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FORMER special assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go received a rousing homecoming from the City of Davao when the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) held its campaign rally in his hometown on Friday.

A huge crowd turned up for the event. Entire families, elderly and children welcomed the ruling party’s Senate ticket and their guest candidates at Crocodile Park in Ma-a, Davao City.
“Maraming salamat po sa mga kapatid ko dito sa Davao City sa mainit ninyong pagtanggap sa amin (Thank you very much, to all my brothers and sisters here in Davao City for the warm reception accorded us),” Go said.

“Mahalaga po sa akin ang inyong pagsuporta dahil dito sa ating lugar nag-umpisa ang aking hangarin na magserbisyo sa kapwa Pilipino (Your support is important to me because it’s here where I started my passion to serve my fellow Filipinos),” he added.

Go started his career in public service in 1998 as the executive and personal assistant of then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

When Duterte ran in the 2016 elections, he tapped Go to serve as the over-all assistant campaign manager and sortie manager.

Duterte said his trust in Go remained unshaken because his former top aide is “extraordinarily honest.”

Go assured the people of Davao that he would remain steadfast in supporting the programs and policies of his mentor, President Duterte, particularly the campaign against illegal drugs, crime and corruption.

“Ipagpapatuloy ko po ang mga pagbabagong nasimulan ni Pangulong Duterte” (I will pursue the reforms started by President Duterte). Galit po si Pangulong Duterte sa mga kriminal, galit din ako sa kriminal. Galit si Pangulong Duterte sa corrupt, galit din ako sa corrupt. Galit si Pangulong Duterte sa droga, galit din ako sa droga” ( President Duterte hates criminals, I also hate criminals. He hates the corrupt, I also hate the corrupt. President Duterte hates drugs, I also hate drugs),” Go, who is seeking a Senate seat, added.
If he wins in May, Go vowed to improve access to quality health care.

“Gusto ko pong isabatas pagdating ng panahon itong Malasakit Center (I want to formalize the establishment of Malasakit Center),” he said.

A project of the Duterte administration, the Malasakit Center makes it easier and faster for poor patients to avail of medical and financial assistance from the government by bringing together in one room concerned agencies such as the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Duterte said it Go conceptualized the Malasakit Center when he asked the latter to find a way to provide medical assistance to the needy without having to pass through the bureaucratic grid that oftentimes cause delays.

Go explained that if a law was passed, more Malasakit Centers would be established even after Duterte had stepped down.

“Experimental pa lang po ito sa ngayon. Pero kung nakakatulong naman ay dapat nating ipagpatuloy. Pera ninyo ito, ibinabalik lang sa inyo sa pamamagitan ng mabilis, maayos at maaasahang serbisyo (This is experimental for now. But if this is of help, we have to pursue it. This is your money, and we are returning it through speedy, orderly and reliable services),” Go added.

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Malacañang on Saturday said President Rodrigo Duterte could not be impeached for releasing a list of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo dismissed as “pure nonsense” the claim of  Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin that Duterte could be impeached for making public those who are on the so-called narcolist.

Panelo said the President did not commit any impeachable offense when he released the narcolist.

“For the legal education of Rep. Villarin, the appropriate charges have already been filed against the personalities contained on the list before the Office of the Ombudsman, affording them their right to due process and an opportunity to clear their names. The release of their names is nothing more than a release of the names of criminal suspects. Such act cannot be considered a legal transgression, and even more so, an impeachable offense,” the Palace official said.

He added that individual liberties should be harmonized with the people’s right to the preservation and protection of their welfare.

“The drug menace has evolved into a national security problem as it threatens to destroy the very foundation of society. The President as head of the state is constitutionally commanded to serve and protect the nation,” Panelo said.

“It is the failure of the President to perform his constitutional duty of serving and protecting the people that makes him liable to impeachment for such omission is culpable violation of the Constitution and a betrayal of the public trust,” he added.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government filed administrative charges against the 46 politicians on the narcolist for “grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, conduct unbecoming of a public officer, and gross neglect of duty” hours before the President read the names of those on the list.

Those on the narcolist have denied involvement in the illegal drug trade. They said their inclusion might be a product of an irresponsible investigation or might have been done by their political rivals.

A total of 46 officials, including 35 mayors, seven vice mayors, one provincial board member, and three members of the House of Representatives are on the list.

Villarin, however, insisted that Duterte’s act of naming officials allegedly linked to drugs should face scrutiny because “there was malice or intent to deprive these individuals of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to due process, privacy and presumption of innocence.”

“Any lawyer worth his salt knows that administrative cases against public officials are a ‘dime a dozen’ and goes with the territory. I dare Atty. Salvador Panelo to also name the thousands of public officials who have administrative cases if mere filing of administrative cases is enough to make public such accusations, much less being linked to illegal drugs,” the lawmaker said.

