Colorado Batman Movie Shooting: 71 Victims The Largest Mass Shooting

Twelve people were killed and 59 were injured in Aurora, Colo., during a sold-out midnight premier of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" when 24-year-old James Holmes unloaded four weapons' full of ammunition into the unsuspecting crowd.

The number of casualties makes the incident the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Holmes, a graduate student at a nearby college with a clean arrest record, entered the movie auditorium wearing a ballistics helmet, bullet-proof vest, bullet-proof leggings, gas mask and gloves. He detonated multiple smoke bombs, and then began firing at viewers in the sold-out auditorium, police said today.

Bullets from the spree tore through the theater and into adjoining theaters, where at least one other person was struck and injured. Ten members of "The Dark Knight Rises" audience were killed in theater, while two others died later at area hospitals. Numerous patrons were in critical condition at six local hospitals, the Aurora police said this afternoon.

Holmes was apprehended within minutes of the 12:39 a.m. shooting at his car behind the theater, where police found him in full riot gear and carrying three weapons, including a AR-15 assault rifle, which can hold upwards of 100 rounds, a Remington 12 gauge shot gun, and a .40 Glock handgun. A fourth handgun was found in the vehicle. Agents from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are tracing the weapons.

According to police sources, Holmes told the officers arresting him that he was "The Joker," referring to the villain in the second installment of the Batman movie trilogy, "The Dark Knight." He also warned police that he had booby-trapped his apartment, leading officers to evacuate the Aurora apartment building.

Police Chief Dan Oates said today that police and bomb squads have found a large number of explosive devices and trip wires at Holmes' apartment and have not yet decided how to proceed without setting off explosions.

"The pictures we have from inside the apartment are pretty disturbing considering how elaborate the apartment is booby trapped," police said outside of the apartment complex today. The "flammable and explosive" materials could have blown up Holmes' apartment building and the ones near it, police said.

The apartment complex is home exclusively to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and staff members, residents tell ABC News.

Moviegoer Christopher Ramos today recalled the real-life horror of the midnight premiere of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," in Aurora, Colo., as a gunman decked in riot gear set off smoke bombs and opened fire on the unsuspecting audience.

"People were running everywhere, running on top of me, like kicking me, jumping over me. And there were bodies on the ground," Ramos said. "I froze up. I was scared. I honestly thought I was going to die."

"The image in our heads is stuck in there. I still have the ticket right here and honestly, I'm never going to forget this night at all. Because it was the first time I saw something that was real. Like a real-life nightmare that was there, not dreaming of," Ramos told ABC News today.

Witnesses in the movie theater said Holmes saw smoke and heard gunshots that they thought were part of the movie until they saw Holmes standing in front of the screen, after entering from an emergency exit. Holmes methodically stalked the aisles of the theater, shooting people at random, as panicked movie-watchers in the packed auditorium tried to escape, witnesses said.

At one point the shooter exited the theater only to wait outside the doors and pick off patrons as they tried to exit, witness Jennifer Seeger told "Good Afternoon America."

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Palace defends PNoy man in JBC

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang justified President Aquino’s appointment of an undersecretary from the Office of the President (OP), saying he needs an “alter ego” to represent him in the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) following the inhibition of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

In a letter to acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, President Aquino said he is designating Attorney Michael Frederick L. Musngi, Undersecretary of the Office of Special Concerns under the OP, “as the representative of the Executive Branch” to replace de Lima, “for the sole purpose of participating in the deliberations of the Judicial and Bar Council for the selection of nominees for the position of chief justice.”

“Number one, Undersecretary Mike Musngi is a lawyer. We need a lawyer present there. And as I said, notwithstanding the position—was it JBC that preferred an undersecretary from the DOJ?—it is a decision of the President because the one who sits there is an alter ego," Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.

"Since he addresses the special concerns, this is only of a temporary situation. He, being the Undersecretary for Special Concerns, the President, the Executive Secretary, felt that he will be able to perform the obligation."

President Aquino appointed Musngi as De Lima's replacement and the council, via consensus, decided to grant the Palace's request.

