Not So Good News - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 3

TheAvenger

August 23rd, 2007, 09:52 PM

08/23/2007 | 10:34 PM

Malu Fernandez, lifestyle columnist of Manila Standard, resigned from the paper and the travel magazine she used to write for after getting the ire of readers, particularly Filipino overseas workers in Dubai, a statement posted on blogsites and sent to the GMANews.TV email said.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest," Fernandez said in the statement forwarded to GMANews.TV Thursday evening.

Fernandez's resignation came after readers reacted to an article she wrote for the newspaper and the magazine that apparently made fun of OFWs travel style.

Describing her flight from Dubai to Manila, Fernandez wrote that she would rather “slash" her wrists than be “trapped in a plane" with Filipino overseas workers.

Her article, “From Boracay to Greece," has been drawing a slew of heated words from all over the blogosphere, particularly from a group of overseas Filipino journalists in Dubai, who demanded a public apology from her and her resignation from the newspaper and the magazine.

The Filipino Press Club-Dubai has posted a statement at the website Tingog.com demanding Fernandez to apologize to the more than 200,000 Filipino migrant workers there who felt “insulted" by her story.

“The incident recounted in her flight via Dubai to Manila in which she berated fellow Filipinos (who had already endured the misfortune of working away from their families) on board Emirates for wearing “cheap" perfumes had no significant bearing to her story," the group said.

The Filipino Press Club-Dubai is composed of professional journalists from the print, broadcast and web-based media in the United Arab Emirates. It particularly reacted to a paragraph in Fernadez’s article where she narrated her horrid ordeal with the Filipino migrant workers during her flight home at the airline's economy section.

Fernandez in her statement said she was "humbled" by the "vehement and heated" response to her article. She said the article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.

“I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs," her satement said.

Fernandez claimed that because of the article she became a subject of hate blogs, a target of death threats and personal insults.

“Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions." Fernandez said.

Fernandez said she now truly understands the “insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor."

“It is my fervent hope that the lessons that I’ve learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred," she said.

There was still no statement from Manila Standard and Peoples Asia whether Fernandez's resignation was accepted. - GMANews.TV ArticlesMedia Links

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/57424/Manila-Standard-columnist-quits-after-getting-OFWs-ire

TheAvenger

August 23rd, 2007, 10:05 PM

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/malu1.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/malu2.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/writerisfatlol.jpg

Ms Malu Fernandez the columnist of People Asia Magazine and Manila Standar

TheAvenger

August 23rd, 2007, 10:15 PM

08/23/2007 | 08:59 PM

When columnist Malu Fernandez’s travelogue was published in the June issue of People Asia Magazine, not a few were incensed about how she shared her Mediterranean excursion. Especially after this self-proclaimed diva confessed, in her homeward flight from Dubai, that she would rather “slash" her wrists than be “trapped in a plane" with any Filipino overseas worker.

Her article, “From Boracay to Greece," has been drawing a slew of heated word-wars from all over the blogosphere, particularly from a group of overseas Filipino journalists in Dubai, who demanded a public apology from her and her resignation from the Manila-based newspaper and magazine she was writing for.

The Filipino Press Club-Dubai has posted a statement at the website Tingog.com demanding the Manila Standard Today columnist to apologize to the more than 200,000 Filipino migrant workers there who felt “insulted" by her story.

“The incident recounted in her flight via Dubai to Manila in which she berated fellow Filipinos (who had already endured the misfortune of working away from their families) on board Emirates for wearing “cheap" perfumes had no significant bearing to her story," the group said.

The Filipino Press Club-Dubai is composed of professional journalists from the print, broadcast and web-based media in the United Arab Emirates. It particularly reacted to a paragraph in Fernadez’s article where she narrated her horrid ordeal with the Filipino migrant workers during her flight home at the airline's economy section.

Cheap perfume

“On my way back, I had to bravely take the economy flight once more," Fernandez wrote. “This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while Jo Malone evaporated into thin air," she said, referring to her expensive perfume brand.

The Dubai-based group came out in defense of the overseas Filipino migrant workers.

“To suggest all Dubai-based OFWs smell awful because they are unable to afford expensive perfumes like the one she’s wearing is high-brow snobbery," their statement read, adding that this attitude further widens the gap between the country’s rich and poor.

Aside from the “cheap smell," the lifestyle writer also complained about the cramped plane seats which bruised her legs, the busted small flat screen in front of her and how she failed to sleep in during the flight because of the noisy chattering of the migrant workers.

“I heaved a sigh, popped my sleeping pills and dozed off to the sounds of gum chewing and endless yelling of ‘HOY! Kumusta ka na? At taga san ka? Domestic helper ka rin ba?’" she said.

“I thought I had died and God had sent me to my very own private hell," Fernandez added.

