yphoon Pepeng is forecast to bring more rains and very strong winds in Northern Luzon

Signal No. 1 hoisted over 6 provinces
Latest DOST-PAGASA MTSAT-EIR Satellite Image (timestamp on image is UTC; add 8 hours to convert to Philippine Standard Time)
MANILA - Weather bureau PAGASA on Thursday said typhoon Pepeng (international codename Parma) is forecast to bring more rains and very strong winds in Northern Luzon including Metro Manila once it makes landfall Saturday afternoon.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, PAGASA said Pepeng has intensified further, now packing winds of 195 kilometers per hour near the center, and gusts of up to 230 kph.
As of 5 p.m., PAGASA weather branch chief Nathaniel Cruz said the typhoon was sighted 440 km east of Catarman, Northern Samar and is moving 24 kilometers per hour in the general direction of Northern Luzon and the Taiwan area.
Typhoon Pepeng (Parma): Forecasts
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services (PAGASA): Tropical Cyclone Update
Manila Observatory
Japan Meteorological Agency
Taiwan Central Weather Bureau
Hong Kong Observatory
World Meteorolgical Organization (WMO) Severe Weather information Centre
US Navy: Joint Typhoon Warning Center
The typhoon is expected to be 100 km northeast of Virac, Catanduanes or 300 km southeast of Baler, Aurora by Friday afternoon.
Cruz said the typhoon is forecast to make landfall over Aurora-Isabela by Saturday morning or afternoon. He said the typhoon will bring occasional rains over the eastern section of Luzon and Visayas and more frequent rains in Samar and Bicol Thursday afternoon.
Gale-force winds are also forecast over Visayas and Mindanao.
Storm Signal no.1 has been hoisted in Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Albay, Quezon (including the Polilio Islands), and Aurora.
"Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes under signal #1 are advised to take all the necessary precautionary measures against possible flashfloods and landslides," the PAGASA weather bulletin stated.
"The public and the disaster coordinating councils concerned are advised to take appropriate actions and watch for the next bulletin to be issued at 11 P.M. today (Thursday)," it added.
Stronger than Ondoy, similar to Reming
Cruz, in an earlier press conference, said Pepeng is much stronger than last Saturday's tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana), which brought record amounts of rainfall and triggered the worst flooding in Metro Manila in 40 years.
"In terms of wind intensity, Ondoy was only half of the strength of Pepeng. When it made landfall, Ondoy only had winds of 85 kph while Pepeng is 175 kph. However, we cannot really compare the two because it was the rain that was really destructive about Ondoy," he said.
He added: "Our major concern with Pepeng is the disastrous winds - 175 kph to 210 kph. We expect typhoon Pepeng to intensify further as it moves towards northern Luzon."
He said the weather bureau will give a forecast on the typhoon's estimated rainfall intensity before it makes landfall.
Cruz also likened typhoon Pepeng to super-typhoon Reming (international codename Durian), which killed at least 734 people in the country in 2006.
"This could be like Reming. We are not just talking here about Metro Manila. We are talking of the entire Luzon area where there is probability of devastation in terms of flooding...and wind," he said.
Dams to release water
Dr. Susan Espinueva, assistant weather services chief of the Hydro Metrological Division of PAGASA, said major dams in Northern Luzon have been releasing water before Pepeng hits.
"All major dams in Northen Luzon wll be releasing water to lower the water level so that when the storm hits, there will be a buffer of storage capacity in our dams and the spillover will not be as severe,' she said.
Among the dams that have released water are the Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan; Binga Dam in Itogon, Benguet Province; Ambuklao Dam in Bokod, Benguet; Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela province; and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija.
Espinueva said Angat Dam started releasing water since 10 a.m. Tuesday to lower the water level from 214 to 212 meters. She said maximum outflow of 500 cubic meters per second was released from the dam.
She said that as of 3 p.m. Friday, the Caliraya Dam in Lumban, Laguna also started releasing water. "Water coming from the dam will affect the towns of Lumban and Pagsanjan," she said.
The government has started preparing more evacuation centers as it anticipates more people to be displaced by the new storm.
Disaster officials fear more rains spawned by the typhoon could trigger another massive flood as streets and drainage systems remain clogged from the tons of debris left by the previous deluge caused by tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana).
As of 6 a.m., the National Disaster Coordinating Council said more than half a million families of 2.50 million individuals have been affected by Ondoy in 11 regions, including Metro Manila and the Calabarzon area in southern Luzon.
It said that a total of 686,699 people are now staying in 726 evacuation centers. It said Ondoy’s death toll has reached 277 and 42 were still missing.
The storm, which also devastated Vietnam and Cambodia, damaged crops and infrastructure worth at least P4.80 billion.
Coast Guard limits sea travel
Coast Guard commandant Vice-Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo said he has placed all Coast Guard units in affected areas of the new storm on heightened alert.
He said all sea vessels below 1,000 gross tonnage have been barred from sailing in Catanduanes, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte as of Thursday morning.
"If Storm Signal no. 2 is hoisted, no vessel will be permitted to sail. We are warning fishing bats and smaller vessels not to venture out to sea. Maritime travelers going to the affected areas are advised to delay their trips," he said. . With a report from the Agence France-Presse

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massive tsunami hurled by a powerful earthquake flattened Samoan villages

