KING FAMILY CONDEMNS USE OF BUSINESSMAN’S DEATH IN DE LIMA SENATE PROBE

screenshot image credit:youtube.com KING FAMILY CONDEMNS USE OF BUSINESSMAN’S DEATH IN DE LIMA SENATE PROBE  by Harry Roque OFFICE OF REP. HARRY L. ROQUE PRESS RELEASE 16 SEPTEMBER 2016 REFERENCE: REP. HARRY L. ROQUE KING FAMILY CONDEMNS USE OF BUSINESSMAN'S DEATH IN DE LIMA SENATE PROBE  The family of slain hotelier Richard King condemns the use of the business man's death in the Senate investigation on extra-legal killings, Kabayan Party-list Rep. Harry L. Roque said Friday. Roque, who used to be counsel for King, said family "is appalled by the gall of Senator Leila de Lima in dragging the death of the Crown Regency owner in her attempt to smear the name of President Duterte." "The King family has already undergone enough trauma with the death of Richard. They are now being subjected to undue emotion distress because of the vain desire of Senator De Lima to discredit the President," Roque added. Moreover, Roque said the King family is strongly denying the love triangle angle being peddled by De Lima's witness Edgar Matobato. "Police Supt. Leonardo Felonia was charged for King's murder. Not once was it the name of Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte ever mentioned in the course of the investigation," Roque said. "The story that seems to be the most popular is that a businesswoman paid ₱20 million to have Richard King killed. She contacted Felonia to look for killers," he added. Roque said as a lawyer, he noted Matobato had "major inconsisrencies" in his testimony, including saying he was at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) headquarters in 2003 when the task force was actually abolished in 2001. "This was Senator De Lima's defense strategy: stage an offense knowing that the truth on her drug dealings will soon be revealed at the House of Representatives next week," Roque added. Moreover, the neophyte lawmaker warned about the possible plot of the United States to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte. "The Senate testimony came immediately after the President confirmed he wanted to pursue an independent foreign policy. It is too much of a coincidence that the testimony intended to pave the way for his ouster came immediately after President Duterte declared his independent stance," Roque said. "Remember that US Ambassador Goldberg was kicked out of Bolivia for stirring a coup," he added. Bolivian President Evo Morales expelled Goldberg out of the country in 2008 and declared him persona non grata for "conspiring against democracy and seeking the division of Bolivia." Harry Roque | September 16, 2016 at 4:10 am

Einstein Never Knew He’d Help Shell Discover Oil

image credit:feelgrafix.com Einstein Never Knew He’d Help Shell Discover Oil Jul 8th, 2016 by John Donovan. By Eric Roston: July 7, 2016 Albert Einstein suggested a century ago that large-scale cosmic violence—two black holes colliding, for example—might send gravitational ripples through the universe like a stone disturbing the surface of a pond. In September physicists in the U.S.conclusively detected gravitational waves for the first time, again proving Einstein right. While it’s a safe assumption he wasn’t thinking about how building a wave observatory might lead to finding oil and gas, two physicists in Amsterdam have started a company betting they can. Innoseis’s prototype seismic sensor, not much bigger than a fist, looks like a box with a golf tee sticking out of it. Royal Dutch Shell, which is testing Innoseis’s sensors, hopes the lightweight, wireless technology can replace its standard surveying equipment. Each of Shell’s $100 million seismic explorations requires about 100,000 11-pound sensors, strung together with 6,000 miles of cable. Innoseis’s model, which is stomped into the ground every few yards, would in theory let the oil company deploy 1 million 1-pound sensors, covering much more ground, for the same price. Innoseis’s path was obvious only in retrospect. Johannes van den Brand, an astrophysicist at the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics, joined the hunt for gravitational waves in 2006, attracted by the scientific and engineering challenge. In 2009 he persuaded Mark Beker, a half-Dutch New Zealander with a master’s in applied physics, to pursue a Ph.D. in seismicity and gravitational-wave detection. To Beker, the research was a chance “to make what seems like science fiction no longer science fiction.” Detecting how gravitational waves warp 3D space is tricky. The ripples are tiny. Instruments must be sensitive to 0.000000000000000001 meter, or about one ten-thousandth the width of a proton. And the earth, with its constant rattle and hum, is a terrible place to look for the waves. To detect ripples, gravitational-wave observatories isolate their instruments from the earth’s interference. To subtract out low-grade seismic activity, or “Newtonian noise,” the facilities measure the ground outside and adjust accordingly. Beker spent his first year of Ph.D. research on a seismic-listening tour of Europe, working on a way to account for Newtonian noise. He recorded what’s shaking, literally. In Germany he measured the ground near a factory. “You could tell from the seismic signal when people started, when they took a lunch break, and when they’d go home,” he says. He and Van den Brand went looking for lightweight seismic sensors and wound up designing some themselves. In 2012 their research caught the attention of Wim Walk, a physicist who manages Shell’s seismic oil-hunting technology. The company needed to investigate earthquakes near facilities around the Dutch town of Groningen, where natural gas extraction has been linked to seismic activity. Walk suggested that Innoseis refine its sensors: They had to be small, cheap, and tough enough to survive extreme temperatures, or the occasional truck wheel. The company is still testing Innoseis’s equipment. The prototype combines an analog instrument that measures ground movement with a software system that dramatically shrinks power demand (and thus weight and cost) by switching on gear only when it needs to time-stamp fresh data. For scientists, Einstein’s gravitational waves offer a way to learn things about the nature of the universe, Beker says. Until now, astronomy was “like watching a symphony play without sound,” he says. “It’s like, all of a sudden, somebody turns on the music. You get to understand so much more. You get to see so much more.” Including, perhaps, a lot more oil. The bottom line: Innoseis’s sensors may be able to increase the range of Shell’s $100 million oil exploration projects tenfold. SOURCE Share this: Facebook Twitter Email Print Like this: Loading... Posted in: Alfred Donovan, Bloomberg, Environment, Gas, Groningen Earthquakes, Oil,Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell. Tagged: Gas · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

Robert Reich | Why Corporate Tax Deserters Shouldn’t Get the Benefits of Being American Corporations

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DRONE SURFING

IMAGE SCREENSHOT: YOUTUBE .COM Surfing The Ocean Tied To A Heavy Duty Drone Looks Totally Tubular Freefly, a camera movement systems company, came up with a new sport just before summer's close. Meet drone surfing. Freefly Systems shared from

45TH PERSUASIVE APPEAL_15SEPT16_TO THE SCP JUSTICES, IT IS TIME TO STOP COLLUDING WITH SHELL

Aquino faces graft over  P100-B uncollected taxes Carolyn Bonquin, ABS-CBN News Posted at Sep 14 2016 03:06 PM | Updated as of Sep 14 2016 07:04 PM MANILA – Former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, former finance secretary Cesar Purisima and executives of oil giant Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. are facing graft charges before the Ombudsman over an alleged P100-billion state revenue losses on wrongfully declared and classified petroleum products.shared from READ MORE Graft, smuggling charges filed filed vs. Noy, Purisima Former BOC commissioner Napoleon Morales, publisher Lourdes Aclan and former BOC collector Juan Tan attest to the graft complaints they filed against former president Benigno Aquino III, former finance secretary Cesar Purisima and officials of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. MICHAEL VARCAS Graft, smuggling charges filed vs Noy, Purisima By Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 15, 2016 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines – Former president Benigno Aquino III and former finance secretary Cesar Purisima were charged yesterday with graft and smuggling before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly allowing Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. to bring unleaded gasoline into the country without paying the right taxes. Charged with them are officials of Shell led by chairman Edgar Chua. shared from READ MORE Graft, corruption, smuggling cases filed vs. Aquino, over Shell tax anomaly (Eagle News) A graft case and other criminal charges were filed against former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima before the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday (September 14) . The charges were filed due to failure to collect P100 billion in taxes from Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) from 2004 to 2009. shared from READ MORE Aquino, Purisima in P100-B graft, smuggling case filed with the Ombudsman  Aquino, Purisima in P100-B graft, smuggling case filed with Ombudsman by Jun Ramirez September 14, 2016 Former President Benigno S. Aquino III and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima are facing P100-billion graft and smuggling charges before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) for allegedly allowing for years Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) to bring in unleaded gasoline without payment of excise and value-added taxes. The complainants said Shell falsely declared its gasoline importations as catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG), light catalytic cracked gasoline (LCCG), and  later as “alkylate,” a chemical blending component in the manufacture of gasoline which is not subject to internal revenue taxes. SHARED FROM READ MORE

Aquino faces graft over P100-B uncollected taxes

Aquino faces graft over  P100-B uncollected taxes Carolyn Bonquin, ABS-CBN News Posted at Sep 14 2016 03:06 PM | Updated as of Sep 14 2016 07:04 PM MANILA – Former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, former finance secretary Cesar Purisima and executives of oil giant Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. are facing graft charges before the Ombudsman over an alleged P100-billion state revenue losses on wrongfully declared and classified petroleum products. The complainants, former customs commissioner Napoleon Morales, former customs collector Juan Tan and Batangas-based journalist Lourdes Aclan, claim the government lost about P100 billion after the Aquino administration failed to demand tax payments from Shell. The subject of the complaint stemmed from the smuggling issue Shell faced in 2010. Shell allegedly skipped tax payments starting 2004 after declaring import entries of unleaded gasoline as "tetrapropylene." The firm had claimed tetrapropylene is not subject to excise tax under the National Internal Revenue Code. The classification of unleaded gasoline, Catalytic Cracked Gasoline (CCG) and Light Catalytic Cracked Gasoline (LCCG), was also changed from an "exclusively for sale" finished product to a mere "blending component." Despite this, the Bureau of Customs still demanded P7.348 billion tax payment. Instead of complying, Shell changed the name of the declared gasoline shipment from "CCG" and "LCCG" to "Alkylate," which was classified as non-taxable waste material. Prior this, Shell paid taxes for CCG and LCCG in 2001 to 2004. The complainants said the P7.348-billion worth of taxes supposedly collected from CCG and LCCG, and P1.9 billion from Alkylate shipments has ballooned to over P100 billion in six years. They added, Aquino and Purisima snubbed Aclan's letter which called on the administration's attention over the uncollected taxes. "Kung isasama ang interest, surcharge at 800% penalty, lahat yan aabot ng P100 billion 'yan," said Tan. (If we will include the interest, surcharges and 800% penalty, it will reach P100 billion.) "Pera ng gobyerno 'yan. For more than six years ang pera nasa Shell, ginagamit ng Shell." (That’s the government’s money. For more than 6 years the money is with Shell.) Aquino, Purisima and Shell executives Edgar Chua, Robert Kanapi, and Nigel Avila have yet to comment on the complaint. They are complained of violating the "Tariff and Customs Code" and the "Doctrine of Command Responsibility in all Government Offices." Shell has a pending case filed before the Court of Tax Appeals. In the petition, the company asked the tax court to stop the tax collection from previous importations. shared from

Former BOC commissioner Napoleon Morales, publisher Lourdes Aclan and former BOC collector Juan Tan attest to the graft complaints they filed against former president Benigno Aquino III, former finance secretary Cesar Purisima and officials of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. MICHAEL VARCAS Graft, smuggling charges filed vs Noy, Purisima By Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 15, 2016 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines – Former president Benigno Aquino III and former finance secretary Cesar Purisima were charged yesterday with graft and smuggling before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly allowing Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. to bring unleaded gasoline into the country without paying the right taxes. Charged with them are officials of Shell led by chairman Edgar Chua. Former customs commissioner Napoleon Morales, tax collector Juan Tan, and journalist Lourdes Aclan accused the respondents of depriving the government of excise and value added taxes now totaling around P100 billion, including interests and surcharges. Shell allegedly managed to evade payment of taxes by falsely declaring its unleaded gasoline imports as catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG), light catalytic cracked gasoline (LCCG) and later alkylate from 2004 to 2009. Such chemicals are described as so-called blending components in the manufacture of gasoline which are not subject to or covered by internal revenue taxes collected by the Bureau of Customs for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The complainants alleged that from 2001 to 2004, Shell was paying taxes for its gasoline importations but stopped doing so from 2004 to 2009 when it changed its declarations of CGC and LCCG as unleaded gasoline to tetrapropylene and from “exclusive for sale” to “blending component.” Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1“Due to this modification in the declaration, all the shipments of Shell declared as CGC and LCCG from March 2004 to 2009 were released without payment of taxes,” they said. When Tan, who is stationed at the Port of Batangas, demanded payment of taxes amounting to P7.348 billion, Shell again allegedly changed its declaration of the imports to alkylate under “waste oil” classification that is not subject to taxes. An investigation was supposedly conducted on Shell’s allegedly fraudulent acts and the results of the same eventually reached Aquino and Purisima. Aclan said he wrote Aquino a letter in July 2012 informing him of the refusal of Purisima and other BOC officials to demand payment of taxes from the fuel company, but that his letter was ignored. “The government has lost over P100 billion including interest, surcharge and 800 percent penalty,” read the complaint. “It is also losing at least P55 million a month or a whopping P1.3 billion as of July 2016, and counting, in addition to the still unpaid P1.99 billion taxes on Shell’s alkylate importations, aside from the unpaid P7.348 billion taxes on its CGC and LCCG importations.  “Since 2011, the former president and DOF secretary did nothing but allow Shell to continuously use the P7.348 billion and P1.99 billion government revenue for its own use and benefits thereby giving it unwarranted benefits and causing grave and undue injury to the government.”            shared from

Graft, corruption, smuggling cases filed vs. Aquino, Purisima over Shell tax anomaly September 14, 2016 (Eagle News) A graft case and other criminal charges were filed against former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima before the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday (September 14) . The charges were filed due to failure to collect P100 billion in taxes from Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) from 2004 to 2009. Aquino and Purisima were charged with violation of Section 3(e) and 4 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Section 10 of RA 9851 in relation to Executive Order No. 226 or the Institutionalization of the Doctrine of Command Responsibility in all government offices, and Sections 3601 and 3604 of the Tariff and Customs Code, which refers to smuggling. Aside from the two, PSPC Chairman and President Edgar Chua, Vice President for Communications Robert Kanapi, Country Tax Manager Nigel Avila and other John Does were also charged. The complainants, former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Napoleon Morales, former BOC district collector Juan Tan, and Headlines News Today publisher Lourdes Aclan, accused Aquino and Purisima of snubbing PSPC’s supposed failure to pay the right taxes for their gasoline shipments which were wrongfully declared as non-taxable products. The complainants also said that Aquino, Purisima and the other accused “were silenced into submission” by PSPC. “Since 2011, the former President and DOF Secretary did nothing but allowed PSPC to continuously use the P7.348 billion and P1.99 billion government revenue for its own use and benefits, thereby giving it unwarranted benefits, and causing undue grave injury to the government,”  they stressed. This is the fifth case filed against Aquino since he stepped down from his office. He is facing a complaint over the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and three others related to the Mamasapano encounter. shared from

Aquino, Purisima in P100-B graft, smuggling case filed with Ombudsman

Aquino, Purisima in P100-B graft, smuggling case filed with Ombudsman by Jun Ramirez September 14, 2016 Former President Benigno S. Aquino III and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima are facing P100-billion graft and smuggling charges before the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) for allegedly allowing for years Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) to bring in unleaded gasoline without payment of excise and value-added taxes. The complainants said Shell falsely declared its gasoline importations as catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG), light catalytic cracked gasoline (LCCG), and  later as “alkylate,” a chemical blending component in the manufacture of gasoline which is not subject to internal revenue taxes. The taxes are collected by the Bureau of Customs for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The 15-page complaint was filed jointly by former Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, former Batangas Customs Collector Juan Tan, and Lourdes Aclan, publisher of Headlines News Today and national executive secretary of the Publishers Association of the Philippines. They said Shell reclassified CCG and LCCG as “alkylate” when then Batangas customs collector Tan demanded payment of P7.3 billion in excise taxes for imports of CCG and LCCG for the years 2004 to 2009, which demand was approved by Morales. Also included in the complaint are Shell Chairman Edgar Chua and several other unidentified executives of the oil company. Aclan said that as investigative reporter she brought the case separately to then President Aquino and Purisima, but both did nothing to compel Shell to settle the back accounts which now total more than P100 billion, including interests and surcharges. As the proper government officials, Morales said Aquino and Purisima should have demanded from Shell the payment of the taxes, or caused seizure of the oil products if the demand is ignored. Morales noted that the smuggling case filed in 2011 against PSPC under the customs bureau Run-After-the-Smugglers (RATS) campaign before the Department of Justice for misdeclaration of unleaded gasoline has not yet been resolved. According to Morales, when Shell elevated the case to the Court of Tax Appeals en banc, the latter decided in favor of the government. Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/aquino-purisima-in-p100-b-graft-smuggling-case-filed-with-ombudsman/#7jZrYTDoS7YuMF1g.99 SHARED FROM

LIVESTREAM: Senate hearing on spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions

Senate hearing on spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions