2 Koreas exchange fire

200 shells hit South’s isle; 2 killed

SEOUL—North Korea bombarded a South Korean island near their disputed western border
on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and setting houses ablaze, in one of the heaviest attacks on its
neighbor since the Korean War ended in 1953.

The attack, with South Korea returning fire, came as the reclusive state has been pressing
regional powers to return to negotiations about its nuclear weapons program, and followed
revelations that Pyongyang was fast developing another source of material to make atomic
bombs.

North Korea said its wealthy neighbor started the fight.

“Despite our repeated warnings, South Korea fired dozens of shells from 1 p.m. ... and we’ve
taken strong military action immediately,” its Korean Central news agency said in a brief
statement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the latest rise in tension represented a “colossal
danger.”

200 shells

The North’s artillery struck the small South Korean-held island of Yeonpyeong, which houses
military installations and a small civilian population and which has been the focus of two
previous deadly battles between the Koreas.

Two South Korean Marines were killed and 16 were injured. Island residents escaped to about
20 shelters on the island and sporadic shelling ended after about an hour, according to the
South Korean military.

YTN Television said at least 200 North Korean shells hit Yeonpyeong, which lies off the west
coast of the divided peninsula. Most landed on a military base there.

South Korean artillery batteries returned fire with about 80 rounds and the military went to
“crisis status.”

The shelling also followed moves by the North’s iron leader, Kim Jong-il, to make his
youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as heir apparent to the family dynasty.

Besides returning fire, South Korea said it scrambled fighter jets in response, and said the
“inhumane” attack on civilian areas violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War.

The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never negotiated.
US condemns attack

Hours after the skirmish, North Korea’s supreme military command threatened to continue
strikes against its rival if it violated their disputed sea border “even 0.001 millimeter,”
according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

The United States, which has tens of thousands of troops stationed in South Korea, condemned
the attack and called on North Korea to “halt its belligerent action,” White House Press
Secretary Robert Gibbs said in Washington.

Gibbs said the United States was “firmly committed” to South Korea’s defense, and to the
“maintenance of regional peace and stability.”

Nationwide drill

The attack on the island came as 70,000 South Korean troops and some US forces were
beginning an annual nationwide military drill called “Safeguarding the Nation,” which has
been sharply criticized by Pyongyang as “simulating an invasion of the North” and “a means
to provoke a war.”

The shelling also followed revelations of two new nuclear facilities in the North—a light water
reactor under construction and a modern plant for enriching uranium that Pyongyang says is
operational.

Yeonpyeong Island sits just 3.2 kilometers from the Northern Limit Line, the disputed sea
border which the North does not recognize, and only 12.8 km from the North Korean coast.

The island houses a garrison of about 1,000 South Korean Marines, and the Navy has deployed
its newest class of “patrol killer” guided-missile ships in the Western Sea, as the Yellow Sea is
also known.

About 1,600 civilians also live on the island, mostly fishermen, and local news reports said by
late afternoon that some residents had fled the island on fishing boats.

Game of provocations

Experts say that for decades the North Korean leadership has played a carefully calibrated
game of provocations to win concessions from the international community and impress its
own military.

The risk is that the leadership transition has upset this balance and that events spin out of
control.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who has pursued a hard line with the North since
taking office nearly three years ago, said a response had to be firm following the attack on
Yeonpyeong.

Tension between the two Koreas rose sharply early this year after Seoul accused the North of
torpedoing one of its Navy vessels, killing 46 sailors.
Global markets rattled

“Houses and mountains are on fire and people are evacuating. You can’t see very well because
of plumes of smoke,” a witness on the island told YTN Television.

News of the attack rattled global markets, already unsettled by Ireland’s debt woes and shifting
to less risky assets.

China’s appeal

China, the impoverished North’s only powerful ally, was careful to avoid taking sides, calling
on both Koreas to “do more to contribute to peace.”

“China hopes that the relevant parties will do more to contribute to peace and stability in the
region ... it is imperative now to resume the six-party talks,” Chinese foreign ministry
spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters.

Those talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program—involving the two Koreas, China,
Japan, Russia and the United States—have long been on ice.

However, the North has recently been pushing to resume the talks, which previously it has
used to win massive aid in return for promises to end its weapons program. Reports from
Reuters, Associated Press and New York Times News Service
Aquino pledges support for Suu Kyi’s freedom movement
CALAMBA, Laguna – (UPDATE) President Benigno Aquino III said on Tuesday that he called up Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on Monday, to greet her on her release and to express the Philippines’
support for a more complete freedom for her and a more inclusive democracy in her country.

