to the Philippines too,” said the Global Times, which is close to the Communist Party, adding such a move would be “well-intentioned”.
The dispute over islands in the strategically vital South China Sea — which Beijing claims almost in its entirety — has been running for years.
Manila says Chinese vessels have occupied Scarborough Shoal, which it claims itself, since last year, and it is open to question whether it would welcome a Chinese navy presence in its waters.
The US and Japanese militaries’ part in the relief efforts was an element of Washington’s Asia strategy and may have “more intentions hidden behind the humanitarian aid”, the newspaper — which often strikes a nationalist tone — said in a separate report.
Beijing could send a hospital ship, the Peace Ark, escorted by warships if dispatching its newly commissioned aircraft carrier the Liaoning was “sensitive and premature”, said the editorial.
It came after China said Thursday it would provide a further $1.6 million aid to the Philippines, mainly in tents and blankets, after widespread criticism of its initial modest response of a $100,000 government donation, matched by the Chinese Red Cross.
The country was cautious about sending troops overseas in the past because of “a lack of capabilities, experience and many other concerns”, said the Global Times editorial, which was similar in both English and Chinese editions.
But now, it said: “The Chinese military must gradually assume a more forceful role in China’s diplomacy.
“There is no need for a stronger China to worry about what we should do if our offer is rejected by the Philippines or if we are criticized by global public opinion due to poor performance,” it added.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/us-deploys-1k-marines-in-storm-ravaged-isles-china-should-send-warships-to-rp-state-media
PNoy thanks volunteers at Army repacking center
From InterAksyon (Nov 15): PNoy thanks volunteers at Army repacking center
Pres. Benigno Aquino III addresses volunteers at the Army repacking center in Fort Bonifacio. (Philippine Army photo)
President Benigno Aquino III visited the repacking center at Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio Thursday night to thank volunteers even as he asked them to increase efforts for the victims of super typhoon “Yolanda.”
“Salamat po sa pagdamay niyo. Hindi po ako matatapos magpasalamat sa lahat. At kung pupuwede po sana, paspasan pa natin dahil talaga pong matindi ang pangangailangan ng mga kababayan natin doon (Thank you getting involved. I have not finished thanking everyone. And if possible, let us increase our efforts because the needs of our countrymen is really great),” Aquino told the volunteers.
“Kapag napapagod na po kayo isipin na lang natin na sa bawat pack ay may isang pamilyang nabigyan natin ng paraang magpatuloy ang buhay. Kailangan nating maibangon ang mga kababayan natin (If you grow tired, let us think that each pack is a family given a chance to continue living. We need to uplift our countrymen),” he added.
Captain Anthony Bacus, officer in charge of the Army’s Public Affairs Office, said Aquino was accompanied by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Army chief Lieutenant General Noel Coballes.
He said the repacking center at the Army gym was set up in partnership with the An-Waray party-list.
Bacus said the Army has dispatched 34 M35 military trucks loaded with relief goods to typhoon-stricken areas.
“A third batch of relief personnel (was) just sent out today (Thursday),” he added.
The government has come under criticism for what has been perceived to be its slow response to the disaster and in bringing relief to hundreds of thousands of victims.
On Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 1.9 million families, or more than 9 million individuals, have been affected by Yolanda.
The agency placed damage estimates thus far at P4 billion.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74879/pnoy-thanks-volunteers-at-army-repacking-center
Pres. Benigno Aquino III addresses volunteers at the Army repacking center in Fort Bonifacio. (Philippine Army photo)
President Benigno Aquino III visited the repacking center at Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio Thursday night to thank volunteers even as he asked them to increase efforts for the victims of super typhoon “Yolanda.”
“Salamat po sa pagdamay niyo. Hindi po ako matatapos magpasalamat sa lahat. At kung pupuwede po sana, paspasan pa natin dahil talaga pong matindi ang pangangailangan ng mga kababayan natin doon (Thank you getting involved. I have not finished thanking everyone. And if possible, let us increase our efforts because the needs of our countrymen is really great),” Aquino told the volunteers.
“Kapag napapagod na po kayo isipin na lang natin na sa bawat pack ay may isang pamilyang nabigyan natin ng paraang magpatuloy ang buhay. Kailangan nating maibangon ang mga kababayan natin (If you grow tired, let us think that each pack is a family given a chance to continue living. We need to uplift our countrymen),” he added.
Captain Anthony Bacus, officer in charge of the Army’s Public Affairs Office, said Aquino was accompanied by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Army chief Lieutenant General Noel Coballes.
He said the repacking center at the Army gym was set up in partnership with the An-Waray party-list.
Bacus said the Army has dispatched 34 M35 military trucks loaded with relief goods to typhoon-stricken areas.
“A third batch of relief personnel (was) just sent out today (Thursday),” he added.
The government has come under criticism for what has been perceived to be its slow response to the disaster and in bringing relief to hundreds of thousands of victims.
On Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 1.9 million families, or more than 9 million individuals, have been affected by Yolanda.
The agency placed damage estimates thus far at P4 billion.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74879/pnoy-thanks-volunteers-at-army-repacking-center
Death toll jumps to 4,000 in Tacloban as US carrier unloads food, water
From InterAksyon (Nov 15): Death toll jumps to 4,000 in Tacloban as US carrier unloads food, water
A US Navy MH-60S helicopter drops supplies at Tacloban airport. (Reuters/Specialist 3rd Class Ricardo R. Guzman/US Navy/Handout)
The death toll from super typhoon "Yolanda" (Haiyan) doubled overnight in Tacloban City alone according to a tally by the local government, reaching 4,000, as helicopters from a US aircraft carrier and other naval ships began flying food, water and medical teams to ravaged regions on Friday.
The government, which had asked media not to report unverified casualty counts that were much higher than the official toll, later on Friday issued an updated figure that came closer to the local government's tally. The official national government tally is now 3,621.
President Benigno Aquino III has faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of aid and also come under criticism over unclear estimates of casualties, especially in Tacloban, capital of Leyte .
A notice board at Tacloban City Hall estimated the deaths at 4,000, up from 2,000 a day before. The toll, written in blue marker on a whiteboard easel, is compiled by local officials who started burying bodies in a mass grave on Thursday.
Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez said some people may have been swept out to sea and their bodies lost after storm surge -- a tsunami-like wall of seawater -- slammed into coastal areas. One neighborhood had a population of between 10,000 and 12,000, and now was completely deserted, he said.
