CALASIAO, Philippines - A closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) captured the murder of a barangay kagawad in Calasiao town, Pangasinan, on Sunday. Footage caught by a CCTV camera installed at a gasoline station showed the victim, Barangay San Vicente official Joseph Garcia, being shot to the head at close range.Garcia was filling his motorcycle with gas when another motorbike with 2 men stopped a few meters away from him. One of the men wearing a yellow shirt and a baseball cap suddenly went toward the victim and shot him at the back of the head.Bystanders ran in panic while the gunman pumped more bullets into the fallen Garcia. The suspect stole the victim’s change from the gasoline station before he and his accomplice fled the scene.Police have yet to find a motive for the crime, said Chief Inspector Gary Pascual, Calasiao deputy police head. The victim’s family, meanwhile, declined to give a statement to media.A report received by the authorities indicates that Garcia was killed allegedly because he was an informer for the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. He was the fourth barangay official in Pangasinan attacked so far, according to police records. The three other victims survived the attacks. – Noriel Padiernos, ABS-CBN News North Central LuzonSource: abs-cbnNEWS.com Posted at 10/19/2010 12:15 AM | Updated as of 10/19/2010 12:15 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Internet has been abuzz with news and reactions regarding George Francis Dimaano, the newborn baby found by cleaners last Sunday in the trash bin of a Gulf Air plane (Gulf Air Flight 154) which arrived in Manila from Bahrain.
The news has been picked up by international media, and netizens the world over have been sharing reports via Facebook or retweeting news items via Twitter.
Surprisingly healthy, George Francis weighed 3 kilos. His first name was taken from Gulf Air's code name (GF) and the last name was from Tristan Dimaano, the man who found him wrapped in tissue and covered with blood.
Netizens from here and abroad expressed shock and anger at the mother, and pity, awe and love for the baby.
How could this have happened?
A lot of people could not believe that a woman was able to give birth in mid-air and no one, not even the flight crew, knew.
Twitter user drinkmoxie tweeted: "Seriously how does this happen and no one notice anything. Just glad the baby is doing ok."
Another Twitter user, njaymaldito, said: "OMG! An infant covered in a white cloth was discovered inside a trash bin in a Gulf Air plane. Thank God the baby is still alive."
A woman named saikasyed tweeted: "new born baby found on a Gulf Air flight toilet. How did she give birth in that tiny place? good lord!"
Users iceedebbz and neilmonnery couldn't imagine how it could have happened. User iceedebbz tweeted: "So sad! How does one give birth on a plane and no one notices it? Then the mother leaves him behind poor 'Gulf Air' baby."
"Giving birth in mid-air on an aircraft and no-one noticed?" asked neilmonnery.
Ali Johnson, writing on Facebook, said: "just heard a terrible news from the Philippines. a new born infant was thrown in the dumps by a passenger of Gulf Air! Who could do that?"
And Lamya added on Twitter: "so who is this crazy lady who gave birth in Gulf Air's flight and threw the baby in the bin!!!! how did she manage to deliver silently :/"
Mother condemned
A lot of comments condemned the mother, believed to be an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), for leaving behind a live baby in a trash can.
User khalidalkhalifa tweeted: "The mother is a criminal."
AngryBritain tweeted: "Baby dumped in Gulf Air plane toilet bin. Mary Bale strikes again." Mary Bale is the woman recently caught on CCTV dumping a cat in a trash bin in the UK. She said she did it as a joke, then apologized publicly after public outcry.
Twitter user itsmeheidee said: "watching news on TFC. Baby found in Gulf Air flight bin. What kind of a mother would do that to her own blood. Psycho!!! tsk"
User kristinejdeleon called the mother heartless: "gosh...my heart is cryin for the baby that have been left in gulf air airplane...what a heartless woman! >_<"
And tor_vic has already pronounced the sentence for the mother: "mom of gulf air baby should be shot on site for abandoning her baby, the most precious of God's creation"
Cel Chua on Facebook has another idea--death by stoning: "The mother of the baby boy found inside toilet trashcan of Gulf Air plane has no conscience. A criminal must be put in jail or much better---stoned till death."
Much love for the handsome baby
But there was overflowing love and compassion online for the baby, who has been described as "cute" and "gwapo."
