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(Fijitimes) MANILA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Brightly painted Jeepney public transport trucks are an iconic symbol of the Philippines, but minibus firm boss Freddie Hernandez backs plans to force them off the road.

He was among the first transport operators to comply with government orders to phase out the beloved but elderly utility vehicles and replace them with safer, greener buses.

“We saw the benefits of modernising our units in terms of reducing their carbon emissions,” said Hernandez, the chair of a transport service cooperative in Metro Manila, an urban sprawl of 16 cities.

“If the environment benefits from it, the public will benefit from it as well in the long run.”

Other public transport leaders, however, say the programme is saddling them with unmanageable costs and will upend the livelihood of some 61,000 traditional jeepney drivers, as they face a looming deadline to modernise their fleets… Read More

(CBSNews) SAN FRANCISCO — Darron Price, whose wife died in a horrific home explosion and fire, allegedly triggered by an illegal drug manufacturing operation, pleaded not guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and other charges.

During a morning appearance before San Francisco Superior Court Judge Victor Hwang, Price was formally charged with involuntary manslaughter, manufacturing a controlled substance, four counts of reckless burning, two counts of child endangerment and one count of elder abuse.

He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was ordered to return to court on Tuesday when a time and date for his preliminary hearing will be set… Read More

(GoFundMe) — Hello. My name is Cindy and my very close friend Rita Evelyn Lopez was the victim who tragically died in the Sunset District home explosion last Thursday, February 9th.
Rita leaves behind two young kids and a young adult son.
For those of you who knew her…she had a very kind soul and a heart of gold. Her smile and laugh were infectious. The world was a better place with her in it.
The family and friends are struggling to accept the sudden and cruel way she left this world. The heartbreak is overwhelming.

While we are missing Rita terribly, we are devastated for the neighbors that were affected.
All donations will go directly in assisting Rita’s family with funeral costs…. Read More

(Interaksyon) MANILA— The Philippines is in talks to possibly include Australia and Japan in planned joint South China Sea patrols with the United States, a senior diplomat said on Monday, in another sign of concern over Beijing’s activities in the strategic waters.

“Meetings have already been set and probably we may have the Japanese and the Australians join in,” Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez told Reuters.

“They would like to join in for joint patrols to make sure that there’s the code of conduct and there’s freedom of navigation,” adding it was still “an idea under discussion”.

If the plan materializes, it will be the first time the Philippines has joined multilateral maritime patrols in the South China Sea, a move that would likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the sea as its territory… Read More

(Radio Free Asia) The Philippines deployed search-and-rescue teams Monday to help look for a missing Taiwan-flagged fishing boat with a crew of one Taiwanese and five Indonesians, the coast guard said.

The boat, Sheng Feng No. 128, was last seen some 767 kilometers (414 nautical miles) northwest of the island nation of Palau in the western Pacific, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Coast Guard Command Center in Manila said it had directed Coast Guard Districts in the eastern seaboard and facing the Pacific to carry out the search-and-rescue operations after Commander Arthur Yang, Taiwan’s coast guard attache, requested assistance… Read More

(Interaksyon) OPM icon Barbie Almalbis played a traditional Filipino musical instrument called kudlong in her song titled “Kumpas.”

The euphonic sound of kudlong compliments Barbie’s angelic voice while singing “Kumpas,” which is part of her latest album “Tower Sessions Live.”

Among her songs in the album, Barbie said “Kumpas” resonated the most since it was based on the bible verse Matthew 6:33.

“It’s a verse that is very personal to us, especially the tough last couple of years that we went through, uncertain times ‘di ba that you’re just holding to faith and God,” the singer said during a press conference in Taguig City on Wednesday.

The “Tabing Ilog” hitmaker also revealed that she wrote the song with her husband… Read More

(Radio Free Asia) The Philippines and Australia have agreed to formalize their “strategic” defense engagement through an annual meeting, their defense chiefs said Wednesday, as both countries look to counter Beijing’s growing military influence especially in the South China Sea.

Philippine Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Richard Marles, his Australian counterpart, made the announcement after a closed-door meeting in Manila, according to BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service, on the same day that Washington also backed the Southeast Asian nation, whose coast guard was threatened recently by a Chinese ship during an incident in the disputed maritime region.

At a joint post-meeting press conference, Marles underscored “deep connections” between Australia and the Philippines, which already have been cooperating in anti-terrorism training in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao… Read More

(ABCNews) MANILA, Philippines — The wreckage of a small plane carrying two Filipino pilots and two Australian passengers was identified Tuesday on one of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes, officials said.

An aerial search found no sign of those aboard the Cessna 340, which crashed into a gully on the slope of Mayon volcano in Albay province, where it went missing after taking off Saturday enroute to Manila, aviation officials said.

“The condition of the crew and passengers are not yet known as the exact site has not yet been reached by the search and rescue team due to bad weather,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said. It said investigators spotted the wreckage after three failed aerial searches Tuesday morning due to thick clouds.

Only the tail section of the plane remained intact, said Eric Apolonio, spokesperson of the civil aviation agency… Read More