MANILA, Philippines—Time is not on the side of the Aquino administration that is intent on postponing the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), from its original August 2011 schedule to May 2013.
The House has passed HB 4146 providing for the synchronization of the ARMM elections with the midterm elections in May 2013.
Sen. Franklin Drilon has filed a counterpart measure, Senate Bill No. 2756, but the Senate may not have enough time to approve the administration’s priority measure.
“We are very short of time, but we’ll do our best to do what we can in the time available,” Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chair of the committee on local government, said at the first hearing on the measure Thursday.
Marcos said his committee can report out its findings to the Senate only after Congress resumes sessions on May 9, way past the May 2 start for the filing of candidacy papers.
Usual process
After that, the bill has to go through the usual legislative process of approval, which could take some time, he said.
Director Ferdinand Rafanan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the Comelec is giving the Senate and House until May 20 to adopt a final version of the bill.
“But we prefer a postponement. It will mean less work, and it will save us P2 billion,” he told reporters.
Otherwise, the Comelec is ready to hold the ARMM elections in August as originally scheduled, Rafanan said.
Teresita Quintos-Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, said the main Muslim insurgencies, the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front, are not posing objections to the election’s postponement.
“The government is not inclined to disagree,” she told the committee.
Distraction
Besides, she added, holding the elections in August would be a distraction to the talks with the MILF whose key agenda is the amendment of the organic law that created the ARMM.
She said synchronized elections will allow the parties concerned to focus on the proposed amendments to the ARMM law.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo has also argued for postponement, saying that this would allow the government to appoint reform-minded individuals to the ARMM until 2013, institute reforms and most important, audit the ARMM funds.
He said that an initial audit of the ARMM from 2009 to 2010 showed some P5 billion missing.
“Unfortunately, some people who perpetrated the malversation are still working in ARMM to this very day,” he said.
However, ex-senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Manuel Lazaro, president of the Philippine Constitution Association, have argued that postponing the ARMM elections was unconstitutional and the appointment of officers in charge by the President was illegal.
Amending ARMM law
A postponement would entail amending the ARMM’s organic law which would require a two-thirds vote of Congress and a plebiscite.
“I was just amazed that there are several Republic Acts that had already been approved in the past, all providing for conflicting resetting of elections. None of these RAs have been the subject of plebiscites,” Lazaro said.
Zabedin Azis, assistant secretary at the justice department, and University of the Philippines College of Law professor Ibarra Gutierrez, have challenged this.
They said that a postponement of the ARMM elections only amends RA 9333, but not the main organic act, RA 9054. Hence, there was no need for a two-thirds vote of Congress and a plebiscite, they said. RA 9333 fixes the date of election of ARMM officials. (report from TJ Burgonio/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Friday, April 8, 2011
Brain structure differs in liberals, conservatives—study
WASHINGTON—Everyone knows that liberals and conservatives butt heads when it comes to world views, but scientists have now shown that their brains are actually built differently.
Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology.
"We found that greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala," the study said.
Other research has shown greater brain activity in those areas, according to which political views a person holds, but this is the first study to show a physical difference in size in the same regions.
"Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual's political orientation," said Ryota Kanai of the University College London, where the research took place.
"Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure."
The study was based on 90 "healthy young adults" who reported their political views on a scale of one to five from very liberal to very conservative, then agreed to have their brains scanned.
People with a large amygdala are "more sensitive to disgust" and tend to "respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions," the study said.
Liberals are linked to larger anterior cingulate cortexes, a region that "monitor(s) uncertainty and conflicts," it said.
"Thus, it is conceivable that individuals with a larger ACC have a higher capacity to tolerate uncertainty and conflicts, allowing them to accept more liberal views."
It remains unclear whether the structural differences cause the divergence in political views, or are the effect of them.
But the central issue in determining political views appears to revolve around fear and how it affects a person.
"Our findings are consistent with the proposal that political orientation is associated with psychological processes for managing fear and uncertainty," the study said. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology.
