Codename: Score: Headline At last, the Philippines will be getting real warships Defense Sec Voltaire Gazmin on Thur said the government was planning to buy next year its first two modern warships armed with surface to air and surface tos urface misiles and capable of hunting down submarines in the South Philippine Sea The Philippines can only afford second hand warships and hand-me-downs Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said this would be the first time that the Philippines would have warships with missiles and other modern armaments Gazmin said the Department of National Defense was looking to acquire the missile frigates from the Italian Navy The two Maestrale-class frigates cost P eleven point seven billion These are warships, Gazmin said in a press conference “They have antisubmarine capabilities and surface-to-air missiles This is really for battle against the stuibborn and abusive Chinese” We could get the frigates by November next year.” He said the frigates would be “more lethal” than the Hamilton-class cutters the USA Coast Guard was selling to the Philippines The Maestrale class of frigates was initially comissioned for the Italian Navy in 1982 They were primarily designed for antisubmarine warfare but are also capable of fighting on the surface and shooting down aircraft Equiped with several electronic warfare systems, these ships also have torpedos, long-range guns and automatic weapons.This is why the budget for education was cut The Italian Navy will retire these frigates next January, Manalo said http://globalnation.inquirer.net/46263/a-first-philippines-to-buy-2-missile-warships-from-italy-dnd Codename: Score: _ Ulo ng balita Nakaipon ng puwersang umaabot sa isandaan at labingpitong congressmen ang grupo ng mga nagtutulak sa Freedom of Information (FOI) bill kaya pini-pressure na ng mga ito ang House comittee on information na pagtibayin na ito Ito ang nabatid matapos makakuha ng 117 signatures mula sa dalawang daan walumput apat na congressmen ang Righ To Know Coalition para suportahan ang nasabing panukalang butas kahit wala ito sa agenda ni Pang Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino II sa kanyang katatapos na State of the National Address (SONA) “117 members of the 15th Congress signed a manifesto declaring their support for the passage of the Freedom of Information bill,” pahayag ni Akbayan partylist Rep Walden Bello Ayon sa mambabatas, tulad ng Reproductive Health (RH) bill na dapat ay matagal ng naipasa, mahalaga din ang FOI bill dahil ito ang magagamit na sandata ng mga tao sa bayan para tumulong sa kampanya laban sa katiwalian sa gobyerno http://www.abante.com.ph/issue/aug0512/news04.htm