GAMeets tweeted: "Oh my gosh, Paddy! Ang cute ng baby from Gulf Air! Kawawa naman, ang cute ni baby George :("
And RadicalLN7 agreed: "the baby found in gulf air is so cute....sayang napunta xa s isang inang wlang PUSO!!!!"
ilovemaru wrote: "Ano kayang kwento ng nanay ng baby na iniwan sa basurahan ng Gulf Air? Ang gwapo pa naman ng baby"
Many Twitter users were sad and heartbroken over the news.
jboygonzalessj tweeted: "Heartbroken over this Gulf Air baby abandoned by mom, thrown into a trash bin. Awang-awa ako sa bata."
thenightlite said: "How sad.....! Heart wrenching... Baby found on board Gulf Air in toilet.... Poor baby!! Bless"
And presch wondered what's in store now for the baby: "So heartbreaking...What willl happen to Jorge Francis? Baby found in Gulf Air flight bin in Philippines."
Netizens volunteering to be parents
Baby George Francis may have been abandoned by his mother, but for sure he will get new parents soon.
trishenson tweeted: "i want to adopt that baby they found in the trash bin of gulf air!"
Twitter user jonrimanuel wrote: "The Gulf air baby is cute! I wanna adopt him! :)"
Celebrity mom Pia Magalona, widow of rap star Francis Magalona, said her son Arkin asked her to take the baby. "I fell in love instantly w d abandoned baby on Gulf Air featured on d news. Arkin said 'let's get it nalang.' I wish!" she tweeted.
User normantiongco tweeted: "Ang cute ni George Francis! Yung Gulf Air baby! Kung pde Lang ako na aampon sa kanya :)"
And DaphCLPT expressed her all-out love: "Give me the little baby boy found in the bin of a toilet onboard a Gulf air flight. I'll take him, poop & all. :("
The baby is currently in the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The mother has been given 3 months to claim George Francis, and if no one comes forward, he will be put up for adoption.
Lesson learned
Authorities are looking for the woman who may have given birth to George Francis. They have already identified who sat on the seat where blood was found.
According to Supt. Romeo Desiderio, chief of the NAIA Terminal 1 Aviation Police, the mother's violation may be attempted infanticide or abandonment.
Twitter user leavingearth summed up the moral lesson in this incident: "An airplane bathroom is not a place to discard your: A) cig. butts B) disp. razor C) newborn baby."
Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com
QUEZON CITY, Philippines – A thief who carried and broke open a 150-kilogram vault inside a store while hoping to steal a large amount of cash had a surprise of his life.
The vault contained only several bars of whitening soap and P1,500 in cash.
Unfazed, the man pocketed the money and stole the bars of soap.
A closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) installed inside the A.R.M. Skin Essentials Corporation recorded the scene in Frisco, Quezon City, early Friday morning.
The suspect was identified by police as the electrician who installed both the vault and the CCTV camera.
Before going for the vault, the thief tried to destroy the camera, but only managed to have his face fully revealed.
He later escaped through a fire exit.
The store owner, Dr. Alvin Matulac, said luck was not on the thief’s side.
Matulac had emptied the vault of its contents of around P5 million, which he deposited in a bank.
“Buti na lang hindi nya ginalaw yung mga katabing vault dahil iyun yung mga may laman ng pera... yung sa vault talagang katsa lang ang laman,” he added.
“(It’s good that he did not get his hands on another vault that had cash. The vault that he opened really only contained rags.)”
Quezon City police have placed the thief on a wanted list. – with a report from Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News
abs-cbnNEWS.com/ Posted at 09/12/2010 12:21 AM | Updated as of 09/12/2010 12:21 AM
Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com
Manila, Are You Really Safe?
By Adrian Carlo Velasco The Philippine Star Updated September 10, 2010 12:00 AM
‘#ManilaIsSafe’ may have been a trending topic on Twitter but YS decided to volt in with the Citizen Safe brigade to make it a reality. Here’s our unofficial guide to living a little safer in the city.
MANILA, Philippines - Ingat!” Do not underestimate the power of John Lloyd Cruz’s paracetamol commercial. It makes a lot of sense in a time when anyone — and we mean anyone — can become the stalked, the default cab driver’s victim or the after-party hipster who walks home vulnerable. No, vigilance is not paranoia. As Rock Ed head Gang Badoy puts it, “It is about you and the people you care about.”
