MMDA’s Pialago apologizes for comment on activist
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokesperson Celine Pialago apologized yesterday after drawing criticism over the weekend for her remarks on the plight of detained activist Reina Mae Nasino, whose three-month-old daughter died in a public hospital in Manila on Oct. 9......»»
Family of former British PM apologizes for slave-owning past
The descendants of former British prime minister William Gladstone apologized for their family's slaveholding past in Guyana on Friday, and urged the United Kingdom to discuss reparations in the Caribbean. Gladstone's father was one of the largest slaveholders in the parts of the Caribbean colonized by Britain. John Gladstone is also believed to have owned two ships that transported thousands of Asians from India and elsewhere to work as indentured laborers after the abolition of slavery in 1834. "Slavery was a crime against humanity and its damaging impact continues to be felt across the world today," Charles Gladstone, William's great-great grandson, said at a launch for the University of Guyana's International Centre for the Study of Migration and Diaspora. "It is with deep shame and regret that we acknowledge our ancestor's involvement in this crime and with heartfelt sincerity that we apologize to the descendants of the enslaved in Guyana," he added. "We also urge other descendants of those who benefited from slavery to open conversations about their ancestors' crimes and what they might be able to do to build a better future." The Gladstones also apologized for their role in indentureship. But his words were met with a strong rebuke by several Guyanese descendants of African slaves present at the university lecture hall. "It is not accepted," one of them shouted. The protesters held placards that read: "Your guilt is real Charlie. Move quickly to reparations now," and "The Gladstones are murderers." Afro-Guyanese activist Nicole Cole, who was among the protesters, said the apology was insufficient. "No apology can suffice but it is a step towards recognizing that a crime was committed and that people's lives have been disrupted," she told AFP. Charles Gladstone and five other family members vowed to support the work of the new university department and called on the United Kingdom to hold talks with the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on reparations. Besides a "sincere formal apology", the right of repatriation for descendants of "stolen people" and debt cancellation to clean up the "colonial mess", CARICOM is seeking a development program for their member states' indigenous communities and the funding of cultural institutions such as slavery museums. Eric Phillips, a member of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, said research showed the British owe the descendants of Africans in Guyana more than $1.2 trillion. Charles Gladstone told AFP that, while he could not comment on the actual monetary figure, the United Kingdom and governments in Europe may be "frightened of the amount." The post Family of former British PM apologizes for slave-owning past appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
MMDA’s Pialago apologizes for comment on activist
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokesperson Celine Pialago apologized yesterday after drawing criticism over the weekend for her remarks on the plight of detained activist Reina Mae Nasino, whose three-month-old daughter died in a public hospital in Manila on Oct. 9......»»
Joey de Leon’s ‘lubid’ comment entangles ‘E.A.T’, show apologizes to MTRCB
[Trigger warning: Mention of suicide] The management of the noontime show E.A.T has apologized over main host controversial Joey De Leon’s “lubid” (rope) punchline during the show’s Gimme5 segment on 23 September. The game segment required participants to name five things in a given category. During the weekend episode, the category was things that could be worn around the neck. The participant only had necklace as an answer. But De Leon chimed in and said, “Lubid, lubid, nakakalimutan niyo. Lubid (Rope, rope, you forgot. Rope).” De Leon’s grisly remark immediately drew flak on social media, with netizens calling him out for his insensitivity and how it would’ve triggered some viewers going through difficult times. On 27 September, at the Senate finance subcommittee hearing led by Senator Jinggoy Estrada that was discussing the proposed 2024 budget of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, MTRCB chairperson Diorella “Lala” Sotto-Antonio informed the panel that the producers had “voluntarily” submitted an apology letter to the board after the episode. Lawyer Paul Cases, the chairperson of the MTRCB adjudication board, confirmed that the producers have submitted an apology letter. “We issued a notice of appearance and they did actually apologize for the statement and they submitted a position paper as well. It is now subject to a resolution, the case is pending,” Cases said. In the letter, Jeny Ferrer. E.A.T’s head of creatives and production operations, explained what happened during the show’s now-infamous segment. De Leon’s statement, Ferre said, was conveyed “verbally in a very brief manner without further actions, elaborations or demonstrations. However, some viewers interpreted the utterance of the said object to be an insinuation of suicide, which is a very sensitive and triggering subject.” “In this regard, the whole E.A.T management is regretful and apologetic to those who were offended by the said utterance. Rest assured that we are one with MTRCB in advocating a responsible viewing experience for the public,” Ferre added. This is not the first time E.A.T. has gotten entangled in controversy since its debut in July. On 11 August, the MTRCB summoned Wally Bayola, one of the show’s hosts, for uttering profanity during the Sugod Bahay Mga Kapatid segment the previous day. Bayola immediately apologized on the day the MTRCB called out the show. The MTRCB said it is currently reviewing complaints made against the show. The post Joey de Leon’s ‘lubid’ comment entangles ‘E.A.T’, show apologizes to MTRCB appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
E.A.T. apologizes over Joey de Leon lubid comment
The production of noontime show "E.A.T" apologized for the "lubid" comment of its host Joey de Leon on its recent episode that drew flak for its suggestion on the sensitive topic of suicide......»»