Musngi, an undersecretary under the Office of the President (OP), officially became a lawyer on Dec. 17, 2012. He is a member of the Aquila Legis fraternity.

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How Philippines can play trump card vs China

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines can prevent a zero-sum game in the Spratlys and force China to lay all of its cards on the table if Manila and other claimants of the disputed territory in the West Philippine Sea will submit full legal claims, a US analyst said.

The Philippines and other members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who are claiming parts of the Spratlys, the Paracels and Macclesfield Bank must all submit their baselines, claims to extended continental shelves, and claims to islands, said Gregory Poling, research associate at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies's (CSIS) Southeast Asia Program.

"Vietnam and Malaysia took a step in this direction with their 2009 submission of part of their continental shelves to the United Nations. The Philippines took a step of its own that year with its law on baselines. Now they must all submit full legal claims," he told ABS-CBNNews.com.

"That will place China in the unenviable position of either clarifying its own claims, or losing any legitimate claim to be acting within the bounds of international law," Poling said.

China is claiming the entire resource-rich Spratlys, the Paracels and Macclesfield Bank based on what it calls as a "9-dash line" that Beijing created in 1948.

Poling said China may have to throw out its 9-dash line map under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was signed in 1982.

In a July 6 analysis of the territorial dispute between China and other countries, Poling said China also has no legal basis to back its claim on Scarborough Shoal.

"For years the Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea extended only to the Spratlys (Nansha, or 'South Banks') and Paracels (Xisha, or 'West Banks'). Any claim to other features, like Scarborough Shoal, was only implied in so far as they fell within the ambiguous 9-dash lines," he said.

"Then China extended its claim to the entirely submerged Macclesfield Bank via the imaginary Zhongsha, or 'Middle Banks,' despite there being no way under international law to claim title over a submerged feature as if it were an island," he added.

"Further, in recent years, as Beijing has tried to move beyond an overreliance on the indefensible 9-dash lines, Scarborough Shoal has been incorporated as part of Zhongsha. The fact that it lies hundreds of miles from Macclesfield Bank or that it appears on none of the historical documents China puts forth to prove its title to the Spratlys and Paracels seemingly does not matter," Poling said.

He told ABS-CBNNews.com that China is insisting on bilateral and not multilateral talks with other claimants such as the Philippines because Beijing knows it can intimidate the smaller countries.

Having to face a unified ASEAN, however, is another matter for China.

"Insisting on bilateral talks also lets China maintain the illusion that the disputes are simply disagreements between two equally valid points of view (e.g. Manila's vs. Beijing's, or Hanoi's vs. Beijing's). That fiction, that China’s position is equally valid under international law, is harder to maintain when it is 10 ASEAN countries on one side of the table arguing against the Chinese position," Poling said.

He said China risks being a pariah in the global community if Beijing uses its military to insist on its claim in the Spratlys.

"Beijing knows that it could easily occupy every disputed feature in the South China Sea, but it cannot do so without causing wide and probably irrevocable damage to its interests abroad," Poling said.

Binding Code of Conduct

To defuse tension in the region, Poling said ASEAN member-nations and China must agree on a binding code of conduct.

He said this will force all countries involved to behave and minimize incidents like the Scarborough standoff, as well as China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s tender of oil and gas blocks that are in Vietnam's waters.

"The key word here is 'binding,' which will require the ASEAN states to find the solidarity they clearly lacked last week," Poling stressed.

Despite China -- through its ally Cambodia -- blocking an ASEAN joint communique mentioning the Scarboroug standoff last week, the Philippine and Malaysian foreign ministries said all of the bloc's member-states have agreed on the elements of a code of conduct in the South China Sea to manage the territorial disputes in the region.

"The Philippines was successful in having its suggested main elements included to give the Code the substance it requires," Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio said Wednesday.

Kuala Lumpur has issued a similar statement.

