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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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UNDER SIEGE? Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force stand guard at the main gate of the U.S. Embassy in Manila after the embassy closed down due to a security threat. (MNSwirephoto)
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MANILA --- The US Embassy in Manila closed down and suspended all its public services on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6 and 7, after receiving what it called “a plausible threat information.”
The Embassy, however, resumed operations on Thursday after a two-day shutdown.
Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said they decided to reopen after close coordination with local authorities.
The embassy website said the embassy’s visa and consular services and services of the social security administration and veterans affairs will resume.
The US Embassy was shut down following a bomb threat Monday night.
It was the longest work disruption in the embassy in recent memory, and occurred five days after the US government froze assets that three leaders of the extremist Abu Sayyaf might have under American jurisdiction.
It also coincided with the unannounced arrival in the country yesterday of John Negroponte, US director for national intelligence.
Police also said that three more foreign embassies in Makati City received bomb threats.
Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Garcia, director of the Southern Police District and head of the Task Force Diplomatic Security, said the Singaporean embassy also received a bomb threat Monday night.
The embassy of Switzerland in Paseo de Roxas and a US diplomatic office also received bomb threats Tuesday morning.
Garcia said a caller who identified himself as “Abdullah” warned that car bombs will explode at the embassies.
Abdullah claimed that their original target was the Southeast Asian Games but because of strict police security in the events, they are now diverting their attention to the embassies, Garcia added.
Garcia said Special Weapons and Tactics teams and bomb experts were sent to the embassies as soon as they received the threats. No bombs were found in the embassies.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has tagged the New People’s Army (NPA) as behind the series of bomb threats made against embassies of foreign countries in Manila and Makati recently.
Ermita said the NPA might have given the order to sow terror and topple the government after safe conduct passes of ranking rebel leaders were revoked by the Arroyo administration.
Ermita appealed to those behind the bomb threats to stop from doing acts that would certainly ruin the country’s economy. He said that those planning to destabilize the government should think twice and give the public peace of mind especially during the Christmas season.
The President’s spokesman earlier said deep intelligence gathering and preemptive measures are already in place to foreclose any serious breaches in the country’s peace and order situation.
“Our security teams are working closely with the US Embassy, as well as other foreign posts, to assess current threats and to neutralize them,” Bunye said in a statement. “We must remain alert for terrorism cannot gain a foothold in a vigilant community.” (MNS)
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MANILA --- Former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on December 7 admitted having spoken with President Arroyo “once” over the phone about election matters.
At the same time, Garcillano said that there was nothing irregular about it.
Garcillano attended for the first time an inquiry by the House of Representatives on wiretapped tapes linking the former election official and the President to poll fraud.
But Garcillano said there was nothing wrong talking to the President or any candidate as long as they did not ask favors from election officials like him.
“I’m not agreeable that she was sorry for calling me. [It is okay] to call as long as you’ll not demand something that is irregular,” he stressed.
Aside from this call, Garcillano said he could not remember any other incident wherein he and the President had talked.
“There ‘s only one instance that she called me up,” he said. He did not elaborate.
Asked if he was the male voice on the wiretapped audio recordings talking to a female voice that the President admitted was hers, Garcillano said he could not be certain until he got the original copy of the tapes.
In a televised speech to the nation, Arroyo apologized for her “lapse in judgement” in having called an election official to allegedly inquire about her votes during the canvassing of the votes. She did not name the official however and denied rigging the polls.
“Kung narinig ninyo yung tape, ang sinasabi niya pakitingin lang kung bakit yung abante niya two to three ago days na one million votes ay naging 892,000 na lang (over Fernando Poe Jr.),” he said of the May 24, 2004 phone conversation as contained in the “Hello Garci” recordings.
“In fact I’m not agreeable to the statement that she was sorry for calling anyone among officials of the Commission on Elections because there’s nothing wrong for any one of you or any government official to call up any official of the government as long as he will not demand anything irregular,” Garcillano added.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero asked Garcillano if he believes he was not the “Comelec official” the President was referring to in her “I’m sorry” speech.
Garcillano answered: “Si Presidente ang dapat tanungin. This is something that only the President knows.”
Escudero again asked if Garcillano was the “Comelec official” that the President was referring to, to which he replied, “I’m sorry. I already answered that question. I’m not accepting that I’m the one talking to the President.”
“Boses po ba niyo yun nasa Garci tapes?” Escudero insisted but Garcillano said, “Di ko po masigurado,” adding he has not gotten an original copy of the tapes. He said those being played could have been altered. (MNS)
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BLAZE OF GLORY. Fireworks explode over the main stage during the closing ceremony of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Manila December 5, 2005. (MNSwirephoto)
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MANILA --- With authentic Filipino Christmas music in the air and fireworks blazing in the sky above Rizal Park, the Philippines rejoiced over its first overall championship in the Southeast Asian Games on Monday, December 5, after nine days of competitions.