APIA, Samoa – A massive tsunami hurled by a powerful earthquake flattened Samoan villages and swept cars and people out to sea, killing at least 99 and leaving dozens missing Wednesday. The toll was expected to rise.
The same day, western Indonesia was rocked by a strong underwater temblor, briefly triggering a tsunami alert for countries along the Indian Ocean and sending panicked residents out of their houses. The alert was later canceled.
Survivors of the South Pacific islands tsunami fled the fast-churning water for higher ground and remained huddled there hours after the quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn Tuesday.
The quake was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa, an island nation of 180,000 people located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It was about 120 miles (190 kilometers) from neighboring American Samoa, a U.S. territory that is home to 65,000 people.
Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile (1.5 kilometers) inland, Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, was quoted as saying by a parks service spokeswoman.
Hampered by power and communications outages, officials struggled to determine damage and casualties.
Samoan police commissioner Lilo Maiava told The Associated Press that police there had confirmed 63 deaths but that officials were still searching the devastated areas, so the number of deaths might rise soon.
Hundreds of injured people were being treated by health workers, and people were still cramming into centers seeking treatment, Maiava said.
At least 30 people were killed on American Samoa, Gov. Togiola Tulafono said, adding that the toll was expected to rise as emergency crews were recovering bodies overnight.
"I don't think anybody is going to be spared in this disaster," said Tulafono, who was in Hawaii for a conference.
In Washington, President Obama has declared a major disaster for American Samoa.
Obama said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in contact with emergency responders, and the U.S. Coast Guard is helping deliver resources to areas in need of assistance.
The disaster declaration allows the United States to provide the support necessary for a "full, swift and aggressive response," the president said.
In a statement issued early Wednesday, Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, "will keep those who have lost so much in our thoughts and prayers."
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi looked shaken Wednesday on board a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to the Samoan capital of Apia.
"So much has gone. So many people are gone," he told reporters on board. "I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss."
Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was destroyed.
"Thankfully, the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said. "But not everyone escaped."
Gov. Tulafono told reporters in Hawaii that a member of his extended family was among the dead in American Samoa.
Because the closeness of the community, "each and every family is going to be affected by someone who's lost their life," he said as he boarded a Coast Guard C-130 plane in Hawaii to return home. The plane, which also carried FEMA officials and aid, was scheduled to arrive at about 7 a.m. local time. (2 p.m. EDT; 1800 GMT)
Authorities in Tonga confirmed at least six additional people dead in the island nation west of the Samoas, New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said. He said Tongan officials told him that four people were missing after the tsunami swept ashore on the northern island of Niua.
"There are a considerable number of people who've been swept out to sea and are unaccounted for," English said. "We don't have information about the full impact and we do have some real concern that over the next 12 hours the picture could look worse rather than better."
Britain's Press Association news agency, citing unidentified sources, said that a 2-year-old British child was killed in Samoa. It was unclear whether that reported death was included in the overall toll. The Foreign Office said Wednesday that one British national was missing and presumed dead in the disaster.
A New Zealand P3 Orion maritime surveillance airplane had reached the region Wednesday afternoon and had searched for survivors off the coast, he said. It was expected to resume searching at first light.
The Samoa Red Cross said it had opened five temporary shelters and estimated that about 15,000 people were affected by the tsunami.
New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the Samoan beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was leveled.
"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told New Zealand's National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia. "There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Seven Network in Australia that two Australians had died in the tsunami, including a 6-year-old girl.
Mase Akapo, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in American Samoa, reported at least 19 people killed in four different villages on the main island of Tutuila. Officials reported at least 50 injured.
Residents in both Samoa and American Samoa reported being shaken awake by the quake early Tuesday, which lasted two to three minutes and was centered about 20 miles (32 kilometers) below the ocean floor. It was followed by at least three large aftershocks of at least 5.6 magnitude.
The quake came Tuesday morning for the Samoas, which lie just east of the international dateline. For Asia-Pacific countries on the other side of the line, it was already Wednesday.
The Samoan capital, Apia, was virtually deserted by afternoon, with schools and businesses closed. Hours after the waves struck, fresh sirens rang out with another tsunami alert and panicked residents headed for higher ground again, although there was no indication of a new quake.
In American Samoa's capital of Pago Pago, the streets and fields were filled with ocean debris, mud, overturned cars and several boats as a massive cleanup effort continued into the night. Several buildings in the city — just a few feet above sea level — were flattened by either the quake or the tsunami.
Several areas were expected to be without electricity for up to a month.
The dominant industry in American Samoa — tuna canneries — was also affected. Chicken of the Sea's tuna packing plant in American Samoa was forced to close although the facility wasn't damaged, the San Diego-based company said.
The effects of the tsunami could be felt thousands of miles away.
Japan's Meteorological Agency said "very weak" tsunami waves were registered off the island of Hachijojima about 10 hours after the quake. There were no reports of injuries or damage in Japan, which is about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) northwest of Samoa.
U.S. officials said strong currents and dangerous waves were forecast from California to Washington state. No major flooding was expected, however.
In Los Angeles, lifeguards said they would clear beaches at about 8 p.m. in response to an advisory for possible dangerous currents.
While the earthquake and tsunami were big, they were not on the same scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, said Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle. That tsunami killed more than 230,000 in a dozen countries across Asia.
___
Sagapolutele reported from Pago Pago, American Samoa. Associated Press writers Ray Lilley in Wellington, New Zealand; Jaymes Song and Herbert A. Sample in Honolulu and Seth Borenstein and Michele Salcedo in Washington contributed to this report.

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US soldiers were killed in the southern Philippines

MANILA (AFP) - – Two US soldiers were killed in the southern Philippines Tuesday in the deadliest attack against American troops there since they began helping local forces stamp out Muslim extremists in 2001, officials said.
The blast that killed the two soldiers also claimed the life of a local Marine and left two other Filipino Marines seriously wounded, Philippine military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said in Manila.
The explosion struck the troops as they were riding a Humvee vehicle on the outskirts of a town on Jolo island, where the Muslim militant Abu Sayyaf group is active, according to Brawner.
Suspected Abu Sayyaf members set off an improvised bomb near a police station at another Jolo village about 20 kilometres (12 miles) away shortly before the explosion, local police said.
No one was injured in that incident.
Brawner did not directly blame the Abu Sayyaf, saying an investigation was still under way.
He also insisted the US soldiers were doing development work, and were not fighting the Abu Sayyaf.
"These US servicemen... were non-combatants. They were there to supervise the developmental projects in the area when they were attacked," he told reporters.
"There was no firefight."
The US military said it believed the Americans were killed by an improvised explosive, and not a landmine, as the Philippine military had first said, which would mean they were targeted for attack, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters in Washington.
"We feel the best way to describe this is as an improvised explosive device," said Whitman.
It was the first time the 600-strong US contingent in the Philippines had been targeted by an improvised explosive, he said, a frequent tactic used by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A US embassy statement said the soldiers were on a supply run for a school construction project when the explosion took place.
"They lost their lives serving others and we will always be grateful for their contributions to improve the quality of life on Jolo," US ambassador Kristie Kenney said in the statement.
The Philippine foreign affairs department hailed the US soldiers, saying their activities on Jolo "assisting" the Philippine military were "important to the Filipino people".
The Abu Sayyaf was established in the early 1990s, allegedly with seed money from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, to fight for a Muslim state in the south of this mainly Roman Catholic nation.
It has kidnapped dozens of foreign aid workers, missionaries and tourists and was blamed for the country's worst terrorist strike, the bombing of a ferry in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.
US soldiers first arrived in the southern Philippines in December 2001 as part of then US president George W. Bush's "war on terror".
However under an agreement between the two nations, the US forces were allowed only to advise and train the Philippine soldiers and were banned from engaging in combat operations.
A few hundred US soldiers are believed to be in the southern Philippines at any one time, and attacks against them have been rare compared with in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However one US soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when a bomb, believed to have been planted by the Abu Sayyaf, went off in a bar in the southern port city of Zamboanga in October 2002.
And just two weeks ago, a small bomb was hurled at a wharf in Jolo where US troops were unloading supplies. No one was injured in the incident.
The Abu Sayyaf is believed to have only a few hundred active militants and many of its key leaders have been killed in recent years.
But, with strong family ties in the southern Philippines, it remains a strong opponent for security forces.
Earlier this month, Philippine soldiers overran an Abu Sayyaf camp on Jolo, resulting in the deaths of 24 guerrillas and eight Filipino soldiers.
On the nearby island of Basilan last month, Abu Sayyaf militants killed 23 Philippine soldiers and lost 20 of their own when security forces raided one of their camps.

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822 people rescued in Metro Manila

MANILA, Philipppines - A total of 822 people were rescued by authorities from their flooded homes in many parts of Metro Manila, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said today (Sept. 27).
Some residents of Pasig, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, and Marikina were taken by rescue teams from their houses which were submerged in flooded water, the NDCC said.
NDCC chairman and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro called on mall and shopping complex owners in Metro Manila to open their parking spaces to thounsands of people stranded in the streets due to the overnight downpour.
Metro Manila was hit hard by massive flooding due to typhoon "Ondoy" (international name Ketsana).
Yesterday, the NDCC declared the National Capital Region and some regions in Luzon and Bicol in a state of calamity.
President Arroyo leads the 2 p.m. NDCC meeting today for an update on the damage as well as rescue operations after an aerial survey of several affected areas.
  - By Dennis Carcamo (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
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massive flooding that has displaced nearly half a million people in philippines