"We found that greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala," the study said.
Other research has shown greater brain activity in those areas, according to which political views a person holds, but this is the first study to show a physical difference in size in the same regions.
"Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual's political orientation," said Ryota Kanai of the University College London, where the research took place.
"Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure."
The study was based on 90 "healthy young adults" who reported their political views on a scale of one to five from very liberal to very conservative, then agreed to have their brains scanned.
People with a large amygdala are "more sensitive to disgust" and tend to "respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions," the study said.
Liberals are linked to larger anterior cingulate cortexes, a region that "monitor(s) uncertainty and conflicts," it said.
"Thus, it is conceivable that individuals with a larger ACC have a higher capacity to tolerate uncertainty and conflicts, allowing them to accept more liberal views."
It remains unclear whether the structural differences cause the divergence in political views, or are the effect of them.
But the central issue in determining political views appears to revolve around fear and how it affects a person.
"Our findings are consistent with the proposal that political orientation is associated with psychological processes for managing fear and uncertainty," the study said. (report from Agence France-Presse)
Facebook makes data centers greener and cheaper
PALO ALTO—Facebook on Thursday presented an Internet-obsessed world with a gift – greener, cheaper data centers to more efficiently power online services.
The social networking star custom-designed hardware, power supply, and architecture of a new US data center that is 38 percent more power efficient and costs 24 percent less than the industry average.
Schematics and designs for Facebook's revolutionary data center in the Oregon city of Prineville were made available to the world as part of an Open Compute Project announced by founder Mark Zuckerberg.
"We found a lot of stuff mass manufacturers were putting out wasn't what we needed, so we customized it to better fit social applications," Zuckerberg said during a press conference at Facebook's campus in Palo Alto, California.
"We are trying to foster this ecosystem where developers can easily build startups."
A shift to hosting software applications as services in the Internet "cloud" is driving enormous growth of data centers globally, according to Graham Weston, chairman and founder of US computer network hosting giant Rackspace.
Cheaper data centers should translate into lower costs for Internet startups that typically rent computing capacity, providing a "turbo-charge" for innovation, according to Dell computer vice president of server platforms Forrest Norrod.
"Facebook's design is really a leap forward, because it is much simpler, cheaper and greener," Weston said. "I think it's the biggest reduction in server infrastructure cost in a decade."
San Francisco-based social game sensation Zynga is looking to use Facebook's technology in its data centers, which host popular online games such as "FarmVille" and "Zynga Poker."
"We think it is going to make a big difference in how we bring play to the Internet," Zynga chief technology officer Allen Leinwand said while taking part in the Facebook press conference.
"It should be fun for people to play on the Internet, but you need a lot of infrastructure behind that," he said. "We are really intrigued by what is going on here."
The power efficiency gains of the Open Compute Project design promises to shave millions of dollars off the electricity bill of a typical large data center, according to Weston.
If a quarter of the data centers in the United States switched to the new model it would save enough energy to power more than 160,000 homes, Facebook estimated.
"It's time to stop treating data centers like 'Fight Club' and demystify what is going on in there," Facebook vice president of technical operations Jonathan Heilinger said in a playful reference to a film based on secret gatherings for bare-knuckle matches.
Other Internet firms such as Google build their own data centers, but haven't made designs freely available as Facebook has at the website opencompute.org.
Developing countries where outdated and inefficient data centers are common could be prime beneficiaries of the free Facebook technology.
India, China and other countries are racing into an Internet Age that demands data centers, Dell's Norrod noted.
"There will be the opportunity for Internet companies in the developing world to take a leap forward, jumping over the past 15 years of learning," Norrod said. "That's going to happen."
Computer makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard along with chip companies Intel and Advanced Micro Devices worked with Facebook to develop the data center technology.
Facebook engineers hoped to get feedback and ideas to improve the designs.