To “enlighten Ms Fernandez and her editors," the overseas-based group cited data from UAE Consul General Maria Theresa Taguiang showing that a majority of the 250,000 Filipino workers there are not domestic helpers.

According to their statement, “24 percent [of that figure] are professional workers, 35 percent are skilled, 24 percent unskilled and 16.89 percent household workers (housemaids, personal drivers, nannies, cooks, tutors, gardeners, among other household staff)."

The group is also reminding the media that insulting other people is not part of their right to free speech.

“One’s freedom to poke her fingers begins where someone else’s nose begins," they said.

"We strongly demand that the publishers of People Asia and Manila Standard Today take full responsibility and do the right thing: give Ms Fernandez and her editors a disciplinary action and apologize to the people insulted by these articles," the group said.

Fanning the flames

A month after the magazine article was published, Fernandez wrote another column, titled, “Am I being a diva? Or do you lack common sense?" in the Manila Standard Today to answer the negative feedback generated by her first opinion piece.

“Just recently, I wrote a funny article in my magazine column and my friends thought it was hilarious. It was humorous and quite tongue-in-cheek, or at least I thought so, until the magazine got a few e-mails from people who didn’t get the meaning of my acerbic wit," she said.

“The bottom line was just that I had offended the reader’s socioeconomic background. If any of these people actually read anything thicker then a magazine they would find it very funny…I obviously write for the certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading," she explained.

But instead of pacifying the public, her response further irked the OFW and other sectors.

In the last two weeks, GMANews.TV has been receiving e-mails from readers all over the globe who were outraged by Fernandez’s recent statements.

“OFW ako at nasisiguro ko na marami kaming mga OFW na nakapagbasa na ng mga libro at babasahing ni hindi man lang nasayaran ng mga mata at palad ng manunulat na ito ngunit hindi ako natawa sa kanyang isinulat," Frederick Perito wrote.

“Dahil kung kasing talino naming mga OFW ang Malu Fernandez na ito, dapat ay naiintindihan niya na walang kuwenta at walang kawawaan ang nilalaman ng kanyang mga artikulo maliban sa harapang panunuya at pang-aaglahi sa kanyang kapwa Pilipino," he added.

The Filipino Press Club-Dubai also reacted to her recent response.

“Ms Fernandez’s unrepentant response to the barrage of angry reactions from OFWs and their loved ones (“I obviously write for a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading"), simply adds fuel to the fire," they said.

Blog war

The OFWs also found a staunch ally among vocal bloggers enraged by her latest statements.

Through word of mouth and e-mails, Fernandez became the center of blog-bashing frenzy from several sites, calling her names like the “abominable snob-woman," and “hullabaloo Malu" among others.

Bloggers were sending links and excerpts of the infamous articles, even taking pictures of the magazine spread where Fernandez’s article and travel pictures were placed.

Now, the more ‘aggressive’ of this lot went on to grill Fernandez’s physical appearance.

“She has been called a pig, swine, and an elephant and many have disowned her as a Filipino," wrote Prudence in her blog.

Others turned to a more unified move in response to Fernandez’s article.

‘Nick’ from Tingog.com also launched an on-line signature campaign for the firing of Fernandez as well as the boycott of the two publications until the writer responds to their demand.

“Email your friends, leave a comment in this section, tell family members, write a blog post, and spread the word, that this boycott is to be nationwide, and that no one should buy The Manila Standard Today until they fire Malu Fernandez and make a proper statement of apology," he wrote.

Inquirer columnist and fellow blogger, Manolo Quezon III picked up on the current cyberspace war but refused to call for Fernandez’s resignation.

“I’m not for firing people on the basis of what they write. So boycott as you please, but I don’t support having anyone fired," he wrote.

He then suggested an alternative form of retaliation.

“Why not take her travel photos and run a Mala Malu photo caption contest instead? Loads of fun and extremely educational," Quezon said in his website, while featuring the magazine pictures of Fernandez in Boracay and Greece. - Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV ArticlesMedia Links

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/57420/Columnist-gets-ire-of-OFWs-in-Dubai-and-elsewhere

bitoy

August 23rd, 2007, 11:39 PM

^^ Maybe not good. Wala nang pagtatawanan ang mga tao. :lol: Although I made fun of her articles, I would rather read her articles than other blogger’s or columnists who are irresponsible and careless also. She blurted what’s on her mind thinking it was funny but it could be funny to her own kind. It was just right to express what’s on her mind. Some of you say that insulting a person is not part of her freedom of speech, it is just the same as some of us insulting public officials, celebrities and other people. It was just bad that she insulted her fellow Filipinos. :D
You got to hand it to her for admitting her mistakes, she had her 15 minutes of fame and maybe lots of good thing would come out of that.

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 02:30 AM

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 02:48 AM

An anti progress communist forumer in a pro progress forums...

