Rotary Update: The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has launched the year-long book campaign dubbed "Books for Peace" at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. Rear Admiral Miguel Jose Rodriguez, Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations (CMO) of the AFP, said the project is in partnership with the Rotary Club of Loyola Heights. Rodriguez said that "Books for Peace" emphasizes the major part being played by education in our nation’s quest for peace. It also recognizes the glaring truth that conditions in conflict areas have spawned widespread poverty, contributing to the inability of families to send their children to school, he said. Rodriguez added that insufficient support to buy the needed reading materials hampers the education of those who are lucky enough to attend school. The project, he said, follows the success of the Philippine Marines battalion landing team in Sulu where more than a million books through a similar campaign were donated and distributed to the needy school-children. Rotary Club of Loyola Heights President Morris Agoncillo said that the project has a potential of making a big impact in the knowledge formation of the youth who intends to finish their studies but are in dire need of financial support.

Military Launches ‘Books For Peace’ | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "During the one-year book drive, the AFP will collaborate with the Department of Education (DepEd) in identifying the project beneficiaries particularly in conflict areas.

The Rotarians will handle the tri-media advocacy and collection campaign which will start in Quezon City, then the National Capital Region (NCR), and eventually in other cities nationwide.

"The RC-Loyola Heights and the AFP recognize that prior to the internet boom, knowledge were accessed mainly through printed forms such as encyclopedias and almanacs. Only the financially-abled families, however, were able to buy these costly books, further contributing to a polarity in educational opportunities in the country," said Rodriguez."

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Peace Update: Muslim rebels waging a four-decade insurgency in the Philippines signed a historic pact with the government on Monday to end the conflict, but both sides warned the road to peace had only just begun. President Benigno Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim witnessed the signing of the accord, which aims for a final peace pact by 2016, in a landmark ceremony at the presidential palace in Manila.

President Benigno Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim witnessed the signing of the accord, which aims for a final peace pact by 2016, in a landmark ceremony at the presidential palace in Manila.
Philippines, Muslim rebels sign peace pact - Yahoo! News Philippines: "President Benigno Aquino, who has driven the process since assuming office in 2010, also hailed the agreement as a chance to "finally achieve genuine, lasting peace".
Ebrahim became the first MILF chief to visit the presidential palace, signifying the optimism from both sides about finally ending a conflict that has claimed 150,000 lives and the priority Aquino has put on achieving peace. Under the plan, the 12,000-strong MILF would give up its quest for an independent homeland in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao in return for significant power and wealth sharing in a new autonomous region there."

A Muslim girl flashes the peace sign after a nationwide peace caravan from Mindanao to Malacanang arrived to show its support for the signing of a framework agreement, during a vigil near Malacanang palace in Manila October 14, 2012. The Philippine government and Muslim rebels will sign on Monday the framework agreement to end a 40-year conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people, paving the way for a political and economic revival of the country's troubled south. REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo (PHILIPPINES - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS)

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Climate Change Update: Philippines Project NOAH – National Operational Assessment of Hazards – intends to give Filipinos a better chance of overcoming calamities by providing real-time access to weather information and updating maps. Spearheaded by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology, the 2 billion pesos, or $48 million, project was launched in July 2012. Automated rain gauges first were installed in river basis around the country, allowing scientists and other experts to track rainfall and river water levels in real time. This month, the project will roll out LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, technology which allows for high-resolution 3D mapping of the country’s topography – something which scientists say will help the Philippines’ better prepare for potential disasters. The entire country is expected to be digitally mapped within two years, according to scientists running the project. “Using the best technology available is the only way to minimize casualties,” said Mahar Lagmay, executive director of Project Noah and a scientist at the University of the Philippines in Manila. “We need to develop a culture of preparedness and safety.

"Just weeks after Project Noah was launched by the country’s president Benigno Aquino III, the system was quickly tested when monsoon winds and rain dumped unusually heavy rainfall on critical cities in the Philippines, including Manila. The torrential rains caused the most severe floods seen since Tropical Storm Ketsana in 2009 which left the capital submerged for days. Initial assessments of the August floods showed that better tracking and disaster response times helped to limit the death toll to just over 100 people, compared to over 700 during 2009’s floods. A report from the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, said local governments were “managing the situations well”, and that that follow-up relief operation was put into action quickly. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the population displaced by the floods reduced by 10% in a week – a far better record than during Typhoon Ketsana, whose impact lasted months though similar levels of rainfall were recorded, according to Project Noah’s tracking maps."