"It is like the launch of the (Toyota) Prius, only you gave people the plans on how to make the Prius," said Intel data center group general manager Jason Waxman. "There are a lot of places around the world that could benefit from this kind of information." (report from Glenn Chapman/Agence France-Presse)
The social networking star custom-designed hardware, power supply, and architecture of a new US data center that is 38 percent more power efficient and costs 24 percent less than the industry average.
Schematics and designs for Facebook's revolutionary data center in the Oregon city of Prineville were made available to the world as part of an Open Compute Project announced by founder Mark Zuckerberg.
"We found a lot of stuff mass manufacturers were putting out wasn't what we needed, so we customized it to better fit social applications," Zuckerberg said during a press conference at Facebook's campus in Palo Alto, California.
"We are trying to foster this ecosystem where developers can easily build startups."
A shift to hosting software applications as services in the Internet "cloud" is driving enormous growth of data centers globally, according to Graham Weston, chairman and founder of US computer network hosting giant Rackspace.
Cheaper data centers should translate into lower costs for Internet startups that typically rent computing capacity, providing a "turbo-charge" for innovation, according to Dell computer vice president of server platforms Forrest Norrod.
"Facebook's design is really a leap forward, because it is much simpler, cheaper and greener," Weston said. "I think it's the biggest reduction in server infrastructure cost in a decade."
San Francisco-based social game sensation Zynga is looking to use Facebook's technology in its data centers, which host popular online games such as "FarmVille" and "Zynga Poker."
"We think it is going to make a big difference in how we bring play to the Internet," Zynga chief technology officer Allen Leinwand said while taking part in the Facebook press conference.
"It should be fun for people to play on the Internet, but you need a lot of infrastructure behind that," he said. "We are really intrigued by what is going on here."
The power efficiency gains of the Open Compute Project design promises to shave millions of dollars off the electricity bill of a typical large data center, according to Weston.
If a quarter of the data centers in the United States switched to the new model it would save enough energy to power more than 160,000 homes, Facebook estimated.
"It's time to stop treating data centers like 'Fight Club' and demystify what is going on in there," Facebook vice president of technical operations Jonathan Heilinger said in a playful reference to a film based on secret gatherings for bare-knuckle matches.
Other Internet firms such as Google build their own data centers, but haven't made designs freely available as Facebook has at the website opencompute.org.
Developing countries where outdated and inefficient data centers are common could be prime beneficiaries of the free Facebook technology.
India, China and other countries are racing into an Internet Age that demands data centers, Dell's Norrod noted.
"There will be the opportunity for Internet companies in the developing world to take a leap forward, jumping over the past 15 years of learning," Norrod said. "That's going to happen."
Computer makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard along with chip companies Intel and Advanced Micro Devices worked with Facebook to develop the data center technology.
Facebook engineers hoped to get feedback and ideas to improve the designs.
"It is like the launch of the (Toyota) Prius, only you gave people the plans on how to make the Prius," said Intel data center group general manager Jason Waxman. "There are a lot of places around the world that could benefit from this kind of information." (report from Glenn Chapman/Agence France-Presse)
Gov’t shutdown looms as Obama budget talks fail
WASHINGTON—The United States slipped closer to a government shutdown as President Barack Obama's latest summit with the top Republican leader failed to cut a deal on spending ahead of a Friday deadline.
A stern-faced Republican House of Representatives speaker John Boehner said there was "no agreement on a number, no agreement on the policy issues," after 90 minutes in the Oval Office with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
"We are not there yet," Boehner said, though adding that he believed an agreement was possible before a midnight Friday deadline at which government funding runs out and vast swathes of the bureaucracy will go dark.
The top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, who was also in the talks, said the four political heavy hitters would get together again at 7:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) Thursday to try and thrash out a deal to avoid temporary layoffs of 800,000 government workers.
The showdown on the scope and nature of huge spending cuts in last year's budget, through to October 1, is the first big clash between Obama and the new Republican House elected in November, and has huge political ramifications.
As the maneuvering intensified ahead of Friday's deadline, House Republicans voted through a stop gap spending bill including $12 billion in cuts that would avert a shutdown and take negotiations into another week.