You're on a wrong place dude,If you came to this place to beg for sympany for your terrorist organization you're definitely up for nothing:ohno: , go to Pex intead.....duon maraming mal-edukado kayong magogoyo:bash:.....

please spare SSC of your crap

If we will follow Karl Marx's and Lenin's theories, we can conclude that there was no communist yet in the world even during the Soviet era. there was a communist party but it was a name only.

you have to perfect the "national democracy stage" before you can be in the "socialist stage", you have to perfect socialism before you can arrive in "communism stage".

which according to my Russians Idols is like Nirvana, Shangrila, or something like heaven. :) :jk:

Lili

August 24th, 2007, 02:49 AM

^^ ^^

when I was working in Singapore for many years, my chinese friend the Personnel Manager in our Company told me that in their chinese customs there was an unwritten rules that say " you can say all the worst or the bad things against me.. but don't do it in writings "

Malu have wrote that article in a magazine that catered mostly to foreign readers. by showing contempts and prejudices against her own "kababayan" does not make her stature to the foreigners higher.

Malu tried to highlight his burgis origins to separate her from the new kind of globe-trotter the OFW, in the end she suffered from her acerbic wit..

^ I agree.

If she wants to get pointers on how to deliver acerbic wit about being burgis without directly insulting others and still being palatable, she should catch old Penthouse live shows featuring Nanette Inventor's Dona Buding.

One thing about the comically gifted Nanette Inventor is she can make fun of people's idiosyncracies and they will join her in laughter. She now has this new persona that she created for OFWs and also makes fun of their peculiarities and antics that she performs before an expat audience all over the world. This character is called Tita Munding -- a counterpoint to Dona Buding (her long-lost twin.)

bagel

August 24th, 2007, 03:06 AM

If we will follow Karl Marx's and Lenin's theories, we can conclude that there was no communist yet in the world even during the Soviet era. there was a communist party but it was a name only.

you have to perfect the "national democracy stage" before you can be in the "socialist stage", you have to perfect socialism before you can arrive in "communism stage".

which according to my Russians Idols is like Nirvana, Shangrila, or something like heaven. :) :jk:

An anti progress communist forumer in a pro progress forums...

You're on a wrong place dude,If you came to this place to beg for sympany for your terrorist organization you're definitely up for nothing:ohno: , go to Pex intead.....duon maraming mal-edukado kayong magogoyo:bash:.....

please spare SSC of your crap

Though I've been silent about these issues for the past year or so since others have carried the cudgel for me, I'd like to point out something about progress that I've always pointed out since I first joined this forum.

Having sympathetic views towards socialism or communism is not really anti-progress. In fact a term that many people in the left like to call themselves is "Progressive." It just so happens that the ideas of "development" and "progress" are not absolutes. What may be development to you may not be development to the urban poor or the farmers, as in many cases, laws that purport to advance the middle classes and the landowning classes may actually be detrimental to people with fewer means. Or that perhaps "peace and order" as defined by the state is not exactly "peace and order" if many countryside citizens are subject to state-sponsored terrorism and bully militarism. So what's progressive to neo-liberals is not progressive for socialists. And vice-versa.

As a self-confessed "progressive" I for instance particularly find it anti-progressive that governments are not considering healthcare a basic human right. I find it anti-progressive that the factions in the Philippine government are not interested in the idea of a Party List-- a very progressive experiment in grass-roots participation in the Philippine democracy.

Anyway, just interjecting about the relativity of the terms "development" and "progress" and suggesting that people should step back from name-calling because nobody here owns the word "progress." However, SSC is not a place to incite revolution as that poster from ISNAYP might be trying to do... perhaps discussing the possibility of state-sponsored terrorism is the most one might be able to do here. Back to your regular scheduled programming.

chocolato1000

August 24th, 2007, 09:27 AM

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 10:17 AM

^^ your post sounds proselytising, but not convincing enough. you're right when you say that we cannot talk "absolutes," especially is discussing political ideologies because we all know that they're all but abstracts - theories. because of that it's difficult if not impossible to quantify or qualify it's true essence.

it's good that you mentioned that nobody can claim the word "progress," because it's very much subjective to how we interpret it, and our interpretation is biased by our political beliefs.

therefore, since nothing in this world we can claim to be perfect, it's justifiable that we should expect "setbacks/downsides" to different political ideologies that people and states embrace.

as of me, since i cannot adhere to an ideology that i can claim perfect...the least thing that i can do is to believe in somethinng that is obvious.

as my senses has easily perceived, states that has embraced democracy are the states that has triumphed in our history, great britain, united states, france, japan, etc. they are not perfect but i find their flaws to be at minimum, in contrast to countries like north korea, cuba, russia, china, and vietnam.

my comparative analysis is very elementary. that's why even a 3-year old lad will understand why democracy is the best choice.

cheers

great britain, united states, france, japan, etc. they are not perfect but i find their flaws to be at minimum,

if you were there as citizens or a residents then it is really nice.... but if you live in the 3rd wold countries then that is bad... because you are in the receiving end of their imperialist policies.

