Flood in Davao City

Death toll from Davao floods now at 14

 

 DAVAO CITY (2nd update, 10:14 a.m.) -- Fatalities in the flooding incident caused by heavy rains in this city late Tuesday night has risen to 14.

A television report said majority of the fatalities are children living beside the Matina river, which overflowed.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte earlier confirmed that four fatalities include a girl aged three to four, a six-year-old boy, a man and a woman aged more than 50.



Search and rescue teams found the bodies of the fatalities early Wednesday during their operations.

Fifteen others earlier went missing and thousands were affected in the three-hour downpour from past 10 p.m. Tuesday to around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

It was not immediately known if the some of the 15 people missing were among the dead.

Authorities have yet to identify the latest fatalities.

Duterte said the heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, particularly the Matina river that caused floods of up to more than 10 meters high.

She said the affected villages include Matina Pangi, Matina Crossing, Matina Aplaya, and Talomo.

Classes in the four villages were suspended Wednesday.

Duterte said residents in the four villages were evacuated and around 20,000 to 40,000 were affected by the floods.

She added the most affected was Barangay Matina Pangi, where the flood washed out the homes of about 40 families. Matina river is located in the said village.

The mayor said it was not the first time Matina river overflowed, however, almost all the rivers in the city overflowed, which caused flooding.

Duterte also said the flood has subsided and some residents returned to their homes and conducted cleanup operations.

The search and rescue operation is ongoing for the missing people. 

Azkals bare teeth in friendly match in Germany

The Philippine football team flaunted its newfound attacking strength with a 4-1 drubbing of Duren selection Wednesday in the first test match of their World Cup Qualifiers training camp in Germany.

Striker Phil Younghusband struck twice, while older brother James and Chieffy Caligdong scored a goal each as the Azkals showed sharp form with Europe-based stars Stephan Schrock, Manny Ott, Ray Jonsson and Angel Aldeguer Guirado playing together for the first time.

The Azkals are preparing for the first round qualifying tie against Sri Lanka on June 29 in Colombo and July 3 in Manila.

“We’re finally coming together,” Azkals manager Dan Palami told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an overseas call.

“We controlled the pace of the game. To have that result in our first session together is great. But there’s still a lot of room for improvement, especially on defense.”

Phil, who has fully recovered from a hamstring injury he sustained against Mongolia last March, pounced on a botched clearance to fire past the Duren goalkeeper.

The Filipino-British striker doubled his tally by slotting into an empty net after swapping passes with Schrock at the edge of the area.

“I feel strong and confident playing with strong players who are helping complement my game,” Younghusband said.

Azkals coach Michael Weiss earlier said the Duren selection played German powerhouse Bayern Munich and barely lost, 3-4.

“We were really expecting a tough match,” said Palami. “We don’t know if we surprised them or they just took us lightly.”

Oliver Poetschke, a young Filipino-German defender, who is not part of the World Cup Qualifying lineup, paired up with Aly Borromeo at central defense with the team still awaiting the arrival of Rob Gier.

Palami said Schrock, a rightback for German second division club Greuther Furth, looked comfortable playing at midfield alongside fellow Fil-German Ott in his first game for the Azkals.

“He plays at a high level,” said Schrock. “We wanted him to be more involved on attack that’s why we put him on midfield rather than defense.”

Federer eyes Sampras mark

LONDON—Roger Federer can picture himself lifting a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title, but can also sense the dangers posed by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Federer, now without a Grand Slam title since his 16th major at the 2010 Australian Open, was stunned by the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals last year, as his attempt to match Pete Sampras’ record of seven titles was shattered.

It was his earliest exit at the All England Club since his first round loss to Mario Ancic in 2002.

But the 29-year-old Swiss has been buoyed by his unexpected run to the French Open final, where he came up short against Nadal, after ending Novak Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak in the semifinals.

“I know I could tie with Sampras here,” said Federer, who starts his campaign against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin.

“For me if I close my eyes and think about Wimbledon, it’s the moment when I lift the Wimbledon trophy. That’s the picture I see the strongest.”

But clouding that view is defending champion Nadal, who beat Federer to win a sixth French Open two weeks ago, as well as Australian Open champion Djokovic and Queen’s winner Murray, bidding to end Britain’s 75-year wait for a men’s champion.

World number one Nadal took his Grand Slam title tally to 10 with his latest Roland Garros triumph—his fourth final win in Paris over Federer—and is now only six majors behind the great Swiss.