But Obama threatened to veto the measure, should it reach his desk, arguing that it was a purely diversionary tactic to divert attention from the main focus of the high-stakes Oval Office talks.
"This bill is a distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise," his budget office said in a statement that warned a shutdown "would put the nation's economic recovery in jeopardy."
The measure, which would fund the US military until October 1 and which Reid has already said has no chance in the Senate, passed in a 247-181 vote.
As well as shutting out government workers, the partial closure of the government would delay pay to soldiers including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hurt some Americans counting on annual tax refunds.
Large areas of the government would shut down, federal workers would be ordered to turn off their Blackberries and would be barred by law from volunteering to go to the office unpaid.
With time to reach a deal ticking down, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor notified lawmakers that they would need to report to work on Friday and "keep their schedules for this weekend as flexible as possible."
"We will not leave town until we have fulfilled our obligation to cut spending, to begin getting our fiscal house in order," Cantor announced to his colleagues. Any deal reached by Democratic and Republican leaders would need to be endorsed by Congress.
Republicans disputed Democratic claims that both sides had settled on $34.5 billion in cuts and that the White House's foes had stalled the talks by insisting that curbs on abortion and a roll-back of environmental rules be part of the final legislation.
"If this government shuts down – and it looks like it's headed in that direction," Republicans will be to blame for insisting on "matters that have nothing to do" with spending, charged Reid.
"The numbers are basically there," Reid said, both sides are "extremely close" after aides worked throughout the night following talks at the White House late Wednesday.
But "I am not nearly as optimistic – and that's an understatement – as I was 11 hours ago," because of the rifts over Republican-crafted measures to restrict access to abortion and roll back environment rules, the senator warned.
Both items were included in a House-passed measure to fund the US government to the end of the 2011 fiscal year, September 30, while cutting some $61 billion in government spending.
"We made progress last night at least I thought we did. But when I see what the White House has to offer today, it's really just more of the same," Boehner told reporters.
"I think we were closer to a number last night that we were this morning. There are a number of issues that are on the table and any attempt to try to narrow this down to one or two, just would not be accurate," he said.
The speaker has come under heavy pressure from the archconservative "Tea Party" movement who helped power Republicans to recapture the House and erode the Democratic Senate majority in November elections.
Tea Party members and lawmakers closely aligned with the movement have heaped pressure on Boehner not to compromise with Democrats and said they would rather see the government shutdown than make major concessions. (report from Stephen Collinson/Agence France-Presse)
A stern-faced Republican House of Representatives speaker John Boehner said there was "no agreement on a number, no agreement on the policy issues," after 90 minutes in the Oval Office with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
"We are not there yet," Boehner said, though adding that he believed an agreement was possible before a midnight Friday deadline at which government funding runs out and vast swathes of the bureaucracy will go dark.
The top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, who was also in the talks, said the four political heavy hitters would get together again at 7:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) Thursday to try and thrash out a deal to avoid temporary layoffs of 800,000 government workers.
The showdown on the scope and nature of huge spending cuts in last year's budget, through to October 1, is the first big clash between Obama and the new Republican House elected in November, and has huge political ramifications.
As the maneuvering intensified ahead of Friday's deadline, House Republicans voted through a stop gap spending bill including $12 billion in cuts that would avert a shutdown and take negotiations into another week.
But Obama threatened to veto the measure, should it reach his desk, arguing that it was a purely diversionary tactic to divert attention from the main focus of the high-stakes Oval Office talks.
"This bill is a distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise," his budget office said in a statement that warned a shutdown "would put the nation's economic recovery in jeopardy."
The measure, which would fund the US military until October 1 and which Reid has already said has no chance in the Senate, passed in a 247-181 vote.
As well as shutting out government workers, the partial closure of the government would delay pay to soldiers including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hurt some Americans counting on annual tax refunds.
Large areas of the government would shut down, federal workers would be ordered to turn off their Blackberries and would be barred by law from volunteering to go to the office unpaid.