by the way pls note that you cannot equate democracy with capitalism or socialism / communism.

capitalism and socialism / communism were economic theories or principles.

a country with a capitalist economy can be either democratic or totalitarian.

a country with a socialist / communist economy can be either democratic or totalitarian.

and please note that according to socialism theory, in the beginning for a brief period the country should be ruled first by a proletarian dictatorship. It is like a revolutioanry government first, since in any change of system you may meet violent reaction or rebellion.

chocolato1000

August 24th, 2007, 10:39 AM

^^ wow, but you don't sound provocative, you have to read some more, hohoho :lol:

cheers

bitoy

August 24th, 2007, 11:03 AM

^^ ^^

when I was working in Singapore for many years, my chinese friend the Personnel Manager in our Company told me that in their chinese customs there was an unwritten rules that say " you can say all the worst or the bad things against me.. but don't do it in writings "

Malu have wrote that article in a magazine that catered mostly to foreign readers. by showing contempts and prejudices against her own "kababayan" does not make her stature to the foreigners higher.

Malu tried to highlight his burgis origins to separate her from the new kind of globe-trotter the OFW, in the end she suffered from her acerbic wit.

.

Sorry, I never heard of that Chinese unwritten rule.

I don’t think that she wanted to be a “burgis” or she is one, there are some articles of hers that are wholesome and down to earth. Just this one, she really tried to extend her journalistic capacity at the expense of insulting her own fellow Filipinos. Maybe we should blame the editors also for not catching this one.
Believe me, I’ve read other editorials and articles that are far worse than that.

Here is a Chinese saying that could make our lives a lot easier:

Carelessness in words will lead to worries; in actions will lead to troubles;
in appearance will lead to shame and in appreciation will lead to lust.
On the contrary, cautious word is certainly in accordance with the rules of conduct;
cautious action is definitely virtuous; cautious appearance inspires awe and cautious
appreciating is worth emulating.

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 11:43 AM

Sorry, I never heard of that Chinese unwritten rule.

I don’t think that she wanted to be a “burgis” or she is one, there are some articles of hers that are wholesome and down to earth. Just this one, she really tried to extend her journalistic capacity at the expense of insulting her own fellow Filipinos. Maybe we should blame the editors also for not catching this one.
Believe me, I’ve read other editorials and articles that are far worse than that.

Here is a Chinese saying that could make our lives a lot easier:

Carelessness in words will lead to worries; in actions will lead to troubles;
in appearance will lead to shame and in appreciation will lead to lust.
On the contrary, cautious word is certainly in accordance with the rules of conduct;
cautious action is definitely virtuous; cautious appearance inspires awe and cautious
appreciating is worth emulating.

Abt the unwritten rules.... his family orignated from Hainan...

From the oriiginal copy of Malu Fernandez postings she mention about her political family and etc.. so she is saying she came from the burgis or upper class.

btw here is the feedback about Malu from a member of our network in America.

Hi Sam, Thanks for your reply...took a nap after dinner so here I am... quite awake now. I read her stories again and from her big mouth she said where she comes from and that says it all to me. That helped me took out my favorite Ann Landers quote about class....so many people think they have class but actually they don't even come closer to what it really means. So here it is and dedicated most esp. to Malu Fernandez... .....

Class has a sense of humor. It knows that a good laugh is the best lubricant for oiling the machinery of human relations.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes. Class bespeaks an aristocracy unrelated to ancestors or money. Some extremely wealthy people have no class at all, while others who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.

Class is real. You can't fake it. Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down.

Class is already up and need not attempt to look better by making others look worse. Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because he is comfortable with himself.

If you have class, you've got it made. If you don't have class, no matter what else you have, it won't make up for it.

heathcliff

August 24th, 2007, 12:42 PM

^^ you havent seen what those guys did on other forums :ohno:

Those commies are still spreading their lies in other forums. Pati ang giyera sa Basilan at Sulu ay sinakyan pa, exhorting their armed groups to take advantage of the AFP’s distraction in fighting the Abu Sayyaf, in order to inflict casualties on our soldiers.

I'm not opposing communism per se. What I am opposing are the reprehensible acts of communists in the Philippines, as any right-thinking person should do.

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 12:53 PM

Those commies are still spreading their lies in other forums. Pati ang giyera sa Basilan at Sulu ay sinakyan pa, exhorting their armed groups to take advantage of the AFP’s distraction in fighting the Abu Sayyaf, in order to inflict casualties on our soldiers.

if i am commie, I will rather helps our soldiers in their fight to preserve our country's territorial integrity.

well, some of the personality in the Left perhaps were stupid and not nationalistic. but I guess others from the left were pragmatic to realize that we needed to have a united country whether some believes in other ideologies and some were right, left, centrist, islamist, whatever.

heathcliff

August 24th, 2007, 01:24 PM

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 02:16 PM

^^The exhortation for the NPA to take advantage of the AFP's distraction in fighting the ASG came from the CPP leadership. It's too bad that they would participate in these reprehensible acts.