Admit it, all the whining and ranting about what we “shoulda, woulda, coulda done” to resolve the Aug. 23 Quirino Grandstand ruckus is getting a little tired. Yes, the Philippines has gotten the infamous travel warning from the US Bureau of Consular Affairs (and them some) — in fact, we could be the most dangerous place on Earth — but don’t you think it’s time to shut our pieholes and start living more cautiously?
In lieu of recent events and the seemingly ancient crimes which we — the private citizens, the police force and the national government together — have tried to forget, we gathered some practical and sane ideas that will make our lives a little better. All thanks to never-say-die non-government organization Rock Ed’s Citizen Safe, “a campaign for urban safety formed in September 2009” after the murder of film critic Alexis Tioseco and journalist Nika Bohinc in their Times Street home — a few minutes away from the Aquino Family residence.
“(It’s) important to put that Citizen Safe is not an acceptance of things about the police. This is an acceptance of the recognition that time will have to pass before law enforcement steps up to raise the level of trust in our environment, where we move in our public places. Habang hindi pa nangyayari ‘yun, we have to be our own security force, diba? And how do we do that?”
Ace Esmeralda, owner of security risk management firm Ace And Associates, has been handling Rock Ed’s public concerts for five years now and there have been no major incidents ever since. The former Army Captain, who was assigned in Mindanao for eight years to command an army strike company of an Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, gives his two cents’ worth: “Please be reminded that there is no guarantee in observing these measures. Crimes against a person are situational. (But they) usually victimize those who are not vigilant.”
Read each item carefully as Badoy cites the case, Esmeralda lays down the do’s and don’ts, and YS demarcates the measures we need to take in times of danger.
Urban Safety Instructions: Home is supposed to be our refuge
The case: Ironically, Badoy seeks advice from her incarcerated students during her weekly poetry class at the New Bilibid Prison. “After the murder of Alexis (Tioseco), it was important that I asked it from all sides,” she explains. “What could he have done?” According to her students, Alexis could have called someone for someone to hear the incident. “Pag may tulong ka ng mga (If you have access to) technologies, go for it. How great it would have been if he had remote access to a webcam, something that operates on the net!’”
The moves:
1. Generally, crimes similar to what befell Alexis and Nika can be prevented with security awareness program to household staff and proper design of fences and gates. Gates should be designed so that homeowners can see who the people on the other side are.
2. Households can install an alarm system to alert neighbors and police units of intrusions or the suspected presence of criminals and ongoing crime.
3. Good lighting can discourage criminals while CCTV can help solve committed crimes. A visible CCTV camera may also discourage criminals.
4. Take note of the physical characteristics of robbers: height, size, voice, accent, eyes, lips, or face (if not wearing mask), clothes, weapons, and even their demands.
5. Generally speaking, to keep people secure, lock your doors, gates and windows always.
6. Own a dog.
Street Patrol
The case: “You should be careful when you’re talking on the phone. We always take it for granted,” says Badoy. The street is not our house. Giving out information in public like your next destination, schedule, and even little things, can be dangerous. “So it’s really a delicate balance of telling the right people where you are all the time and not letting the bad elements know where you are,” she adds.
The moves:
1. Speak in lower volume when in public areas. Coffee shops are the best places to overhear private matters.
2. When you feel in danger, run to a security guard or a building. Why? Security guards are better trained in emergency response.
3. If you think you’re being stalked, call a friend. Call your security department. Inform them of your situation. Describe the stalker or your location. Ask them to meet you at the nearest well-lit area. If possible, enter a hotel lobby and pretend to check in. At the front office counter, calmly inform staff that you suspect a stalker. If the stalker did not follow you, ask a friend or relative to pick you up where you are.
4. Shoulder bags should be constantly held under arms or at one’s front to discourage pickpocketing.
5. Exude vigilance and confidence when walking. Snatchers and thieves go for those who appear frail, weak and not alert.
6. Unless one is trained and has the confidence of Steven Seagal, do not resist a mugger.
Hailing A Cab, Hailing For Help
The case: We can still remember the unfortunate story of young woman in her 20s who was mugged and beaten up by a cab driver. What could she have done? “Strength in numbers, maximize technology. We do that all the time for marketing. We maximize social networks,” Badoy says. So why not use Facebook and Twitter for safety? “That’s why I like that people always tweet the license plates of the cabs. That’s a great practice, I think. If not prevent crimes, at least helps find the perpetrator.”