Aquino, who like Suu Kyi is a child of a martyred opposition leader, told reporters that he also shared his own
experience under martial law in the 1970’s when the then dictator Ferdinand Marcos detained his father
Benigno Aquino, Jr.

Aquino said he made the call because Suu Kyi, it appeared, has not been allowed to make her own calls to
government leaders.

“We expressed our hope that there be complete democracy in Myanmar,” Aquino told reporters in a news
conference after speaking before the Third Annual Convention of the Calabarzon Regional Tripartite Industrial
Peace Council here.

“We also gave her the news about the request we made to [Myanmar] Prime Minister Thien Sien in Hanoi that,
one, he gives attention to her case and, if possible, for them to have a more inclusive election,” he added.

Aquino said a stable Myanmar would mean a stable Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines.

“So that’s what the Philippines will work for,” President Aquino said.

Aquino said Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize awardee, expressed her gratitude for the Philippines’ expression of
sympathy.

“She gave thanks. She said our expression of sympathy is important. She promised to continue making
representation but added that they are out power and that they don’t know when, if ever, they would be back in
government,” Aquino said.

He indicated that former Bukidnon Representative Nereus Acosta, the Liberal Party’s representative to the
Council of Asian Liberal Democrats, helped arrange the phone call to Suu Kyi.

The CALD has connections with Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy.

Aquino’s call to Suu Kyi comes after the Philippine government called Myanmar’s elections a farce due to the
alleged repression of the opposition’s campaign and lack of transparency.
 Darkness falls on Ampatuan mansions

DAVAO CITY—The bushes have grown thick outside the unfinished mansion of former Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, one of the untouchable politicians until he and other family
members were arrested for the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

The mansion’s massive iron gates are blotted with rust, the blood-red color now pallid. Grasses have crept up
the giant beams of the thick high walls. Inside the compound, desolation prevails.

The mansion occupies an entire block in Juna Subdivision here, which can hold at least 150 low-cost

housing units. A contractor said the property could be worth at least P500 million.

At night, the property is dark and eerily silent “Look at that. Are you not scared? No one is there. Nobody but
ghosts,” a cab driver said when asked by the Inquirer to pass by the neighborhood one night.

Gone are the workers and guards. Although it was still under construction when the whole world was shocked
by the grisly massacre, the mansion stood out in the subdivision where some of Davao’s rich families live.

Just a few meters away is the house of former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., father of Zaldy.
Caretakers occupy the house. The iron gates are shut which to the neighborhood means peace.

“They are already gone. It’s peaceful here. Sometimes, a few people come, but not as many as before. And the
cars? No longer in a convoy,” one neighbor said.

“We have been sleeping well since they were gone. Gone are the people who display their wealth, as if it is
really theirs when we all know that it’s people’s money. Gone are the people who offend values and decency,”
another said.

Another mansion in Marfori Heights Subdivision also looks desolate since the massacre.

Monstrosities

For many, the mansions of the Ampatuans are monstrosities.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, whose wife and relatives were among the massacre victims, said the
mansions represented unexplained wealth and “of what kind of people [the Ampatuans] are.”

“The Ampatuans have a 2,000-hectare ranch. How were they able to accumulate that huge property?” he said.
In Buluan town in Maguindanao, Mangudadatu recently asked a visitor who used to live in Datu Unsay town in
Filipino: “Why did you leave? Why did your family leave? Are you victims, too?”

Land-grabbing

The visitor said many Muslims were forced to join the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) because of the
abuses of the Ampatuans.

“Why did Ombra Kato become a rebel? Because the land of his family was grabbed by the Ampatuans. And
Mando Tambungalan of Datu Piang? And Said Pakila Datu? These are just some of the victims,” Mangudadatu
said.

A top official in Davao City, who requested not to be named, said that the money used to build the Ampatuan
mansions in the city was “people’s money.”

“IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) and the money of foreign donor agencies. Look, Maguindanao is the poorest
province in the Philippines and the question is—how can officials representing the poorest part of the country
possibly have these mansions?” he said.

Need for audit

Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan said the “astronomical, scandalous and shameful wealth of the Ampatuans”
should be thoroughly investigated. “How they flaunt their wealth is urban legend in Mindanao,” she said.

