MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to stop election violence once and for all by reinforcing the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the effort to ensure peaceful and orderly elections under Commission on Elections (Comelec) supervision.
The beauty and majesty of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, have a way of enchanting young people like 23-year-old Alexandrous Ian Caasi. On Maundy Thursday, hours after reaching the peak, Ian went for a swim in the mountain’s freezing but beguiling lake. Minutes later, he was dead.
By Angely Pamila M. Chi
davaotoday.com
DAVAO CITY — The skies were beginning to dim over Lake Venado at past five that afternoon of Maundy Thursday. Inside their tent, MJ Lapi?a and Alexandrous Ian Caasi were sipping coffee.
Taken. Clarita Alia is hysterical as her son, Fernando, is laid to rest in Davao City today. Fernando was the fourth and last son of Alia who was killed in the last five years. “I no longer have anybody with me. They took all my children,” Alia wailed during the burial. She believes that the so-called Davao Death Squad was behind the murders of her sons, as well as countless other people, many of them minors who had trouble with the law. The extrajudicial killings, which Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has tacitly approved, are seen as the city’s way of dealing with crime. Government and tourism officials have praised the city for its low crime rate, which is ironically attributed to these killings. Duterte has likewise earned kudos for his toughness on crime and for his statements warning people that they would be killed if they commit crimes in his city. (davaotoday.com photos by Barry Ohaylan)
MANILA — Sec. Raul Gonzalez made another insensitive remark by stating that Julia Campbell was to blame for her own death because she ?carelessly? went hiking alone in the Banaue Rice Terraces.
MANILA — The World Health Organization (WHO) says deaths and disabilities resulting from motorcycle accidents involving young people have become a public health epidemic in Asia, particularly in low and medium-income countries.
Young motorcyclists make up a significant percentage of injuries and fatalities among road users in many Asian countries, including Cambodia and Malaysia (see graph). Factors such as speed, no helmets, risk-taking behaviour and drink-driving contribute to the rising trend.