Established 1961 9 International Tuesday, December 26, 2017 More than 30 bodies found after deadly Philippine fire Govt launches criminal probe as toll rises to 37

DAVAO, Philippines: Firemen yesterday found the bodies statement. Mall operators denied the claims. “There is no of “around” 36 people after a deadly blaze at a shopping truth to that allegation. In fact as per accounts of those who mall in the southern Philippines, a fire official said as the got out, they were able get out thru the fire exit,” Thea Padua, government launched a criminal investigation. the mall’s public relations officer, told AFP by text message. The discovery raised to 37 the confirmed death toll from the NCCC shopping mall fire in the city of Davao on Rescuers criticized Mindanao island. The Davao region chief of the Bureau of Davao’s fire marshal described the shopping mall on Fire Protection, Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan Tiu, told weep- Sunday as “an enclosed space with no ventilation”, though ing relatives of the missing that he personally counted the authorities said they had yet to determine the cause of “around 36” bodies in an office lobby at the gutted mall. the blaze. Deadly blazes occur regularly in the Philippines, City mayor Sara particularly in slum areas Duterte, a daughter of where there are virtually President , no fire safety standards. said earlier that 38 people Corruption and exploita- were missing and feared tion mean supposedly dead in the fire, with one Slow pace of strict fire standards are other unidentified body often not enforced. Some recovered on Sunday. recovery relatives of those missing “I personally counted earlier criticized rescuers them before I gave the efforts comes for what they felt was the information to our honor- slow pace of recovery able mayor... around 36 in under fire efforts. “They seem so number,” Kwan Tiu told relaxed,” said Jolita weeping relatives, who Basalan, weeping as she clutched long-stemmed waited for news of her white flowers as they attended a mass. “As the ground 29-year-old son Jonas who worked at the call center. commander of this operation my deepest apology for I “They are not pained because they don’t have a child was not able to save them,” said the fire official, who there. They told us to come here but no one is moving,” joined a search inside the building at midday. she told AFP. The blaze began on Saturday, trapping call center SSI said it has arranged for counselling for its employ- workers of US-based market research firm SSI, which ees and will support funeral arrangements and set up a : Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte comforting a relative of one of the vic- announced on its website late Sunday that 37 of its 500 fund for the bereaved. “This terrible tragedy has left us tims after a fire engulfed a shopping mall in Davao City on the southern Philippine island of employees at the top-floor office had been “lost” in the with heavy hearts. We offer our condolences and prayers Mindanao. —AFP fire. Philippine authorities ordered a criminal investigation to the families and loved ones of the victims,” SSI chief Monday as allegations surfaced of locked or non-existent executive Gary Laben said in a statement on its website. fire exits at the building, which its administrators denied. The shopping mall fire compounded the Christmas mis- tore through a footwear factory in Manila, killing 72. were killed in a huge blaze that gutted a Manila disco in “By punishing those responsible, we can set an example ery in the south of the mainly Catholic nation, where tens Survivors of that blaze blamed barred windows and other 1996. With low wages but strong English-language skills, to others so that hopefully there will be no repetition of of thousands were displaced by floods and landslides from sweatshop conditions for trapping people inside the facto- the Philippines is a popular destination for international those tragedies,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said in a a storm that also killed 240 others on Friday. In 2015 a fire ry. In the nation’s deadliest fire of recent times, 162 people companies to set up customer call centers. —AFP

Pakistan allows wife, China calls for mother to visit constructive Indian sentenced efforts to ease to death Korean tensions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan allowed the wife and mother of an BEIJING: China called yesterday for all countries to make Indian man convicted of spying to visit him yesterday in constructive efforts to ease tension after North Korea said Islamabad, eight months after he was sentenced to death the latest UN sanctions against it are an act of war and by a military court. tantamount to a complete economic blockade. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, a former officer in the The UN Security Council unanimously imposed new Indian navy, was arrested in March 2016 in the Pakistan sanctions on North Korea on Friday for its recent inter- province of Baluchistan, where there has been a long-run- continental ballistic missile test, seeking to limit its access ning conflict between national security forces and militant to refined petroleum products and crude oil and its earn- separatists. The case has added to tensions between the ings from workers abroad. nuclear-armed neighbors, who often accuse each other of The US-drafted resolution also caps crude oil supplies violating a 2003 ceasefire along their disputed border in to North Korea at 4 million barrels a year and commits the Kashmir, where the countries sometime engage in intense Council to further reductions if it were to conduct another artillery duels. nuclear test or launch another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). North Korea on Sunday rejected the reso- Pakistan released a picture of Jadhav’s mother, Avanti, lution, calling it an act of war. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese and wife, Chetankul, seated at a desk and speaking to him ISLAMABAD: The wife (second left) and mother (left) of Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the from behind a glass window. “The mother and wife of an Indian national sentenced to death for spying in Pakistan, leave after meeting resolution appropriately strengthened the sanctions but Commander Jadhav sitting comfortably in the Ministry of with Jadhav at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad yesterday.—AFP was not designed to affect ordinary people, normal eco- Foreign Affairs Pakistan. We honor our commitments,” a nomic exchanges and cooperation, or humanitarian aid. spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign office, Mohammad Faisal, unfair trial. The World Court ordered Pakistan in May to Baluchistan is at the center of a $57 billion Chinese- Hua noted it also called for the use of peaceful means to said in an earlier Twitter posting when the women first delay Jadhav’s execution, and said Islamabad had violated backed “Belt and Road” development project that at first resolve the issue and that all sides should take steps to arrived at the ministry in Islamabad. a treaty guaranteeing diplomatic assistance to foreigners focused on Chinese companies building roads and power reduce tension. “In the present situation, we call on all India’s foreign affairs office has not responded to a accused of crimes. stations, but is now expanding to include setting up indus- countries to exercise restraint and make proactive and request for comment on the meeting. After Jadhav was Pakistan authorities say Jadhav confessed to being tries. In a transcript released by Pakistan of what it says is constructive efforts to ease the tensions on the peninsula sentenced to death in April, India asked the World Court ordered by India’s intelligence service to conduct espi- Jadhav’s confession, the former naval officer says disrupt- and appropriately resolve the issue,” she told a daily news for an injunction to bar the execution, arguing that he was onage and sabotage in Baluchistan “to destabilize and ing the Chinese-funded projects was a main goal of his briefing. The North’s old allies China and Russia both sup- denied diplomatic assistance during what it says was an wage war against Pakistan”. activities. — Reuters ported the latest UN sanctions.—Reuters

is regularly battered by typhoons that Controversial Duterte son resigns Vietnam braces form over the warm waters of the Pacific and barrel westwards into land. Tembin from Philippine govt post for typhoon as will be the 16th major storm to hit Vietnam China island expansion this year. The storms and other disasters have left 390 people dead or missing, DAVAO, Philippines: Philippine President moves ahead in Philippine toll according to official figures. Rodrigo Duterte’s eldest son resigned from his local government post yester- South China Sea rises to 230 Scores missing day, citing allegations of links to drug In the Philippines, rescue workers were smugglers which he denies and a bitter still struggling to reach some remote areas BEIJING: China’s large-scale land reclamation around social media dispute with his own HANOI/MANILA: Authorities in hit by floods and landslides that Tembin’s disputed reefs and shoals in the South China Sea is “mov- daughter. Vietnam prepared to move a million peo- downpours brought, as the death toll ing ahead steadily”, state media has reported, and is on Paolo Duterte told the city council ple from low-lying areas along the south climbed to more than 230. Scores of peo- track to use giant “island-builders” to transform even of Davao, a southern port where he coast yesterday as a typhoon approached ple are missing. The full extent of the dev- more of the region. Beijing claims nearly all of the sea and serves as vice-mayor, that he was after it battered the Philippines with astation was only becoming clear as the has been turning reefs in the Spratly and Paracel chains resigning because of “recent unfortu- floods and landslides that killed more most remote areas were being reached. into islands, installing military facilities and equipment in nate events in my life”-citing family than 230 people. Health worker Arturo Simbajon said nearly the area where it has conflicting claims with neighbors. problems and allegations of drug Typhoon Tembin is expected to slam the entire coastal village of Anungan on “The course of construction is moving ahead steadily smuggling. into Vietnam late on