The City Hall toll is the first public acknowledgement that the number of fatalities would likely far exceed an estimate given this week by Aquino, who said the loss of life from Typhoon Haiyan would be closer to 2,000 or 2,500.
Adding to the confusion, the United Nations, citing government figures, put the latest overall death toll at 4,460.
The OCHA site cited the Department of Social Welfare and Development as its source. It also said Yolanda has affected 11.8 million people, of whom 921,212 are displaced.
Asked for the source of the figures, Manila-based OCHA spokeswoman Orla Fagan said:" We are getting it from the operations centre of the regional taskforce set up by the NDRMMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council)."
But NDRMMC spokesman Reynaldo Balido insisted the official toll from the typhoon remained at 2,360.
When asked about the UN's statement, Balido replied: "Not true."
By Friday afternoon, his boss, Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario, had updated the official toll to over 3,600.
Partial, official death toll now at 3,621
On Friday afternoon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) announced that the partial and official death toll for super typhoon "Yolanda" had reached 3,621.
This can be broken down into:
-CALABARZON: 2
-MIMAROPA: 5
-Bicol: 5
-Western Visayas: 113
-Central Visayas: 72
-Eastern Visayas: 3,422
-Zamboanga Peninsula: 1
-CARAGA:1
NDRRMC executive director Eduardo Del Rosario added that 12,165 were injured and this is broken down into 2 for CALABARZON, 21 for Bicol, 134 Western Visayas, 102 Central Visayas, 11,906 Eastern Visayas and 1 for Zamboanga Peninsula.
Still missing are 1,140 individuals--11 for Western Visayas, 5 for Central Visayas and 1,124 for Eastern Visayas.
Mr. Aquino disputes '10,000' death toll
On Tuesday, Aquino said estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated and caused by "emotional trauma." Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, the director of Regional Police Office 9 who made that estimate to media, was removed from his post on Thursday.
A police spokesman said Soria was due to be transferred to headquarters in Manila. But a senior police official told Reuters he believed Soria was re-assigned because of his unauthorized casualty estimate.
Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said in a radio interview Friday that, as of Thursday night, the toll had reached 2,600 “or more than that,” citing figures from the Office of Civil Defense, a figure already more than Aquino's estimate.
Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the pace of aid distribution, which has been hindered by paralyzed local governments, widespread looting, a lack of fuel and debris-choked roads.
The dead are still being buried one week after the storm although many corpses remain uncovered on roadsides or under splintered homes in the worst hit city of Tacloban.
Roxas said disaster response teams have become more focused, systematic and organized compared to the first two days after the typhoon struck, when first responders such as local governments and military and police units were themselves casualties of the disaster.
He admitted that government was caught off guard by the magnitude of the disaster and that there is a need to again review disaster preparedness and response resources.
Foreign aid officials have called the disaster unprecedented for the Philippines.
"There is utter devastation. People are desperate for food, water, shelter, supplies and information about their loved ones," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Thursday during a visit to Latvia.
"We are doing everything possible to rush assistance to those who need it. Now is the time for the international community to stand with the people of the Philippines."
US George Washington
The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off Eastern Samar province Thursday evening, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft.
The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on its flight deck.
"One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around."
US sailors have brought food and water ashore in Tacloban and the town of Guiuan.
The carrier is moored near where US General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest Allied victories of World War Two.
Another US aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, led a massive aid operation off Indonesia's Aceh province after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
Aquino has been on the defensive over his handling of the storm, given warnings of its projected strength and the risk of a storm surge, and now the pace of relief efforts.
He has said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the evacuation of people and the readying of relief supplies, but survivors say they had little warning of any seawater surge.
Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim, who on Sunday estimated 10,000 likely died in his city alone, said Aquino may be deliberately downplaying casualties.
"Of course he doesn't want to create too much panic. Perhaps he is grappling with whether he wants to reduce the panic so that life goes on," he said.
The preliminary number of missing as of Thursday, according to the Red Cross, remained at 22,000. That could include people who have since been located, it has said.
'Who’s in charge?'
Tacloban's main convention center, the Astrodome, has become a temporary home for hundreds of people living in squalor. Families cooked meals amid the stench of garbage and urine. Debris was strewn along rows of seats rising from dark pools of stagnant water.
"We went into the Astrodome and asked who is in charge and just got blank stares," said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, which is setting up camps for the displaced.
Survivors formed long lines under searing sunshine, and then torrential rain, to charge mobile phones from the only power source available -- a city hall generator. Others started to repair motorbikes and homes. A rescue worker cleared debris near a wall with the spray-painted words: "We need food."
Outside Tacloban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, Lim said.
The city government remains paralyzed, with an average of just 70 workers on duty, compared with 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were too overcome with grief to work.
More than 920,000 people have been displaced, the United Nations said. But many areas still have not received aid.
"It's true, there are still areas that we have not been able to get to where people are in desperate need," UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Manila. "I very much hope that in the next 48 hours, that will change significantly.”
"Yes, I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly."
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74862/death-toll-jumps-to-4000-in-tacloban-as-us-carrier-unloads-food-water
A US Navy MH-60S helicopter drops supplies at Tacloban airport. (Reuters/Specialist 3rd Class Ricardo R. Guzman/US Navy/Handout)
The death toll from super typhoon "Yolanda" (Haiyan) doubled overnight in Tacloban City alone according to a tally by the local government, reaching 4,000, as helicopters from a US aircraft carrier and other naval ships began flying food, water and medical teams to ravaged regions on Friday.
The government, which had asked media not to report unverified casualty counts that were much higher than the official toll, later on Friday issued an updated figure that came closer to the local government's tally. The official national government tally is now 3,621.
President Benigno Aquino III has faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of aid and also come under criticism over unclear estimates of casualties, especially in Tacloban, capital of Leyte .
A notice board at Tacloban City Hall estimated the deaths at 4,000, up from 2,000 a day before. The toll, written in blue marker on a whiteboard easel, is compiled by local officials who started burying bodies in a mass grave on Thursday.
Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez said some people may have been swept out to sea and their bodies lost after storm surge -- a tsunami-like wall of seawater -- slammed into coastal areas. One neighborhood had a population of between 10,000 and 12,000, and now was completely deserted, he said.
The City Hall toll is the first public acknowledgement that the number of fatalities would likely far exceed an estimate given this week by Aquino, who said the loss of life from Typhoon Haiyan would be closer to 2,000 or 2,500.
Adding to the confusion, the United Nations, citing government figures, put the latest overall death toll at 4,460.
The OCHA site cited the Department of Social Welfare and Development as its source. It also said Yolanda has affected 11.8 million people, of whom 921,212 are displaced.