“Malacañang’s public shaming campaign is like a broken record played over and over again. Its narrative is to sow fear, intimidation, and violence against its critics and for the public to become ‘immunized’ from such brazen acts of impunity,” Villarin said.

Sara explains support

Also on Saturday, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio defended her decision to support politicians who were included in the narcolist.

Duterte-Carpio said she “will never turn down politicians who would publicly request her to raise their hands.”

“[I] chose not to get a copy of the list of ‘narco politicians’ because [I] would rather leave it to the voters to decide on the qualifications they look for in a candidate above and beyond what is required by law,” she said. Duterte-Carpio is chairman of regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago.

“A vote for a candidate should be a personal decision based on a voter’s perception and assessment of all the candidates,” she added.

The mayor issued the statement after a photo showing her raising the hand of a politician who was included in the narcolist circulated online.

Duterte-Carpio earlier said candidates under her party who would figure on the narcolist would be given the chance to answer allegations.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.: There is virtually no chance the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the coming week, since policymakers have all but promised to hold their fire as the global economy slows.

With inflation still tame as US economic growth decelerates in 2019, economists also say Fed officials will once again lower the number of rate hikes they expect this year, from the two projected in December.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is due to announce the second policy decision of the year on Wednesday by the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

The benchmark interest rates is now in a range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent and futures markets see no more rate hikes in 2019.

And investors now put the odds at one in three that the central bank will reverse directions and begin cutting rates in the next 10 months.

Some economists warn that is unlikely: with unemployment falling and eventually pushing wages higher, inflation might rear its head as soon as the summer, compelling the Fed to act.

But in congressional testimony last month, Powell said he anticipates low energy prices will drive inflation even further below the Fed’s two percent target, at least for a “for a time.”

Other influential players on the FOMC have likewise chimed in, calling for caution: New York Fed President John Williams said this month he expects economic growth to slow “considerably” this year.

And Fed Governor Lael Brainard said it was time for “a period of watchful waiting” on policy.

Her remarks marked a significant change: Six months earlier, Brainard — known as a “dove” who is less aggressive on raising rates — suggested the Fed would continue raising rates through 2019, not pausing to stop at “neutral,” the rates that neither stimulates nor slows the economy.

One hike or none?

“It’s a completely different world,” Kathy Bostjancic, head of US macro investors services at Oxford Economics, told Agence France-Presse.

“I think they’ve been surprised that inflation hasn’t moved higher.”

Wall Street’s December rout, when the S&P 500 lost nearly 10 percent of its value on fears the Fed would keep hiking, was a learning moment, Bostjancic said.

“I think the markets spooked them a bit and I do think all of that together has led them to say let’s pause for some time,” she said.

Her firm, like many, has cut its forecast to a single rate increase this year — down from two — and expects first-quarter economic growth to slow to 0.7 percent, its slowest pace in more than three years.

Job growth ground to a halt in February but has maintained a good pace on average and the housing sector shows signs of recovery.

Meanwhile, manufacturing and consumer spending have fallen off sharply. A major question mark remains the extent of the slowdowns in China and Europe.

But Joseph Gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said US growth should be stronger in the rest of the year, meaning it is unlikely the Fed will cut its median forecast for rate hikes in 2019 all the way to zero.

“They are thinking the slowdown is now below potential,” he said of Fed policymakers.

“If the economy keeps going at two percent, that would still justify another rate hike at some point.” AFP

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NETFLIX: Some of the biggest names in media and tech are gearing up to move into streaming, in what could be a major challenge to market leader Netflix.

Apple is expected to make its move with an announcement March 25 on its media plans, with a war chest estimated at some $1 billion and partners including stars like Jennifer Aniston and director J.J. Abrams involved in content.

Walt Disney Co. has announced its new streaming service Disney+ will launch this year, as will another from WarnerMedia, the newly acquired media-entertainment division of AT&T.

The new entrants, with more expected, could launch a formidable challenge to Netflix, which has some 140 million paid subscribers in 190 markets, and to other services such as Amazon and Hulu.

“It’s really going to change the industry,” said Alan Wolk, co-founder of the consulting firm TVREV who follows the sector.

Wolk said he sees seven or eight powerful players in streaming which will lead to “huge competition for new shows and hit shows.”

These rivals are coming into the segment which has been transformed by the spectacular growth of Netflix and a growing movement by consumers to on-demand television delivered over internet platforms.

In the US alone, an estimated six million consumers have dropped pay TV bundles since 2012, while on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have been surging, according to Leichtman Research.

But just as Netflix has disrupted traditional “linear” television, rivals are now moving to disrupt Netflix.