Defector’s plea: Don’t send me back
A Chinese activist who fled to Taiwan is holed up in a local airport, pleading authorities no to send him back to his country. “I hope to seek asylum in the United States or Canada. I request for friends to appeal to Taiwan’s government to please not send me back to China,” Chen Siming wrote on X from the transit area of Taoyuan International Airport. Chen said he fled China three months ago because the methods used by authorities “to maintain stability are becoming more brutal.” He also alleged that Chinese authorities had detained him in the past, confiscated his phone, and conducted a psychiatric evaluation on him. “I could no longer endure (it)... so I fled China on 22 July,” Chen wrote. “On September 22, I finally arrived in Taiwan, the island of freedom.” According to Radio Free Asia, Chen first traveled to Laos after leaving China in July, before crossing into Thailand. But due to worries about being sent to immigration prison in Thailand — a country with a track record of deporting dissidents — he bought a return ticket to China that transited via Taiwan, RFA said. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has not responded to requests for comment on Chen’s current status. In 2019 two Chinese dissidents spent more than four months trapped in limbo at Taiwan’s airport after fleeing China. WITH AFP The post Defector’s plea: Don’t send me back appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Saudi women jailed for Twitter use should be freed
Two Saudi women sentenced to decades in prison over social media use have been held arbitrarily and should be released, according to UN expert findings seen Saturday by AFP. The lengthy jail terms handed down last year to Salma al-Shehab and Nourah al-Qahtani, primarily over Twitter posts criticizing the government, have heightened global scrutiny of repression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is trying to rebrand the Gulf kingdom as open for business and tourism. In a report dated 19 June and shared with AFP, the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, an independent expert panel, determined the women had been held arbitrarily and that "the appropriate remedy would be to release" them. They should be given "an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law", it said. The UN experts also said there was credible evidence Shehab had faced "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" while in custody. The alleged abuses against her include "threats, insults, harassment and improper methods used during her interrogation", such as taking "advantage of (Shehab's) depression by interrogating her in the middle of the night, shortly after she had taken her antidepressant and sleeping pills". Sources for the report included five groups representing the two women, among them the rights organization ALQST, Democracy for the Arab World Now, and MENA Rights Group. In its response to the expert panel, Saudi Arabia rejected the findings as "unfounded" and said they lacked "supporting evidence". The kingdom said the judicial process had been fair and denied Shehab had been mistreated. Saudi officials did not respond to a request for comment from AFP on Saturday. Shehab, a member of the Shiite minority in the majority Sunni kingdom, had been studying for a doctorate in Britain when she was arrested in January 2021 while on holiday. She has said she was held for 285 days in solitary confinement before being convicted in March 2022 by a court that tries terrorism cases. The evidence against her included posts championing women's rights and retweets of a prominent Saudi women's rights activist. In August, she was sentenced to 34 years in prison and banned from traveling abroad for a further 34 years. Qahtani received a 45-year sentence last year for using Twitter to "challenge" Prince Mohammed and his father King Salman. A court document seen last year by AFP described an anonymous account in which Qahtani criticized the government and retweeted posts warning of attempts to arrest those behind public protests, which are not tolerated in Saudi Arabia. The post Saudi women jailed for Twitter use should be freed appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
China jails US citizen for life on espionage charges