Asked for the source of the figures, Manila-based OCHA spokeswoman Orla Fagan said:" We are getting it from the operations centre of the regional taskforce set up by the NDRMMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council)."
But NDRMMC spokesman Reynaldo Balido insisted the official toll from the typhoon remained at 2,360.
When asked about the UN's statement, Balido replied: "Not true."
By Friday afternoon, his boss, Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario, had updated the official toll to over 3,600.
Partial, official death toll now at 3,621
On Friday afternoon, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) announced that the partial and official death toll for super typhoon "Yolanda" had reached 3,621.
This can be broken down into:
-CALABARZON: 2
-MIMAROPA: 5
-Bicol: 5
-Western Visayas: 113
-Central Visayas: 72
-Eastern Visayas: 3,422
-Zamboanga Peninsula: 1
-CARAGA:1
NDRRMC executive director Eduardo Del Rosario added that 12,165 were injured and this is broken down into 2 for CALABARZON, 21 for Bicol, 134 Western Visayas, 102 Central Visayas, 11,906 Eastern Visayas and 1 for Zamboanga Peninsula.
Still missing are 1,140 individuals--11 for Western Visayas, 5 for Central Visayas and 1,124 for Eastern Visayas.
Mr. Aquino disputes '10,000' death toll
On Tuesday, Aquino said estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated and caused by "emotional trauma." Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, the director of Regional Police Office 9 who made that estimate to media, was removed from his post on Thursday.
A police spokesman said Soria was due to be transferred to headquarters in Manila. But a senior police official told Reuters he believed Soria was re-assigned because of his unauthorized casualty estimate.
Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said in a radio interview Friday that, as of Thursday night, the toll had reached 2,600 “or more than that,” citing figures from the Office of Civil Defense, a figure already more than Aquino's estimate.
Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the pace of aid distribution, which has been hindered by paralyzed local governments, widespread looting, a lack of fuel and debris-choked roads.
The dead are still being buried one week after the storm although many corpses remain uncovered on roadsides or under splintered homes in the worst hit city of Tacloban.
Roxas said disaster response teams have become more focused, systematic and organized compared to the first two days after the typhoon struck, when first responders such as local governments and military and police units were themselves casualties of the disaster.
He admitted that government was caught off guard by the magnitude of the disaster and that there is a need to again review disaster preparedness and response resources.
Foreign aid officials have called the disaster unprecedented for the Philippines.
"There is utter devastation. People are desperate for food, water, shelter, supplies and information about their loved ones," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Thursday during a visit to Latvia.
"We are doing everything possible to rush assistance to those who need it. Now is the time for the international community to stand with the people of the Philippines."
US George Washington
The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off Eastern Samar province Thursday evening, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft.
The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on its flight deck.
"One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around."
US sailors have brought food and water ashore in Tacloban and the town of Guiuan.
The carrier is moored near where US General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest Allied victories of World War Two.
Another US aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, led a massive aid operation off Indonesia's Aceh province after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
Aquino has been on the defensive over his handling of the storm, given warnings of its projected strength and the risk of a storm surge, and now the pace of relief efforts.
He has said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the evacuation of people and the readying of relief supplies, but survivors say they had little warning of any seawater surge.
Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim, who on Sunday estimated 10,000 likely died in his city alone, said Aquino may be deliberately downplaying casualties.
"Of course he doesn't want to create too much panic. Perhaps he is grappling with whether he wants to reduce the panic so that life goes on," he said.
The preliminary number of missing as of Thursday, according to the Red Cross, remained at 22,000. That could include people who have since been located, it has said.
'Who’s in charge?'
Tacloban's main convention center, the Astrodome, has become a temporary home for hundreds of people living in squalor. Families cooked meals amid the stench of garbage and urine. Debris was strewn along rows of seats rising from dark pools of stagnant water.
"We went into the Astrodome and asked who is in charge and just got blank stares," said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, which is setting up camps for the displaced.
Survivors formed long lines under searing sunshine, and then torrential rain, to charge mobile phones from the only power source available -- a city hall generator. Others started to repair motorbikes and homes. A rescue worker cleared debris near a wall with the spray-painted words: "We need food."
Outside Tacloban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, Lim said.
The city government remains paralyzed, with an average of just 70 workers on duty, compared with 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were too overcome with grief to work.
More than 920,000 people have been displaced, the United Nations said. But many areas still have not received aid.
"It's true, there are still areas that we have not been able to get to where people are in desperate need," UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Manila. "I very much hope that in the next 48 hours, that will change significantly.”
"Yes, I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly."
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/74862/death-toll-jumps-to-4000-in-tacloban-as-us-carrier-unloads-food-water
MEDIA STATEMENT: 'Let us work together in peace' - GPH Peace Panel in Talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF On typhoon Yolanda
From the Mindanao Examiner (Nov 15): MEDIA STATEMENT: 'Let us work together in peace' - GPH Peace Panel in Talks with the CPP-NPA-NDF On typhoon Yolanda
TYPHOON YOLANDA (Haiyan) has ruined the lives of millions of our people, and has made a wasteland of vast areas in the Visayas, even as the Philippines is still reeling from a series of catastrophes in the Visayas—Pablo, Sendong, and the earthquake in Bohol, to name the most recent—that have wreaked havoc on the lives, property, and tranquility of our people. Today, in the wake of Yolanda, the most powerful storm in human memory, the entire country and most of the world are engaged in the most massive relief and recovery operations in our history.
We are all doing our share in this effort, as Filipinos and as human beings, with compassion, and in solidarity with our suffering sisters and brothers, their children and elders, and their shattered communities.
The task is massive. Government needs all the help it can get. Indeed, the global community has responded generously. Many Filipinos have risen to the call to provide all kinds of relief to the victims and their families, and are gearing for the challenge of long-term reconstruction.
Never has our motherland been in such a need for national unity since perhaps the Second World War. United, we shall overcome this tragedy. Divided, we shall fail our people.
We call on all Filipinos to set aside the politics and ideologies that have divided us, and with arms linked kapit-bisig, together surmount this crisis.
We are heartened by the declaration of a ten-day ceasefire in typhoon-affected areas by our brothers and sisters engaged in armed struggle against the government. But the task is huge; it will need more than a token suspension of armed hostilities in a limited area. We therefore urge the Communist Party of the Philippines to extend a humanitarian ceasefire indefinitely and nationwide and join the rest of the country in mobilizing all necessary resources in a human chain of service to our people. We ask them to pick up the tools that give life, help rebuild from destruction, and promote the peace we so badly need in our land.