MANILA (AFP) - – The Philippine government said Monday it could not cope with massive flooding that has displaced nearly half a million people, amid fears the death toll could soar well past the official tally of 86.
Reaching people still stranded after Saturday's disaster in the national capital of Manila and surrounding areas, possible disease outbreaks, looting and providing survivors with aid were all big concerns, authorities said.
"We are concentrating on massive relief operations. (But) the system is overwhelmed, local government units are overwhelmed," the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, Anthony Golez, told reporters.
"We were used to helping one city, one or two provinces but now, they are following one after another. Our assets and people are spread too thinly."
Saturday's disaster saw tropical storm Ketsana drop the heaviest rain in more than 40 years on Manila and neighbouring areas of Luzon island.
The nine-hour deluge left some areas of Metro Manila, a sprawling city of 12 million people, under six metres (20 feet) of water, with poor drainage systems and other failed infrastructure exacerbating the problem.
Eighty percent of the city was submerged and some areas remained more than knee-deep in water on Monday. Local television reported that some people remained stranded on the second floors of their homes.
Adding to the chaos, telephone and power services in some parts of the city remained cut, while local government officials said survivors in makeshift evacuation camps were desperately short of food, water and clothes.
Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the official death toll stood at 86, with another 32 people missing. He said more than 435,000 people had been displaced.
However, radio station DZBB quoted local officials as saying that 58 more bodies had been recovered from a flooded area in the Manila suburb of Marikina, and that they had not yet been included in the official tally.
Teodoro, who is heading the government's rescue operation, said the government was looking into that report.
The chief of a riverside village in Quezon city, part of Metro Manila, also told AFP that 29 bodies had been recovered and 108 people remained missing from his community.
Armando Endaya, captain of Bagong Silangan village, said those deaths had not been reported to national government officials.
Endaya was overseeing a makeshift evacuation camp set up at a gymnasium, where more than 3,000 people were sheltering on the concrete floor alongside 11 white coffins containing the bodies of their neighbours.
"We are overwhelmed. We are waiting for more aid to arrive. We are trying to mobilise our own relief operations here. But we need more help," Endaya told AFP from the gymnasium, which had a roof but no walls.
The home of Edgar Halog, 44, a jeepney driver, was destroyed in the floods and he was sheltering at the centre with his wife and seven children aged between three and 12.
"We do not have any money, we do not know what to do. We don't have any other relatives. We are waiting for food rations," Halog told AFP.
With sanitation services across the city in disarray, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said authorities were working to prevent disease outbreaks.
"Our surveillance is continuing in evacuation centres for possible outbreaks and epidemics," he said.
Our health teams are bringing in water and (products for) sanitation and hygiene at evacuation centres to make sure that disease does not spread."
Looting was also a concern.
Many people were refusing to leave their flooded homes because they wanted to protect their belongings from looters, Teodoro and other officials said.
Initial frantic rescue efforts saw military helicopters and rubber boats fan out across the city to pluck people off houses and car roofs.
The government said more than 7,900 people had been rescued.

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Five American troops were killed in southern Afghanistan

KABUL – Five American troops were killed within 24 hours in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban militants have conducted an unrelenting campaign of bombings and attacks against U.S. and NATO forces.
This has been the deadliest year of the war for international forces and the Obama administration is debating whether to add still more troops to the 21,000-strong influx that began pouring into the country over the summer.
The five deaths announced Friday occurred in three separate attacks the day before in the south, where U.S. and NATO commanders have ramped up their operations to try to reverse Taliban gains.
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, told "60 Minutes" the strength of the militant group took him by surprise when he arrived this summer.
"I think that in some areas that the breadth of the violence, the geographic spread of violence, is a little more than I would have gathered," he said in the interview, to be broadcast on Sunday.
Four soldiers died in the same small district of southeastern Zabul province, three of them killed when their Stryker vehicle hit a bomb, and the fourth shot to death in an insurgent attack, said U.S. military spokesman Lt. Robert Carr. The Stryker brigade arrived in Zabul as part of the summertime surge to try to secure the region ahead of Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Marine was fatally shot while on foot patrol in southwestern Nimroz province, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a military spokeswoman.
The U.S. is on track to have 68,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2009, but the Pentagon said McChrystal would ask this week for as many as 40,000 new forces. Some question the wisdom of sending more troops to support a government facing allegations of widespread fraud in last month's disputed vote.
About half of all Americans oppose increasing troop levels in Afghanistan, according to a poll released Friday. The New York Times/CBS News poll found that only 29 percent of respondents believed the U.S. should add troops in Afghanistan. The survey, conducted Sept. 19-23, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
In a report to the White House, McChrystal argued that military commanders need to be less preoccupied with protecting their troops and send them out into Afghan communities more. He acknowledged this "could expose military personnel and civilians to greater risk in the near term," but said the payoff in terms of forging ties with the Afghan people would be worth it.
"Accepting some risk in the short term will ultimately save lives in the long run," he wrote.
The light-armored Stryker vehicles were sent to Afghanistan as part of a plan to take over a large swathe of the south. The idea behind the vehicles is that they can deploy quickly over large distances, exercising control over a much larger area than can be held by foot soldiers. However, they are more vulnerable to roadside bombs than more heavily armored vehicles.
Bombs planted in roads, fields and near bases now account for the majority of U.S. and NATO casualties and have proven especially dangerous in the south. With the five deaths, a total of 34 U.S. forces have died in Afghanistan in September. August, which was the deadliest month of the war for American troops, saw 51 deaths.

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AIDS vaccine has for the first time cut the risk of infection

BANGKOK (AFP) - – An experimental AIDS vaccine has for the first time cut the risk of infection in humans in what scientists Thursday called a "breakthrough" in the quarter-century fight against the epidemic.
The vaccine reduced the chance of being infected by a third, researchers announced after the world's largest trial of 16,000 volunteers, carried out by the US Army and Thailand's Ministry of Public Health.
The surprising result comes after years of fruitless attempts by the medical world to find an HIV vaccine, including one trial jab that apparently boosted infection rates.
"It is the first demonstration that a vaccine against HIV can protect against infection," Colonel Jerome Kim of the US military HIV research programme told a news conference in Bangkok via videolink.
"This is a very important scientific advance and gives us hope that a globally effective vaccine may be possible in the future," he said.
Thai Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said the "outcome of this study is a scientific breakthrough."
The vaccine was a combination of two older drugs that had not reduced infection on their own and the researchers said they were now studying why the two apparently worked together.
The study combined the canarypox vaccine ALVAC, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis of France, and AIDSVAX, originally made by VaxGen Inc and now licensed to the non-profit Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.
Researchers said the latest vaccine showed a 31.2 percent efficacy in reducing the risk of HIV infection.
"The outcome represents a breakthrough in HIV vaccine development because for the first time ever there is evidence that HIV vaccine has preventative efficacy," said the research team in a statement.
The vaccine was tested on volunteers -- all HIV negative men and women aged from 18 to 30 -- at average risk of infection in two Thai provinces near Bangkok starting in October 2003.
Half received the vaccine and the rest were given a placebo. Out of the placebo recipients 74 of 8,198 became infected compared with 51 of 8,197 who got the vaccine.
The World Health Organization and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS congratulated the researchers for the "encouraging" results.
"The study results, representing a significant scientific advance, are the first demonstration that a vaccine can prevent HIV infection in a general adult population and are of great importance," they said in a statement. Experts' reactions
The UN said it may not be possible to get licensing permission for the drug at the moment based on the results, and that further studies were needed to determine if the vaccine has the same effect in other parts of the world.
AIDS first came to public notice in 1981 and has since killed at least 25 million people worldwide, and 33 million others are living with AIDS or the HIV virus.
Swift progress in identifying the virus that caused AIDS unleashed early optimism that a vaccine would quickly emerge. HIV destroys immune cells and exposes the body to opportunistic disease.
But out of the 50 candidates that have been evaluated among humans, only two vaccines have made it through all three phases of trials, and both were flops. About 30 vaccines remain in the pipeline.
Scientists were in 2007 forced to abandon two advanced clinical trials of a vaccine by pharmaceutical company Merck after it appeared to actually heighten the risk of AIDS infection.
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis, said the results of the latest test, although "modest", were the first concrete demonstration that a vaccine "could one day become a reality."
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, an alliance of researchers, policymakers, donors and advocates that includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said it was a "historic day in the 26-year quest to develop an AIDS vaccine."
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), an organisation that promotes the search for a vaccine, said the trial results were "very exciting and a significant scientific achievement."
The head of the US agency tasked with controlling the spread of infectious disease said it was an important breakthrough.
"These new findings represent an important step forward in HIV vaccine research," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health, which provided major funding and logistical support for the study.
But a top AIDS scientist, France's Jean-Francois Delfraissy, warned that the results were "good news but the effect remains modest".
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Sultan Kosen the world's tallest man