Ilagan listed some questions that need to be asked: How can they be so rich in the midst of massive poverty in
Maguindanao? How was the budget

allotted for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao spent? Is there a Commission on Audit report on the
expenditures, considering that the Ampatuans occupied high government positions?

Mae Fe Templa of the human rights watchdog Barug Katungod Mindanao said the quest for justice for the
Ampatuan victims must include a scrutiny of the family’s wealth.

“Apparently, many lives were lost and human rights abused because of their greed. Blood was spilled as the
family accumulated wealth,” Templa said.

“The mansions of the Ampatuans reflect the extent of corruption in the country—use of guns, goons and gold
via state machinery,” she added.

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QC council mulls ban vs giant billboards

The Quezon City council is deciding whether to ban the installation of large billboards especially in major
thoroughfares where the structures pose a hazard to motorists during stormy weather.

The proposed resolution authored by city councilor Winston Castelo pointed out that both pedestrians and
motorists alike have complained of the threat of such outdoor ads.

“There is an urgent need for a moratorium or banning on the construction of the tasteless and badly placed
billboards,” proposed resolution number 08-452 said.
Should the measure be passed by the city council, the ban on such outdoor ads will cover major and secondary
thoroughfares, avenues and streets in the city.

The proposal came a month after three billboards along EDSA gave way one after the other during strong rains
in Quezon City.

Five people were hurt when one of the structures collapsed on a bus station in Santolan, causing heavy traffic
along the southbound lane of EDSA on the afternoon of Oct 13.

The freak accident renewed the outcry on the hazards posed by billboards along major thoroughfares especially
during stormy weather.

In 2006, a man was killed during a storm when a billboard fell on the van he was driving in Guadalupe in
Makati City, prompting the government to probe the structural safety of outdoor ads.

In a previous interview, director Emmanuel Cuntapay of the Department of Public Works and Highways'
National Building Code Development Office

said a billboard should ideally measure 40 meters by 60 meters in size.

“We will ask billboard owners to retrofit their structures to a standard size and to strengthen it to withstand up
to 240 kph of winds,” Cuntapay earlier said.

But the city council's proposal pointed out that the proliferation of unregulated installation of huge outdoor ads,
especially near roads, electric posts, pedestrian overpasses and train pillars is a “public nuisance” to the health
and safety of motorists and residents.

Castelo's proposed measure said there should be a moratorium as long as there is no policy guidelines on the
construction of billboards, which should be based on the National Building Code.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

House mulls hero’s welcome for Pacquiao

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:47:00 11/14/2010

Filed Under: Government, Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines -- Euphoric over Manny Pacquiao's conquest of Antonio Margarito for his eighth world
crown, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. did not rule out a hero's welcome for the boxing icon at the House of
Representatives.

``Virtually from start to finish, Manny was in control. He came out virtually unscathed,'' Belmonte said on
Sunday, after watching the fight with some lawmakers and employees at the House sports

and fitness center. ``What came as a surprise was that Margarito survived with all the punishment that he took.''

In praise of Pacquiao, he said: ``He has brought us more glory. We are very proud of Manny Pacquiao.''
Belmonte watched the fight with Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano, Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Victor Yu, Zamboanga
Sibugay Rep. Jonathan Yambao, and Kalinga Rep. Manuel Agyao on a big screen installed at the gym's basketball
court courtesy of Representative Pacquiao.

``Everybody is angling for that when he comes home,'' Belmonte said when asked about a possible hero's
welcome for the Sarangani lawmaker. ``[We'll prepare] as best as we can.''

Belmonte predicted a torrent of resolutions commending Pacquiao to be filed by his colleagues in Lower House
in the coming days.

``Expect 280 resolutions. All might be filing their resolutions,'' he said, chuckling.

The raucous crowd inside the gym erupted into cheers, with some pumping their fists in the air, after the 12th
and final round ended, and more so, after the verdict was announced.

From his colleagues in the House came praises.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said in a text message: ``Manny is the epitome of skill, competence,
sportsmanship, perseverance and everything good about being Filipino. He makes me proud to be a
congressman.''

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_______________

24.2M multa sa gas leak

Pinagbabayad ng Department of Environment and Natural

Resources (DENR) ng 24.2 milyong piso ang First Philippine
Industrial Corporation (FPIC) bilang multa sa pagtagas ng
kanilang pipeline sa Brgy. Bangkal, Makati City na nagresulta sa kontaminasyon ng tubig.