Our armed forces and police have changed their mode of operations from armed resistance to unarmed resistance, rescue, relief and rehabilitation in Yolanda-affected areas. We invite our brothers and sisters in the New People’s Army to do the same by participating in this national effort.
For the sake of our people.
TYPHOON YOLANDA (Haiyan) has ruined the lives of millions of our people, and has made a wasteland of vast areas in the Visayas, even as the Philippines is still reeling from a series of catastrophes in the Visayas—Pablo, Sendong, and the earthquake in Bohol, to name the most recent—that have wreaked havoc on the lives, property, and tranquility of our people. Today, in the wake of Yolanda, the most powerful storm in human memory, the entire country and most of the world are engaged in the most massive relief and recovery operations in our history.
We are all doing our share in this effort, as Filipinos and as human beings, with compassion, and in solidarity with our suffering sisters and brothers, their children and elders, and their shattered communities.
The task is massive. Government needs all the help it can get. Indeed, the global community has responded generously. Many Filipinos have risen to the call to provide all kinds of relief to the victims and their families, and are gearing for the challenge of long-term reconstruction.
Never has our motherland been in such a need for national unity since perhaps the Second World War. United, we shall overcome this tragedy. Divided, we shall fail our people.
We call on all Filipinos to set aside the politics and ideologies that have divided us, and with arms linked kapit-bisig, together surmount this crisis.
We are heartened by the declaration of a ten-day ceasefire in typhoon-affected areas by our brothers and sisters engaged in armed struggle against the government. But the task is huge; it will need more than a token suspension of armed hostilities in a limited area. We therefore urge the Communist Party of the Philippines to extend a humanitarian ceasefire indefinitely and nationwide and join the rest of the country in mobilizing all necessary resources in a human chain of service to our people. We ask them to pick up the tools that give life, help rebuild from destruction, and promote the peace we so badly need in our land.
Our armed forces and police have changed their mode of operations from armed resistance to unarmed resistance, rescue, relief and rehabilitation in Yolanda-affected areas. We invite our brothers and sisters in the New People’s Army to do the same by participating in this national effort.
For the sake of our people.
In the name of humanity.
For peace in our beloved Pilipinas.
Japan to deploy 3 SDF ships to crisis-hit Philippines, triples aid to 30 million USD
From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 15): Japan to deploy 3 SDF ships to crisis-hit Philippines, triples aid to 30 million USD
The Japanese government said Friday it would deploy three Self-Defense Forces (SDF) vessels to the typhoon-ravaged Leyte island in thePhilippines , with as many as 1, 000 SDF
personnel expected to assist with relief efforts there and throughout the Philippines
Japan
With Leyte island and its surrounding waters, being used as the primary base forJapan 's troops,
personnel will also be deployed from the vessels to the hard-hit city of Tacloban
Transportation of supplies and troops between Leyte and the mainland byJapan 's first-responders has already taken place
utilizing Japan 's Air
Self-Defense Force's Osprey planes -- their first official deployment outside
of Okinawa -- as well as regular helicopters,
defense ministry officials said.
SDF officials here also said that they had already successfully airlifted vital medical equipment, medicine to combat the rampant spread of infectious diseases in the area, water purification units as well as generators to central Cebu Island, but additional Japanese medical personnel have also been stranded in Manila awaiting regular flights to Cebu, officials here said, hampering the ongoing relief mission.
Efforts have also been hamstrung by civil unrest and with some areas posing security risks to troops and rescue workers.
"What we are watching most carefully is the local security situation," Shigeru Iwasaki, chief of the SDF's Joint Staff, said at a recent press briefing.
"We will gather information not only from the Philippine government, but also from U.S. military troops who are working there so we will be able to secure the safety of our personnel," he was quoted by local media as saying, with reference to instances of looting and gunfire in some of the disaster-hit areas that remain un-policed.
Next week's deployment from Japan will greatly assist international relief efforts underway on the ground in the Philippines, Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Friday, with calls for Japan to bolster medical and rescue efforts, which have been hampered by fuel shortages making it difficult for vehicles to access those in need and civil unrest which has compromised the security environment there.
Onodera said the two Maritime Self-Defense Force's transport vessels are being equipped with helicopters and supplies at theKure
naval base located in Hiroshima
Prefecture
The government also announced Friday that it was tripling its emergency aid package for thePhilippines
The ministry confirmed that it has earmarked a total of around 52 million U.S. dollars in emergency funding, which also comprises a 20 million U.S. dollar contribution to its poverty reduction fund at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=587314
The Japanese government said Friday it would deploy three Self-Defense Forces (SDF) vessels to the typhoon-ravaged Leyte island in the
With Leyte island and its surrounding waters, being used as the primary base for
Transportation of supplies and troops between Leyte and the mainland by
SDF officials here also said that they had already successfully airlifted vital medical equipment, medicine to combat the rampant spread of infectious diseases in the area, water purification units as well as generators to central Cebu Island, but additional Japanese medical personnel have also been stranded in Manila awaiting regular flights to Cebu, officials here said, hampering the ongoing relief mission.
Efforts have also been hamstrung by civil unrest and with some areas posing security risks to troops and rescue workers.
"What we are watching most carefully is the local security situation," Shigeru Iwasaki, chief of the SDF's Joint Staff, said at a recent press briefing.
"We will gather information not only from the Philippine government, but also from U.S. military troops who are working there so we will be able to secure the safety of our personnel," he was quoted by local media as saying, with reference to instances of looting and gunfire in some of the disaster-hit areas that remain un-policed.
Next week's deployment from Japan will greatly assist international relief efforts underway on the ground in the Philippines, Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Friday, with calls for Japan to bolster medical and rescue efforts, which have been hampered by fuel shortages making it difficult for vehicles to access those in need and civil unrest which has compromised the security environment there.
Onodera said the two Maritime Self-Defense Force's transport vessels are being equipped with helicopters and supplies at the
The government also announced Friday that it was tripling its emergency aid package for the
The ministry confirmed that it has earmarked a total of around 52 million U.S. dollars in emergency funding, which also comprises a 20 million U.S. dollar contribution to its poverty reduction fund at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=587314
3rd Infantry Division says it is on top of relief, search mission in Western Visayas
From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 15): 3rd Infantry Division says it is on top of relief, search mission in Western Visayas
The Capiz-based 3rd Infantry Division on Friday announced that it is on top of the ongoing relief and search mission in Western Visayas which was badly hit by supertyphoon "Yolanda" last Nov. 8.