LONDON – A towering Turk was officially crowned the world's tallest man Thursday after his Ukrainian rival dropped out of the running by refusing to be measured.
Guinness World Records said that 8 foot 1 inch (2.47 meter) Sultan Kosen, from the town of Mardin in eastern Turkey, is now officially the tallest man walking the planet. Although the previous record holder, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk, reportedly measured 8 feet 5.5 inches (2.57 meters), Guinness said he was stripped of his title when he declined to let anyone confirm his height.
Stadnyk, 39, told The Associated Press he refused to be independently measured because he was tired of being in the public eye.
"If this title had given me more health or a few extra years, I would have taken it, but the opposite happened, I only wasted my nerve cells," he said.
"If I have to choose between prosperity and calm, I choose calm."
Kosen, 27, told reporters in London that he was looking forward to parlaying his newfound status into a chance at love.
"Up until now it's been really difficult to find a girlfriend," Kosen said through an interpreter. "I've never had one, they were usually scared of me. ... Hopefully now that I'm famous I'll be able to meet lots of girls. I'd like to get married."
Kosen is one of only 10 confirmed or reliably reported cases in which humans have grown past the eight foot (2.44 meter) mark, according to Guinness.
The record-keeping group said he grew into his outsize stature because tumor-related damage to his pituitary triggered the overproduction of growth hormones. The condition, known as "pituitary gigantism," also explains Kosen's enormous hands and feet, which measure 10.8 inches (27.5 centimeters) and 14.4 inches (36.5 centimeters) respectively.
The tumor was removed last year, so Kosen isn't expected to grow any further.
The part-time farmer, who uses crutches to stand, said there were disadvantages to being so tall.
"I can't fit into a normal car," he said. "I can't go shopping like normal people, I have to have things made specially and sometimes they aren't always as fashionable. The other thing is that ceilings are low and I have to bend down through doorways."
But he noted some advantages too, including the ability to see people coming from far away.
"The other thing is at home they use my height to change the light bulbs and hang the curtains, things like that."
Kosen's trip to the U.K. — his first outside Turkey — was organized by Guinness to publicize the release of its 2010 Guinness World Records book, this year's repertoire of weird and wonderful records.
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Power outage crippled operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)

MANILA, Philippines - A power outage at the airport control tower crippled operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), forcing the delay and diversion of all international and domestic flights yesterday.
Airport officials said the power supply of their radar at the control tower broke down at 2 p.m., forcing the diversion of several incoming international flights to other airports.
“The tower cannot communicate with the radar and they cannot guide the airlines to land and depart… so it is a safety issue,” airport general manager Alfonso Cusi explained.
Cusi said some international flights were diverted to Hong Kong while other incoming flights were ordered to land in other airports.
The loss of communication links with air traffic controllers forced some 20 local and international flights already airborne to turn back to NAIA while other flights preparing for take off were ordered grounded.
In the advisory released by airport officials, among the flights ordered to “return to base” were cargo flights from Manila to Taipei and Manila to Bangkok.
The cargo flight from Manila to Taipei (CI 5850) that departed 1:30 p.m. was ordered to return to base because of the radar problem. It was the same problem in flight TG 621 (MNL-Bangkok) that was forced to return to Manila following the power failure.
Other cancelled flights include PR 311 of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) bound for Hong Kong, which was ordered to return to base.
PAL’s PR 432 bound for Narita, Japan and PR 416 bound for Pusan, South Korea were also cancelled.
In the same advisory, international flights TG 620 (MNL-Kansai, Japan); SQ 917 (MNL-Singapore) and CZ 398 (MNL-Canton, China) were delayed at NAIA Terminal I.
At the NAIA Terminal 2, a total of eight domestic flights, were cancelled. Two domestic flights in NAIA Terminal 3 were also cancelled.
In the advisory, among the PAL domestic flights that were cancelled include the PR 177 from Manila to Tagbilaran; PR 178 Tagbilaran to Manila; PR 293 Manila to Dumaguete; PR 294 Dumaguete to Manila; PR 283 Manila to Cagayan de Oro; PR 284 Cagayan de Oro to Manila; PR 849 and PR 850, Manila to Cebu, Cebu to Manila; PR 817 and PR 818, Manila to Davao and Davao to Manila; PR 393 and PR 394, Manila to Tacloban and Tacloban to Manila.
Cebu Pacific’s Manila to Tacloban flight and its return flight 5J 657 and 5J658 were also cancelled.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) issued a “notice to airmen” (Notam) around 3:30 p.m., advising all inbound and outbound flights of the radar and power failure at the airport.
The Notam forced several incoming international flights to divert to other airports and return to their point of origin.
With the long range area radar system out of commission due to the power failure, airport officials resorted to using the medium range Manila Approach Radar to guide other incoming flights to a safe landing at NAIA.
CAAP said the sudden loss of electricity should have triggered the standby generators to take over.
However, the generators were not sufficient enough to power the air-to-ground communication systems and the international hotlines connecting CAAP to nearby traffic facilities.
The problem remained even after Elmer Gomez, the chief of the Manila Airways Facilities Complex, reported that all facilities and international communication links had been restored by 3:30 p.m.
But the radar display at the Manila Area Control center remained out of commission.
CAAP then took over and allowed a five-minute departure interval at the airport.
Domestic flight carriers Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, ZestAir and SeaAir were directly affected by the delays, and some flights to local destinations were cancelled.
On the other hand, the international flights by members of the Airline Operators Council also remain grounded at the NAIA Terminals 1 and 2, waiting for the resumption of normal service.
Marlyn Tolentino of Singapore Airlines said they were advised of the problem two hours after the blackout occurred.
“But we managed to depart our two flights back to Singapore before the power failure,” she said.
An airport official said CAAP was still attending to the radar repairs until last night.
CAAP director general Ruben Ciron said they would expect normal operations to resume at 10 p.m.
“Radar of Manila Air Traffic Control Center encountered technical problem at around 2 p.m. that slowed down all incoming and outgoing flights. My technical people are working on it and expect normal operations by 10 p.m. (last night),” Ciron said in the advisory. – With Rainier Allan Ronda - By Rudy Santos (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
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Gertrude Baines the oldest person dies

LOS ANGELES – Although she liked her bacon crispy and her chicken fried, she never drank, smoked or fooled around, Gertrude Baines once said, describing a life that lasted an astonishing 115 years and earned her the title of oldest person on the planet.
It was a title Baines quietly relinquished Friday when she died in her sleep at Western Convalescent Hospital, her home since she gave up living alone at age 107 after breaking a hip.
She likely suffered a heart attack, said her longtime physician, Dr. Charles Witt, although an autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.
"I saw her two days ago, and she was just doing fine," Witt told The Associated Press on Friday. "She was in excellent shape. She was mentally alert. She smiled frequently."
Baines was born in Shellman, Ga., on April 6, 1894, when Grover Cleveland was in the White House, radio communication was just being developed and television was still more than a half-century from becoming a ubiquitous household presence.
She was 4 years old when the Spanish-American War broke out and 9 when the first World Series was played. She had already reached middle age by the time the U.S. entered World War II in 1941.
Throughout it all, Baines said last year, it was a life she thoroughly enjoyed.
"I'm glad I'm here. I don't care if I live a hundred more," she said with a hearty laugh after casting her vote for Barack Obama for president. "I enjoy nothing but eating and sleeping."
Her vote for Obama, she added, had helped fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing a black man elected president.
"We all the same, only our skin is dark and theirs is white," said Baines, who was black.
The centenarian, who worked as a maid at Ohio State University dormitories until her retirement, had outlived all of her family members. Her only daughter died of typhoid at age 18.
In her final years, she passed her days watching her favorite TV program, "The Jerry Springer Show," and consuming her favorite foods: bacon, fried chicken and ice cream. She complained often, however, that the bacon served to her was too soft.
"Two days ago, when I saw her, she was talking about the fact that the bacon wasn't crisp enough, that it was soggy," Witt said.
She became the world's oldest person in January when Maria de Jesus died in Portugal at 115.
The title brought with it a spotlight of attention, and Baines was asked frequently about the secret to a long life. She shrugged off such questions, telling people to ask God instead.
"She told me that she owes her longevity to the Lord, that she never did drink, she never did smoke and she never did fool around," Witt said at a party marking her 115th birthday.
At the party, Baines sat quietly, paying little attention as nursing home staffers and residents sang "Happy Birthday" and presented congratulatory notices from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and others. But she laughed when told the Los Angeles Dodgers had given her a cooler filled with hot dogs.
With Baines' death, 114-year-old Kama Chinen of Japan becomes the world's oldest person, said Dr. L. Stephen Coles of the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks claims of extreme old age. Chinen was born May 10, 1895.
The oldest person who ever lived, Coles said, was Jeanne-Louise Calment, who was 122 when she died Aug. 4, 1997, in Arles, France.
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Airborne rescue from Taliban territory of a kidnapped journalist