Feeling pain

Netflix is likely to feel pain, not only from the new rivals, but also from the loss of content from the big libraries of Disney and Time Warner.

These Hollywood firms “have big libraries, so the cost of their content is much lower than it will be for Netflix, which has to pay for all its content,” said Laura Martin, analyst with the research firm Needham & Co.

“Netflix will lose subscribers to these new entrants,” Martin said.

AT&T’s WarnerMedia will launch its service later this year that combines the content from its premium HBO channel (known for “Game of Thrones”) and the vast Time Warner library or films and shows.

Disney’s service will have its films and TV shows, along with the library it is acquiring from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, a deal closing in the coming days. That includes the “Star Wars” and Marvel superhero franchises and ABC television content.

JP Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani predicts Disney will eventually scale up to become as big as Netflix, or even bigger by signing up 45 million US subscribers and 115 million internationally.

Quadrani cited Disney’s “unmatched brand recognition, extensive premium content, and unparalleled ecosystem to market the service.”

The analyst said Disney benefits from its global ecosystem that develops good customer relationships from its theme parks, hotels, cruises, and consumer products.

Wolk agreed that Disney “is in a good spot” because of its strong brand and content but predicted that consumers may be overwhelmed by the growing options.

“I think there will be a lot of churn,” Wolk said. “People will subscribe to one service to watch one show, and then it becomes easy to cancel and take another.”

No panic, yet

Some analysts say Netflix has no reason to panic — yet.

“Netflix has figured this business out, they know what consumers want,” said Dan Rayburn, a streaming media analyst with Frost & Sullivan.

But Rayburn said that over time, rivals may be able to leverage their user base and infrastructure to eat away at Netflix’s advantage.

“What does Netflix own? Nothing,” Rayburn said.

“If you’re Amazon or AT&T you can give this stuff away and be a loss leader, that’s the big value.”

Still, he said any company that wants to challenge Netflix needs to be “quick and nimble” and that it remains to be seen if the legacy players can do that.

Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research also questioned the capability of the legacy entertainment firms to compete in the world of new media.

“We believe legacy media has missed their window to compete with Netflix (and other tech platforms) unless they are willing to truly go all-in,” Greenfield said in a recent research note.

‘Innovator’s dilemma’

Greenfield said that means moving the focus away from the box office and getting better control of content.

“Disney is battling a classic innovator’s dilemma that makes it hard for them to truly pivot to direct-to-consumer, not to mention, they and the rest of legacy media do not really appreciate how important technology is to success in direct-to-consumer streaming,” Greenfield wrote.

Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said Apple could be the wild card, but that the iPhone maker might need to acquire a content provider like CBS or Sony Pictures to be a major player.

Apple “is definitely playing from behind the eight ball in this content arms race with Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Hulu, and AT&T/Time Warner all going after this next consumer frontier,” Ives said in a note to clients.

“While acquisitions have not been in Apple’s core DNA, the clock has struck midnight for Cupertino in our opinion and building content organically is a slow and arduous path, which highlights the clear need for Apple to do larger, strategic (deals).” AFP

AFP/CC

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GENEVA: On the surface, this looks like a terrible moment for the world’s major military powers to negotiate a deal on preventing an arms race in space.

Last month, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that the global disarmament architecture was “collapsing,” citing various diplomatic failures, including Washington’s decision to scrap a crucial nuclear weapons treaty with Russia.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has drafted plans for a new “Space Force” on orders from President Donald Trump who has declared space a “war-fighting domain”.

Despite those headwinds, experts from 25 countries — including China, Russia and the US — open a 10-day meeting in Geneva Monday aiming to lay the groundwork for a treaty to keep space peaceful.

Even against the grim diplomatic backdrop, experts say there may be reasons for optimism.

“I hope I am not just indulging in wishful thinking here but I do see some positive initiatives against this rather dark background,” said Paul Meyer, Canada’s former disarmament ambassador and an expert on space security at The Simons Foundation in Vancouver.

Hardware vs action

The closed-door Geneva talks involve a UN panel called a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE).

Chaired by Brazilian ambassador Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota to the UN Conference on Disarmament, the space GGE works on consensus and will only issue a report if all parties agree on its content.

Diplomatic efforts to forge a space treaty have been deadlocked for more than a decade.

A main problem, experts said, is that China and Russia have insisted on preventing certain devices from being deployed in space.

This has been a non-starter for the West which has instead favoured language that emphasises “behaviour” or “actions” in outer space that could be restricted.

Patriota told reporters the level of dialogue at the first GGE meeting in August was “several notches” better than in the past, with China and Russia indicating an openness to new ideas.

At next week’s second and final meeting, the GGE will try to agree on a list of “elements” that could form a treaty, he said.

“We are making a big step here,” he added.

Why hope?