"ASEAN Member States have agreed on the elements of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and are ready to begin discussion with China on the matter," Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. "The failure to issue the Joint Communiqué will not weaken ASEAN’s will and resolve to begin discussion with China in developing the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea towards ensuring peace and stability in the region."

Poling also said the bright spot in the mess at the ASEAN Ministers' Forum last week was that the ASEAN states presented a draft Code of Conduct to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

"That text is still not out in the public domain, but US officials present in Phnom Penh who did see it said that they liked what they saw, "he said.

"Now the question becomes what China will do with it. Will they be willing to negotiate based upon ASEAN’s text?" he asked.

Cambodia, China to blame

Poling also believes that the blame on the ASEAN row last week has to be placed on host and current rotating chair Cambodia and outsider China.

"It was clearly not the Philippines that pushed too hard last week. All indications are that both Manila and Hanoi were willing to compromise on the language of the joint statement, eventually offering language that simply mentioned recent incidents," he said.

He said Cambodia, "at the behest of China," rejected any mention of Scarborough Shoal and CNOOC's oil project in Vietnamese waters.

"China certainly deserves blame for trying to intimidate its neighbors and undermine ASEAN unity, but such disunity serves China’s strategic interests. The same cannot be said of Cambodia, which should have had a short-term interest in the success of its own chairmanship of ASEAN, as well as a long-term interest in a strong ASEAN able to resist Chinese intimidation," he said. "Despite the best efforts of other parties, notably Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa, it seems that the Cambodians simply refused to budge. If fault is going to be assigned, it has to start with Phnom Penh."

Philippines, allies must step up

Poling said the Philippines must step up to the challenge of China knocking on its doorsteps.

This involves improvement of the country's naval and maritime capabilities, as well as diplomatic savvy.

"The Philippines should, and is, seeking to upgrade its maritime awareness capabilities and its civilian and naval assets in the long run," Poling said. "In the short-term, it will have to rely on bilateral diplomacy to manage incidents with China, and seek some sort of united front with most, if not all, of its ASEAN counterparts to counter China’s intimidation tactics."

Meanwhile, the Philippines' allies such as the US, Japan, Australia must help Manila strengthen its defense capabilities and insist on international law to settle the disputes in the region.

"They should continue to do the two things they can and are doing: 1) Help the Philippines increase its capabilities at sea via military sales, training, technology transfers, joint exercises, etc. 2) Continue to push China and all of the claimants to seek a resolution of disputes in line with UNCLOS," Poling said.

"If China is allowed to pursue claims entirely outside the bounds of UNCLOS, then it will fundamentally undermine a half century of international law. That simply cannot be allowed to happen, and all nations, including the United States, Japan, and Australia, have recognized as much with their strong support for a peaceful and legal resolution," he added.

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Philippines confirms first case of deadly EV-71

Manila: The Philippines has confirmed its first case of the deadly Enterovirus 71 (EV 71), a feared strain of a disease that normally afflicts farm animals.

A one year and seven month old boy from Davao City tested positive for the EV-71, Department of Health (DOH) said.

“The boy developed fever and rashes on his hands, soles of feet, mouth and buttocks last July 6. The boy had no history of travel outside the country. A consultation was sought at a local health facility. He was sent home and has since recovered very well,” the department noted adding that there were no other cases were reported in their household nor in the community.

“The public is urged to remain vigilant,” Health Secretary Enrique Ona nevertheless warned Filipinos, as he mentioned that that experts have confirmed that the deadly strain of EV-71 was determined in one of several suspected hoof, foot and mouth diseas (HFMD) cases earlier under observation by the DOH.

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Philippines to acquire 10 new attack helicopters

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines will acquire 10 attack helicopters starting next year in a bid to boost the capabilities of the poorly equipped military, an air force spokesman said Wednesday.

Italy, Britain, France, Russia and South Africa are all being eyed to supply the helicopters, Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Okol said, although he declined to specify which models were being considered.

The brand-new machines will upgrade the fleet of US-made MG-520 light attack helicopters that the air force has been using since the 1990s.

“What we are going to get are armed attack helicopters… that can carry more payload than the MG-520,” Okol told AFP.

He declined to specify the cost of the acquisition but said the government had already allocated the required funds.

The new aircraft will be used for “internal security operations, border security and support operations,” he said.

The Philippines is battling communist insurgents in rural areas throughout the archipelago, as well as Muslim extremists in the troubled southern regions.

In recent months tensions have also risen with China over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea, but Okol said the acquisition of the attack helicopters was unrelated.

The tensions with China have highlighted the weakness of the Philippine military, which is one of the most poorly quipped in the region, relying largely on surplus US equipment.

The Philippines has been refurbishing its ageing MG-520 helicopters, other military sources said.

The country has recently been stepping up its modernization efforts and plans to acquire new fighter-trainer jets and attack and transport planes by 2014, the defense secretary said earlier.

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AFP avoiding escalation of tension in dispute seas

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) is adopting a "do nothing policy" so as not to further complicate the prevailing tension in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), a military spokesperson said Wednesday.

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., AFP spokesman, however clarified that the AFP, despite its limited fighting capabilities, is always ready to obey and enforce orders coming from the national leadership.

“The AFP will just take guidance from the higher leadership,” Burgos said, referring to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of National Defense (DND).

These two agencies are directly handling the country’s prevailing territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea with China, Vietnam and other claimant countries in the West Philippine Sea.

“Basta kami mag-antay lang. We are ready to execute and implement policies as ordered by civilian authorities,” Burgos stressed when pressed what actions the military are taking now, in response to the aggressive behavior of China in laying its territorial claim over the disputed sea.

China and the Philippines are locked in a standoff at Panatag Shoal (Scarborough), which is called by the Chinese as Huangyan Island.

Last week, a Chinese warship got stuck at the Hasa Hasa Shoal (Half Moon Shoal), an area in the Spratlys Island near the Philippine province of Palawan.

On Monday, a fleet of 30 Chinese fishing vessels arrived in the vicinity of the Kagitingan Reef (Johnson Reef) in the Spratlys.

AFP Western Command chief Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, meanwhile, said that the military is closely monitoring the activities of the Chinese fishermen.

Sabban said that as of Wednesday, the Chinese fishing vessels were still 100 nautical miles away from the nearest territory being claimed by the Philippines.

"They are still about 100 nautical miles southwest of Pagasa Island," Sabban said.

Sabban said that the location of the fishing fleet was still far from the Philippine' 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as Pagasa Island, the largest of the nine geographical features being claimed by the country in the Spratlys, is about 240 nautical miles away from Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

He also said that the Chinese fleet was still operating in its own waters, which is near Fiery Cross Reef, a fixture once owned by Vietnam.

But despite this, the Western Command chief said that they were still monitoring the progress of the Chinese ships to determine if they would breach or intrude the country's EEZ.

Sabban said that he had instructed all units of the Western Command to intercept the ships that would be breaching the Philippines' territory.

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Chinese Boats in Disputed S. China Sea Area

Philippine government to file Beijing protest agains 30-strong Chinese fishing fleet encroachment on Spratly Islands waters

China’s 30-ship fleet was reportedly being escorted by a fisheries administration patrol ship and a 3,000-ton supply ship, enough provision for five to 10 days of fishing, according to a 'Manila Standard Today' news report.

Meanwhile, United States Pacific Command chief Admiral Samuel Locklear III reiterated Washington’s commitment to help the Philippines build a “minimum credible defense posture.”

Locklear, who arrived Monday for a three-day visit, met with President Benigno Aquino III at the Palace where they discussed “in broad strokes” China amid the rising tensions over territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Locklear’s courtesy call on Mr. Aquino was meant to “reaffirm the long-standing partnership between Washington and Manila.

“Admiral Locklear reiterated the commitment of the US to help the Philippines establish a minimum credible defense posture,” Lacierda said.

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Expensive coffee earns ex-PAGCOR chair Genuino and others graft, plunder charges

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) on Tuesday filed graft and plunder charges against its former chairman Efraim Genuino and other PAGCOR former officials and coffee concessionaire Carlota Manalo-Tan for allegedly conniving in a P258-million coffee supply contract in which the government lost a lot of money.

PAGCOR claimed that Genuino, former senior vice president Rene Figueroa and former president Rafael "Butch" Francisco allowed Tan’s Promolabels Specialty Shop to operate in casinos and serve coffee bought over and above the usual selling price.

"PAGCOR's audit team discovered that from 2005-2008 alone, five Casino Filipino branches paid at least P258 million to Promolabels… PAGCOR could have saved at least P78 million if only the prices of Promolabels' Figaro coffee products were the same as those of other Figaro franchises," the gaming firm noted in its complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday.

"Respondents Genuino, Francisco, Figueroa acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith and or gross inexcusable negligence by awarding the concession agreements to Promolabels," read the complaint signed by current directors Jose Tanjuatco and Enriquito Nuguid.

The former PAGCOR officials were in connivance with Tan "with a view of enriching themselves and coffee concessionaire Manalo-Tan through the sale and purchase of overpriced Figaro coffee products."

According to the state-owned PAGCOR which also regulates the gaming industry, Tan's husband, Johnny Tan, is a 'known ally' of Genuino.

As of this posting, GMA could not immediately contact Genuino or his legal counsel for comment.

PAGCOR’s overpriced coffee was first revealed in President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address last year. Under Genuino's leadership, the gaming company spent about P1 billion for coffee from August 2001 to June 2010.

It was also discovered that Promolabels, was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tan's Promolabels had a three- to five-year contract to operate Figaro coffee shops in Parañaque, Angeles City, Heritage Hotel, Olongapo City, Manila Pavilion, Tagaytay and the former Casino Filipino Silahis.

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PH to file protest if Chinese fleet enter EEZ

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard is inspecting the actual location of about 30 Chinese fishing vessels that arrived in the Spratly Islands over the weekend.

Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the government will file a maritime protest against China if the Chinese ships venture inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Chinese fleet was spotted near the Yong Shu Reef, escorted by a vessel supposedly under the “Chinese Fisheries Law Enforcement Command.”

"Our Coast Guard is doing our mandate of monitoring our maritime domain and making sure that intrusions are not undertaken by any foreign vessels. Whenever there are intrusions, what we do is to file protest so that it is put on record... and we are protesting those intrusions in our territories and sovereign rights,” he said.

"Yesterday we asked the Coast Guard to check the area to identify location of Chinese fishing vessels,” he added.

The Spratly islands, a potentially oil-rich archipelago, are being claimed by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

Hernandez said a United States official is in the country holding discussions with the government on matters of maritime security.

He said they hope to get equipment to help modernize the capability of the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard.

US support

While the United States is not directly taking a side in the Scarborough dispute out of diplomacy, America's military deployment to the Philippines is quiet proof of its support to an ally, US Pinoys for Good Governance chairperson Loida Nicolas-Lewis.

“It's as if the US was saying, ‘China be careful, don't be warmongering, it's going to cost you,’” she said.

She added: “The US fleet is around here, they are sending 60% of their military power. Quietly, they're saying when you shoot the Philippines, nariyan kami."

Amid ongoing efforts to pursue a resolution through diplomatic means, she added her group will call on the Philippine government not to backtrack in its fight for its territories.

The group is calling for a boycott of Chinese products, to voice its protest over the "invasion of made in China products" in the market, and China's alleged intrusion in Philippine waters.

"Tayong mga Filipino, we should show that we are not in favor and [we should] boycott made in China goods,” she said.

"Each one of us is singing the National Anthem, ‘aming ligaya na pag may mangaapi, ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo.’ Our territory is being invaded by China. Huwag na tayo mamatay, magboycott nalang tayo,” she added.

"Yes, it's going to affect out banana growers, our pineapple growers, but more is at stake. What is at stake is the Philippines' integrity as a nation, the trillions of dollars (in oil deposits) so we have to take a stand, not just President Aquino or the DFA, 100 million Filipinos have to make a stand. You can do something, boycott made in China products,” she added.