I agree that not all communists are stupid like those who persist in their armed rebellion. But they are apt to be judged according to the acts of their leadership.

what leadership ? the dogmatic leaders who devoured the childrens of revolution just to unmask some zombies in the 80s ?

is the soldiers of our AFP to be judged according to the act of their commander in chief ? or the high command of the AFP :)

i am just giving my unsolicited comment, I am an apolitical person.

.

chocolato1000

August 24th, 2007, 05:17 PM

tanong ko lang.

kung mamatay si joma bukas, sino ang next in line?

TheAvenger

August 24th, 2007, 06:09 PM

tanong ko lang.

kung mamatay si joma bukas, sino ang next in line?

aywan ko... hindi kaya ikaw :)

chocolato1000

August 24th, 2007, 06:29 PM

wow kung mangyari yun...avenger, isa ka sa mga adviser ko. hohoho:lol:

bagel

August 24th, 2007, 10:46 PM

^^ your post sounds proselytising, but not convincing enough. you're right when you say that we cannot talk "absolutes," especially is discussing political ideologies because we all know that they're all but abstracts - theories. because of that it's difficult if not impossible to quantify or qualify it's true essence.

it's good that you mentioned that nobody can claim the word "progress," because it's very much subjective to how we interpret it, and our interpretation is biased by our political beliefs.

therefore, since nothing in this world we can claim to be perfect, it's justifiable that we should expect "setbacks/downsides" to different political ideologies that people and states embrace.

as of me, since i cannot adhere to an ideology that i can claim perfect...the least thing that i can do is to believe in somethinng that is obvious.

as my senses has easily perceived, states that has embraced democracy are the states that has triumphed in our history, great britain, united states, france, japan, etc. they are not perfect but i find their flaws to be at minimum, in contrast to countries like north korea, cuba, russia, china, and vietnam.

my comparative analysis is very elementary. that's why even a 3-year old lad will understand why democracy is the best choice.

cheers

I hardly think I'm proselytizing. I was just pointing out that nobody owns the idea of progress and development (or "nationalism," or "history," or "Filipino" as well, as I used to post). I was just saying that people here often seem rather absolutist-- on either side of the coin.

it's good that you mentioned that nobody can claim the word "progress," because it's very much subjective to how we interpret it, and our interpretation is biased by our political beliefs.

I'd like to think that progress is not subjective and based on political beliefs, but rather subjective and based on our material realities. Two pretty different things.

hiiamdib

August 24th, 2007, 11:54 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/10835/Emergency-Hito-kids

DoggMann

August 25th, 2007, 06:44 AM

wowowee!! magic!

nQNPPhXXhqc

... nakakahiya to .... :bash: :bash: :bash:

crappypants

August 25th, 2007, 06:53 AM

of course there is scam in their games. the probability of winning one or two million is too high if it's just random shuffle of twelve wheels. i don't think abs-cbn can afford that.

3cr

August 27th, 2007, 09:23 AM

Pinoys pay too much for rice
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/aug/27/yehey/top_stories/20070827top3.html

Poor Filipinos pay more for rice, as much as P66 billion, than if they had bought the staple at world-market prices, according to a new World Bank report.

“Since the consumer rice price was 55 percent higher than the border parity price, Filipinos have spent an excessively high percentage of their expenditure on rice,” according to the World Bank said in a report titled “Philippines: Agriculture Public Expenditure Review.” Fifty-five percent is the average gap between domestic and world rice prices.

The report added, “This annual loss is estimated at P65.6 billion.”

The government’s import protection is actually pushing up rice even more and resulting in poor Filipinos eating less rice, according to the study.

The World Bank reported that the government’s thrust for rice self-sufficiency “has exacerbated the problems for the rest of the economy, and hampered crop diversification within agriculture.”

Since rice alone accounts for 20 percent of the CPI (consumer price index) food component, high rice prices have raised the cost of living in the Philippines, the report explained.

The effect is much larger if other highly protected products such as corn, poultry and sugar are also considered. This is because the food expenditures still account for 60 percent of total household expenditures and the import protection of these wage goods remains very high, World Bank said.

It added that Filipinos could have eaten more rice if only local rice prices were closer to the world market price.

The Washington-based len*der said rice is a very important commodity for poor consumers. For the poorest 30 percent of families, rice constitutes 17 percent of their total consumption and 27 percent of their total food expenditures.

The report noted that a poor household with five members loses P3,392 to P4,100 a year because of high rice prices.

The report added that while the richest consumers could have saved about 5 percent of their total food expenditures, the poorest could have saved twice as much—about 10 percent. Having less money means expenditures on essentials, such as food, represent a greater portion of spending.

