News Roundup 13 February 2023
Feb 13, 2023 • 4 min Read
Chinese Coast Guard aims laser at PCG vessel on resupply mission | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard said a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel blocked and directed a military-grade laser at a Philippine vessel on a resupply mission last week, causing some of the coast guard crew onboard to experience temporary blindness.
The BRP Malapascua (MRRV-4403) was assisting a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy on February 6 when the incident with the CCG vessel with bow number 5205 happened.
“The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea,” the PCG said in a statement on Monday.
Full Story at: Chinese Coast Guard aims laser at PCG vessel on resupply mission | Philstar.com
UN: Not enough capital for Philippines education, healthcare, infrastructure | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Seven years before the 2030 deadline to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations called for accelerated funding to help the Philippines meet the SDGs.
While financing and development assistance for human development and climate action grew considerably in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gustavo Gonzalez, UN Philippines resident coordinator, said “there is still not enough capital that goes to addressing challenges in education, healthcare and resilient infrastructure that have lingered before the pandemic. Financing sustainable development needs to scale up.”
A recent gathering of officials from development, diplomatic, government and the private sector opened with a call to accelerate financing that can help meet the country’s development goals within globally and nationally set timelines.
“We are seven years closer to the 2030 deadline to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, we are racing against a fast-approaching 17-year deadline to achieve the aspirations spelled out in the country’s very own Ambisyon Natin 2040,” Gonzalez said during the Partners’ Event for the Joint Programme on Integrated National Financing Framework (JP-INFF).
“This means we should collectively ponder a complete and integrated approach to financing the Future We Want,” he added.
Full Story at: UN: Not enough capital for Philippines education, healthcare, infrastructure | Philstar.com
Death toll in Turkey, Syria quake tops 33,000; Turkey starts legal action against builders | INQUIRER.NET – ANTAKYA/ELBISTAN, Turkey — Rescuers pulled more survivors from the rubble on Sunday, nearly a week after one of the worst earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria, as Turkish authorities sought to maintain order across the disaster zone and began legal action over building collapses.
With chances of finding more survivors growing more remote, the toll in both countries from Monday’s earthquake and major aftershocks rose above 33,000 and looked set to keep growing. It was the deadliest quake in Turkey since 1939.
Full Story at: Death toll in Turkey, Syria quake tops 33,000; Turkey starts legal action against builders | Inquirer News
Cab driver, cohorts arrested for robbing, killing passengers | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — A taxi driver tagged in the disappearance and death of two persons, including a 79-year-old grandmother, has been arrested by operatives from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).
QCPD chief Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said that Mark Anthony Cosio, 41, was initially arrested on Friday, February 3 for illegal possession of explosives but later admitted his role in the disappearance of Edilberta Gomez, 79, who was found dead in Tanay, Rizal, and Maria Cristina Capistano, 40, whose remains were retrieved by authorities in Mexico, Pampanga.
“We have arrested a taxi driver and his cohorts who are, [at] random, taking passengers to rob and kill them,” Torre said in a news conference at Camp Karingal on Monday.
Cosio, according to Torre, “out of conscience, broke down and confessed” while in custody that he and his three accomplices were behind the disappearance of Gomez.
It was Cosio who led authorities to the body of Gomez, which was found along Marilaque road on Saturday, February 11–nearly a month since she supposedly rode the suspect’s cab to go on a pilgrimage in Manaoag Church, Pangasinan.
Torre identified Cosio’s cohorts as Rolando Picana–still at-large–and brothers Keith and Jimbo Robosa, who are already under the custody of the police for an alleged robbery in a gasoline station along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.
Full Story at: Cab driver, cohorts arrested for robbing, killing passengers | Inquirer News