She said the Philippines should look at other countries where it can market its products.

Black gold

Meantime, Lewis said the Philippines should not be afraid to negotiate with a superpower like China and protect the national interest.

Studies done during the Arroyo administration showed oil or "black gold" estimated to be worth trillions of dollars lies beneath Philippine waters.

"The best way is to allow it to be bidded by all nations, ayaw yan ng China. Gusto nila sila lang...,” she said.
"The Philippines has to negotiate for foreign power to extract oil there. We have to partner and it has to be 50/50, that's the only practical solution,” she added.

The group is also pushing for a global hour of prayer, and calling on all Filipinos to join in prayer at noon on August 21, the anniversary of the death of the late Senator Benigno `Ninoy' Aquino Jr., for peace and justice to reign in the West Philippine Sea.

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Philippines Targets $10B in Foreign Investments

The Philippines said it aims to boost foreign direct investments in call centers, factories and shipyards to more than $10 billion a year, as President Benigno Aquino strives to create jobs and bolster growth.

The Philippines received 24 business teams in the first half of the year from countries including Russia, Turkey and Japan, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said. Investors are keen on shipbuilding, agriculture, energy, steel, garments, and business process outsourcing, he said.

“The biggest thing that has improved our standing in the investment community globally has been President Aquino’s governance,” Domingo said in an interview in his office in Manila yesterday.

Aquino is winning confidence from investors and rating companies as he fights corruption and boosts infrastructure spending to transform the nation into a manufacturing hub in the region. Moody’s Investors Service boosted its outlook on the Philippines to positive in May, when the country’s top judge was impeached for illegally concealing his wealth, while Standard & Poor’s this month raised the long-term foreign currency- denominated debt rating to the highest level since 2003.

The $225 billion economy expanded 6.4 percent in the first quarter, the fastest pace since 2010, and the peso is the best performer against the U.S. dollar among Asia’s 11 most-traded currencies this year, having gained about 5 percent. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PCOMP) surged to a record this month.

The peso rose a third day today to 41.732 per dollar as of 9:27 a.m. in Manila. Benchmark bonds due March 2021 gained, with the yield falling to the lowest level since February, according to Tradition Financial Services.
’Tremendous Interest’

“When he first assumed office, there were still a lot of people who doubted he will really pursue” good governance, Domingo said. “But now, he has convinced everybody that he is sincere. We’ve seen tremendous interest in investment.”

From 1970 to 2010, the Philippines drew $33.98 billion in foreign direct investment compared to $322.13 billion for Singapore and $108.87 billion for Thailand, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The Philippines lured about $6 billion in pledged foreign investments last year, and has drawn commitments from companies including Glencore International Plc and Gazasia Ltd. this year. Business groups from Mexico and Argentina are due to visit the country, Domingo said yesterday.

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Plunder Vs GMA

MANILA, Philippines --- The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday filed plunder charges against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and nine other former state officials, mostly of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), for allegedly misusing P365,997,915 in PCSO funds.

It was the first plunder case against Arroyo who is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for electoral sabotage during the 2007 senatorial election.

Also named respondents in the 10-page complaint filed before the Sandiganbayan are former PCSO General Manager Rosario Uriarte, Assistant General Manager for Finance Benigno Aguas, and former PCSO board members Sergio Valencia, Manuel Morato, Raymon Roquero, Maria Fatima Valdez and Jose R. Taruc V.

Former Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Reynaldo Villar and COA Region 5 head Nilda Plaras were also named in the complaint.

PCSO Director Aleta Tolentino earlier said the COA officials were included because of their “conspiracy and connivance.”

No bail was recommended for the accused, said the Sandiganbayan.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales approved the plunder case.

Based on the information filed by the Ombudsman, Arroyo and her nine co-accused conspired and connived to acquire ill-gotten wealth from the PCSO from January 2008 to June 2010.

Morales underscored the evidence that indicated Uriarte wrote to Arroyo eight times requesting that she be allowed to draw from the agency’s intelligence fund.