With time to reach a deal ticking down, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor notified lawmakers that they would need to report to work on Friday and "keep their schedules for this weekend as flexible as possible."
"We will not leave town until we have fulfilled our obligation to cut spending, to begin getting our fiscal house in order," Cantor announced to his colleagues. Any deal reached by Democratic and Republican leaders would need to be endorsed by Congress.
Republicans disputed Democratic claims that both sides had settled on $34.5 billion in cuts and that the White House's foes had stalled the talks by insisting that curbs on abortion and a roll-back of environmental rules be part of the final legislation.
"If this government shuts down – and it looks like it's headed in that direction," Republicans will be to blame for insisting on "matters that have nothing to do" with spending, charged Reid.
"The numbers are basically there," Reid said, both sides are "extremely close" after aides worked throughout the night following talks at the White House late Wednesday.
But "I am not nearly as optimistic – and that's an understatement – as I was 11 hours ago," because of the rifts over Republican-crafted measures to restrict access to abortion and roll back environment rules, the senator warned.
Both items were included in a House-passed measure to fund the US government to the end of the 2011 fiscal year, September 30, while cutting some $61 billion in government spending.
"We made progress last night at least I thought we did. But when I see what the White House has to offer today, it's really just more of the same," Boehner told reporters.
"I think we were closer to a number last night that we were this morning. There are a number of issues that are on the table and any attempt to try to narrow this down to one or two, just would not be accurate," he said.
The speaker has come under heavy pressure from the archconservative "Tea Party" movement who helped power Republicans to recapture the House and erode the Democratic Senate majority in November elections.
Tea Party members and lawmakers closely aligned with the movement have heaped pressure on Boehner not to compromise with Democrats and said they would rather see the government shutdown than make major concessions. (report from Stephen Collinson/Agence France-Presse)
House pushes for lower tax rate
MANILA, Philippines—A key leader of the House of Representatives on Thursday urged President Benigno Aquino III to consider a proposal to reduce the expanded value-added tax (VAT) rate of 12 percent to the lower value simplified tax (VAST) rate of six percent.
Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, chair of the committee on ways and means, said the VAST bill was the legislature’s contribution to the government effort to lower the budget deficit which runs to over P300 billion annually.
Mandanas batted for VAST following reports that President Aquino was against removing or reducing the VAT as it would not only lead to higher fuel consumption but would cut government revenues to fund vital programs.
With VAST, Mandanas said, “not only will the direct tax payments of Filipinos be reduced, but the revenues of the government will be increased by no less than P50 billion, and corruption will be drastically reduced with the repeal of the input tax credit deductions in the VAT system.”
On Jan. 17, Mandanas wrote President Aquino asking that he certify as urgent House Bill No. 3850, which would impose the VAST in lieu of the VAT.
In the letter, Mandanas said VAST would encourage the “bayanihan” spirit of sharing and engender an equitable distribution of the tax burden between the private sector and the public consumer.
“With VAST, we believe your administration will be true to its word, ‘kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.’ Through your leadership, we in the House of Representatives are able to best serve the Filipino nation,” Mandanas wrote Mr. Aquino.
“The VAST measure also sends a clear and concrete message that the Aquino administration is sensitive to the needs of the ordinary Filipino taxpayer by reducing their direct tax burden,” he said.
VAST calls for the removal of the input tax credit system, which is multi-layered and provides occasions for graft and corruption, thereby affecting revenue collection.
Mandanas said VAST would increase government revenues by at least P50 billion with both the private sector and the end-consumer sharing the tax burden. (report from Cynthia Balana/Cebu Daily News)
US stocks edge down after fresh Japan quake
WASHINGTON—US stocks fell sharply on news of a fresh earthquake in Japan Thursday, but managed to pare losses as damage appeared to be limited.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 100 points from the day's high shortly after a 7.1-magnitude quake near Japan's east coast prompted fears of further damage to the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, infrastructure and Japan's manufacturing base.