Ayon kay DENR Sec. Ramon Paje, ibinase nila ang P24.2 milyong multa simula sa araw na nadiskubre ng
Bureau of Fire Protection ang tagas noong Hulyo 12 hanggang sa nalapatan ng FPIC ang limang butas ng
pipeline noong Nob. 10.

Inutusan din ng DENR ang FPIC na magsagawa ng rehabilitasyon at paglilinis sa lugar na naapektuhan sa
pagtagas sa loob ng limang araw mula nang matanggap nito ang show cause order na inilabas ng DENR
pollution adjudication board noong Huwebes.

Sinabi rin ni Paje na may posibilidad pa na tumaas ang multa na ipapataw sa FPIC depende sa resulta ng water
sampling na ginagawa ng kanilang hanay.

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Nanganak sa airport
Hindi na nakaalis patungong bansang Taiwan ang isang babaeng overseas Filipino worker
(OFW) nang abutan ng panganganak sa loob ng female restroom sa Curbside Level 2 sa
Terminal 1 ng Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) kamakalawa ng gabi sa Pasay
City.

Nagawang maitago ni Mary Suzie Compana, 23, dalaga, taga-Nangka,

Barangay Lapirus, Carcar, Cebu City ang kanyang pagbubuntis sa pagnanais na makapagtrabaho bilang
domestic helper subalit inabot na rin siya ng panganganak sa araw ng kanyang pag-alis.

Sa imbestigasyon nina SPO1 Cris Gabutin at PO2 Dennis Desalisa, ng Station Investigation and Detective
Management Section ng Pasay City Police, naglilinis at kinukolekta na ng janitress na si Marcy Eta ang mga
basura sa female restroom dakong alas-8:40 ng gabi nang masilip niya ang umaagos na dugo sa baldosa ng isa
sa tatlong cubicle na mahigit 20-minuto ng naka-lock.

Sa pag-aalala ni Eta ay pinuwersa nitong buksan ang pintuan at tumambad sa kanya ang kapapanganak pa
lamang na sanggol na babae na nakapatong sa takip ng toilet bowl at sa tabi nito ang duguang ina.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May iba pang Ampatuan

Pumalag si Gloria Arroyo at ang kanyang executive secretary na si Eduardo Ermita sa report o
ng Human Rights Watch (HRW), isang international na grupo na kagagawan nila ang pagiging
makapangyarihan ng pamilya Ampatuan sa Maguindanao.

Alam ng marami ang tungkol sa private army ng mga Ampatuan at hindi naman mangyayari ‘yun kung hindi
aprubado ng Malacañang.

Grabe ang arsenal ng mga Ampatuan. Sobra daw sa 5,000 mga baril, pang-military talaga ang nasa mga
Ampatuan: M60 machine guns, M16 assault rifles, M14 rifles, M203 rifle grenade launchers, AK-47 assault
rifles, hand-held rocket launcher, K3 machine guns. Mga anti-tank weapons, mortar bombs at kung anu-ano pa.

Hindi lang ‘yun ang ginagamit nilang pampatay ng kanilang kalaban. ‘Di ba ang usap-usapan doon ay mahilig
daw ang matandang Ampatuan na gumamit ng chain saw? ‘Yung pamputol ng malalaking kahoy. Ginagamit
din nilang pang-chain saw ng kalaban.

Sinabi sa HRW na hawak ng mga Ampatuan ang military at pulis noon. Sila kasi ang may kontrol sa CAFGU,
na tumutulong sa military laban sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Inis si Ermita sa report ng HRW. Humingi siya ng pruweba sa HRW. Sabi niya, “Bilang dating military na
opisyal, dating Presidential spokesman at dating chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Committee nang
ako ay Executive Secretary, hindi ko maaaring hindi sagutin itong mga paratang.”
Ano ang sagot niya? Ito: “I will insist that the HRW present hard facts on its allegation that military weapons
are being sold to local officials for the purpose of having their own private armies. For all intents and purposes,
this allegation must be addressed if only to spare the Armed Forces from being unnecessarily suspected of
wrong-doing, better yet to come their self-defense.”

Pruweba ang hinihingi ni Ermita. Hindi pa ba pruweba ang 57 namatay?

Pinabulaanan naman ni Arroyo na nagbigay siya ng proteksyon sa mga Ampatuan. Sabi ng kanyang
tagapagsalita na si Elena Bautista-Horn, na tinanggal daw ni Arroyo ang mga Ampatuan sa kapangyarihan at
inalis sa kanyang partido, ang Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats. Nag-order pa daw siya ng isang independent
na imbestigasyon ng masaker.