"We are on top of the situation and we would like to reassure the public that your Armed Forces is stepping up its efforts in the conduct of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. We are in close coordination with the local government units, government agencies and non-governmental organizations in order to synchronize our plans and actions for the quick recovery of the region from the devastation of Typhoon 'Yolanda'," 3rd ID commander Major Gen. Aurelio Baladad said.
He added that he is also continuously conferring with the 3rd Infantry Division staff on the dynamics of military response to the disaster.
Disaster Response Task that were deployed in the entire region even before "Yolanda" onslaught, are continuously engage in clearing of road access, delivery of relief items, and in providing the necessary security especially in the hinterland barangays which are heavily devastated by the super typhoon.
Baladad addded that the Armed Forces of thePhilippines
Transportation assets of the AFP such as helicopters, navy boats and military trucks are continuously rolling for the distribution of relief items from the DSWD, provincial government and non-governmental organizations.
Helicopters of the Philippine Air Force have an average of three to four sorties daily (with a total of more or less 10,000 packs of relief goods) and prioritize the hinterland and Island barangays in the region that were heavily devastated.
Navy boats and BFAR vessels also help in reaching the smallIslands which are in great need of relief supplies.
In support to the ground mobility assets of the provinces, about 20 trucks of the 3rd Infantry Division also run day-in and day-out to deliver the relief goods (more or less 30, 000 packs of relief goods).
“The Armed Forces here inWestern Visayas
is doing everything in its capacity to deliver humanitarian assistance to our
people. We appeal to all sectors of society to join us in our “Bayanihan”
efforts to help our fellowmen here during these difficult times," Baladad
said.
In the spirit of "Bayanihan", the AFP’s General Headquarters, the Northern Luzon Command, the Headquarters of the Philippine Army in Manila and other AFP units in Luzon, the 10th Infantry Division based in Davao, and other military units in Mindanao, are also extending humanitarian assistance to typhoon victims by collecting and packing relief items to be delivered here in Western Visayas.
Meanwhile, a C-130 aircraft of the Philippine Air Force inManila
loaded with relief items for the victims and aviation gas for the helicopters
arrived at Roxas City
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=587133
The Capiz-based 3rd Infantry Division on Friday announced that it is on top of the ongoing relief and search mission in Western Visayas which was badly hit by supertyphoon "Yolanda" last Nov. 8.
"We are on top of the situation and we would like to reassure the public that your Armed Forces is stepping up its efforts in the conduct of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations. We are in close coordination with the local government units, government agencies and non-governmental organizations in order to synchronize our plans and actions for the quick recovery of the region from the devastation of Typhoon 'Yolanda'," 3rd ID commander Major Gen. Aurelio Baladad said.
He added that he is also continuously conferring with the 3rd Infantry Division staff on the dynamics of military response to the disaster.
Disaster Response Task that were deployed in the entire region even before "Yolanda" onslaught, are continuously engage in clearing of road access, delivery of relief items, and in providing the necessary security especially in the hinterland barangays which are heavily devastated by the super typhoon.
Baladad addded that the Armed Forces of the
Transportation assets of the AFP such as helicopters, navy boats and military trucks are continuously rolling for the distribution of relief items from the DSWD, provincial government and non-governmental organizations.
Helicopters of the Philippine Air Force have an average of three to four sorties daily (with a total of more or less 10,000 packs of relief goods) and prioritize the hinterland and Island barangays in the region that were heavily devastated.
Navy boats and BFAR vessels also help in reaching the small
In support to the ground mobility assets of the provinces, about 20 trucks of the 3rd Infantry Division also run day-in and day-out to deliver the relief goods (more or less 30, 000 packs of relief goods).
“The Armed Forces here in
In the spirit of "Bayanihan", the AFP’s General Headquarters, the Northern Luzon Command, the Headquarters of the Philippine Army in Manila and other AFP units in Luzon, the 10th Infantry Division based in Davao, and other military units in Mindanao, are also extending humanitarian assistance to typhoon victims by collecting and packing relief items to be delivered here in Western Visayas.
Meanwhile, a C-130 aircraft of the Philippine Air Force in
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=587133
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit arrested in Zambo City
From GMA News (Nov 14): Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit arrested in Zambo City
A suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit implicated in the 2002 abduction of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Sulu was arrested Thursday in Zamboanga City, the Philippine National Police said.
In a statement, Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, spokespserson of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima, identified the suspect as Ustadz Nidhal/Nijal Pajiran alias Abdurahman and Abu Kudama.
Mayor said elements of the Police Provincial 9, Special Action Group, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Center Transnational Crime and supported by Presidential Anti-organized Crime Commission arrested Pajiran in Barangay Tictapul in Zamboanga City.
At the time of his arrest, Pajiran was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a Pasig Regional Trial Court for a kidnapping and serious illegal detention with random case in connection with the August 2002 abduction of Jehovah's Witnesses members in Patikul, Sulu.
The PNP statement said Pajiran is currenly under the custody of the Regional Intelligence Division, Police Provincial Office 9.
Sulu abduction
In August 2002, six members of the Jehovah's Witnesses were abducted by alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf while selling cosmetic products in Patikul, Sulu.
A suspected Abu Sayyaf bandit implicated in the 2002 abduction of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Sulu was arrested Thursday in Zamboanga City, the Philippine National Police said.
In a statement, Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, spokespserson of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima, identified the suspect as Ustadz Nidhal/Nijal Pajiran alias Abdurahman and Abu Kudama.
Mayor said elements of the Police Provincial 9, Special Action Group, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Center Transnational Crime and supported by Presidential Anti-organized Crime Commission arrested Pajiran in Barangay Tictapul in Zamboanga City.
At the time of his arrest, Pajiran was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a Pasig Regional Trial Court for a kidnapping and serious illegal detention with random case in connection with the August 2002 abduction of Jehovah's Witnesses members in Patikul, Sulu.
The PNP statement said Pajiran is currenly under the custody of the Regional Intelligence Division, Police Provincial Office 9.
Sulu abduction
In August 2002, six members of the Jehovah's Witnesses were abducted by alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf while selling cosmetic products in Patikul, Sulu.
Based on witness accounts, two of those abducted were beheaded by the kidnappers while in captivity. The victims were rescued in Sulu in April 2003.
During court proceedings on the kidnapping case filed in relation to the incident, at least eight Abu Sayyaf members denied involvement in the abduction, some even claiming that they were illegally arrested.