The area is still recovering from last month's massive earthquake and tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis.
US shares in Toyota, Nissan, NTT and Sony all fell sharply before recovering somewhat.
The broader market mimicked that recovery.
The Dow index of 30 blue-chip stocks ended the day down 17.26 points (0.14 percent) to reach 12,409.49.
The broader S&P 500 fell 2.03 points (0.15 percent) to 1,333.51 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.68 points (0.13 percent) to 2,796.14.
Among the Dow's losers, Caterpillar, General Electric and McDonald's all gave up around one percent of their value.
The US bond market was mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was level at 3.55 percent from late Wednesday, while that on the 30-year bond increased to 4.61 percent from 4.59 percent.
The prices of bonds and their yields move in opposite directions.
The markets had been mixed earlier in the day, after late-night White House talks failed to resolve a budget crisis that could lead to a shutdown of parts of the government.
Traders seemed uneasy as Democrats and Republicans continued to battle over cuts to this year's federal budget, with a deadline to prevent the shutdown looming at midnight Friday.
Scott Marcouiller of Wells Fargo Advisors said the budget impasse and the much-expected 0.25 percent rate hike by the European Central Bank early Thursday were looming issues.
But "to this point stocks have shrugged off any potential negatives from these events." (report from Agence France-Presse)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 100 points from the day's high shortly after a 7.1-magnitude quake near Japan's east coast prompted fears of further damage to the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, infrastructure and Japan's manufacturing base.
The area is still recovering from last month's massive earthquake and tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis.
US shares in Toyota, Nissan, NTT and Sony all fell sharply before recovering somewhat.
The broader market mimicked that recovery.
The Dow index of 30 blue-chip stocks ended the day down 17.26 points (0.14 percent) to reach 12,409.49.
The broader S&P 500 fell 2.03 points (0.15 percent) to 1,333.51 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.68 points (0.13 percent) to 2,796.14.
Among the Dow's losers, Caterpillar, General Electric and McDonald's all gave up around one percent of their value.
The US bond market was mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was level at 3.55 percent from late Wednesday, while that on the 30-year bond increased to 4.61 percent from 4.59 percent.
The prices of bonds and their yields move in opposite directions.
The markets had been mixed earlier in the day, after late-night White House talks failed to resolve a budget crisis that could lead to a shutdown of parts of the government.
Traders seemed uneasy as Democrats and Republicans continued to battle over cuts to this year's federal budget, with a deadline to prevent the shutdown looming at midnight Friday.
Scott Marcouiller of Wells Fargo Advisors said the budget impasse and the much-expected 0.25 percent rate hike by the European Central Bank early Thursday were looming issues.
But "to this point stocks have shrugged off any potential negatives from these events." (report from Agence France-Presse)
2 of 4 Manobo hostage-takers are mere teens
MANILA, Philippines—Two of the four Manobo tribesmen, who seized a group of school officials and residents in Prosperidad town in Agusan del Sur province last Friday, were teenagers who also took part in a similar hostage-taking incident in 2009, a police official said Thursday.
Kin-kin Perez, 18, and Rey Joy Brital, 17, were part of the group of tribal leader Ondo Perez that abducted 79 residents in Prosperidad’s Barangay Maitum in December 2009, according to Agusan del Sur police chief Senior Superintendent Jerome Baxinella.
According to Baxinella, Kin-kin, also known as Ken-ken, and Brital were arrested along with Ondo Perez and 11 others after they freed their hostages and surrendered their firearms.
The hostage-takers then demanded that the criminal case they were facing be transferred to the tribal court, claiming that the case was an off-shoot of a clan war.
Instead of being detained, Kin-kin and Brital were turned over to the local social welfare office as they were still minors.
“We could not file cases against them because they were minors at the time. That’s the law. What we did was to just refer them to the social welfare office for counseling and custody,” Baxinella told reporters.
