GADGETS / D4
Scan this icon to view the PDF
VOL. XXX • NO. 337 • 5 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph
SAYYAF RELEASE KOREAN, FILIPINO By Francisco Tuyay
T
HE Abu Sayyaf set free a South Korean ship captain and his Filipino crewman who were abducted from their vessel off the coast of Tawi-Tawi last October, officials said Saturday. Sources said Capt. Park Chul Hong and Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao were released after the payment of a P25-million ransom with the mediation of former Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan but Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza maintained the government stuck to its noransom policy. The Abu Sayyaf released Park
and Alindajao to Moro National Liberation Front members Abraham Joel and Adon Adak in Indanan town and they were later turned over to Dureza at the residence of the former Sulu governor. The abduction on board the 11,400-ton heavy load carrier Dong Bang Giant 2 occurred Oct.
20 just off the southern entry of the Sibutu Passage, a 29-kilometer wide channel used by merchant shipping in transit between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The cargo ship was heading for South Korea from Australia. The gunmen boarded the vessel and hurriedly took Park and Alindajao at gunpoint. The rest of the crew members, mostly Filipinos, managed to escaped by hiding and locking themselves inside their cabins. The two captives were then taken somewhere in Sulu. “They were released from captivity this morning. The Moro National Liberation Front [MNLF] based in Barangay Kagay facilitated the release of the kidnapped
victims,” said Maj. Filemon Tan, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command. The two captives were presented to the media in Davao City and subsequently airlifted to Manila where Park was handed over to South Korean embassy officials. In a press briefing, Dureza could not give details on who was behind the abduction but sources said the kidnappers were bandits under the leadership of Abu Sayyaf sub-commander Alden Bagade, a notorious gunmen operating in Sulu. The two seafarers were beaten by their captors and forced to sleep in the jungle while eating dried fish and drinking unclean water, Dureza said. Turn to A2
SAMSUNG RECOGNIZED FOR DESIGN, INNOVATION
WORLD / B3
ZOE SALDANA: HOLLYWOOD BULLIED TRUMP
SPORTS / C4
THINK LIKE A WARRIOR, TRAIN LIKE A WARRIOR
‘RODY LIKE SINGAPORE FOUNDER’ FREE AGAIN. South Korean ship captain Park Chul Hong (left) and his second officer Glenn Alindajao disembark from a plane in the company of Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza and two unidentified Korean officials after being released by the Abu Sayyaf. AFP
9,000 COPS DEPLOYED FOR STO. NIÑO OVER 8,000 policemen will be deployed in Cebu City while almost 1,000 more will be fielded in Manila as two of the country’s oldest Catholic dioceses marked the feast of the Holy Child Jesus on Sunday. Called the Sto. Niño [Holy Boy], the feast was introduced to Filipinos by clerical missionaries who accompanied Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century and was officially recognized by Pope Innocent XIII in the
18th century. The feast is celebrated both in Cebu and Manila, but the former has been turned out to be the larger, more colorful spectacle attended by thousands of local and foreign tourists every third Sunday of January. Police Regional Office 7 Public Information Officer, Senior Inspector Reslyn Daposala Abella said security measures for the Sinulog Saturday procession and Sunday grand parade were
already ironed out. “We assure the public that the PNP is here and ready and we are prepared for the Sinulog grand parade celebration,” she said in a phone interview on ANC’s “Dateline Philippines.” Central Visayas police spokesman Senior Inspector Reslyn Abella said there were no serious security incidents on Saturday when tens of thousands of devotees joined a solemn procession Turn to A2
FIESTA TIME. A young lady from Tondo, Manila dons an intricate costume depicting the Holy Child Jesus during a pre-festival event in front of the Sto. Niño de Tondo Church in Manila. Norman Cruz
PH PUSHES ‘PEOPLE-ORIENTED’ ASEAN By John Paolo Bencito
BEST VIEWING EXPERIENCE. The PLDT Group, Solar Entertainment and TV5 entered into an agreement that will enable the best viewing experience of the Miss Universe pageant, at home and on-the-go. At the contract signing were Miss Universe Organization vice president Shawn McClain, Solar Entertainment president Wilson Tieng, PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, PLDT and Smart Chief Revenue Officer Eric Alberto, and TV5 president and CEO Chot Reyes.
twitter.com/ MlaStandard
THE Philippines will push for a more “peopleoriented” Association of Southeast Asian Nations as it takes the chairmanship of the 10-nation regional bloc which is marking its 50th anniversary this year. “We want to make Asean more relevant to the lives of poor and ordinary citizens by highlighting issues that concern them, with the end goal of forging agreements to uphold their welfare and improve their quality of life,”
facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH
S
thestandard.com.ph
said Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, who leads this year the Asean Socio-Cultural Community, one of the bloc’s three pillars. “There is no debate that poverty continues to be a serious problem for many of the member states of the Asean,” Taguiwalo said, stressing the needs of women, children, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, farmers, workers and fisherfolk, among others, that should also be addressed. “Concretely, what we want is to bring the Turn to A2
A PALACE official on Saturday compared President Rodrigo Duterte to the late Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew amid criticism of his supposedly authoritarian style of leadership. “Like Lee Kuan Yew, he was also very strict. He is very strict but you can also see the progress of the nation,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella told state radio dzRB. “Our actions should not be entirely ideological, but we need to also understand the needs of our country.” Abella made the comparison following criticism from the New York-based Human Rights Watch which placed Duterte among populist leaders who have intensified the “flouting of human rights.” Abella, however, maintained that Duterte is a ‘very decisive’ leader and a ‘man of action.’ “If they place labels [on the President]—they limit you. They do not see what you’re actually doing, they just gave a label. But the President is very authoritative and he—we can see the job done,” he said. He likewise accused the human rights group and other ‘liberal media’ of being hostile towards Duterte. “Let us remember that he is governing by the rule of law. That’s why they call him—especially the liberal media and the liberal political order—is because they’re antagonistic to more authoritative forms or styles of governance,” Abella claimed. Turn to A2
Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circ@manilastandardtoday.com