Php 70.00 Vol. 47 No. 07 • July 2013 - IMPACT Magazine Online!

NEWS
FEATURES
Call for Philippine court to ban
US military maneuvers
MANILA, July 2, 2013—
Environmental activists on
Tuesday filed an urgent motion
with the Supreme Court
aimed at stopping US military
exercises and port calls,
as the Philippine government
looks to give American
forces greater access amid an
ongoing territorial standoff
with China.
The latest legal challenge
to the US military
presence in the Philippines
comes after the Supreme
Court issued a “writ of nature”
against the US Navy in
April, as a result of the USS
Guardian running aground
on the Tubbataha Reef, a
Unesco World Heritage
Site.
“The growing rotational
presence in the country of
US troops renders our marine
protected areas highly
vulnerable to destruction and
degradation given the influx
of military personnel, weaponry
and naval and ground
vessels,” said Renato Reyes
of the New Patriotic Alliance,
one of the groups who
backed Tuesday’s petition.
Under the bilateral Visiting
Forces Agreement between
the Philippines and the
US, American personnel are
exempt from visa and passport
requirements and the US
maintains legal jurisdiction
if crimes are committed by
its servicemen on Philippines
soil.
The US is not permitted
to operate permanent bases
but unlimited access to the
Philippines without any clear
environmental guidelines
“reveals the fatal problems
of the Visiting Forces Agreement,”
said Reyes.
The Philippine Defense
Department last week said
it was looking to give the
United States and Japan
greater access to the country’s
military bases to counter
a perceived rising security
threat from China amid a
dispute over islands in the
South China Sea.
Assistant Foreign Affairs
Secretary Raul Hernandez
said this would be
permitted if “mutually beneficial”
for both countries
as they “continue to talk
about the modalities and the
parameters for an increased
rotational presence of US
forces.”
Edsel Tupaz, head legal
counsel of the petitioners,
said that the US should pay
for damages “prior to incurring
any unnecessary government
expenditures for the
maintenance of these ports
and port calls.”
In January, the USS
Guardian destroyed at least
2,346 sq ms of pristine and
highly diverse coral ecosystems
on the Tubbataha Reef.
In May, a US investigation
admitted fault caused by human
error. (ucanews)
Catholic entrepreneur helps Indian children
create a future through computer science
MUMBAI, India, July 2, 2013—“A
statement of professional quality is the
only way to allow poor children to make
progress and realise themselves in the
world” is this spirit with which Agnelo
Rajesh Athaide, a Catholic entrepreneur
in Mumbai, set up the St Angelo Professional
Education (SAPE), the city's
oldest computer education company in
Mumbai.
In the past 20 years, SAPE has offered
courses and scholarships to young
people who want to succeed in this line of
work. In recognition of his contribution
to computer education, he received the
Social Reformer Award for his contribution
in technology and management
education at this year's India Leadership
Conclave and Indian Affairs Business
Leadership Award.
Created in 1993, Athaide's company
has helped more than 300,000 students
graduate in computer science and enter
the workforce.
“When I started,”
the entrepreneur
said, “computer
education
was a luxury. Costs
were prohibitive
and a deterrent to a
diploma for many
young students
who could not afford
the fees of
certain schools.”
“I applied to St
Angelo the concept
of corporate social
responsibility,” he
explained, “to give
quality computer
education to groups
of lower and middle class students. I made
the social improvement [of others] the goal of
my life and company. Not only is it possible,
but also very rewarding to marry commercial
interests to community development.”
Athaide received the award on 24
June. Among the reasons, there are “his
commitment and dedication to the community”
and a desire to “serve society and
the nation through computer education.”
(AsiaNews)
www.asianews.it
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IMPACT • July 2013