The moves:
1. SMS at least three people the license plate and name of the cab you get into.
2. Don’t ride a taxi with a suspicious looking or acting driver.
3. If the driver looks suspicious, pretend to call someone, preferably a male (while mentioning a male name like Papa, Kuya, Sir or even Tsip) and mention the taxi body number, name, etc.
4. You can ask the driver his name and relay it loudly over the phone. But don’t make it sound as though you are suspicious of the driver.
Computer graphics by TEKS PABUAYON
Commuting Common Sense
The case: We’re all guilty of snoozing on the bus, train or jeep ride going home. “When I asked inmates in jail, the ones tried for kidnapping and robbery, they say they always prefer attacking people who look inattentive, tired, distracted or those with a lot of things in their two hands. Interestingly enough, one of the inmates said he never held up anybody who had an umbrella.”
The moves:
1. Stay awake on public transport. Look alert.
2. If the perpetrator has a weapon, cooperate and give in to his demands. Life is more valuable than earthly possessions.do.
3. Cooperate! Listen to instructions.
4. Take note of robbers’ physical characteristics.
After-Party Alarm
The case: What to remember when stumbling out of that bar or club.
The moves:
1. Check on each other when you part after a gathering or a party.
2. SMS each other if you got home safely. Always let someone else know where you are or who you’re with: parents, mentors, friends or siblings.
3. As much as possible refrain from “secret meet-ups” with people none of your friends know. If you meet someone new, always introduce him or her to family or other friends or classmates.
4. Students should always have at least one teacher whom they can call, especially when they’re parents are not around.
State of Emergency
The case: Start keeping emergency numbers on speed dial. Start living à la Rescue 911.
The moves:
1. Emergency Network Philippines (Police, Fire Brigade, DILG, Emergency, etc.): 117
2. Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Emergency Number: 136
3. Chinese General Hospital: (02) 711-4141 / (02) 743-2017
4. Hospital de San Juan De Dios: (02) 831-9731 to 36 /(02) 831-5641 to 49
5. Makati Medical Center: (02) 815-9911
6. Philippine Children’s Medical Center: (02) 924-6601
7. St Luke’s Medical Center: Contact (02) 723-0101
8. The Medical City: (02) 635-6789, (o2) 631-8626
9. Text Fire: 0918-688-8888
10. National Operator: 109
11. Cebu Ambulance: 161
Source: http://www.philstar.com
By MADELYNNE DOMINGUEZ and MITCH ARCEO | September 8, 2010, 4:25pm
Manila, Philippines – Close circuit television cameras (CCTVs) are becoming an effective tool in catching criminals at work.
In Marikina, CCTVs helped security at the Riverside Mall arrest a suspect caught on camera stealing a wallet from the handbag of a woman at a fastfood restaurant.
In Pasay City, police were able to identify a suspect in the theft of a laptop from an employee of the bus line terminal.
Chief Inspector Earl Castillo, chief of the Marikina police Criminal Investigation Division, identified the suspect in the Riverside Mall theft as Teresa Rivera, 43, of Dela Alas Street, Pasay City.
Castillo said Rivera was caught on security cameras at the Riverside Mall stealing the wallet from the bag of Rowena Juanico of Dama de Noche Street, Townsville, Concepcion Uno, Marikina City.
Police said the theft occurred at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night at a Jollibee branch at the mall while the victim was lining up to order food.
Security guards monitoring the CCTV cameras saw the suspect opening Juanico’s handbag and sneak off with her wallet.
Security then radioed roving guards to accost the suspect before she got away.
The victim’s wallet which contained P12,000 was recovered from the suspect who was brought to the police stations where she is now detained awaiting charges.
Meanwhile, Pasay City police said they are now searching for John Arvic Bella, 29, of Barangay Sto. Niño, Camaligan, Camarines Sur, who was caught sneaking off with a bag containing a laptop by security cameras at the Philtranco Bus Liner terminal at the corner of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and Apelo Street.
The apparent theft happened last September 2 but the suspect was only discovered after a review of the videotape of the security cameras.
The P30,000 laptop is owned by Dick Callope, Philtranco ticketing officer, who kept it at the terminal’s employees quarters.
The terminal's dispatcher said he saw the suspect roaming around the station before the theft.
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph
By CHITO A. CHAVEZ (August 26, 2010, 7:47pm)
It pays to have a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed in private and government hospitals.
Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 10 operatives arrested last Wednesday a pedicab driver who was able to sneak into one of the rooms of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) where he stole some belongings of a patient.
Police Officer 3 Joel Sanchez, officer-on-case, identified the suspect as Ricky Beltran, 28, and a resident of 135 Matahimik St., UP Village, Quezon City.
The victim, Marian Geramillo, 36, of 19 Mulawin St., Buenmar Subdivision, Taytay, Rizal said she noticed that her Nokia 6020 telephone and lady’s wallet containing P240 in cash which she placed on top of a small table at Room 2008 were missing when she woke up around 5 a.m.
She reported the incident to the hospital’s telephone operator who immediately alerted the on-duty security personnel.
The security guards viewed Beltran’s act through the CCTV camera placed inconspicuously near the rooms.
That videotaped footage led to the suspect’s arrest at the lobby leading to the hospital exit where they discovered the stolen items of Geramillo.
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph
MANILA, AUGUST 27, 2010 (STAR) By Cecille Suerte Felipe - The Philippine National Police announced yesterday that the tourist bus commandeered by a dismissed policeman in the hostage crisis last Monday in Manila would be preserved in an air-conditioned area with closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) to help in the “US air crash-type investigation.”“The final resting place of the bus will be in an enclosed place, which will be secured. CCTV (units) will be installed inside and outside the bus so that from time to time we can give updates to the public or the proper authorities,” said Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., PNP spokesman.Cruz said the Hong Thai tourist bus would be stored at the Logistic Supply Service compound at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Rodrigo Magtibay went on leave while four officers of the MPD Special Weapons and Tactics unit were relieved after mishandling the hostage crisis and assault on the Hong Thai tourist bus where dismissed police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza held hostage the Hong Kong tourists.Mendoza, who was dismissed from the police force last year for extortion, commandeered the tourist bus in Intramuros and held hostage 21 Hong Kong tourists and four Filipino guides for several hours in front of the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal Park in Manila.The suspect, armed with an M16 rifle and a pistol, had released several hostages before the SWAT team assaulted the bus. The hostage taker and eight tourists were killed.Cruz said that at any given time, investigators and even foreign investigators could come and look at the bus from the CCTV cameras and if they are going to come inside they will have to ask permission from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.He said foreign and local investigators would have to wear appropriate clothing so that all evidences will be preserved, including blood.“So we are going to put air-conditioning to preserve all of these things even if it takes a year or two we are going to sustain the investigation,” said Cruz. “We learn that air crash investigations abroad take several months up to a year or several years and the PNP is willing to do this to ensure that the investigation will be conducted in a professional manner.”Observers, however, said the plan to park the bus in an enclosed and air-conditioned room would be expensive and the PNP could hardly provide service firearms, gas mask, bulletproof vests and other basic equipment to policemen.“The bus was not the issue but the way police handled the hostage taking situation, why would the PNP spend money to preserve it,” asked an observer.
Source: http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/hl/hl109991.htm
As it aims to preserve the remaining vegetation of the country, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday said it will no longer issue permits for logging activities in all natural forests."To avoid further depletion of our country's forested areas, we will no longer sign any new permits for tree-cutting and logging permits in natural forests," Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said.He said a number of hectares of primary forests "have already been heavily degraded." Industry data showed that less than 16 million hectares in the country were identified as forestland.Paje said he has issued a new guideline to all regional offices for the abolition of all non-critical checkpoints in exchange for the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in all wood-processing plants in the country."Some 60 to 70 percent of the total number of checkpoints will be abolished. We will only retain the highly critical checkpoints," he said."But in exchange for this, we will be requiring all wood-processing [permit holders] to install at least one 24/7 CCTV camera in their processing plants to monitor the entry of illegally cut logs or naturally grown logs in processing plants," he added.CCTV cameras would enable the DENR to witness wood companies that are processing illegally cut timbers.Paje challenged logging companies to prove that they are not buying illegal logs, saying that "if they want to prove to us, they should show us their processing 24/7."Meanwhile, the DENR also Thursday earmarked some 15,000 hectares of upland areas for high-value agricultural crops under the Aquino government's National Convergence Initiative or NCI.Paje said that he has already directed all DENR regional executive directors to identify at least 200 hectares of land per province — or some 15, 000 hectares nationwide — for the agriculture development under the NCI. —JE, GMANews.TV
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv
