Northern Japan destroyed by superquake

A massive 8.9/9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean nearby Northeastern Japan at around 2:46pm on March 11 (JST) causing damage with blackouts, fire and tsunami. On this page we are providing the information regarding the disaster and damage with realtime updates.

The large earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for countries all around the Pacific ocean. This earthquake was the biggest to hit Japan since record-keeping began in the late 1800s.  It ranked as the fifth-largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and was nearly 8,000 times stronger than one that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

The scenes of the town of Ofunato showed homes and warehouses in ruins. Sludge and high water spread over acres of land, with people seeking refuge on roofs of partially submerged buildings.

The quake shook dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coast and tall buildings swayed in Tokyo, hundreds of miles from the epicenter.

Tsunami swept away ships, yachts, houses, trucks and cars inland all over Northern Japan. The entire Pacific had been put on alert — including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska — but waves were not as bad as expected.

The quake was followed for hours by aftershocks. The U.S. Geological Survey said 124 were detected off Japan's main island of Honshu, 111 of them of magnitude 5.0 or greater. Fire burned well past dark in a large section of Kesennuma, a city of 70,000 people in Miyagi.

Waves of muddy waters flowed over farms near Sendai, carrying buildings, some of them ablaze. Drivers attempted to flee. The tarmac at Sendai's airport was inundated with thick, muddy debris that included cars, trucks, buses and even light planes.

Officials declared the first-ever state of emergency at a Japanese nuclear power plant and ordered evacuations after the earthquake knocked out power to a cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi facility near the city of Onahama, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. They said radiation levels inside the facility had surged to 1,000 times more than normal.

Japan nuclear plant operator reported radiation had exceeded the legal limit. Emergency measures put in place after the first nuclear reactor explosion last Saturday March 12, 2010. Meltdown occurs when plants system collapses and prevents proper cooling of the reactor. 180k people within the 20 kilometer radius were evacuated.

DepEd additional 2 years basic education

Many people are not in favor of Pres. Noynoy Aquino and DepEd sec. Armin Luistro’s P43-billion Grand Theft  of Philippine Basic Educational System. The government should study first the Philippines current condition of  educational system.

Shortages in teachers, classrooms, school books and toilets, low wages, cumbersome and torturous teaching methods and skills being utilized. There are over 5 million poor families who were unable to sustain their children’s elementary and high school studies due to soaring cost of living (eg. food and transportation).

Poor children in the provinces are walking 2 hours each day to reach their schools that is very far from their barrios. There are times these children would take their classes under the scorching heat of the sun or under the tree for lack of classroom to their class.

The administration of PNoy must address first the above-mentioned problem of shortages, the support system and school facilities before exploring his government costly, unrealistic and impractical education program,

• Philippine poverty

Sen. Manny Villar Filed Electronic Bill to Curtail Freedom of Information Bill

Philippines, February 14, 2011, 5:00 PM

Senator Manny Villa has filed a bill in the Senate pushing to penalize those who try to defame others through the use of electronic media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

He filed Senate Bill 2668, that moves to amend Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code by including libel committed through “electronic media such as but not limited to the Internet.” He said laws are silent on libel through electronic media.

The senate and house committee on justice hearing on the corruption of AFP’s UN P300-million fund mess that triggered former AFP chief Angelo T. Reyes to commit suicide by gunshot wound on his left breast might have something to do with Sen. Villar’s move to have the electronic bill filed. 

Senator Panfilo Lacson and other senators believed that Villar’s is guilty of involvement in the P200-million budget insertion on which the entries “President Carlos Garcia Avenue Extension” and “C-5 Road Extension”  refers to the same road according to Lacson.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile confirmed that Villar had asked him to insert P200 million for the C-5 project, the request he said according to Villar was only meant to ensure the speedy completion of the project.

Villar’s explanatory note reads: “The tremendous potential of the Internet has proved to be unimaginable for the Philippines. It has bridged information gaps and has opened infinite possibilities to people located even in the remotest areas in the country.”

He wants the immediate criminalization of e-libel and harsher penalty for fear of his impending re-investigation in the senate once Sen. Lacson appears. Under the leadership of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, the Supreme Court, earlier directed courts to instead impose a monetary fine on the guilty rather than the often imposed imprisonment.

Senator Villar stressed this has introduced the so-called electronic libel or e-libel. Article 335 of the Revised Penal Code provides that anyone found guilty of libel could face imprisonment of up to 6 years.

Senate Probe C-5 Extension Project