Patriota noted that one factor possibly motivating states to move forward is the notion of “vulnerability” in space.

Notwithstanding the rhetoric of a leader like Trump who boasts of ever-expanding defence budgets, military professionals understand that overwhelming dominance is not enough to protect a nation’s space assets, experts said.

“Asymmetrical capabilities are big,” Jessica West, project manager of the 2018 Space Security Index report, told Agence France-Presse.

“It is very difficult for any action to defend their assets in space alone,” she added.

Meyer, also the ex-head of the intelligence bureau at Canada’s foreign ministry, told Agence France-Presse that another factor creating diplomatic momentum is that space “is no longer just a rich man’s club.”

Dozens of countries including developing nations now operate satellites and that list will only grow, he said.

Space technology — whether related to reconnaissance, mapping or navigation — has also become an integral part of both military and civilian everyday life.

The question governments face is “where are the best interests of the nation served?” Meyer said.

“Is it in sparking a further arms race relating to this very vital environment for global prosperity… or is it in making an effort to devise arrangements with some of your potential adversaries,” to keep space peaceful, he added.

Space Force

Patriota conceded that Trump’s move in August to create a new military branch dedicated to space hangs over the talks.

But, he said, US participation so far had been “constructive”.

West stressed that despite Trump’s “inflammatory” rhetoric, parts of his space force proposal are actually not that confrontational.

“Some of it is a bureaucratic reorganisation,” which will see personnel already working on space in the Navy, Air Force, and Army brought under one roof.

The US is also just following moves made in China and Russia, which already have military departments dedicated to space, experts noted.

Breaking point?

Patriota said that any kind of consensus document that outlines a potential path towards a treaty would be a success for the GGE.

The consequences of failure are harder to predict.

Some expect the talks to sputter out and join a long list of UN disarmament efforts that have fallen flat.

But, West warned, the stakes next week may be higher.

“I think we are reaching a breaking point… and this may be the last opportunity to step back from the brink and maintain outer space as a direct combat-free zone,” she said.

“If we do slip over the edge, then reining it in will be near impossible.” AFP

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JAYAPURA: At least 50 people have been killed by flash floods in Indonesia’s eastern Papua province, an official said Sunday, as rescuers raced to find more victims of the disaster.

The floods in Sentani, near the provincial capital of Jayapura, were triggered by torrential rain and subsequent landslides on Saturday, and also left 59 people injured.

Dozens of homes were damaged by floodwaters, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

“The number of casualties and impact of the disaster will likely increase as search and rescue teams are still trying to reach other affected areas,” he added.

“The floods were likely caused by a landslide.”

The waters had receded but officials were still trying to evacuate people.

“The joint search and rescue teams are still doing evacuations and not all affected areas have been reached because of fallen trees, rocks, mud and other material,” Nugroho said.

Video footage from the scene showed rescuers administering oxygen to a victim who appeared trapped beneath a fallen tree.

Uprooted trees and other debris were strewn across muddy roads, while at Jayapura’s small airport a propeller plane lay partly crushed on a runway.

Papua shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on an island just north of Australia.

Flooding is not uncommon in Indonesia, especially during the rainy season which runs from October to April.

In January, floods and landslides killed at least 70 people on Sulawesi island, while earlier this month hundreds in West Java province were forced to evacuate when torrential rains triggered severe flooding.

The Southeast Asian archipelago of some 17,000 islands is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth, straddling the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common.

In December, the western part of Java island was slammed by a deadly volcano-triggered tsunami that killed about 400 people.

Also last year, the city of Palu in Sulawesi was rocked by a quake-tsunami disaster that killed thousands, while hundreds of others died in a series of quakes that hit the holiday island of Lombok, next to Bali. AFP

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BANGKOK: Hundreds of thousands of voters crowded into schools, parking lots and temples across Thailand on Sunday, eager to cast an early ballot a week before the country’s first election in eight years.

Advanced voting is usually a tepid affair, but on Sunday excitement was high as voters turned up in droves to polling stations.

More than 2.3 million Thais are expected to vote before the official March 24 poll date.

Since a 2014 coup ousted then-premier Yingluck Shinawatra, the junta has repeatedly postponed democratic elections — much to the chagrin of the Thai public.

“I finally have a chance to cast my vote as I’ve waited for so long,” said 48-year-old Paka Kaengkhiew as she stood in line in front of Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district office.

In Dusit district — home to military offices and government buildings — voters piled into a school yard before a polling station there opened.

People dressed in their work clothes — military uniforms, hospital scrubs and more casual attire — waited patiently to cast their ballot, aided by student helpers.

At 9.00 am Prem Tinsulanonda, the head of the Privy Council — the advisory board to Thai King Maha Vajialongkon — arrived at the school.