The Spaniard will be chasing his third Wimbledon trophy and time is on his side. He is almost five years younger than Federer, 29.

But Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion and runner-up in 2006 and 2007, is not prepared to consider himself a better player than his great rival just yet.

“When you talk about these statistics, when you try and make these comparisons, really it’s not very interesting to me,” said Nadal, who faces America’s Michael Russell in the first round on Monday.

Djokovic, poised to depose Nadal as world number one, has yet to make a Wimbledon final, losing in the 2010 semifinal to Berdych in straight sets and to Nadal, also in the last four, in 2007.

World number four Andy Murray, bidding to become Britain’s first Wimbledon men’s champion since Fred Perry in 1936, made the semifinals in 2009 and 2010.

Mayweather to testify in Pacquiao lawsuit

LAS VEGAS—Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. was to begin giving sworn testimony on Friday in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao sued Mayweather over statements from Mayweather and others in his camp accusing Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

The two, considered the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, have repeatedly failed to reach terms to meet in the ring in what could be the richest bout in boxing history.

Federal magistrate Judge Robert Johnston on Thursday denied an emergency motion that would have allowed Mayweather to delay testifying.

Mayweather claimed that he needed to concentrate on his September 17 fight against Victor Ortiz.

On May 31, Pacquiao settled his defamation lawsuit against Oscar de la Hoya and his Golden Boy promotions chief Richard Schaefer.

Under the terms of their settlement, de la Hoya and Schaefer issued a statement and apology to Pacquiao, saying they “never intended to claim that Manny Pacquiao has used or is using any performance enhancing drugs, and further state that we do not have any evidence whatsoever of such use.”

Pacquiao has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and in his original 2009 lawsuit he claimed that Mayweather, his father Floyd Sr. and uncle Roger along with de la Hoya and Schaefer “conducted a campaign in a set of interviews to make people think he used them.”

Pacquiao’s lawsuit is not Mayweather’s only pending legal issue.

He also faces felony charges stemming from a domestic dispute and misdemeanor harassment and battery charges in separate cases.

Philippines flexes naval muscle

BIGGEST, OLDEST AND ONLY WARSHIP The Philippine Navy flagship BRP Humabon (PF 11) steams in formation during a naval exercise with US Navy warships in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) on March 14, 2010. The Humabon is a World War II vintage destroyer escort/frigate acquired from the US in 1978. It is now deployed along the Scarborough Shoal, an atoll facing Zambales and which China claims. US NAVY

SAN FERNANDO CITY—The Philippines is flexing what little naval muscle it has amid rising tensions in the West Philippine Sea, also called the South China Sea.

The Philippine Navy flagship BRP Rajah Humabon, the country’s biggest and oldest warship, left Poro Point in La Union province  on Thursday to conduct patrols along Scarborough Shoal, an  atoll which faces Zambales province and which China claims.

In Manila, President Benigno Aquino III on Friday insisted the Philippines won’t be bullied by China in their territorial spat and that Beijing should stop intruding into waters claimed by Manila.

Mr. Aquino said in an interview with The Associated Press that a government-backed mission to scout Manila-claimed waters for oil and gas had turned up “very good” prospects, though he declined to elaborate.

He said the Philippines reserved the right to explore its waters despite China’s rival claims.

“We will not be pushed around because we are a tiny state compared with theirs,” Mr. Aquino said.

“We think we have very solid grounds to say ‘do not intrude into our territory’ and that is not a source of dispute or should not be a source of dispute,” the President said. “We will continue with dialogues, but I think, for our internal affairs, we don’t have to ask anybody else’s permission.”

Mr. Aquino also said:   “We are not going to escalate the tensions there but we do have to protect our rights.”

Pursuing diplomacy, Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario met with diplomats from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and stressed the need for a united position “in addressing challenges.”

“Our objectives are to establish naval presence in the area and to test the readiness of our vessel in terms of territorial defense operation,” Cmdr. Celestino Abalayan, captain of the Humabon, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“(We are) conducting defensive naval patrol to safeguard the territorial waters of the country.”

Abalayan said the patrol around Scarborough Shoal would last two to three days. A similar patrol was carried out two weeks ago.

Last battleship

The deployment of the Humabon followed a decision by China to dispatch its largest maritime patrol ship, the Haixun-31, to Singapore on Wednesday in a voyage during which it will pass through the West Philippine Sea.