China has sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison for espionage, a court said Monday, but revealed few details about the previously unreported case. Such heavy terms are relatively rare for foreign citizens in China, and the jailing of American passport holder John Shing-wan Leung is likely to further strain already-damaged ties between Beijing and Washington. Leung, who is also a Hong Kong permanent resident, "was found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life", said a statement from the Intermediate People's Court in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. Suzhou authorities "took compulsory measures according to the law" against Leung in April 2021, it said, without specifying when he had been taken into custody. It was unclear where Leung had been living at the time of his arrest. A spokesperson for the US embassy in Beijing said they were aware of reports that a US citizen had been recently convicted and sentenced in Suzhou. "The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas," the spokesperson said. "Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment." The court statement provided no further details on the charges, and closed-door trials are routine in China for sensitive cases. Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin declined to comment further on the case at a regular press briefing on Monday. In Hong Kong, security minister Chris Tang told a news conference Monday the city's authorities were notified of Leung's arrest in 2021. "The Hong Kong police have carried out follow-up action according to the notification," Tang said, refusing to elaborate further. Rights activist jailed The jailing is likely to further damage relations with Washington, which are already severely strained over issues such as trade, human rights and Taiwan. Washington and Beijing have just ended an unofficial pause in high-level contacts over the United States' shooting down in February of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi held eight hours of talks in Vienna in an apparent breakthrough last week, with both sides describing the meeting as "candid, substantive and constructive". On Friday, Washington issued a statement condemning the reported sentencing of a Chinese human rights activist for "inciting subversion of state power". Guo Feixiong, also known as Yang Maodong, was jailed for eight years, according to rights groups. There has been no official confirmation of the sentencing from China. The US State Department said in its statement its diplomats had been barred from attending the trial in southern China. "We urge the PRC to live up to its international commitments, give its citizens due process, respect their human rights and fundamental freedoms including freedom of speech, and end the use of arbitrary detentions and exit bans," said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday the country's "judicial authorities act in accordance with the law, and their actions brook no interference". US President Joe Biden is due to head to Hiroshima for a meeting of leaders of the G7 group of major developed economies. The G7's relationship with China is expected to be high on the agenda at the May 19-21 summit. Other high-profile espionage cases in recent years include the arrest in 2019 of Chinese-born Australian writer Yang Jun. Australia called last week for another of its nationals, jailed journalist Cheng Lei, to be reunited with her family after 1,000 days in detention over "supplying state secrets overseas". In April, authorities formally charged a prominent Chinese journalist with spying, more than a year after he was detained while having lunch at a Beijing restaurant with a Japanese diplomat, a media rights group said. Revised anti-espionage law Also in April, China approved an amendment to its anti-espionage law, broadening its scope by widening the definition of spying and banning the transfer of any data related to what the authorities define as national security. The changes to the law will come into force on July 1. "Chinese authorities have long had an essentially free hand in addressing national security concerns," Chinese law expert Jeremy Daum wrote. "The laws involved are sometimes amorphous and vague, leading to selective, or even arbitrary, enforcement," he said, adding that the definition of "espionage" was already so broad "it isn't immediately clear what the impact of the expanded definition will be". The post China jails US citizen for life on espionage charges appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BMW’s Mini apologizes over Shanghai Auto Show’s ice cream ‘discrimination’
Car brand Mini apologized Thursday over accusations of discrimination at the Shanghai Auto Show after a video apparently showed staff at its booth handing free ice cream to a foreigner after refusing it to a Chinese visitor. A video compilation posted on the social media platform Weibo appears to show workers telling the Chinese visitor they were out of the desert. Mini posted an apology over the incident, saying "careless management and staff negligence caused unpleasantness for everyone", and pledged to improve training. The topic "BMW Mini says sorry" had garnered more than 3.4 million views on Weibo by Thursday afternoon. China is the world's largest car market and Mini's owner, German auto giant BMW, has been at pains to emphasize the importance