Last February, the Department of Justice ordered the release of 18 men arrested for the kidnapping, citing insufficient evidence connecting them to the crime.
Marines boost disaster-relief mission in Philippines
From the Marine Times (Nov 13): Marines boost disaster-relief mission in Philippines
Aid workers disembark a V-22 Osprey as they arrive to assist survivors in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan on Tuesday in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)
The Marine Corps’ presence in the Philippines is poised to surge as more aircraft and personnel — including members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit — are rushed from Japan to assist in the recovery effort following last week’s devastating typhoon.
Four more MV-22B Ospreys departed Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Wednesday, officials there said in a news release, raising to 12 the number of Marine aircraft assigned to what’s been branded Operation Damayan, Tagalog for “help in time of need.” There are eight Ospreys and four KC-130J Hercules, both capable of hauling people, equipment and supplies.
Additionally, two dock landing ships, the Germantown and Ashland, have departed mainland Japan for Okinawa, where elements of the MEU will embark, said Sgt. Ben Eberle, a spokesman with Marine Corps Forces Pacific. It’s not immediately clear how many Marines will get on those ships or which of the MEU’s units will be represented.
The 31st MEU, which includes about 2,200 personnel, has a host of capabilities and routinely trains for humanitarian-assistance missions, said Capt. Garron Garn, a spokesman for the unit. As an air-ground task force, the MEU’s inventory includes a variety of helicopters, smaller seagoing vessels and nearly 200 ground vehicles — among them 30 7-ton all-terrain trucks, which would be able to drive through flooded roads and transport supplies to areas that remain cutoff or difficult to access.
Beyond aviation and logistics assets, all MEUs have a 1,000-man infantry battalion. It remains to be seen whether the top Marine commander in the Philippines, Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy, thinks infantry personnel will be needed.
There have been reports of looting and gunfire in some of the areas hit hardest by the storm, and on Wednesday, Philippine security forces exchanged gunfire with an armed gang after a mob overran a rice warehouse in Tacloban, which experienced some of the storm’s worst devastation. The crowd triggered a wall collapse that killed eight people while others left with thousands of sacks of grain.
Marines deployed into similar conditions after a powerful earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. There, U.S. troops carried unloaded weapons, with their ammunition easily accessible but kept out of sight.
The Germantown and Ashland are part of the Navy’s Ampbious Squadron 11. Speaking in Washington, Gen. John Paxton, the Marine Corps’ assistant commandant, said operational and maintenance issues would keep a large-deck amphibious assault ship — the landing helicopter dock Bonhomme Richard is part of the squadron — from joining the relief effort.
“We had a challenge just to get the two [dock landing ships] out of Okinawa, to get them down to the Philippines,” he said. “We can’t get the big deck down there.”
So far, more than 129,000 pounds of food, water and other supplies have been delivered to those in need, and hundreds of people who lost their homes were relocated to Manila, the capital.
U.S. military officials are sending personnel to Manila to check on “pre-positioned” equipment the Marine Corps keeps there, such as water purification units. Chuck Little, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Pacific, said they don’t believe anything was damaged in the storm, and such gear may prove helpful as relief efforts continue.
In addition to the Marines and sailors already on the ground, eight MC-130s assigned to Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines are being used for airlift, according to a news release. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has authorized $10 million to support Operation Damayan.
Kennedy, who commands the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, promised a response effort akin to the widely praised U.S. relief mission after the 2004 Asian tsunami, when fleets of helicopters dropped water and food to hundreds of isolated communities.
“You are not just going to see Marines and a few planes and some helicopters,” Kennedy said. “You will see the entire Pacific Command respond to this crisis.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20131113/NEWS/311130017/Marines-boost-disaster-relief-mission-Philippines
Aid workers disembark a V-22 Osprey as they arrive to assist survivors in an area devastated by Typhoon Haiyan on Tuesday in Leyte, Philippines. (Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)
The Marine Corps’ presence in the Philippines is poised to surge as more aircraft and personnel — including members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit — are rushed from Japan to assist in the recovery effort following last week’s devastating typhoon.
Four more MV-22B Ospreys departed Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Wednesday, officials there said in a news release, raising to 12 the number of Marine aircraft assigned to what’s been branded Operation Damayan, Tagalog for “help in time of need.” There are eight Ospreys and four KC-130J Hercules, both capable of hauling people, equipment and supplies.
Additionally, two dock landing ships, the Germantown and Ashland, have departed mainland Japan for Okinawa, where elements of the MEU will embark, said Sgt. Ben Eberle, a spokesman with Marine Corps Forces Pacific. It’s not immediately clear how many Marines will get on those ships or which of the MEU’s units will be represented.
The 31st MEU, which includes about 2,200 personnel, has a host of capabilities and routinely trains for humanitarian-assistance missions, said Capt. Garron Garn, a spokesman for the unit. As an air-ground task force, the MEU’s inventory includes a variety of helicopters, smaller seagoing vessels and nearly 200 ground vehicles — among them 30 7-ton all-terrain trucks, which would be able to drive through flooded roads and transport supplies to areas that remain cutoff or difficult to access.
Beyond aviation and logistics assets, all MEUs have a 1,000-man infantry battalion. It remains to be seen whether the top Marine commander in the Philippines, Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy, thinks infantry personnel will be needed.
There have been reports of looting and gunfire in some of the areas hit hardest by the storm, and on Wednesday, Philippine security forces exchanged gunfire with an armed gang after a mob overran a rice warehouse in Tacloban, which experienced some of the storm’s worst devastation. The crowd triggered a wall collapse that killed eight people while others left with thousands of sacks of grain.
Marines deployed into similar conditions after a powerful earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. There, U.S. troops carried unloaded weapons, with their ammunition easily accessible but kept out of sight.
The Germantown and Ashland are part of the Navy’s Ampbious Squadron 11. Speaking in Washington, Gen. John Paxton, the Marine Corps’ assistant commandant, said operational and maintenance issues would keep a large-deck amphibious assault ship — the landing helicopter dock Bonhomme Richard is part of the squadron — from joining the relief effort.
“We had a challenge just to get the two [dock landing ships] out of Okinawa, to get them down to the Philippines,” he said. “We can’t get the big deck down there.”
The work continues
On Wednesday, the 270 Marines and sailors already in the Philippines are expected to move military assessment teams into the hard-hit city of Tacloban, officials said. They also will continue evacuating Filipinos displaced by the storm and ferrying workers and supplies.So far, more than 129,000 pounds of food, water and other supplies have been delivered to those in need, and hundreds of people who lost their homes were relocated to Manila, the capital.