Watched by Thai and international media, the 98-year-old carrying an oxygen tank was pushed in a wheelchair into a classroom boasting a portrait of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who he advised, before walking the final steps to a polling booth.

The former general was briefly installed as the temporary regent for Thailand’s revered monarchy following the death of the late king before King Vajiralongkorn took over, cementing Prem’s role as one of the most powerful — and enduring — players in the Machiavellian game of Thai politics.

More than 51 million Thais are eligible to vote in the official March 24 election, which will be held under a new military-scripted constitution.

There are “high expectations” for this year’s election, said Sudarat Keyuraphan, a prime ministerial candidate for Pheu Thai — the party which garnered the most parliamentary seats in 2011’s election, and is loathed by the military.

“The (junta) says the country is under peace and order but… the people have no hope,” she told reporters at the Pheu Thai headquarters. “We are confident… we will be the party that voters go for the most.”

Analysts say the new electoral system favours the army-aligned party fronted by junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who is running to be civilian prime minister after a government is formed.

But voters on Sunday still held on to hopes for change.

“I vote today in the hope for better change,” said Mart Bupa, 53. AFP

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The military believes that one of the terrorists killed in its operations in Maguindanao was a foreigner.

Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the body recovered by authorities could be that of Abdul Rahman.

He said Rahman could have been a bomber.

Last week, Sobejana sent to media a photo of the cadaver that was recovered following the air and ground operations in Maguindanao to track down the terrorists’ hideout.

“We will check with our database when did he manage to slip into the country and who was he with,” he told reporters.

Sobejana said Rahman could have been training local terrorists on bomb-making.

The Army is hunting down five foreign terrorists accompanying Abu Toraype’s faction of terrorists in Maguindanao.

These are composed of a Singaporean, whom Sobejana identified as Muawiyah; two more Arab-looking men; and an Indonesian.

Sobejana said it is possible that Muawiyah may have been among those killed by the military last week. Dempsey Reyes

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MORE Filipinos entered 2019 unhappy and dissatisfied, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found.

The survey conducted from December 16 to 19, 2018 among 1,440 adult Filipinos found that 87 percent of those polled were happy with their lives while 13 percent said they were not.

The 87 percent figure is down by seven points from the all-time high 94 percent in December 2017.

It is also the lowest since December 2014.

On the other hand, the number of those who said they were satisfied with their lives dropped to 82 percent, down by 10 percentage points from December 2017.

This is the lowest in over four years since the 79 percent in September 2014.

The number of dissatisfied is the highest since the 21 percent in September 2014.

The survey had sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Ralph Edwin U. Villanueva

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BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Italy, Monaco and France this week, the foreign ministry said Monday, with Rome expected to join his global trade infrastructure program despite reservations in other European countries.

Xi will pay state visits from March 21 to March 26, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement, without providing more details about his itinerary.

An Italian official said last week that Rome would sign a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beijing to officially support Xi’s massive $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative, also known as the New Silk Road.

Beijing has financed infrastructure, maritime, rail and road projects in Asia, Africa and Europe, but critics warn that it mainly benefits Chinese firms while setting up a “debt trap” in more financially vulnerable countries.

Following Italy’s announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that European Union countries should have a “coordinated approach” regarding China.

“It’s a good thing that China is participating in the development of many countries, but I believe in the spirit of equality, reciprocity. The spirit of equality means respecting the sovereignty of nations,” Macron said. AFP

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ADDIS ABABA: Black box data recovered from an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed last week show “clear similarities” with a recent crash in Indonesia of the same type of aircraft, Ethiopia’s transport minister said on Sunday.

While declining to give details, Dagmawit Moges told journalists the parallels would be the “subject of further study during the investigation,” with a preliminary report issued in “30 days.”

The announcement came a week after Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 plummeted into a field southeast of Addis Ababa minutes into its flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 people onboard.

The disaster caused the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft involved after aviation regulators noticed similarities with the October crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 MAX 8 that killed all 189 passengers and crew.

Both planes reportedly experienced erratic steep climbs and descents as well as fluctuating airspeeds before crashing shortly after takeoff.

Questions have honed in on an automated anti-stalling system introduced on the 737 MAX 8, designed to automatically point the nose of the plane downward if it is in danger of stalling.

The pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 struggled to control the aircraft as the automated MCAS system repeatedly pushed the plane’s nose down following takeoff, according to the flight data recorder.

In the case of the Ethiopian flight, the black boxes have been handed to France’s BEA air safety agency, which is working with American and Ethiopian investigators to determine what went wrong.

While the cause remains to be determined, Boeing’s CEO Dennis Muilenburg on Sunday said the manufacturer is “finalizing its development of a previously-announced software update and pilot training revision” to address behaviour of the MCAS “in response to erroneous sensor inputs.”