Criticism mounted Thursday of the dramatic airborne rescue from Taliban territory of a kidnapped Western journalist who walked free as four others, including his Afghan colleague, were killed.
Negotiators were deep in talks with the Taliban to free New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell and appeared to be progressing well when British commandos intervened with the rescue operation, a source told AFP.
Farrell, who has dual British-Irish nationality, was freed unharmed, but his Afghan colleague, father-of-two Sultan Munadi, as well as a British soldier and an Afghan woman and child were killed.
In Afghanistan, journalists expressed anger over the death of Munadi, saying it was "inhumane" that his bullet-riddled body had been abandoned at the scene.
Farrell and Munadi were the second team from The New York Times to be kidnapped in Afghanistan in less than a year. Their abduction highlighted growing insecurity in the once relatively peaceful north of the country.
Downing Street said British ministers approved the rescue, but one person involved in the Taliban talks told AFP that negotiations were under way and that no one believed the journalists were in imminent danger.
"There were a lot of people trying to make contact and keep the discussions going," the source told AFP, adding: "We had contact with different parties and were urging them to release the two journalists unconditionally."
A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office confirmed media reports that Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth took the final decision to approve the use of force.
Public support for British involvement in the eight-year Afghan war is plummeting over record soldier fatalities and a controversial presidential election last month mired in allegations of fraud and vote-rigging.
British newspaper The Times, quoting defence sources, said the raid was mounted after British forces feared Farrell could be moved, and there were no guarantees that the negotiations would have led to his and Munadi's release.
However, several other sources quoted by the newspaper said the kidnappers were, at worst, seeking a ransom.
An unnamed Western official told the paper: "It was totally heavy-handed. If they'd showed a bit of patience and respect they could have got both of them out without firing a bullet."
A British Foreign Office spokesman refused to comment on reports that negotiations with the Taliban were underway.
Journalists expressed anger at the apparent disregard for the Afghan reporter. While his Western colleague was whisked to safety, Munadi's parents had to collect his body themselves. It remained unclear if he was killed by Taliban or foreign soldiers.
The Media Club of Afghanistan (MCA) said there was "no justification" for international forces to rescue Farrell and leave behind Munadi's body.
"The MCA deems this action as inhumane," said the informal grouping of Afghan journalists working for international media.
Naqibullah Taib, of the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association, said Afghan reporters generally lacked the experience to make split-second judgements, and urged international news organisations to offer more training.
Munadi worked for The New York Times and Afghan state radio before going to Germany to study. He had returned to Kabul on a break to spend time with his wife and children.
Journalist colleagues visited his grave in Kabul to lay flowers and on Friday a memorial service will be held in a Kabul mosque.
Reaction to Farrell's release mirrored anger that many Afghans expressed over the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist in 2007. His interpreter was beheaded and his driver killed.
Farrell, writing about his four days in captivity and the rescue operation in The New York Times blog, said he was "comfortable" with his decision to go to the riverbank where a NATO air strike killed scores of people last week.
He said Munadi was shot dead right in front of him before the soldiers dragged him away to a helicopter.
"It was over. Sultan was dead. He had died trying to help me, right up to the very last seconds of his life," he wrote.
The Ministry of Defence in London on Thursday named the dead British soldier as Corporal John Harrison, aged 29, a member of the Parachute Regiment.
Reports had said the soldier killed had been special forces -- who are not normally named.
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MANILA - Death has a way of softening old hurt and lingering pain.
The Aquinos and the Marcoses—at least the children---appeared to have finally have buried the political hatchet following the visit of Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his wife Liza, and Imee Marcos at the wake of former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino at the Manila Cathedral on Tuesday.
“We went there to express our sympathies,” Imee told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak. “We have no official statement.”
The Marcos siblings were welcomed by Cory’s eldest daughter, Maria Elena “Balsy” Aquino-Cruz. The Marcoses stayed for around 15 minutes.
The Aquino family had earlier said the Marcoses are welcome to attend the wake, but should not expect an instant reconciliation. Cory’s youngest daughter, Kris Bernadette, had thanked Mrs. Marcos and her family for praying for her mother. Aquino died Saturday, losing her battle against colon cancer.
Asked if the Marcoses and the Aquinos have kissed and made up, Imee replied: “We are already together in the opposition.”
Imee said they sought the help of Bongbong’s wife, Louise Cacho Araneta-Marcos, who is related to the wife of Cory’s brother, Pedro Cojuangco. Mr. Cojuangco is married to a Cacho. From this channel, they “secured” the “clearance” to attend the wake.
Imee said not many people know that she and Balsy were childhood friends. She recalled that she would go to the Aquinos' home in Times Street in Quezon City and spend some time there.
“Mrs. Aquino would cook for us,” Imee said. “We were all children of LP (Liberal Party) leaders,” she added, explaining how she and Balsy became friends.
The late President Marcos was an LP member, but bolted to join the Nacionalista Party as its standard bearer in the 1965 presidential elections. Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino Jr. was then a rising stalwart of the party.
For decades, the Aquinos and the Marcoses were bitter political families, highlighted by the murder of Ninoy Aquino, following his return to the Philippines in 1983 after years of exile.
The Aquino family believes President Marcos masterminded the killing. While in power, President Aquino had rejected the Marcos family’s request for the dictator’s body to be brought back to the country. His remains were allowed to be brought back in 1993 by then President Fidel Ramos.
The Marcoses fled to Hawaii following the EDSA 1 people power revolution that installed Mrs. Aquino to the presidency.
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Corazon Aquino: Woman of simplicity

She was a woman of simplicity, honesty, and integrity. This was how most of her family and close friends remembered the late president Corazon Aquino.
In the necrological services at the Manila Cathedral Tuesday, Aquino was described as a woman who was never extravagant, yet full of love and always ready to share whatever she had.
“Simplicity characterized her in her lifetime. She is the most credible and outstanding embodiment of integrity,” said a nun, identified as Sister Remy.
“She is a loving sister. Cory, you will forever be with us,” Aquino’s brother, Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. said.
Aquino’s sister-in-law, Maria Aurora Lichauco, meanwhile, tagged the former president as a great mother, having been able to raise “refined, responsible and beautiful offsprings,” despite the absence of her husband, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino who was killed at the tarmac upon his return to the Philippines in 1983. It was his death that sparked People Power revolution, which catapulted his widow to power in 1986.
“I promised Cory I will always be here for her children,” she added, making Aquino’s children emotional.
Designer Paul Cabral who made Aquino’s yellow funeral dress said the icon of democracy was “truly a wonderful woman.”
“Thank you for the fond memories. I feel blessed for the privilege of loving you and being loved in return,” he added.
But the most memorable speech came from Aquino’s bodyguard of 23 years, Inspector Mel Mamaril.
“She nicely treats people around her, no matter how big or small. She treated us just like how a mother treats her son,” said Mamaril who gave his boss a final salute. His act made Aquino’s youngest daughter Kris more emotional.
Aquino’s only son, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, again thanked the public for condoling with their family, noting that they were deeply moved by messages from grade school students who were not even born at the time Cory was president.
“Mom, I really, truly believe you have fought a good fight and you have finished with a cause,” the senator said.
Also present the necrological services were Former president Fidel Ramos, diplomats, cabinet members of the Aquino administration, heads of business communities and ranking officials of the police and military.
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'Thank you, we love you, goodbye'