'via Blog this' Philippines Goes Hi-Tech For Disaster Response Plan - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ:

Rotary Update: The Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Pangasinan chapter and the Rotary Club of Dagupan East launched the "Blood Samaritan Project" on Monday to address the humanitarian need for safe, adequate and equitable distribution of blood supply. The Blood Samaritan Project is a resource generation activity initiated by the Philippine Red Cross to help indigent clients gain access to blood and blood products. The strong and stable collaboration with Rotary Club led to the "RC-RC partnership in Service for Peace and Humanity."

: "Dr. Vivencio Villaflor, chairman and board of director of PRC-Pangasinan, said every individual deserves quality health care. In cases when a patient needs blood for transfusion and be restored to health, the Red Cross is mandated to provide blood for patients, he said. Safe and quality blood carries cost that most indigent patients could not afford. PRC said though blood itself is free, collecting and processing of one unit of safe and quality blood costs P1,500. PRC recovers the cost of blood operations by charging clients a nominal blood processing fee. Unfortunately, the total cost is hardly met by an average Filipino. Thus, the partnership emerged, which has been strengthened by several humanitarian endeavors, the PRC said. On the same day, the PRC-Pangasinan chapter also conducted its assembly at the Stadia this city led by Chapter Administrator Florame Magalong. An oath-taking of the new officers was held in the evening. (ANL/VHS-PIA 1 Pangasinan) "'via Blog this' PIA | Philippine Information Agency | Philippine Red Cross, Rotary Club launch ‘Blood Samaritan Project’

Peace Update: The largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines said Monday that a peace accord with the government could be forged soon despite recent attempts by a breakaway guerrilla faction to derail the talks. Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said more than 50 percent of the issues being tackled by the rebels and government negotiators in Malaysian-brokered talks have been settled in principle. President Benigno Aquino III has expressed hope that a peace pact can be signed as early as December.

 "The Moro group has been battling for decades for self-rule for minority Muslims in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic country. The rebellion has left more than 120,000 people dead, held back progress in the resource-rich south and sparked worries by Western governments that rebel strongholds could serve as breeding grounds for al-Qaida-linked extremists. The planned signing of a preliminary peace pact in 2008 was scuttled when the Supreme Court declared the agreement unconstitutional, prompting three rebel commanders to launch attacks on Christian communities in the south. The attacks and an ensuing military offensive killed dozens of people and displaced about 750,000 villagers until the two sides agreed on a cease-fire."Muslim Rebels: Philippine Peace Pact Possible Soon - ABC News:

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Climate Change Update: To prevent more deaths during disaster, Surveillance in Post Extreme Emergencies and Disaster (SPEED), a project supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), uses SMS / text messages on mobile phones or the internet to alert emergency health officials to dangerous situations and send them health information, and receive data on health conditions in communities and reports of disaster damage

IRIN Asia | PHILIPPINES: Texting help and health in disaster response | Philippines | Natural Disasters: "SPEED can be activated within 24 hours of any disaster, including displacement caused by conflict, and works by tapping into the vast mobile phone network in the Philippines - official statistics say almost everyone has a handset. Where mobile phone systems are down, field reporters can use radios to send in statistics for their area, she said. Health and emergency “reporters”, usually disaster response or health officers at the barangay (the smallest administrative area) or municipal level, fan out to community health facilities, hospitals and evacuation centres to check on reported cases of the most common post-disaster diseases. This data and other information is then sent via mobile phone - using codes and formats specially designed for the system - to the central SPEED server based in Manila, where it is collated and analyzed before making the information accessible to emergency officials at all levels of government. "

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Peace Update: Philippines isn’t hampered by the absence of the joint statement in the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting in Cambodia, saying the country would continue finding a peaceful solution to the disputed West Philippine Sea. ASEAN foreign ministers had earlier agreed to key elements on the code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea, but for some reason, a joint communiqué was not issued at the end of the ministerial meeting

PHL to continue claim of West Philippine Sea through diplomacy, Palace says - ZamboTimes: "In April, during the ASEAN leader’s summit in Cambodia, the chair removed the West Philippine Sea issue from the agenda despite Manila’s insistence. Cambodia is this year’s ASEAN Summit chair. “We are not hampered by the absence of a joint communiqué. It certainly would have helped us but we are not hampered by the absence of a joint communiqué,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a media briefing in Malacanang on Tuesday.
Asked by reporters what would be President Benigno S. Aquino III’s approach when he goes back to Cambodia this November for the ASEAN Summit, Lacierda said the President will certainly back the ASEAN centrality. “Number one, tingnan natin kung ano ang magiging developments from here on until the next meeting of the ASEAN leaders. But definitely, one thing that the President has emphasized and will emphasize again in the coming meeting will be the ASEAN centrality,” he said."

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