The Humabon is the country’s largest and oldest warship. The 93.27-meter ship was built during World War II and has been described as “the last World War II-era destroyer escort/frigate in active service.”

The Humabon travels at a speed of 39 kilometers an hour (21 knots) and has a crew of 165.

Rival claimants

Both China and the Philippines have claimed Scarborough Shoal as their own. In 1995, they signed a code of conduct pledging to solve their dispute by peaceful means.

Scarborough is an atoll or a triangle-shaped chain of reefs and islands surrounding a lagoon. It lies about 220 km from Zambales, 350 km from Manila and more than 800 km southeast of Hong Kong.

Scarborough, with an area of 150 square km, is more than 320 km from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan province. It is not part of the Spratly Islands where China, the Philippines and four other Asian nations are embroiled in a separate territorial quarrel.

Offshore patrols

The defense department said the deployment of the Humabon to Scarborough was not a response to the voyage of Haixun-31.

“No, I don’t think these are connected. The Navy conducts regular offshore patrols and we should not connect the deployment of Rajah Humabon to the deployment of this Chinese maritime vessel,” Defense Undersecretary Eduardo Batac said.

“It’s not really an action on what’s happening in the Spratlys. It’s really the pursuit of missions which are regularly given to them, one of which is offshore patrol,” he added.

According to Batac, China could patrol its coastal waters the same way the Philippines could, so long as the Chinese would not intrude into the Philippines’ 320-km exclusive economic zone.

Zone of Peace

Malacañang didn’t sound alarmed either by China’s latest move.

“(From) what we understand, it’s a civilian ship that is on its way to Singapore, so it’s something that happens ordinarily and there’s no cause for alarm,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters.

In his meeting with the Asean ambassadors, Secretary Del Rosario said that turning the contested waters into a “Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship, and Cooperation” was a key in “advancing a peaceful settlement of disputes.”

Del Rosario urged the Philippines’ Asean partners to “take a common position and, as a family of nations, together seek common approaches in addressing challenges,” a Department of Foreign Affairs statement said.

It said Del Rosario called the meeting to brief the ambassadors on his proposal for a “rules-based regime,” under which disputed territories can be designated as a joint cooperation area among claimants.

Biggest threat

Commander Abalayan said the biggest threat to the Humabon crew was the rough sea and the erratic weather in the Scarborough Shoal area.

Abalayan, whose previous assignment included patrolling the seas off northern Palawan, said he was not expecting any confrontation with troops from countries with claims on isles and reefs in the so-called West Philippine Sea.

Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the Navy routinely patrols the Scarborough Shoal because “it is within the borderline of (Philippine territory).”

Ebdane, a former defense secretary, said fishermen from Zambales ply the area frequently but Chinese fishermen sometimes venture in Scarborough’s periphery.

Zambales officials have endorsed a resolution of the Masinloc town government claiming Scarborough Shoal, known locally as the “Bajo de Masinloc,” as part of Masinloc.

Vice Governor Ramon Lacbain II has pushed the provincial council to endorse the resolution.

Coast Guard to help

In Manila, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it was prepared to assist the Navy in patrolling the West Philippine Sea.

Commandant Adm. Ramon Liwag said a Coast Guard ship, the BRP Edsa, and a surveillance vessel owned by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources but manned by the PCG, were stationed in Puerto Princesa.

“We will assist [if called],” Liwag told reporters.

Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño said the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee could invite the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines and ask him about his country’s plans on the Spratlys.

Casiño said one reason for China’s recent actions in the Spratlys could be related to the Joint Maritime Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) which showed the area had rich oil and gas deposits.  With reports from Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer Central Luzon; Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Norman Bordadora, Jerome Aning and Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. in Manila; Inquirer Research and AP

Lunar eclipse turns moon blood red

 Lunar eclipse turns moon blood red

In this photo taken by Kenji Tabata and distributed by Japan's Kyodo News service, the moon turns red during a total lunar eclipse as seen from Naha, on the Japanese island of Okinawa, early Thursday, June 16, 2011. The total lunar eclipse was also visible in most parts of Asia. (AP/KENJI TABATA VIA KYODO NEWS)

SYDNEY—The longest lunar eclipse in more than a decade turned the moon blood red on Thursday, giving stargazers around the world a rare visual treat.

The first eclipse of the year — when the Earth casts its shadow over the Moon — was seen in parts of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Often the moon turns brown but this time it became a reddish, coppery-color, tinged by light from the Sun.