Monday after bring- the Zamboanga peninsula of Mindanao and a series of striking results have been achieved,” “These among others, include the ing misery to the predominantly Christian island had been wiped out by a barrage of according to a report that appeared Friday on Haiwainet, maligning of my reputation in the Paolo Duterte a website under the Communist Party’s flagship newspa- Philippines just before Christmas. broken logs, boulders and mud that swept recent name-dropping incident in the per the People’s Daily. Vietnam’s disaster prevention commit- down a river and out to sea. Bureau of Customs smuggling case and media. An opposition senator accused The projects have “completely changed the face of the tee said 74,000 people had been moved “Only the mosque was left standing,” the very public squabble with my Paolo earlier this year of facilitating the Simbajon said. “People were watching South China Sea’s islands and reefs”, the report said. The daughter,” he said. “I take responsibili- smuggling of crystal methamphetamine to safety from vulnerable areas, while aggressive campaign has been a source of contention authorities in 15 provinces and cities were the rising sea but did not expect the ty for all that has happened,” the 42- worth 6.4 billion pesos ($125 million) water to come from behind them.” with neighboring countries. China’s sweeping claims over- prepared to move more than 1 million. The year-old said in a statement later into the Philippines from China. Manuel Luis Ochotorena, head of lap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and government ordered that oil rigs and ves- released to the press. He testified in the Senate in regional disaster agency, said he expect- Brunei, as well as Taiwan. During 2017 China built The president’s son made headlines September to deny the drug allega- sels be protected and it warned that about ed the death toll to rise. 290,000 square meters (29 hectares) of facilities on last week when he used the official tions, in a country that has seen thou- 62,000 fishing boats should not venture “Many areas in Zamboanga peninsula South China Sea reefs and islands, including underground Facebook page of the Davao vice may- sands killed in an anti-narcotics cam- out to sea. are still without power and communica- storage, administrative buildings and large radar installa- or’s office for an expletive-laced rant at paign launched by his father. Harry “Vietnam must ensure the safety of its tions, some towns are cut off due to col- tions, the report said. “To improve the livelihood and work his teenage daughter Isabelle, after she Roque, the president’s spokesman, said oil rigs and vessels. If necessary, close the lapsed bridges, floods and landslides,” he conditions of people living on the islands, and strengthen posted criticism of him on social media. Monday that Paolo’s resignation letter oil rigs and evacuate workers,” Prime said.Tens of thousands of people on the necessary military defenses of the South China Sea Her posts were not publicly available. had been received but did not com- Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was quoted as Mindanao have been displaced by the within China’s sovereignty, China has rationally expanded The vice mayor responded in a ment further as “the father wants to saying on a government website. Schools storm, which struck late on Friday. The the area of its islands and reefs,” it said. Facebook post-which was no longer speak to the son first”. were ordered to close in the southern com- Philippines is battered by about 20 The sea is believed to hold vast oil and gas deposits publicly available yesterday-saying his Davao mayor , the mercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City on typhoons a year and warnings are rou- and $5 trillion in annual trade passes through it. The daughter had “embarrassed” herself president’s daughter, said yesterday Monday, a working day in Vietnam. On tinely issued. But disaster officials said report noted that with last month’s introduction of the with her behavior though he did not she did not know if her brother’s resig- Sunday, Tembin hit the Spratly Islands in many villagers had ignored warnings this new super-dredger Tianjing, a “magical island building elaborate. nation had been accepted. The Duterte the South China Sea, parts of which are time to get out coastal areas and move machine”, and other “magical machines” soon to come, Isabelle was in the media spotlight family has controlled Davao politics for contested by several countries, including away from riverbanks. In 2013, super “the area of the South China Sea’s islands and reefs will earlier this month when photos of her more than two decades, with the presi- Vietnam and China. typhoon Haiyan killed nearly 8,000 peo- expand a step further”. China is also building a floating posing in designer gowns at the presi- dent also having served as the city’s No casualties were reported in out- ple and left 200,000 families homeless nuclear power plant, the report said, to provide power for dential palace went viral on social long-time mayor. —AFP posts there. Vietnam, like the Philippines, in the central Philippines. —Reuters those living in the Sansha city area. —AFP