Neha Jain: http://philippinesaviationnews.blogspot.com/ 24

1. Pulse: Binay most trusted gov't official

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) - Vice-President Jejomar Binay has overtaken President Benigno Aquino III as the most appreciated and most trusted government official in the Philippines, the latest Pulse Asia survey revealed Thursday.

The survey, conducted February 24 to March 6, 2011, showed Binay enjoying 83% performance approval rating, up from the 78% registered last October. In comparison, Aquino's performance rating dipped slightly from 79% in October to 74% in March.

Binay also enjoyed an increase in trust ratings from 78% in October to 81% in March. Aquino's trust rating dipped slightly from 80% to 75% during the same period.

Joey Salgado, Binay's spokesman, said the Pulse Asia survey encourages the vice-president to work even harder.

"VP Binay is grateful for the people's support. It encourages him to work harder for our people. The VP knows that our country is facing so many challenges and he asks that we all work together to face these challenges and help President Noynoy move our country forward," he said.

The Pulse Asia survey showed Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile enjoying 60% performance approval rating, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. with 50% approval rating and Chief Justice Renato Corona with 32% approval rating.

Enrile had 56% trust rating, Belmonte had 43% trust while Corona had 28% trust rating.

Pulse Asia said Corona had the highest disapproval (24%) and distrust (27%) ratings among the 5 top government officials.

With respect to public indecision, it is most pronounced toward the performance and trustworthiness of House Speaker Belmonte (37% and 39%, respectively) and Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona (43% and 44%, respectively).

Filipinos are least ambivalent toward the performance and trustworthiness of President Aquino (18% and 20%, respectively) and Vice-President Binay (14% and 15%, respectively).

The survey was conducted at the height of the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez at the House of Representatives and the congressional investigations into the plea-bargaining agreement entered into by former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Comptroller Ret. Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, as well as the alleged corruption involving former high-ranking military officials.

Other developing stories at the time the survey was conducted were: the diplomatic row between the Philippines and Taiwan over the deportation of 14 Taiwanese nationals to China; government efforts to save three Filipinos facing execution in China for drug trafficking; the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution; and the evacuation of Filipinos in Libya amidst the ongoing civil unrest in the country.

A total of 1,200 representative adults participated in the survey. It has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level.

2. Gunman kills radio broadcaster in Philippines; investigators probing if attack related to work

MANILA, Philippines — Police say a radio broadcaster was shot and killed in the Philippine capital and investigators are trying to determine whether the attack was work-related.
Police Senior Supt. Cornelio Barrios said a man with a pistol shot Maria Len Flores Somera in the nape Thursday near her home in Malabon city. He said the attacker fled in a jeep.
The 44-year-old broadcaster worked for Manila radio station DZME. It reported some relatives suspect the attack may be linked to a land feud.
The Philippines is one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters.
In the single worst killing of media workers in the world, 32 journalists and their staff were gunned down with 25 other people in an elections-related attack in 2009.

3. PHL officials 'accept' HK jury findings, may face civil suits

Philippine officials on Thursday “accepted" the findings of a Hong Kong jury saying the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists in last year’s Manila hostage tragedy were “unlawful," even as they face possible civil suits from the fatalities’ kin.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said the jury's findings indicating some Philippine officials were at fault for the outcome of the rescue efforts were similar to those of the Philippine government's Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC).

“Unang una, wala namang kinaiba ang finding nila sa finding natin. 'Di naman naman natin itinatanggi na may mga opisyal ng pulis at pamahalaan na may pagkukulang sa pangyayaring yan, kaya iniimbestigahan yan. May napatawan ng parusa. Ang sa akin lang although di ko nakita ang report na particular, wala namang kinaiba ang kanilang conclusion sa atin," Robredo said in an interview on dzRH radio.

(Their findings [members of the HK jury] were similar to the IIRC's in the sense that some Philippine officials could be faulted in the incident)

Robredo’s department oversees the Philippine National Police, whose operatives were accused of bungling a rescue attempt for the hostages.