Kin-kin and Brital were again involved in last week’s hostage-taking that ended on Wednesday. The two, along with Allan Perez and a certain Dodong Sabang, seized 16 officials, students and residents and held them for five days in a remote forest, demanding the release of the same Ondo Perez involved in the December 2009 abductions.
The group later released three of the hostages in exchange for water and food supplies. They then abandoned the 12 remaining captives on Wednesday morning.
Baxinella said Kin-kin, a younger brother of Ondo Perez, stood as the group’s leader and spoke with the representatives of the local crisis management committee that negotiated for the release of the hostages.
“Apparently, Kin-kin enjoyed the trust of Ondo and other members of the clan,” he said. (report from Marlon Ramos/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Kin-kin Perez, 18, and Rey Joy Brital, 17, were part of the group of tribal leader Ondo Perez that abducted 79 residents in Prosperidad’s Barangay Maitum in December 2009, according to Agusan del Sur police chief Senior Superintendent Jerome Baxinella.
According to Baxinella, Kin-kin, also known as Ken-ken, and Brital were arrested along with Ondo Perez and 11 others after they freed their hostages and surrendered their firearms.
The hostage-takers then demanded that the criminal case they were facing be transferred to the tribal court, claiming that the case was an off-shoot of a clan war.
Instead of being detained, Kin-kin and Brital were turned over to the local social welfare office as they were still minors.
“We could not file cases against them because they were minors at the time. That’s the law. What we did was to just refer them to the social welfare office for counseling and custody,” Baxinella told reporters.
Kin-kin and Brital were again involved in last week’s hostage-taking that ended on Wednesday. The two, along with Allan Perez and a certain Dodong Sabang, seized 16 officials, students and residents and held them for five days in a remote forest, demanding the release of the same Ondo Perez involved in the December 2009 abductions.
The group later released three of the hostages in exchange for water and food supplies. They then abandoned the 12 remaining captives on Wednesday morning.
Baxinella said Kin-kin, a younger brother of Ondo Perez, stood as the group’s leader and spoke with the representatives of the local crisis management committee that negotiated for the release of the hostages.
“Apparently, Kin-kin enjoyed the trust of Ondo and other members of the clan,” he said. (report from Marlon Ramos/Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Microsoft executive held by Libyan authorities
WASHINGTON—Microsoft is seeking the release of its country manager in Libya, who has been in the custody of the Libyan authorities for two weeks, the US software giant said.
The Seattle, Washington-based company said Khalid Elhasumi has been held by the authorities in Tripoli since March 19 and Microsoft has been working with his family and international organizations to help get him released.
"We continue our efforts to ensure his safety and soonest possible release," Microsoft said in a statement.
"We are hopeful that the authorities will release Khalid soon," said Ali Faramawy, Microsoft's vice president for the Middle East and Africa.
"We are in close touch with his family and are actively working to provide support and ensure his safety," Faramawy said.
Wael Ghonim, an executive at another US technology giant, Google, became a prominent voice of the protesters who eventually secured the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Microsoft, however, said it did not know why its Libya country manager was being held. "We currently have no information about the reasons for his detention," it said.
Microsoft said Elhasumi joined the company in 2010 and manages its operations in Libya which opened in 2006. (report from Agence France-Presse)
The Seattle, Washington-based company said Khalid Elhasumi has been held by the authorities in Tripoli since March 19 and Microsoft has been working with his family and international organizations to help get him released.
"We continue our efforts to ensure his safety and soonest possible release," Microsoft said in a statement.
"We are hopeful that the authorities will release Khalid soon," said Ali Faramawy, Microsoft's vice president for the Middle East and Africa.
"We are in close touch with his family and are actively working to provide support and ensure his safety," Faramawy said.
Wael Ghonim, an executive at another US technology giant, Google, became a prominent voice of the protesters who eventually secured the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Microsoft, however, said it did not know why its Libya country manager was being held. "We currently have no information about the reasons for his detention," it said.
Microsoft said Elhasumi joined the company in 2010 and manages its operations in Libya which opened in 2006. (report from Agence France-Presse)
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