Rice is the staple food for 83 percent of the population, contributing as much as 65 percent of the calorie intake of the Filipinos, the World Bank said. It added that high rice consumption has been driven by rapid population growth, which had been averaging 2.3 percent a year since 1990. Rice production grew at only 1.9 percent over the same period.

chocolato1000

August 27th, 2007, 09:52 AM

^^ shame to us who was once a rice exporter, we even host the international rice research institute...and yet we pay for one of the most expensive rice in the world. shame, shame, and shame.

Peugeot206

August 27th, 2007, 11:53 AM

jbkayaker12

August 27th, 2007, 12:20 PM

^^^^I don't care for that show the first time I watched it and I still don't care for that show now. It is surprising and INSULTING that TFC airs the show twice a day here in the United States.

wheel of steel

August 27th, 2007, 01:36 PM

^^ Wag na kayong umasa sa mga TFC reports. Tanggap ng tao na negative at negative ang kanilang reports. Kung may dapat man tayong malaman, d2 sa katotohanan, sa SSC. Dito na tayo....

wheel of steel

August 27th, 2007, 01:51 PM

aywan ko... hindi kaya ikaw :)

^^ The next in line is the "Kaunlaran ng Lahat". Were going to have a prosperous life. I bet you.... ^^

wheel of steel

August 27th, 2007, 01:53 PM

tanong ko lang.

kung mamatay si joma bukas, sino ang next in line?

^^ The next in line is the Prosper of Each and Every Filipinos and forever Peace... ^^

chocolato1000

August 27th, 2007, 04:47 PM

I was at an informal presentation given by a Filipino academic at the FAO last summer and this was his research topic.

He was corrected by a local government academic who informed him that rice prices in the Philippines are manipulated by the government to be income supportive. The mechanism is the control of imports (primarily from Thailand) to restrict supply and thus raise the price of rice commanded by Filipino farmers.

So, simply put, the government believes that higher rice prices for local farmers is better than lower rice prices for the general Filipino consumer.

a simple analysis of the "rice self-sufficiency" policy of the government.

first, it's a shame how the government reasoned out that way, this price manipulation scrap is a clear manifestation of the protectionist-tendencies of our government, bad policy, being a member of the WTO, APEC, among others that preached the reduction and removal of tariff, quotas, and other trade barriers.

second, how about we call this "safety nets?" the water downed terms DOA loves to use...hohoho euphemism won't tone down the cost it incurs in our economy. but how about the farmers? our policy-makers have a very good intention to protect them, but i felt they did it the bad way..it should have been obvious to them that we don't have an "absolute advantage" when it come to rice production (and another shame because we even host the IRRI). it's like insisting in oil production when you know your fields is empty. you'll know your effort is useless. we import what we lack, and export what we have in surplus.

cheers

Peugeot206

August 28th, 2007, 07:46 AM

a simple analysis of the "rice self-sufficiency" policy of the government.

first, it's a shame how the government reasoned out that way, this price manipulation scrap is a clear manifestation of the protectionist-tendencies of our government, bad policy, being a member of the WTO, APEC, among others that preached the reduction and removal of tariff, quotas, and other trade barriers.

second, how about we call this "safety nets?" the water downed terms DOA loves to use...hohoho euphemism won't tone down the cost it incurs in our economy. but how about the farmers? our policy-makers have a very good intention to protect them, but i felt they did it the bad way..it should have been obvious to them that we don't have an "absolute advantage" when it come to rice production (and another shame because we even host the IRRI). it's like insisting in oil production when you know your fields is empty. you'll know your effort is useless. we import what we lack, and export what we have in surplus.

cheers

There is a decent article on this issue in today's Business Mirror.

I can't say I really have an opinion on the matter beyond that it is goes against standard economic theory, as you'd noted.

As I conduct my own research in the Philippines, the one thing that I am reminded of relentlessly is that here, it's not just the economy, it's political economy. The rational economic choice is not necessarily the rational choice. So, ostensibly, this could be a measure to preserve vote blocks or prevent uprising; I don't know. Obviouslty, the goal of rice self-sufficiency hasn't been achieved.

TheAvenger

August 31st, 2007, 12:00 PM

http://www.gmanews.tv/

08/30/2007 | 07:24

A Filipino peacekeeper in East Timor has become the subject of a recall petition by a major political party for his allegedly “irresponsible" remarks that saw print in a international news magazine.

East Timor’s Fretilin party is seeking the recall of Joel Doria, head of the Comoro police post of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), and has labeled the Philippine National Police (PNP) contingent there as’ notoriously corrupt" and “with a reputation for brutality."

Fretilin said in a statement dated Aug. 9 that it was pissed by Doria’s statement in the Aug. 6 issue of Time magazine in which the Filipino peacekeeper singled out Fretilin’s involvement in organizing violence in East Timor following the announcement of former resistance fighter Xanana Gusmao as Prime Minister in late July.

“Mr Doria’s comments and behavior are irresponsible. We expect members of the UN Police to exercise a duty of care when discharging their duties and act as an example to the National Police of Timor-Leste, which the UN is helping to rebuild," said Fretilin Parliamentarian Jose Teixeira.

“The Philippines police force is notoriously corrupt and politically partisan with a reputation for brutality. Timorese do not want Philippines police practices imported into this country," Teixeira asserted.

The parliamentarian said must be sent back to the Philippines for having demonstrated bias against Fretilin. The group likewise demanded a formal written apology from Doria.

“If Mr Doria has any evidence of criminal activities, he should be presenting that evidence to the prosecuting authorities which will deal with them appropriately through the legal processes. This is a process that Fretilin has always supported," Teixeira said.

“We demand that UNMIT act immediately to send Mr Doria home and for both UNMIT and Mr Doria to issue a formal apology to Fretilin."

Teixeira declared that Fretilin “does not support any form of violence and anyone who commits criminal acts should be brought to justice."

Gusmao’s coalition parties--the National Congress for the Reconstruction of East Timor (CNRT), the Timorese Social Democratic Association (ASDT), Carrascalão's PSD and the Democratic Party (PD)—hold 37 seats in the parliament, giving it substantial majority over Fretilin which won only 21 seats in the June 30 elections.

Fretilin's leaders argue that they should govern after winning more seats than any other party. - GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/58420/E-Timor-party-seeks-recall-of-Pinoy-peacekeeper-calls-PNP-corrupt

chocolato1000

August 31st, 2007, 03:04 PM

^^ “The Philippines police force is notoriously corrupt and politically partisan with a reputation for brutality. Timorese do not want Philippines police practices imported into this country," Teixeira asserted.

we can't blame them. can we? another shame.

iloilocitykid

August 31st, 2007, 04:06 PM

^ It's true anyway. We can't blame them

They arrest you and they beat you up. Now that's being a gentleman though not all are that

TheAvenger

August 31st, 2007, 07:34 PM

.

LALA RIMANDO, Newsbreak
05/24/2007 | 03:39 PM

The government is scrambling to find a timely solution to avert a potential financial crisis involving the rail system.

For the sake of the 800,000 commuters of the existing rail system along Edsa, the government has to settle a financial problem it caused and is just waiting to explode. The deadline? August.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/mrst3map1.jpg

Herein lies the trouble: The government has not been paying the lease rentals on time. Roberto Lastimoso, the general manager of Metro Rail Transit Authority, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) subsidiary operating MRT 3, admitted in a radio interview that the government agency is eight months behind the lease rental payments.

Based on our computation, using the guidelines in the project agreement between the Metro Rail Transit Corporation or MRTC and DOTC, the aggregate amount of the delayed payments is in the vicinity of US$30 million or P1.4 billion.

Lastimoso added that even their maintenance payment obligations to Sumitomo Corporation’s Japanese subcontractor, Tespi Corporation, is four months behind. That would amount to something like $7 million or P335 million.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/mrt3map2.jpg

Lastimoso attributes this to the fact that they could not raise the train fare to a break-even level because of potential adverse reactions from the very price-sensitive riding public.

Bad Deal?

The current financial obligations of the government related to the 17-kilometer MRT 3, the rail system along Edsa, can either be seen as a ghost of a bad deal or an opportunity to right a mistake. Just like other major infrastructure projects that highlight the many ways a public-private partnership can go wrong, MRT 3 has its own story to tell.

MRT 3 is under a build-lease-transfer (BLT) scheme between a Filipino consortium and the DOTC, on behalf of the government.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/MRT3_Shaw1.jpg

near Shaw Blvd Station

The consortium, called the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC), included the following members: Ayala Land, Inc. of Makati’s famed Ayala family; Anglo-Philippine Holdings Corporation associated with the National Bookstore chain; Fil-Estate Management, a subsidiary of the Sobrepena family’s property and pre-need empire (now crumbling); Ramcar, Inc, battery manufacturer and exporter, of the Agustines family, and; Greenfield Development Corporation, the investment arm of pharmaceutical industry leader, United Laboratories.

The Filipino investors infused US$190 million (about P9.3 billion) in equity and raised loans worth $462 million (about P22 billion) from a group of international and local banks. The loans had the sovereign guarantee of the Philippine government.

Under this BLT scheme, MRTC built MRT 3 as the borrower and project executor while still in-charge of maintaining the system. Since MRT 3 started operating in 2000, government’s lease and its role as the operator of the rail line also commenced. When the lease expires after 25 years, the government will have full control of the project. This scheme is supposed to free the government from the intricate procedures associated with project financing.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/mrtquezonavenue.jpg

Quezon Ave Stn

As the lessee, the government was also supposed to pay lease rentals. But what was harshly criticized about the project were the lease payments payable during the 25-year period. The rental schedule assured MRTC of an after-tax, after-debt-service, after-expense return on their investments of 15 percent per year.