MANILA, Philippines - Loved ones, friends and strangers showered messages of grief, gratitude and farewell on the late president and people power icon Corazon Aquino last night on the eve of her burial today.
One of the most touching eulogies was delivered by a security aide of 20 years – Inspector Melchor Mamaril – who said he felt he had lost a mother . After his eulogy, he walked closer to Mrs. Aquino’s casket and saluted.
“She shall always remain engraved in our hearts. Thank you, We love you. Goodbye,” Mamaril said.
Mrs. Aquino’s younger daughter Kris could be seen weeping hard as Mamaril was reading his eulogy in English and a few lines in Filipino.
Mamaril was one of the two security escorts of the Aquino family pulled out by the government. The Arroyo administration claimed no knowledge of the order to pull them out and has since apologized.
“I stand now with a deep sense of pride and gratitude as I bid goodbye to her whom I owe so much. My wife Judy and my four children, join me in paying our last respect to one who has become big part of our lives and one who considered us as part of her family,” Mamaril said.
Mamaril said Mrs. Aquino never made him feel like a mere employee but treated him like a son, a family member.
He related that one of her unforgettable memories of Mrs. Aquino’s kindness was in 1998 when she personally prepared noodles for her security aides after coming home one day with them and finding no food in the house.
“That’s how Ma’am Cory was. She takes care of people around her no matter how big or small, She treated us not as mere employees but like a mother tending to a son after a hard day’s work,” Mamaril said.
He said the goodness that Mrs. Aquino showed him made a strong impact on his life and made him a confident person.
“I feel a sense of wonder and at the same time, I realized that her treatment raised my dignity as a person. She gave me self-respect, self worth and self confidence,” Mamaril said.
“And even when she lay dying in bed, she was always very concerned about us. She would always ask if we had eaten already,” Mamaril said.
“One could always see her compassionate heart for all those in need,” Mamaril said.
He also said that Mrs. Aquino also drew him closer to God and to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“I can always remember those times when we have to go to churches. In those times he brought me to prayer and closer to God. I am praying the rosary now,” Mamaril said.
“She exhibited a deep sense of prayer, devotion that I believe was the foundation of her being a person of dignity and uprightness,” he said.
Mamaril also thanked Mrs. Aquino’s children and family
“We are all with you in prayer, may God continue to bless us all,” Mamaril said.
Tribute after tribute
Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said Mrs. Aquino and his wife the late Betty Go-Belmonte shared not only suffering caused by cancer but great faith in God.
Belmonte was one of the 19 people – including Mamaril – who spoke in the necrological services for the late president at the Manila Cathedral late yesterday afternoon.
“I am humbled and touched and influenced by two women of extraordinary faith late wife, Betty G-Belmonte and President Aquino. They were good friends. They met the first time during Ninoy’s (former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino) death,” he said.
At the time that Mrs. Belmonte was sick she was concerned that her condition might cause her children to lose their faith in God, but they kept the faith. “Seeing now President Cory’s children, they have kept the faith.”
The Mayor recalled that when Mrs. Aquino assumed power in 1986, she appointed him chief of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Manila Hotel. He was also member of the board of directors of San Miguel Corp..
He recalled that during these times, never did then President Aquino ask for any favors detrimental to the government and the people.
“She never asked for same favors for herself or her family, I realized that she was an exceptional leader, she made a difference between the people’s money and her own,” he said.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who had served as head of the Manila Police District (MPD) during the Aquino administration and helped her crush several coup attempts called Mrs. Aquino “the best president” the country has ever had. He also gave Mrs. Aquino a final salute.
“We owe you so much. You are the source of our pillar of strength. What I did and what I have now, I owe to you. I salute you for the last time,” Lim added.
Gina de Venecia, the wife of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, broke down as she recalled that Mrs. Aquino stood by her when her “so-called friends” abandoned her during the times she needed them most.
It was the late leader who encouraged her to take up painting, to help her to cope with the tragedies that came her way such as the tragic death of her daughter KC in a fire in their Makati home in 2004.
“I thank God for giving Cory, my friend. She believed in me when in times I do not believe in myself. Thank you for the gift of friendship. I will tell my grandchildren about their Lola Cory who taught me to live again,” Mrs. De Venecia said.
Before ending her speech, she added, “Now that you are in heaven please hug KC and tell her that I love her dearly and that we will meet again.”
Businessman Ramon del Rosario said that she revitalized the business section in the country and made many Filipinos proud because of her honesty, integrity, transparency and integrity. 
Dr. Alex Ayco, Mrs. Aquino’s doctor for the last 30 years, said that when he got her test results some 18 months ago, he did not know how to relay the bad news that she was sick. He recalled that she was always kind to Filipino doctors and believed in their capabilities.
Fashion designer Paul Cabral said that up to now, he has kept the notes sent by Mrs. Aquino to him even if they were just reminders of some of the styles that she wanted. “These are cherished possessions of the most wonderful and selfless person.”
Sister-in-law Maria Aurora Lichauco called her as her BFF or BestFriends Forever. “I look forward to see you again but I hope not to soon.” Her comment elicited laughter from the crowd.
As for former Congressman Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr. said that Mrs. Arroyo’s example taught him to control his temper.
Grateful
Mrs. Aquino’s only son Sen. Benigno Aquino III thanked the Filipinos for the love they had shown to his mother.
“I truly really believe without an iota of doubt that anyone will contradict me that you truly have fought the good fight you really have finished your course and undoubtedly you have kept the faith,” Noynoy said.
“Here is the Cory Aquino who knows how love each and every one of us. There is the Cory Aquino who is ready to do what is right never mind the consequences. There is the Cory Aquino who has the absolute faith in the Church and God. One who would wholeheartedly do the best she could and let God take care of the rest,” he said.
“Are we going to back to the anxiety? When my father died, we lost a leader, he was a strategist, he was our moral booster, but suddenly we lost the center of our world. I did not expect it would have a part two. Maybe I just do not want to face the truth,” the senator said.
“Do we really have to be sad because we have lost hope?” Noynoy asked. “Does the nation still have hope especially now that the one who led and inspired them is no longer around to help us everyday?”
He said looking at elementary school students who told him they were thankful for his mother touched his heart.
“Maybe we just have to bring these children closer to those who are playing blind and even deaf (to the realities),” he said.
He said the life of his mother should remind everyone that the Filipinos still got hope.
“Let it not be forgot that once there was a Camelot,” Aquino III said.
The senator recalled that his mother never turned her back when she needed to lead the Edsa revolution and even up to 2006 when there was a standoff at Fort Bonifacio to avoid bloodshed.
He said there were times he did not understand her and almost rebelled but later realized she was always right and had depended on her wisdom.
To express how proud he was being her son, he quoted what former African leader Nelson Mandela told him during a visit to his mother before, “So you are the son. You knew how to choose your parents correctly. And I said, most definitely, your excellency.” 
The others who spoke in the necrological services were Bro. Armin Luistro of La Salle; Marge Juico who was her appointments secretary; Nonie Uy, her friend from Cebu; former Environment Secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr,; Sister Remy; columnist Conrado de Quiros; brother Jose Cojuangco Jr.; Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay; and Dr. Rosalinda Hortaleza.
Full military honors
Full military honors will be accorded to Mrs. Aquino as she is laid to rest today next to her husband at the Manila Memorial Park.
Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said 1,000 officers and men will take part in the funeral rites.
The Philippine National Police will render departure honors for the late president at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros.
The military honors will include a 21-gun salute – one salvo fired every minute for a 21-minute period – once the casket leaves the cathedral for the Rizal Park.
Another 21-gun salute awaits the former leader at the Rizal Park, and at Camp Aguinaldo, Fort Bonifacio, Villamor Air Base and Fort San Antonio Abad on Roxas Blvd.
An hour after the burial another round of 21-gun salutes will follow at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, the Northern Luzon Command in Tarlac City, the Southern Luzon Command in Lucena City, the Western Command in Puerto Princesa City, the Central Command in Cebu City, the Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City and Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.
Brawner said that only presidents, former presidents and heads of state are given the 21-gun salutes, the highest in the military.
He said the last time the AFP performed full military honors was in 1997 for President Diosdado Macapagal.
Police deployment
At least 720 policemen and civilian volunteers would be deployed along the routes leading to the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.
“(The) NCRPO (National Capital Regional Police Office), in its continuing security operation for the memorial services for the late President Cory Aquino, will provide area and route security as well as traffic management during the scheduled interment tomorrow, (Aug. 5),” Metro police director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales said.
The funeral cortege, after leaving the Manila Cathedral, will proceed to Roxas Roxas Blvd. via the Anda Circle and turn left at Quirino Ave. and right at Osmena Ave. (formerly South Superhighway) to South Luzon Expressway.
The convoy will take the Sucat exit and turn left at the Manila Memorial Park.
Rosales said no road will be closed along the funeral route, but he advised motorists to expect heavy traffic.
But Skyway System operator, Skyway O&M Corp. said it will close the Southbound at-grade section between Magallanes/C-5 and Sucat and the southbound elevated section once the funeral convoy travels the tollway going to Sucat at around 11 am today.
All Southbound at-grade entry points at Magallanes, C-5 and and Bicutan will not allow vehicles that are not part of the entourage to come into the tollway until after the end of the funeral procession has reached Dr. A. Santos Ave. (Sucat Road) towards Manila Memorial park. At the same time, all southbound elevated on-ramp entry points at the Buendia, Arnaiz, and Magallanes areas will be closed to all vehicles.
Casket mirror of simplicity
Her family could have chosen one that’s more lavish and fit for a revered former head of state, but the casket in which Corazon Aquino’s remains are laid reflects her life of simplicity.
Made of hard imported Oakwood, Mrs. Aquino’s coffin, according to Heritage Park vice president for sales and marketing Raquel Mendoza, mirrors her simplicity and elegance.
She said the Aquino family has opted for a simple casket of lighter gold color called “Dignity” to reflect the late president’s aversion to extravagance.
“The color immediately reminds the family of Cory,” she told The STAR in an interview noting that light gold is the closest to golden yellow and that the rounded corners of the casket are considered lucky by the Chinese. Aquino, who belonged to the Cojuangco clan, was part Chinese.
Mendoza said it was the first time the Dignity casket was used for a prominent personality.
The late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, she said, was laid in a “La Pieta” casket and it was a “Winfield” cherry wood for Fernando Poe Jr.
She said the term “hardwood” refers to a casket design that requires no nail to build.
Mendoza said Mrs. Aquino’s Dignity casket is expected to last for 20 to 25 considering that the late president will be buried in a tomb above ground.
“When the family approached me and Heritage Park, we were quite honored to serve her,” she said as she recalled how she herself took part in the EDSA People Power 1.
She said she is proud of being a graduate of St. Scholastica’s College like Mrs. Aquino.
“It was like walking back to memory lane,” Mendoza said. – With Patricia Esteves, Non Alquitran, Mike Frialde, James Mananghaya, Michael Punongbayan - By Aurea Calica and Evelyn Macairan (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