President Arroyo led government, sports and foreign officials in saluting the over 5,000 athletes who marched in front of the Quirino Grandstand during the closing ceremonies, led by the victorious home team.
Filipino athletes clinched their best finish in the 23rd Games with 113 gold, 86 silver and 91 bronze medals, wrapping up the championship as early as Saturday night over second-place Thailand, the next host of the Games in 2007.
Midway through the Ga-mes, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had suggested that the host was unfairly rigging the event in their favor, then said the media in Bangkok took his comments out of context.
Several Thai sports officials apologized to their local counterparts for the comments, but Thaksin’s remarks, besides raising a diplomatic dilemma, only fueled the Filipino athletes’ desire to win.
That the Games got off the ground despite financial and logistic shortages and political wrangling between officials of the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Basketball Association of the Philippines — which forced the scrapping of the basketball event Filipinos have dominated — also made the country’s hosting a success.
“In behalf of a proud and jubilant people, I salute our athletes and thank our national sports association, the private sector, the local government officials, the gallant volunteers and all those who had one way or another contributed to the success of the Games,” Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement.
Before this year, the country’s best placing since it joined the Games in 1977 was second in 1991, the last time Manila hosted the biennial meet. Filipinos also improved on their fourth-place finish in the 2003 Games in Vietnam.
“This is a vindication to us,” Rep. Monico Puentevella of Bacolod, also the POC vice president and former sports commissioner, said.
Puentevella led leaders at the House of Representatives in calling on the Palace and Congress to give the country’s deserving athletes higher allowances, and allocate more funds to upgrade sports facilities and training programs for upcoming sports events.
“While we should give recognition and praise to our athletes and those who worked to win gold, we should target more medals for the Olympics and Asian Games. We should choose the sports and athletes with the best chance for gold and give them adequate support,” he added.
In Rizal Park, the closing ceremonies focused on tributes paid to the athletes who competed since the Games started November 27.
A festival of lights, show-casing a fireworks display dear to Southeast Asian peoples, and a “thank-you” performance featuring a Christmas theme were the highlights of the program. The light show also affirmed the “one heritage” theme that organizers used for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Performers during the program included the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Miguel Chorale, the Bayanihan Dance Company, the Royal Rhythm group, Ati-Atihan Sulomen Dancers and the young soprano Julia Abueva.
President Arroyo declared the Games closed, and then handed the symbolic flag of the SEA Games hosting to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop.
In her speech the President stressed that the superb performance, fighting spirit and solidarity shown by the Filipino athletes signal that the country is already on the road to becoming a “sports power” in Asia.
“We have rediscovered the best in the Filipino, setting aside differences and showing the world that we can move as one and go for the gold with incomparable unity and teamwork,” she said. (MNS)
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Jersey City, NEW JERSEY --- A young Filipino from Jersey City Heights was charged with murder for killing another young man with a baseball bat.
Matthew Mandap, 23, of Hancock Avenue and Bowers Street, had been charged with attempted murder in the November. 20 attack on Mario Vargas Jr., 20, of Hancock Avenue near Franklin Street, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.
Vargas remained in critical condition for nine days before dying on November 29, according to reports from The Jersey Journal.
The charge was upgraded to murder on December 1 after an autopsy found Vargas died due to complication of the blunt force injuries to the back and right side of his head, and the autopsy report lists the manner of his death as homicide, DeFazio said.
The incident happened inside Mandap’s third-floor apartment, reports said. Investigators say Mandap hit Vargas once in the head with a baseball bat, knocking him to the ground, then hit him a second time - possibly when Vargas was unconscious, DeFazio said. The blows fractured Vargas’ skull.
But the brother of the accused, Philip Mandap, said his brother told him he was trying to defend himself and his friends after Vargas tried to break into their apartment after being kicked out of a party.
Matthew Mandap has surrendered to police and is being held at the Hudson County jail in Kearny on a $500,000 bail, police said.
Vargas was born in Jersey City and graduated from Dickinson High School last year, said his mother, Marta Espinal. He did clerical work, but his mother said he planned to go to college to study music and business.
She said her son had expressed a desire to be an organ donor, and on the day he died, his organs were taken before his body was moved to the state Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark for an autopsy.
“Five or 10 people will live because of him, and an 8-year-old will have his heart,” Martha Vargas said through tears. “He never smoked, he never did drugs. My son never had a problem.”
On the day she said good-bye to her son, a heartbroken Espinal called on young people to stop killing each other.
“Please stop with this violence. We don’t want more death,” Espinal wrote in the letter, sent yesterday to The Jersey Journal.
She urged today’s youth to steer clear of violence and find peace in their religion, family or school.
“Young people, do not put yourself in danger for nothing. Look for God, that will protect you. Study and you will fortify a better world and better families,” she wrote.
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