The money to be drawn from the fund was supposed to have been used “to monitor the PCSO’s charitable activities and projects; to buy information to determine if the funds were being used for the purposes for which [they] were intended; to fund an investigation of how medicine given to beneficiaries marked “Botika ng Masa” had ended up in commercial markets, and to counter various scams victimizing lotto bettors and winners.”

Morales earlier filed a graft case against Arroyo in connection with the $329-million national broadband (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE.

An inquiry by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee earlier showed Arroyo approved Uriarte’s request to draw from the intelligence fund. The investigation showed the money was used instead to purchase relief goods and pay “blood money” for the freedom if detained overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Uriarte allegedly got nearly P310 million, more than half of which were withdrawn in the first six months of 2010, an election year.

The investigation showed that the funds were liquidated with a mere certification, and transferred in the respondents’ possession and control through irregularly-issued disbursement vouchers and fictitious expenditures.

The Ombudsman said the accused took advantage of their positions, authority, relationships, connections or influence to enrich themselves.

The complaint sheet alleged that the respondents “conspired in withdrawing, amassing, accumulating public funds from July 2008 to January 2010 and by circumventing and/or violating the subject COA circulars relative to the liquidation of complainant PCSO’s intelligence/confidential funds.”

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US Pacific chief affirms commitment to Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - The head of US forces in the Pacific reaffirmed American commitment to support the Philippines Monday, amid the country's continuing territorial dispute with China.

Admiral Samuel Locklear met with President Benigno Aquino and voiced his support in helping modernise the country's ill-equipped armed forces, considered to be among the weakest in the region, the presidential spokesman said.

Locklear "reaffirmed the long-standing partnership between the US and the Philippines," Aquino's spokesman Ramon Carandang told reporters.

The admiral also "reiterated the commitment of the US to help the Philippines establish a minimum credible defence", Carandang said.

The two officials discussed the South China Sea issue in "broad strokes" with no specific details given, Carandang said.

The Philippines, which has a mutual defence treaty with the United States, has been seeking greater support from its main defence ally after a face-off with China over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in April.

Locklear was due to meet with Filipino defence officials later Monday, in which he would discuss "domain awareness" amid a changing security climate, according to the US Department of Defense website.

"So what we are looking for is to try to provide [the Philippines] assistance that builds the interoperability of our defence forces over time," the website quoted him as saying.

He also warned that a possible "miscalculation" in the dispute could threaten regional stability and reiterated that the US and Philippine militaries needed to learn to work together better.

"I'm looking forward to giving the message to the Filipino military and to the leaders there that the United States is a very reliable ally. We want the Filipinos to be a reliable ally to us as well," he was quoted as saying.

Chinese-Philippine tensions have increased due to the standoff with the Philippines accusing China of "duplicity" and "intimidation" in a recent regional forum in Cambodia.

China claims the entire South China Sea as its historical territory, even up to the coasts of other Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines.

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Chinese fishing fleet casts nets off Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - A 30-vessel Chinese fishing fleet anchored off the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Sunday (July 15), amid tensions involving territorial disputes in the region.

The fleet, which includes a patrol vessel for protection and a 3,000-tonne supply ship, left China's southern Hainan province on July 12 to explore new fishing areas, state agency Xinhua reported.

The ships will cast their nets on Monday night, and plan to stay on fishing by the islands' Yongshu reef for about 10 days, Xinhua said.

The South China Sea has become Asia's biggest potential military flashpoint as Beijing's sovereignty claim over the huge area has set it against Vietnam and the Philippines. Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims.

Last month, China said it "vehemently opposed" a Vietnamese law asserting sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which straddle key shipping lanes and are thought to contain rich energy reserves.

That row came days after an easing in a months-long standoff between China and the Philippines, but shows the persistent cycle of territorial frictions triggered by what some see as China's growing assertiveness in the area.

The stakes have risen in the area as the U.S. military shifts its attention and resources back to Asia, emboldening its long-time ally the Philippines and former foe Vietnam to take a bolder stance against Beijing.

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