Experts have questioned the US aviation safety certification process after learning that American pilots had lodged serious complaints about MCAS.

On Sunday the regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, said it followed “standard” procedures, which “have consistently produced safe aircraft designs,” in certifying the 737 MAX.

Nothing to bury

The disaster in Ethiopia left families in 35 nations bereaved.

On Sunday, Ethiopians gathered at Holy Trinity Cathedral in the capital Addis Ababa to bury 17 of their citizens killed in the crash, including the eight-person flight crew.

Relatives of the deceased sobbed and held portraits of their loved ones as an Ethiopian Orthodox priest said the last rites.

Wearing a t-shirt bearing a photo of Amma Tesfamariam in her flight attendant uniform, Meselech Petros said her 28-year-old sister was not supposed to work last Sunday, but came in to cover for a friend.

“What I can’t forget is that she left an eight-month-old child and didn’t come back,” Meselech said.

“We are broken and hurting very much. It’s very difficult,” added Amma’s brother Selamsew Mathias, 26.

The funeral ceremony began when caskets draped in the Ethiopian flag were brought to the cathedral in a convoy of black hearses accompanied by hundreds of mourners.

It was unclear what the coffins contained.

Witnesses said the plane had nose-dived into the field, with the force of the impact leaving few bodies intact.

On Thursday, as grieving families and friends visited the area where the plane went down, an Agence France-Presse correspondent saw them being handed plastic water bottles filled with earth from the site.

Ethiopia’s government has said it may take up to six months to identify the remains.

“What makes us very sad is we didn’t find any of her remains,” said Teshome Legesse, whose 24-year-old niece Ayantu Girma was a flight attendant on the plane.

‘Grief belongs to everyone’

Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest carrier and in many ways the international face of the nation.

The deaths have shocked Africa’s second-most populous country, and the funeral attracted a wide range of mourners.

“We all are children of Adam and Eve, even though our skin colours are different,” said Seyoum Kidanu, a retired police officer wearing full dress uniform and a sash in the colours of the Ethiopian flag.

“When one person dies in this world, the grief belongs to everybody.” AFP

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ILAGAN CITY, Isabela: Eljay Marco Vista of host city Ilagan bagged the first gold medal in the Batang Pinoy 2019 Luzon Qualifying Leg after ruling the cadet male poomsae (form) event on Monday at the Barangay San Felipe Covered Court here.

The 12-year old taekwondo black belter finished with 7.670 points to beat the 7.600 showing of Kacey Canlas of Olongapo City. Wreily Canao of Baguio City landed third with 7.465 points.

“I am pleased to represent Ilagan City and give them the first gold medal in the Batang Pinoy Luzon leg,” said the sixth-grader Vista from Ilagan South Central School.

Vista is a product of Ilagan’s grassroots development sports program called ALAB or Ang Lakas ng Batang Ilagueño. JEAN RUSSEL V. DAVID

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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand: Facebook says it removed a staggering 1.5 million videos showing harrowing viral footage of the Christchurch mosque rampage but criticism of social media giants for failing to block images of the “real-time terror attack” is also spreading fast.

As the alleged gunman callously picked off his victims in Christchurch’s Al Noor mosque, he livestreamed the gruesome scene on Facebook Live, apparently using a camera mounted on his body, after also tweeting a racist “manifesto.”

Facebook said it “quickly” removed the video, plus the gunman’s account and Instagram, and in the first 24 hours scrubbed 1.5 million videos worldwide “of which 1.2 million were blocked at upload.”

Spokeswoman Mia Garlick from Facebook New Zealand said the firm was “working around the clock to remove violating content using a combination of technology and people.”

But despite pleas—and official orders from authorities—not to share the content, the footage proliferated widely online and experts said the 17-minute video was easily retrievable several hours after the attack that killed 50 people.

According to Facebook’s own figures, at least 300,000 videos were not blocked before being uploaded and there is no official data on how many times these were viewed or shared.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said authorities did whatever they could to purge the web of the images but laid the responsibility at the door of the Silicon Valley giants.

“Ultimately it has been up to those platforms to facilitate their removal,” she told reporters.

“I do think that there are further questions to be answered. Obviously these social media platforms have wide reach. This is a problem that goes well beyond New Zealand.”

“This is an issue that I will look to be discussing with Facebook,” she warned.

According to the New Zealand Herald, some major firms are considering pulling ads from Facebook and the anger is evident from an op-ed in that paper from one of its business writers.

“At the moment, it feels like my kids are at risk of seeing live snuff films on Facebook, just so (boss) Mark Zuckerberg can get fractionally richer.”

‘Enough is enough’

This was not the first time Facebook Live has been used to broadcast atrocities—a murder was livestreamed in the US city of Cleveland in 2017—and Facebook and Twitter say they have invested in technology and human resources to combat the problem.

Facebook has hired about 20,000 moderators but critics say they are not doing enough.

David Ibsen, executive director of US-based Counter Extremism Project, charged: “The technology to prevent this from happening is available. Social media firms have made the decision not to invest in adopting it.”

And world leaders and authorities are beginning to indicate they may try to take matters into their own hands.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged that while social media companies have indicated willingness to take action, “clearly the capability to deliver on that willingness hasn’t been present. That is the problem.”

“There needs to be the capability to be able to shut this—these horrific things—down immediately and if you can’t do that, then the responsibility of having those features available is something that really generally needs to be questioned,” he added.

British Home Secretary Sajid Javid also urged social media giants to do more. “Take some ownership. Enough is enough.”

Courts are also taking almost immediate action, with a Christchurch 18-year-old—whose name was suppressed by the judge—charged with distributing the video and inciting violence with a post that said “target acquired.”

He faces a maximum of 14 years in prison for each charge.

‘New low in clickbait’

Critics have also slammed some mainstream media for broadcasting the video, with some UK tabloids briefly posting excerpts before apparently reconsidering.

“For a brief period this morning the Mirror website ran some edited footage filmed by the gunman in Christchurch. We should not have carried this. It is not in line with our policy relating to terrorist propaganda videos,” its editor tweeted.

British journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy described the posting of the “murder video” as a “new low in clickbait.”

And the Australian Communications and Media Authority has launched a “formal investigation” into whether any firms broke the law after Sky News Australia broadcast the footage.

For its part, Agence France-Presse analyzed a copy of the video and confirmed it was genuine via a digital investigation but did not broadcast the footage to its clients.

Social media expert and Buzzfeed journalist Craig Silverman said the killer “created the equivalent of a multiplatform content strategy” that was “meticulously planned.”

“Newsrooms, platforms, and public officials need to think about how to avoid playing into the hands of people whose deadly actions are designed to trigger maximum exposure for their message, and set off new cycles of violence and radicalization,” wrote Silverman. AFP

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The police on Monday seized high grade party drugs inside a Makati condominium occupied by college students.

The Makati police arrested Ralf Esteban and Adrian Suzuki at City Land Tower 9 along Dela Rosa Street in Makati City at about 11 a.m.

Authorities found bags of ecstasy worth at least P2 million.

Suzuki is a fourth year Human Resource Management student at De La Salle University College of Saint Benilde while Esteban is taking up Entrepreneurship in the same school.

Senior Supt. Rogelio Simon, Makati police chief, said the suspects admitted to being suppliers of party drugs to students of Saint Benilde.

National Capital Region Police Office Chief Guillermo Eleazar said the suspects used Grab’s delivery service to deliver drugs to a buyer in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig at about 7 a.m. on Monday.

The Grab delivery driver became suspicious because of the way the package was wrapped.

“After delivering the package, he went to the cops and reported the suspicious package,” Eleazar told reporters.

The package contained 7 suspected tablets of ecstasy.

At around 10 a.m., the police coordinated with the management of the condominium unit and raided Suzuki’s unit.

During the raid, Simon said they seized 657 suspected ecstasy pills and other party drugs as well as drug paraphernalia.

NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS

NJS/CC

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The United States Navy’s Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship USS Chief (MCM 14) arrives in the Philippines on Sunday for a port visit.

Lt. Cmdr. Fred Crayton, commanding officer of the USS Chief, said the visit aims to strengthen regional security and stability, and enhance interoperability.

“The crew of Chief is thrilled at the opportunity to visit Manila,” Crayton said in a statement. “Our camaraderie with the Philippines is one of our most enduring relationships in the Indo-Pacific region. The Filipino people are some of our closest friends, partners and allies in which we share a connection based on shared sacrifices for democracy, human rights and strong societal ties.”

Sailors designated in USS Chief will visit the city and interact with the Filipino community, as well as with the Philippine Navy.

USS Chief, which is among the Mine Countermeasures Squadron 7, is operating in the Indo-Pacific region to enhance interoperability with its nation partners and serve as a “ready-response platform” for contingency operations.

Last week, the US 7th Fleet’s flagship USS Blue Ridge also paid a visit to Manila. DEMPSEY REYES

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SENTANI, Indonesia: A baby trapped under rubble after flash flooding destroyed his home in Indonesia has been reunited with his father after the disaster killed the rest of their family, officials said on Monday, as the death toll hit 79.

The five-month old was plucked Sunday from debris inside a house where his mother and siblings were found dead in the hard-hit town of Sentani.

The tot has since been returned to his surviving father.

“We took the baby to the hospital and had him treated,” Papua military spokesman Muhammad Aidi told Agence France-Presse.

