Death toll from Philippine mall blaze rises to 38

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BY Unknown Wednesday, December 27, 2017 0

Death toll from Philippine mall blaze rises to 38

Death toll from Philippine mall blaze rises to 38

The death toll from a fire that ravaged a shopping mall in the southern Philippines has risen to 38 after the body of a mall safety officer was discovered, the city mayor said, on Wednesday.
The officer died trying to rescue those trapped in the blaze at the four-storey NCCC mall in Davao City on Saturday, the operators said.
Also killed were 37 employees of a 24-hour call centre for US-based market research firm SSI on the top floor of the building.
Mayor Sara Duterte, the daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, said one SSI employee is counted among the dead even though her body has not yet been recovered.
President Duterte, who hails from Davao City, has vowed to get to the truth of the blaze. Labour groups charged that the high death toll was a sign safety rules were not met, a claim denied by the mall operators.
In a statement on Wednesday, NCCC mall spokesman Thea Padua denied allegations that it did not have enough fire exits, extinguishers, sprinklers and designated fire escapes.
“We have been fully compliant with the labour standards,” the statement said.
The cause of the blaze has still not been determined. The justice and labour departments and Davao’s fire-fighting bureau have ordered separate investigations.

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BY Unknown Monday, December 18, 2017 0

Philippines' controversial President Rodrigo Duterte changed his mind on same-sex marriage — for the third time

Philippines' controversial President Rodrigo Duterte changed his mind on same-sex marriage — for the third time

NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he delivers his state of the nation address at Congress in Manila on July 24, 2017.

• Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appears to have announced his support for same-sex marriage.
• Duterte embraced LGBT rights in his election campaign, but backtracked as president earlier this year.
• Duterte is highly popular in the Philippines, which is a largely Catholic country.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he supports same-sex marriage, Reuters reported Sunday.

The announcement reverses Duterte's stance from earlier this year when he said he opposed such marriages because "that's the law in the Philippines."

Duterte announced his new position while speaking to an LGBT crowd in his hometown over the weekend.

"I said I am for (same) sex marriage if that is the trend of the modern times," he said. "If that will add to your happiness, I am for it."

"I want same-sex marriage. The problem is, we'll have to change the law, but we can change the law," Duterte added.

That appears to be the same message that Duterte relied on during his election campaigning. In 2015, Duterte said on national television that same-sex marriage was "good" and that "everyone deserves to be happy."

He also said he would consider legalization, but reversed his stance after becoming president in 2016.

The Philippines is a largely conservative society thanks in part to Spanish colonialism which created a deep Catholic identity. The nation is now Asia's largest Catholic country and, with 76 million Catholics, the Philippines has roughly the same number as the US.

Duterte doesn't seem fazed by potential opposition to his latest position on same-sex marriage, though he has yet to announce any concrete changes to the law.

"Why impose a morality that is no longer working and almost passed," Duterte said to the LGBT crowd on Sunday. "So I am with you."