Eight Hong Kong tourists were killed along with hostage-taker dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza in last year’s Aug. 23 tragedy.

For his part, Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee chairman Gregorio Honasan II said the important thing now is to find ways to make sure such an incident does not happen again.

Honasan, in a separate radio interview, said the government should not harp too much on what Hong Kong thinks of the incident. So much time and several lives have been lost and these not be brought back if people continue to dwell on what happened.

“Ang aking pananaw di na kailangan bigyan ng diin na yan ang finding ng Hong Kong authorities. Tanggap na natin yan. Pero sa tingin ko tungkulin ng pamahalaan na gawin ang nararapat para di na maulit ang pangyayari. Huwag na maulit ito, di na maibalik ang panahon at buhay na napinsala," Honasan said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

Relatives of some of those who were killed had disclosed plans to lodge civil suits against some Philippine officials.

On Wednesday, a Hong Kong jury ruled the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists as “unlawful" – with the Philippine government’s botched rescue operation playing a part in it.

The jury raised at least four points that contributed to the death of the eight last Aug. 23, Radio Television Hong Kong reported.

According to the RTHK report, the jury noted four possible shortcomings of Philippine authorities in its findings:
* Philippine authorities had failed to handle the demands of gunman Mendoza in a timely and appropriate manner.

* Negotiations only broke down because the police “lied" to the hostage-taker.

* The decision to arrest Mendoza’s brother Gregorio had infuriated Rolando and triggered the deadly attack.

* The victims were deprived of immediate emergency treatment by the failed hour-long rescue operation mounted by SWAT (special Weapons and Tactics) teams.

* HK disappointed with failure of PHL witnesses to testify.
The Hong Kong government also voiced disappointment with Manila over the failure of main Philippine witnesses to testify at the recently concluded inquest on the case.

A report on RTHK said the Hong Kong government was “very disappointed" over the no-show of the witnesses.

“(A Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region) spokesman said the SAR administration respected the jury’s findings, describing the inquest as open, fair and professional. But he noted that most witnesses from the Philippines had not agreed to testify, despite appeals for help to the Philippines consulate here, and directly to the authorities in Manila," the RTHK report quoted the HK-SAR spokesman as saying.

A total of 116 Philippine witnesses were asked to give evidence but only 10 did so, via a video-link, which the SAR spokesman described as “much short of our expectation."

A separate report on the Hong Kong Standard newspaper said the verdict ran counter to allegations that some hostages were hit by friendly fire from snipers.

Coroner Michael Chan Pik-kiu also said it is “unprecedented" for a Hong Kong inquest to gather 170 items of evidence within so short a period of time.

The inquest started on February 14, less than three months after the decision was made to hold one on the hijacking.

4. Cockpit fire forces Qantas diversion

A Qantas Airbus A330 flying from Manila to Sydney was forced to make an emergency landing in Cairns yesterday afternoon after suffering a cockpit fire.
A330-200 VH-EBL was approximately 365nm northwest of Cairns when a windscreen window heating circuit began arcing. The crew donned oxygen masks and extinguished the resultant flames from the left hand windshield heater system with a fire extinguisher, and elected to divert to Cairns, where the aircraft landed safely.
None of the 147 passengers or 11 crew onboard were injured.
”There was a burning smell in the cabin that was very strong, and then the captain came over the loudspeaker and explained an electrical problem meant there was a serious risk of fire,” a passenger on the flight told Fairfax Media. “Later he explained flames had come back for a second time and they’d had to use a fire extinguisher in the cockpit.”
The incident, now being investigated by the ATSB, appears similar to a June 2009 incident in which a Jetstar A330-200, VH-EBF, diverted to Guam on a flight from Osaka to the Gold Coast after the crew noticed a burning smell was followed by smoke and fire from the bottom right corner of the right windshield. The investigation into the Guam incident is still continuing.
A330 cockpit windows feature a thin layer of electrically conducive material, which receives power from one of two window heat computers, to prevent windscreen fogging and icing.

By
Neha Jain

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