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An orchid named Cory Aquino

MANILA - As a tribute to the late President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, one of her former Cabinet secretaries developed a new breed of orchid and named it after her. The Blc Cory Aquino orchid (Brassolaeliocattleya Cory Aquino), bred by former Justice Secretary Hernando B. Perez, is a graceful but sturdy plant with yellow and green varieties that sport pink outer petals. "This was my way of expressing my admiration for [former] President Cory, and I thought it was just right because the plant was bred from [an orchid variety called] Benigno Aquino. And also because it is the color yellow," Perez told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak in a phone interview. The orchid hybrid took 5 years to grow, using cross-pollination methods. Its "mother and father" plants are a variety of yellow orchid named Dendrobium Ninoy Aquino and the greenish Malvarosa Jade orchid. The color yellow was widely associated with both Ninoy and Cory Aquino, since they used this color in clothes or campaign paraphernalia. Flowers were also one of former President Aquino's favorite painting subjects. Unlike most orchids that need to be propped up, Perez said the Blc Cory Aquino stands erect and proud, much like his idea of the late former president. "It symbolizes strength of character because it is a sturdy plant. Pirmeng naka-tindig yun eh. Pirmeng proud. It is also feminine-looking but with a strong-bearing. Its petals are pink which means it is long-lasting," he added. Before Aquino died, Perez said he was able to give her a pot of his best Blc Cory Aquino orchids and the plant's registry certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society, a London-based international group that registers orchid hybrids. He said in an interview on ABS-CBN's "Umagang Kay Ganda" that this gesture made Aquino very happy. Prize-winning orchid Perez, who was named honorary chairman of the Philippine Orchid Society (POS) last year, has been an avid orchid breeder since 1974. He joined the POS in 1980 and registered the Blc Cory Aquino with the Royal Horticultural Society's orchid registry in 2004. The Blc Cory Aquino is priced at P1,500 for its large varieties and is available at Perez's farm, Malvarosa Orchids, in Batangas. It will also be featured in an orchid show organized by the Philippine Horticultural Society from August 27 to September 7 this year. Perez said the Blc Cory Aquino flower has always made him proud, since it has consistently garnered awards in numerous horticultural contests. "Every time I enter [the flower] in a contest, palaging panalo," he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak. When it won the "Best Philippine Hybrid" award at the Flora Filipina Expo in 2007 - the highest award that a Philippine orchid breed can get - Perez said Aquino sent him a text message congratulating him for the "prize-winning orchid." He still keeps the text message on his phone to this day. In that same 2007 garden show, one of the entries in the Pink Category was a Cattleya hybrid variety named after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The "GMA President," with lilac outer petals and yellow inner petals, lost the competition. Perez said there are various orchids all over the world named that were named after prominent public figures. These include former ABS-CBN anchor Christine Bersola-Babao, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, Indian legend Mahatma Gandhi, and retired star golfer Annika Sorenstam. Report by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak. Photo courtesy of the Philippine Horticultural Society.
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Thousands more pay last repects to Cory at Manila Cathedral