U.S. military officials are sending personnel to Manila to check on “pre-positioned” equipment the Marine Corps keeps there, such as water purification units. Chuck Little, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Pacific, said they don’t believe anything was damaged in the storm, and such gear may prove helpful as relief efforts continue.
In addition to the Marines and sailors already on the ground, eight MC-130s assigned to Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines are being used for airlift, according to a news release. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has authorized $10 million to support Operation Damayan.
Kennedy, who commands the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, promised a response effort akin to the widely praised U.S. relief mission after the 2004 Asian tsunami, when fleets of helicopters dropped water and food to hundreds of isolated communities.
“You are not just going to see Marines and a few planes and some helicopters,” Kennedy said. “You will see the entire Pacific Command respond to this crisis.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20131113/NEWS/311130017/Marines-boost-disaster-relief-mission-Philippines
Typhoon Haiyan: the Philippines' communist insurgency explained
From The Telegraph (Nov 13): Typhoon Haiyan: the Philippines' communist insurgency explained
Philippine army officers have reported attacks by communist rebels from a little-known insurgency on aid convoys trying to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan
Soldiers and residents look at the devastation from a military aid supplies distribution truck in Tacloban city. Photo: REUTERS
The communist insurgency that has troubled the Philippines for decades is now at its lowest ebb but continues to rumble on.
The Communist Party of the Philippines formed a military wing, the NPA, which began an insurgency in earnest in the late 1960s, when it became more Maoist in tendency following the Sino-Soviet split.
Spread through most parts of the country, it was strongest in the central and southern islands. Tens of thousands of civilians, army troops and rebels have died in the conflict.
The NPA was strongest in the 1980s, growing as an alternative to the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and peaking as a force after he fled in 1986.
A determined counter-insurgency operation launched by President Cory Aquino, coupled with an internal split, crippled the organisation and cost it many of its supporters in the early 1990s, but by the turn of new century it had regrouped.
It remains active, especially in mountainous and neglected areas. Philippine press reports are still dotted with incidents involving the NPA – a remote shootout with troops that claims a handful of lives; a village chief murdered for failing to cooperate; a soldier or two kidnapped by a rebel commander. Heavy machinery for government infrastructure projects is periodically found burned or destroyed, in order to deter Manila’s reach.
But the rebels are undoubtedly in decline. There are nearly as many news items announcing small groups declaring the fight is over and accepting government rehabilitation projects.
The military aims to make Samar, one of provinces badly hit by the typhoon, rebel-free by the end of next year. The NPA’s presence there is already described as skeletal.
In October, the commander of the 802nd Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division declared that rebel numbers in Leyte province – the worst affected - were down to a mere 40, operating in hilly terrain.
But areas once dominated by rebels remain flooded with weapons, and it only takes a few men with a gun to spread panic among the hungry and the desperate, and to make life difficult for aid agencies.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10447524/Typhoon-Haiyan-the-Philippines-communist-insurgency-explained.html
Philippine army officers have reported attacks by communist rebels from a little-known insurgency on aid convoys trying to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan
Soldiers and residents look at the devastation from a military aid supplies distribution truck in Tacloban city. Photo: REUTERS
The communist insurgency that has troubled the Philippines for decades is now at its lowest ebb but continues to rumble on.
It has often been relatively ignored by the world compared to an insurgency in the semi-autonomous Mindanao province in the Muslim south, but over the years has proved just as deadly and disruptive.
Reports from areas affected by Typhoon Hainan that New People’s Army rebels attacked aid convoys will have touched a raw nerve in Manila. Most attacks have been brief, with attackers fleeing after soldiers return fire but the threat of violence is impeding the delivery of aid and causing burials to be delayed.
But the government has often declared that the insurgency was on the verge of being eradicated.
The rebellion’s roots lie in the Second World War and peasant militias that fought the Japanese. After independence from the United States was granted in 1946, pockets of resistance built up against the new but fragile central government, with many groups embracing communism as the ideology spread across the world.
The Communist Party of the Philippines formed a military wing, the NPA, which began an insurgency in earnest in the late 1960s, when it became more Maoist in tendency following the Sino-Soviet split.
Spread through most parts of the country, it was strongest in the central and southern islands. Tens of thousands of civilians, army troops and rebels have died in the conflict.
The NPA was strongest in the 1980s, growing as an alternative to the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and peaking as a force after he fled in 1986.
A determined counter-insurgency operation launched by President Cory Aquino, coupled with an internal split, crippled the organisation and cost it many of its supporters in the early 1990s, but by the turn of new century it had regrouped.
It remains active, especially in mountainous and neglected areas. Philippine press reports are still dotted with incidents involving the NPA – a remote shootout with troops that claims a handful of lives; a village chief murdered for failing to cooperate; a soldier or two kidnapped by a rebel commander. Heavy machinery for government infrastructure projects is periodically found burned or destroyed, in order to deter Manila’s reach.
But the rebels are undoubtedly in decline. There are nearly as many news items announcing small groups declaring the fight is over and accepting government rehabilitation projects.
The military aims to make Samar, one of provinces badly hit by the typhoon, rebel-free by the end of next year. The NPA’s presence there is already described as skeletal.
In October, the commander of the 802nd Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division declared that rebel numbers in Leyte province – the worst affected - were down to a mere 40, operating in hilly terrain.
But areas once dominated by rebels remain flooded with weapons, and it only takes a few men with a gun to spread panic among the hungry and the desperate, and to make life difficult for aid agencies.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10447524/Typhoon-Haiyan-the-Philippines-communist-insurgency-explained.html
Japan to send 1,000 men to the Philippines
From ABS-CBN (Nov 15): Japan to send 1,000 men to the Philippines
Japan's defense minister said on Friday preparations are underway to send up to 1,000 troops as well as naval vessels and aircraft to the Philippines to help with disaster relief following Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
The deployment could be Tokyo's biggest since World War Two.
"We have three ships, including the Ise, berthed in Kure and loaded with aid and helicopters. Whichever way we are preparing a mission of 1,000 people and as soon as they are ready, we will discuss with the Philippine government on what actions to take," Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.
The significantly expanded mission comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to ease limits on the military imposed by Japan's postwar, pacifist constitution, and cope with the challenges of China's growing influence in Asia.
A Ministry of Defense official said the government was considering sending three naval vessels including the helicopter carrier Ise, currently in Kure, near Hiroshima city.
The mission could be bigger than Japan's relief efforts after the 2004 tsunami devastated Indonesia's Aceh province.