“He was in stable condition and has been released. The father was distressed but happy to be reunited with his baby.”

The news came as Indonesia’s disaster agency raised the official death toll from 58 on Sunday, with more than three dozen people still missing.

Indonesia’s military took up the grim task of putting the corpses of mud-caked victims into body bags, after flash floods and landslides ripped through the area.

Scores have been injured in the disaster, triggered by torrential rain on Saturday.

“The death toll could still go up,” said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Rescuers battled mud, rocks and fallen trees in the hunt for survivors, as medical personnel treated the wounded in makeshift tents.

“People need food, blankets, clean clothes and clean water,” Nugroho said.

State of emergency

In Doyo, one of the most affected areas, a housing complex was littered with huge rocks believed to have rolled down from a nearby mountain, while sediment and waste were piled up on the pavement.

The military said 5,700 people have been evacuated from the hard-hit area.

“We have over 1,000 personnel searching for more victims,” Aidi said.

Disaster-prone Indonesia has issued a 14-day state of emergency in response to the floods.

Papua shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on an island just north of Australia.

Flooding is common in Indonesia, especially during the rainy season which runs from October to April.

In January, floods and landslides killed at least 70 people on Sulawesi island, while earlier this month hundreds in West Java province were forced to evacuate when torrential rains triggered severe flooding.

Meanwhile, three people were killed—including two Malaysian tourists —and some 182 were injured after an earthquake Sunday triggered a landslide on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok, next to Bali.

The 5.5-magnitude quake is thought to have caused the landslide at the Tiu Kelep waterfall in the north of the island.

Lombok was rocked by several earthquakes last summer, killing more than 500 people and leaving over 150,000 homeless.

Last September, the country was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island which killed around 2,200 people.

The Southeast Asian archipelago of some 17,000 islands is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth, straddling the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are common. AFP

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Hundreds of passengers of Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) were offloaded when smoke was detected underneath a train on Monday.

In a statement on Twitter, MRT-3 said that the train was between the Cubao and Santolan-Annapolis stations when the smoke was detected.

MRT management said 645 passengers were offloaded.

“At around 6:02 p.m., a train unloaded passengers at Cubao and Santolan interstation due to reported emission of smoke from underneath the train,” the tweet read. “Passengers were assisted by the train driver and security personnel.”

“At 6:35 p.m., the train regained traction and was moved to the pocket track in Shaw Station,” MRT-3 said on Twitter. “Movement of trains was regulated at 6:16 p.m. and normal operations resumed at 6:35 p.m.”

MRT-3 said it will investigate the incident. ARIC JOHN SY CUA

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THE HAGUE: A gunman opened fire on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday, killing at least one person and wounding several in what officials said was a possible terrorist incident.

A body covered in a sheet was reportedly seen on the tracks as armed police and emergency services swarmed around the scene in one of the largest cities in the Netherlands.

Police said the attacker was still on the run after the incident.

“A shooting occurred on the 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht… Multiple people have been injured. The surrounding area has been cordoned off and we are investigating the matter,” Utrecht police said on Twitter.

“It is a shooting incident in a tram. Several trauma helicopters have been deployed to provide help.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte cancelled a meeting with his ruling coalition and was being briefed on the situation, officials said.

Police later said that “a possible terrorist motive is part of the investigation.”

The head of the Dutch national counter-terrorism service, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, said on Twitter that he was having “crisis consultations” over the incident.

“NCTV is monitoring the situation in #Utrecht. In close contact with local authorities. We cannot rule out terrorist motive. Crisis team is activated,” he said.

“Offender still fugitive,” Aalbersberg said, adding that the terror threat level had been raised to the maximum of five in Utrecht for the next 18 hours.

Armed police surround tram

Local media showed photographs of masked, armed police and emergency vehicles surrounding a tram that had stopped near a road bridge.

Tram traffic in the area was halted, operator Qbuzz was quoted as saying by the ANP news agency.

The Netherlands has been largely spared the kind of attacks which have rocked its closest European neighbors in the past few years, but there has been a series of recent scares.

In August, a 19-year-old Afghan with a German residence permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at Amsterdam’s busy Central Station before being shot and wounded.

In September, Dutch investigators said they had arrested seven people and foiled a “major attack” on civilians at a major event in the Netherlands.

They said they had found a large quantity of bomb-making materials including fertilizer likely to be used in a car bomb.

The men were arrested in the cities of Arnhem and Weert.

In June, two terror suspects were arrested while close to carrying out attacks including at an iconic bridge in Rotterdam and in France, prosecutors said.

The men aged 22 and 28, who were of Moroccan origin, made a film at the Erasmus bridge in which they sang a martyrdom song, they said. AFP

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