Dateline Philippines

Clinton has high hopes on RP’s automated polls

Friday, 13 November 2009 05:27 Lira Dalangin-Fernandez/Inquirer.net

MANILA - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is optimistic the general elections next year in the Philippines will proceed smoothly under an automated system.

Speaking at a forum in the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, which was aired live on television, Clinton said going fully automated for the first time “is a very positive step forward.”

Villar dares 2010 rivals: Show character, integrity

Friday, 13 November 2009 05:26 Maila Ager/Inquirer.net

TAGAYTAY CITY - Senator Manny Villar dared his fellow presidential candidates on Friday to show "character" and "integrity" instead of making "empty promises."

Unlike his contenders, Villar boasted that he has shown those qualities when he led the impeachment case against former president Joseph Estrada when he was still the Speaker of the House of Representatives and when he lost the Senate presidency because he fought hard for its independence.

Greenpeace offers ‘safe alternative’ to IRRI’s GMO rice program

Friday, 13 November 2009 05:20 Dennis Maliwanag/Inquirer.net

MANILA - Greenpeace on Friday called on the International Rice Research Institute to abandon its genetic engineering program as the environmental activist group offers marker assisted breeding as a safe alternative to bioengineering.

In its report “Smart Breeding: Marker Assisted Breeding, a non-invasive biotechnology alternative to genetic engineering of plant varieties,” Greenpeace said the marker assisted selection (MAS) of plant varieties renders genetic engineering “obsolete and completely unnecessary.”

Typhoon rehab, not VFA, tops Clinton’s RP agenda

Thursday, 12 November 2009 07:31 Jerry Esplanada/Inquirer.net

MANILA - Typhoon relief is on the agenda; the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is not.

Typhoon rehabilitation is on top of the agenda of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her scheduled talks on Thursday with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other top government officials, according to US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney.

Sinnott ‘very sure’ captors not MILF

Thursday, 12 November 2009 07:30 Marlon Ramos/Inquirer.net

MANILA - It was not the Moro Islamic Liberation Front but “original Lumad” from Mindanao that kidnapped Father Michael Sinnott, the Irish missionary himself said Thursday, hours after he was freed by his captors, a month following his abduction.

“They were not MILF. I’m very sure of that,” Sinnott told a press conference at the Villamor Air Base where he was flown by his Philippine Air Force Fokker plane from Zamboanga City.