Thousands of people continued to line up at the Manila Cathedral to pay their last respects to the late former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino on Tuesday morning. A one-kilometer line, passing three streets leading to the cathedral, of supporters who woke up early to pay their last respects to the former president formed as soon as organizers reopened the public viewing of the Aquino's remains at 7 a.m. Police inspections were put up in Anda, Urdaneta and Real streets. Organizers estimate that more than 100,000 people have showed up at the cathedral since Mrs. Aquino was transferred there from the La Salle-Greenhills in San Juan City on Monday. Superintendent Pablo Balagtas of the Manila Police District said they expect more people to troop to the cathedral as Mrs. Aquino's interment nears. The former president will be put next to her husband, national hero Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, at the Manila Memoral Park in Parañaque City on Wednesday afternoon. Among the early supporters at the cathedral was former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who flew straight from New York to pay his last respects to the former president. "Gratitude for the services she had rendered our country. She had a purity of heart, the sincerity of purpose... made perfect by her humility and deep spirituality," Davide said. "In life she was with us. In death she should be more with us." Davide was one of the 50 members of the Constitutional Commission formed by Mrs. Aquino. The late president also appointed Davide as chairman of the Commission on Elections in 1989 and was also appointed head of a presidential fact-finding body to investigate the December 1989 coup. Not a picky eater Rorina Navales, Mrs. Aquino's cook for 8 years, told ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda that she cannot imagine cooking for any other employer. She said Mrs. Aquino was the kindest employer she had. "Wala po akong masasabi. Mabuti po siyang amo. Mabait po talaga si ma'am," Navales said as she tries to keep back her tears during the morning news program. She said whenever a household helper commits a mistake, Mrs. Aquino would just say, "Ay ikaw talaga." She said Mrs. Aquino's kitchen masterpiece was chicken liver pâté, which is also the late president's favorite. She said Mrs. Aquino would cook it during family get-togethers, as a gift to friends and for her own consumption. Navales said Mrs. Aquino starts her day with coffee and pandesal, and chicken liver pâté, if available. After breakfast, she said the former president returns to her bedroom to read newspaper and pray the Rosary before preparing to go to work. She said Mrs. Aquino is not a picky eater and did not ask for her to cook a specific dish in the last 8 years. With a report from Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News
For more news on Cory, log on to: http://coryaquino.abs-cbnnews.com

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Senator wants EDSA renamed to 'Cory Aquino Avenue'

A senator on Friday proposed renaming the Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) to Cory Aquino Avenue in memory of the late former president who is revered as a democracy icon.
In a statement, Senator Manuel Roxas II said he will file on Monday a bill seeking to rename portions of the country’s longest avenue to remind Filipinos of the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and catapulted Corazon Aquino to the presidency.
“Sa tuwing mababanggit ang EDSA, iisa ang naiisip nating mga Pilipino: ang People Power ni Tita Cory. Nararapat lamang na i-alay natin sa kanyang alaala ang daang nagpakilala sa kanya sa buong mundo (Whenever we hear of EDSA, one thing always comes to the mind of Filipinos: the People Power led by President Cory. It is but fitting to offer in her memory the road that had made her famous all over the world)," said Roxas, president of the Liberal Party whose members back then included Mrs. Aquino's husband, the late senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.
Mrs. Aquino's only son - Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III - is also an LP member.
When it was first constructed during the presidency of Manuel L.Quezon in the late 1930s, the avenue was named Junio 19 (June 19), after the birthday of national hero José Rizal. It was later renamed Highway 54, and later renamed EDSA in 1959 after Epifanio de los Santos, a noted Filipino patriot and academician during the Spanish era.
"Truly, her legacy to our country and all the generations of Filipinos cannot be overstated…Former President Cory Aquino has demonstrated in the clearest terms that steep moral values and strength of character are what our nation need in times of unabated corruption and political and social decay," Roxas said.
The senator said congressmen from the LP are also set to file on Monday a counter-part measure in the House of Representatives.
Mrs. Aquino, who passed away last August 1 after a year-long battle with colon cancer, was laid to rest beside her husband's tomb on Wednesday. As in the 1986 EDSA Revolutions, thousands of Filipinos took to the streets to show their support for the democracy icon. [See: Cory Aquino gets wish to be laid to rest beside Ninoy]
Lawmakers from LP have earlier taken the lead in proposing that January 25, Mrs. Aquino's birthday, be declared "Cory Aquino Day." A joint resolution containing the proposal is pending in both chambers of Congress.
There are also pending resolutions seeking to declare Mrs. Aquino a national hero. The proposals have gained support in both the House and the Senate. [See: House wants to name Cory a 'national hero'] - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV

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Two climbers dead in Philippines volcano accident

MANILA (AFP) - – Two people, including a foreigner, were killed and two others remained missing after a climbing accident on the Mount Pinatubo volcano northwest of Manila, a Philippines air force spokesman said Friday.
The team's Filipino guide and one unidentified foreign climber were found dead while two others were still unaccounted for, said Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Zamudio.
Philippine air force helicopters responding to a distress call rescued five Canadians and three South Koreans, Zamudio told AFP.
The group was apparently climbing the volcano, located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Manila, when they were caught in fast-moving mudslides formed when heavy rains mixed with the volcanic ash, the spokesman said.
The search for the two other climbers, whose nationalities were not immediately known, was ongoing, Zamudio said.
The 1,475-metre (4,867-foot) volcano erupted with devastating force in 1991, killing more than 800 people and sending a plume of ash 30 miles into the sky.

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Roxas Boulevard turns into 'a sea of litter'

MANILA, Philippines - Due to heavy rains and strong winds brought by typhoon “Kiko,” Roxas Boulevard turned into “a sea of litter,” a Manila City government official said yesterday.
City public services department chief Carlos Baltazar said wind, rain and high tide combined to cause the waters of Manila Bay to rise beyond the seawall and deposit garbage onto the sidewalk and the road itself.
“The stretch of Roxas Boulevard, particularly that of from Padre Faura to the United States embassy, virtually became a sea of litter, making it nearly impassable for motorists,” Baltazar said.
He said Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered him to mobilize a team to clear the area of trash. According to Baltazar, the mounds of garbage were too much for the sweepers to handle and he had to utilize a payloader to clear the streets.
Baltazar said discarded slippers comprised a significant portion of the collected garbage, which mostly came from Cavite and Parañaque.
Meanwhile, traffic slowed to crawl from the Manila City Hall up to the Welcome Rotonda yesterday as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) laid hot asphalt in the Lagusnilad passage.
DPWH workers and equipment occupied almost the entire span of the Lagusnilad, leaving only one lane for vehicles to pass through. Commuters complained that a trip from España Boulevard to the Manila City Hall took at least an hour.
They questioned why the DPWH did asphalting work in broad daylight during a heavy downpour, when it can be done at night.
QC, Marikina ready for flooding
The governments of Quezon City and Marikina City have started to prepare in case the southwest monsoon dumps more rains and cause flooding due to the overflowing of the La Mesa Dam and the Marikina River, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said yesterday.
In a bulletin, the NDCC said the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety has been alerted to continuously monitor the areas that are likely to be affected if the La Mesa Dam overflows. The NDCC named the affected areas as North Fairview, Gulod, San Bartolome and Silangan.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, the water level at the La Mesa Dam reached 80.22 meters, compared to its spilling level of 80.15 meters. The Marikina River also overflowed by half a meter after it exceeded its spilling level of 16 meters.
The heavy rains for the past few days have already affected 317 families or 1,578 persons in four villages in Pasig and Marikina, the agency said. They are now being sheltered in evacuation centers.
According to the NDCC operations center, typhoon “Kiko” continues to move towards North Taiwan. As of 10 a.m. yesterday, it was located 620 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes, packing maximum sustained wings of 130 kilometers near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kilometers per hour. – With Nestor Etolle, James Mananghaya - By Sandy Araneta (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com
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British Queen saddened with death of RP's 'true queen'

MANILA - The reigning Queen of the British monarch joined people in the Philippines and all over the world in mourning the death of former President Corazon Aquino.
In a message, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II said, "I am saddened to hear of the death of Corazon 'Cory' Aquino the former President of the Republic of the Philippines."
She added, "I send my sincere condolences to her family and to the people of the Philippines."
President Aquino has been called the "icon of democracy" for leading a bloodless people power revolution in 1986 to topple former President Marcos, a dictator. She died last August 1.
In the funeral mass before she was laid to rest on Wednesday, a priest referred to President Aquino as "the only true queen our people ever had." Fr. Catalino Arevalo said in his homily that President Aquino was a great leader because of her selflessness, faith and courage."
President Aquino's term in office lasted only for 6 years--up to 1992.
On the other hand, Queen Elizabeth II is a true-blooded royalty. Her 57-year reign makes her the longest reigning British monarch.
Her message of condolence was conveyed to President Gloria Arroyo by British Ambassador to Manila, Peter Beckingham in an August 4 letter. It was coursed through Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
The brief message was signed "Elizabeth R."
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