The terrestrial shadow started to fall at 1724 GMT and lifted around 2300 GMT, although “totality” — when the lunar face is completely covered — lasted 100 minutes — the longest since July 2000.

While keen astronomers in parts of Australia had to contend with dense cloud cover and rain, others had a clearer view of the spectacle.

Around 130 people watched at the Sydney Observatory, with one woman dressed as a vampire.

“There was (also) a child dressed very elegantly as if she was from another century, and a little boy dressed up as a red superhuman,” Sydney Observatory manager Toner Stevenson told reporters.

Professor Fred Watson, astronomer-in-charge at the Australian Astronomical Observatory, said the best view would have been from the moon itself.

“If you could watch the phenomena, you would see the earth moving across the sun and it creating a brilliant red rim around the earth,” he said.

In Singapore, over 700 people gathered outside a local science center to watch, local daily the Straits Times reported.

Some avid enthusiasts staked out spots more than four hours before the phenomenon occurred with the center organizing astronomy talks and movie screenings to entertain the audience.

There were similar scenes in the Philippine capital Manila where hundreds of amateur and professional astronomers converged before dawn to catch a glimpse.

With blankets and flasks of coffee, the stargazers were treated to clear skies and pleasant weather.

“I will never get tired of watching these events,” said Maximo Sacro, 67, the retired curator of the National Museum Planetarium who dusted off his 300-mm lens to capture the image.

“The moon’s entry into the earth’s shadow was right smack in the middle, it was just perfect. It was very rare and the duration was long.”

The eclipse was widely seen across India with crowds gathered at the country’s leading planetarium in the capital New Delhi.

The Nehru planetarium organized an overnight “moon carnival” to familiarize visitors, setting up special viewing telescopes.

But traditionalists were not as enthusiastic about the planetary changes, with authorities at several Indian temples reportedly shutting their doors to protect them from the supposed “evil effects” of the eclipse.

While the phenomenon could not be seen everywhere in the world, including the United States, space lovers still got a chance to see it unfold with Google teaming up with Slooh.com.

Slooh accesses telescopes around the world and Google live streamed the event, including audio narrations from astronomers.

There will be partial solar eclipses on July 1 and November 25, but the next total solar eclipse will not take place until Nov. 13, 2012.

It will run in a track across North Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and southerly South America.

Azkals coach: German camp a good respite from Manila’s distractions

                                                                      By Cedelf P. Tupas

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine football team coach Michael Weiss is looking forward to putting the Azkals in a tighter leash when they undergo a two-week camp in Germany starting Monday.

“We will not put them into prison, but we will have control over them,” Weiss said Tuesday night before leaving for Germany to make the necessary preparations for the camp in Duren, a city near the Dutch border three hours away from Frankfurt.

“We need to control if we want to get to the next level. They can’t do strange stuff in Germany. They are young players, and there will always be temptations in a city like Manila.”

Weiss earlier rued the lack of focus of the team in Manila, where several players have been pre-occupied with a myriad of non-football related activities.

But Weiss believes his team’s mindset is where it should be now three weeks before the 2014 Fifa World Cup Qualifying first round match against Sri Lanka.

Weiss said the training in Germany would be enough to address chinks in the Azkals’ armor that were exposed in the 3-4 exhibition loss to a United Football League side last Sunday.

“There’s no reason to make a drama out of it,” he said, referring to the loss. “We know we have a long way to go.”

“We lack the compactness in midfield but with the players that we will have in camp, I’m sure we will solve our problems,” said the German coach, who expected Fil-Dutch midfielder Paul Mulders to make an immediate impact in the team.

The 30-year-old Mulders, who will see action for ADO Den Haag in the Dutch first division,  honed his skills at Ajax, which is known for developing the Netherlands top players like Wesley Sneijder and Rafael Van der Vaart.

The Azkals, who leave for Germany on Sunday, will close camp in Manila today, before launching their fund-raising “We Believe” campaign at the Trinoma Activity Center on Friday.

Linking up with the squad in Germany are Europe-based standouts Ray Jonnson, Manny Ott, Rob Gier, Stephan Schrock, Angel Aldeguer Guirado, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara.

“We are now at 65 percent,” Weiss said. “We have to grow together. It will be a tough challenge to play strong teams in Germany and I beg for understanding if we lose there but it will help us to progress.”

Weiss is confident of overcoming Sri Lanka with the squad that he has now, which has been considered as the strongest assembled in years.

“But the cohesion must be good,” he added.