Japan has already donated $10 million in aid to the Philippines and sent a 25-strong emergency medical relief team as well as 50 troops.
Japan invaded the Philippines in World War Two and scattered fighting continued until Tokyo's surrender in 1945. But Philippine officials have said their nation does not share the concerns of others in Asia, notably China and South Korea, about Japan's military past.
The Philippines, like Japan, a strong ally of the United States, has also said it views Japan as a counterweight to the increasing regional role of China.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/11/15/13/japan-send-1000-men-philippines
Japan's defense minister said on Friday preparations are underway to send up to 1,000 troops as well as naval vessels and aircraft to the Philippines to help with disaster relief following Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
The deployment could be Tokyo's biggest since World War Two.
"We have three ships, including the Ise, berthed in Kure and loaded with aid and helicopters. Whichever way we are preparing a mission of 1,000 people and as soon as they are ready, we will discuss with the Philippine government on what actions to take," Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.
The significantly expanded mission comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to ease limits on the military imposed by Japan's postwar, pacifist constitution, and cope with the challenges of China's growing influence in Asia.
A Ministry of Defense official said the government was considering sending three naval vessels including the helicopter carrier Ise, currently in Kure, near Hiroshima city.
The mission could be bigger than Japan's relief efforts after the 2004 tsunami devastated Indonesia's Aceh province.
Japan has already donated $10 million in aid to the Philippines and sent a 25-strong emergency medical relief team as well as 50 troops.
Japan invaded the Philippines in World War Two and scattered fighting continued until Tokyo's surrender in 1945. But Philippine officials have said their nation does not share the concerns of others in Asia, notably China and South Korea, about Japan's military past.
The Philippines, like Japan, a strong ally of the United States, has also said it views Japan as a counterweight to the increasing regional role of China.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/11/15/13/japan-send-1000-men-philippines
Air Force: We can get everyone out of Tacloban
From ABS-CBN (Nov 15): Air Force: We can get everyone out of Tacloban
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is willing to take everyone out of Tacloban, but typhoon survivors need to be patient and wait for available aircraft and flights.
In an interview on DZMM, PAF spokesperson Col. Miguel Okol said the Air Force has limited number of planes and trips.
He was told of complaints from survivors in Tacloban. Several people were separated from their families, while some said they have been waiting for a few days and yet, they were still not allowed to leave.
Each C-130 plane can take around 120 to 130 passengers, and priority is give to those who are injured, sick or disabled, children, and the elderly.
"Kung maraming C-130, wala nang pinipili," Okol added.
As of present, the Philippines has three C-130 cargo planes. The US sent 9 C-130 planes, Australia sent 2, Indonesia sent another 2, while Singapore deployed one.
Several countries have also sent helicopters to be used for relief operations.
However, due to limitations of both the Tacloban Airport and the Villamor Air Base, only a limited number of planes can use the airport at any given time.
Okol also said each plane's turnaround depends on how fast relief goods can be taken out, and how fast passengers can get in the plane.
He assured the victims that the Air Force will consider all the complaints received and will improve the system of transporting people out of Tacloban.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/11/14/13/air-force-we-can-get-everyone-out-tacloban
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is willing to take everyone out of Tacloban, but typhoon survivors need to be patient and wait for available aircraft and flights.
In an interview on DZMM, PAF spokesperson Col. Miguel Okol said the Air Force has limited number of planes and trips.
He was told of complaints from survivors in Tacloban. Several people were separated from their families, while some said they have been waiting for a few days and yet, they were still not allowed to leave.
Each C-130 plane can take around 120 to 130 passengers, and priority is give to those who are injured, sick or disabled, children, and the elderly.
"Kung maraming C-130, wala nang pinipili," Okol added.
As of present, the Philippines has three C-130 cargo planes. The US sent 9 C-130 planes, Australia sent 2, Indonesia sent another 2, while Singapore deployed one.
Several countries have also sent helicopters to be used for relief operations.
However, due to limitations of both the Tacloban Airport and the Villamor Air Base, only a limited number of planes can use the airport at any given time.
Okol also said each plane's turnaround depends on how fast relief goods can be taken out, and how fast passengers can get in the plane.
He assured the victims that the Air Force will consider all the complaints received and will improve the system of transporting people out of Tacloban.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/11/14/13/air-force-we-can-get-everyone-out-tacloban
US carrier starts typhoon relief ops as Aquino comes under fire
From GMA News (Nov 15): US carrier starts typhoon relief ops as Aquino comes under fire
A US aircraft carrier "strike group" started unloading food and water to the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines on Thursday, as President Benigno Aquino faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of supplies.
A US aircraft carrier "strike group" started unloading food and water to the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines on Thursday, as President Benigno Aquino faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of supplies.
While relief efforts picked up, local authorities began burying the dead—an important, if grim, milestone for a city shredded by one of the world's most powerful typhoons and the tsunami-like wall of seawater believed to have killed thousands.
"There are still bodies on the road," said Alfred Romualdez, mayor of Tacloban, a city of 220,000 people reduced to rubble in worst-hit Leyte province. "It's scary. There is a request from a community to come and collect bodies. They say it's five or 10. When we get there, it's 40."
Many petrol station owners whose businesses were spared have refused to reopen, leaving little fuel for trucks needed to move supplies and medical teams around the devastated areas nearly a week after Typhoon Haiyan struck.
"The choice is to use the same truck either to distribute food or collect bodies," Romualdez added.
The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off wind-swept eastern Samar province, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft, after what strike force commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery called a "high-speed transit" from Hong Kong.
It is moored near where US General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest allied victories of World War Two.
"Operation Damayan" started with the George Washington and two cruisers taking up position off Samar to assess damage and provide logistical and emergency support such as fresh water.
Ships carried 11 pallets ashore—eight containing 1,920 gallons of water and three containing food—at Tacloban airfield. Several pallets of water were taken to Guiuan, home to home to 45,000 people, which was also badly hit by the storm.
The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on the flight deck.
"One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around."
Britain also said it would send a helicopter carrier, HMS Illustrious, to help in the relief effort. Japan was also planning to send up to 1,000 troops as well as naval vessels and aircraft, in what could be Tokyo's biggest postwar military deployment.
Outside Taclaban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, city administrator Tecson John Lim told Reuters.
The city government remains paralyzed, with an average of just 70 workers compared to 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were simply too overcome with grief to work.
The government was distributing 50,000 "food packs" containing 6 kg (13 lb) of rice and canned goods each day, but that covers just 3 percent of the 1.73 million families affected by the typhoon......
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