of Chinese customers at the show. The Shanghai event is the first time most international industry executives have been back in China since the Covid-19 pandemic. With domestic brands streets ahead in the crucial electric vehicle sector, BMW has pushed the message that "China is the place to be". "Munich is where we come from, but China is where we are at home," executive Frank Weber told a news conference Tuesday. Almost 70 percent of BMW's latest operating system contains functions specific to the Chinese market and the company has tripled its research and development there in the past three years, BMW said. But the ice cream debacle has sparked online outrage against BMW and reportedly provoked conflicts offline, too. A video posted to Weibo showed someone placing a bag full of ice creams by a booth at the show shouting: "Free for Chinese people!" In another incident, a woman live-streamed a confrontation between herself and security guards -- said to have taken place at the Mini booth -- with streaming comments that claimed "BMW is hitting people!" AFP has contacted Mini for comment. "BMW executives never expected an ice cream to cause such a big disturbance," one internet user wrote. The post BMW’s Mini apologizes over Shanghai Auto Show’s ice cream ‘discrimination’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Comment on E-Sabong Operations Stopped by Duterte Apologizes for Initially Allowing e-Sabong in PH – Metro Cebu News
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Canada’s Nova Stevens apologizes for ‘wrong’ did to Michael Cinco over Miss Universe gowns
Miss Universe Canada 2020 Nova Stevens said sorry for the comment that her pageant team made about the gown she was supposed to wear at the Miss Universe 2020 preliminaries, which was executed by internationally-renowned Filipino designer Michael Cinco......»»
MMDA allows road works during Holy Week
Road diggings will take place along major thoroughfares in Metro Manila this Holy Week when most motorists are vacationing in the provinces, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority announced yesterday......»»
MMDA suspends number coding scheme on March 28, 29
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will be temporarily lifting its number coding scheme on March 28 (Maundy Thursday) and March 29 (Good Friday), which were earlier declared as regular holidays......»»
Niña Jose sa viral ‘amoy maasim’ comment: Nagpakatotoo lang!
ITINANGGI ni Mayor Niña Jose ng Bayambang, Pangasinan na tao ang pinatutungkulan niyang “maasim ang amoy” sa kanyang viral video. Ang mikroponong ginamit daw niya sa naganap na flag ceremony sa kanilang probinsya kung saan nagsalita siya sa harap ng kanyang constituents, ang totoong mabaho ang amoy. Base sa panayam ng “Showbiz Update” host na.....»»
LTFRB to inspect transport terminals
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Teofilo Guadiz is scheduled to inspect transport terminals tomorrow ahead of the exodus of passengers during the Holy Week, LTFRB spokesperson Celine Pialago said yesterday......»»
Drag racer yields, apologizes
ONE of the motorists involved in the illegal drag race, in which the video went viral, surrendered and publicly apologized for his misdemeanor......»»
Han So-hee clarifies relationship status with Ryu Jun-yeol, apologizes for impulsive response to rumors
Han So-hee clarifies relationship status with Ryu Jun-yeol, apologizes for impulsive response to rumors.....»»
Int’l rights groups condemn detention, deportation of Dutch-Filipino activist
According to Migrante-Netherlands, Marikit Saturay was not allowed to talk to her lawyers and her relatives. A uniformed agent was also assigned to guard her during the entire detention period. The post Int’l rights groups condemn detention, deportation of Dutch-Filipino activist appeared first on Bulatlat......»»
Sharon Cuneta apologizes, shares story behind Kiko Pangilinan’s pugot ulo photo
“Megastar” Sharon Cuneta admitted that she was at fault for posting a recently viral photo of her politician husband Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan with no head on her official social media account......»»
Ukraine, allies slam Pope Francis’ ‘white flag’ comment
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian and allied officials Sunday criticized Pope Francis for saying that Kyiv should have the “courage” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia, a statement many interpreted as a call for Ukraine to surrender. The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland, a vocal ally of Kyiv, condemned the pope’s remarks......»»
Megan Young apologizes after fixing Miss Botsawana s hair at Miss World 2024
Miss World 2013 Megan Young apologized for fixing Miss Botsawana Lesego Chombo's hair during the Question and Answer segment at the recent Miss World 2024. .....»»