Siyempre naman at sobra na ang baho ng mga Ampatuan. Ang hindi nila maaaring matabunan ay ang laki ng
tulong ng mga Ampatuan kay Arroyo noong 2004. Narinig ng bayan doon sa Hello Garci tapes kung paano nila
minaniobra ang boto doon sa Maguindanao para makalamang si Arroyo kay Fernando Poe Jr.

Hindi lang si Ampatuan ang pinayagang magtatag ng private army dahil napapakinabangan niya ‘yun.

Meron din sa Ilocos. At maaaring gamitin nila ulit ‘yan para makabalik sa kapangyarihan.

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SOYA MABISA KONTRA SAKIT

Marahil narinig niyo na mula sa TV o sa kahit anong klase ng media na ang soya ay
mahusay na panlaban sa mga sakit gaya ng sakit sa puso at cancer. Ano ba talaga ang soya?

Ano ba ang soy foods?

Ang soya ay tinatawag na “versatile bean” na halos makikita sa Asia. Ang soya ay makikita sa soy milk, soy
sauce, miso (soybean paste) tempeh (soy cake) at tokwa. Minsan, ang soya ay hinahalo sa tinapay, cereals at
mga meat products, ginagawang meat substitute ito sa mga produktong gaya ng soy burgers at soy hotdogs.

Ang mga Americans ay kumakain ng soya dahil para sa kanila, mas nakakakuha sila ng mas maraming benefits
mula rito. Ang soya kasi ay isang source ng protein at mayroon itong ibang nutrients gaya ng iron at calcium.
Ang mga pagkain na mayroong soy protein ay mahusay na alternatibo sa pagkain ng mga karne at iba pang
animal products na mayroong cholesterol at saturated fat.

Ayon sa pag-aaral, ang pagkain ng soya ay maraming benefits na naibibigay sa ating katawan hindi lamang
panlaban sa mga sakit gaya ng cancer. Ang American Dietetic Association (ADA) at Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) ay nagsabi na ang pagkain na mayroong 25 to 50 grams ng soy protein kada araw ay
makakatulong upang mabawasan ang levels ng LDL cholesterol. Ang LDL cholesterol ay bad cholesterol --
klase ng cholesterol na bumabara sa ating blood vessels na nagiging sanhi para magkaroon tayo ng heart
disease.
Ugaliing kumain ng mga pagkaing mayroong soya. Halimbawa nito ihalo ang soy flour sa regular flour kung
kayo ay magbi-bake o magpiprito ng isda. Hindi naman mahal ang mga soya. Sa katunayan mabibili ito sa
mababang halaga at available ito sa mga tindahan.

15-anyos sumuko sa hirap

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bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

Dahil sa kahirapan ng buhay ay isang 15-anyos na binatilyo ang nagpatiwakal sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigti sa
isang punong-kahoy matapos umano itong magdamdam dahil sa hindi nabigyan ng halagang P200 para
pambayad sa educational tour ng eskwelahan sa lalawigan ng Sorsogon.

Malamig na bangkay na nang matagpuan habang nakabitin sa isang puno ng mangga ang biktimang si Jojo
Buebo, graduating high school student, gamit ang lubid na itinali sa isang malaking sanga at ang kabilang dulo
ay ipinulupot sa kanyang leeg.

Base sa naantalang ulat na nakarating sa Sorsogon Provincial Police Office kahapon, natagpuan ang bangkay ng
biktima noong Sabado ng umaga habang nakabigti sa nasabing puno hindi kalayuan sa kanilang bahay.

Nauna rito, humingi ng halagang P200 ang biktima sa kanyang mga magulang nitong nakaraang Biyernes
upang pambayad sa gagawing educational tour ng pinapasukang eskwelahan subalit dahil sa walang pera ay
hindi ito nabigyan.

Dahil dito ay nagtampo ang binatilyo at umalis ng hindi man lang nagpapaalam sa mga magulang at buong araw
itong hindi umuwi sa kanilang bahay.

Nagulat na lang ang pamilya Buebo kinaumagahan ng Sabado nang isang kapitbahay ang magtungo sa kanilang
bahay upang ibalita ang pagkakatagpo ng anak na si Jojo na nakabigti sa isang puno ng mangga may 200 metro
ang layo sa kanilang tahanan.