Sovereign Guarantee

Critics said this put all the business risks and the pressure to increase the usage of MRT 3 on the government since the consortium’s profits were already guaranteed.

By 2002, some members of the MRTC, such as the Sobrepenas and the Agustines of the Ramcar Group, were having financial difficulties in their other businesses, while the Ayalas eventually decided to bow out of the consortium. Thus, some of the consortium members decided to cash in, rather than wait for the government to complete all its future lease rental payments. They tapped the capital markets and packaged these future payments into a financial product called zero-coupon bonds.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/MRT3_Shaw2-1.jpg

near Shaw Blv Stn

In effect, the original investors who cashed in, such as the Sobrepenas and the Agustineses, passed on the “waiting time" to those who snapped the bonds. To the bondholders, the MRTC bonds are attractive because they get a hefty 15 percent profit on their money. What’s more, the receivables that back these bonds are coming from the Philippine government and have attached sovereign guarantees to them. In other words, they are supposed to be considered a “safe" investment.

What this financial exercise did was change the hierarchy of who owes whom. It used to be that the monthly lease rentals of the government were paid to the MRTC consortium. Now those in the consortium who have cashed in are out of the picture, and instead, the government’s lease rentals are paid to the bondholders as part of their regular bond coupon payments, or the equivalent of the interest earnings of, say, a time deposit in a bank.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/MRT3ayala.jpg

near Ayala Ave Station

Fare Subsidy

Recall that before MRT 3 started operations in 2000, the calculated fare that was approved was about P30 per passenger. The Estrada administration, however, decided to charge only somewhere between P9 and P15 because that’s what they thought the passengers would be able to afford.

When President Arroyo took over, her officials decided to continue subsidizing the fares. The subsidy comes from the national government budget, and needs to go through the usual time-consuming government appropriation and disbursement routes. Unlike the debt rental payments, which are covered by automatic appropriations in the national budget, the lease rentals are not.

That explains the late payments, but not why the allocated budgets are still inadequate to cover the lease rental dues even when the budget is disbursed on time. According to Philratings, the local rating agency monitoring debt instruments like the MRTC bonds, subsidy received from the national budget in 2006 was only P1.2 billion, or half the requested subsidy of P2.1 billion for that year. They expect the subsidies for 2007 will also not be enough.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/MRTnorthave.jpg

In its February 2007 report, Philratings said, “The government agency is not likely to achieve a significant reduction in past due rentals without increasing national government budget subsidies to MRT operations, as fare box revenues of the MRT 3 system are not sufficient to fully pay monthly [lease rental payments]."

The budgeted subsidy itself needs to be adjusted because when the project was finalized in 1997, the going rate of the peso to the dollar was P27. Currently, even if the peso rates are stronger in the P48-level coming from previous highs of P54, the discrepancy is still too wide. All the obligations—the lease rentals, maintenance, and the debt rental—are denominated in US dollars, but the revenues from the fare box are in pesos.

With all these factors, DOTC will naturally fall behind its obligations.

Can DOF meet the deadline?

The big difference since 2002, however, is that one of the obligations, the lease rentals, is now the an obligation due to bondholders, some of whom are handled by fund managers who don’t want to upset their clients because they invested in something that could not pay on time.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/manila-mrt3-1.jpg

So far, even if the government has been perennially late in dispensing the required monthly lease rental payments to the trustee bank, in this case, the Bank of New York, which pools all these monthly payments in time for the semi-annual coupon payments, the funds in the pool have been enough to meet the scheduled coupon payments.

However, the perennially late monthly payments underscore the possibility that there will not be adequate accumulated amounts by August 7, 2007, when the first tranche of bonds will mature. By that time there should be about US$69.2 million or P3.4 billion in the bag already, which may not be likely.

It is because of this upcoming date in August that the officials of the Department of Finance—not the DOTC—are rushing to find a way to refinance or re-package their obligations.

Meeting the August deadline is now out of the hands of the DOTC because when the bondholders decide to call the government in default of its obligations to them, it is automatic that the other foreign denominated obligations of the government will also be set in default. This will wipe out whatever goodwill or excellent payment records the Philippines has with the international capital markets.

Hostile Bondholder

But besides the capital markets, the finance department might have to face the possibility of dealing with a hostile bondholder. A Newsbreak source familiar with the details of the bond obligations said that most of the bonds are now in the hands of Elliot Associates, a financial outfit known as a “vulture fund," or one that is expert in buying distressed and cheap debt assets mostly from emerging markets. They scour all possible means, including bankruptcy laws and international litigation, to push for their target to settle with them.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/angel865/MRT3LRT.jpg

Elliot is famous for having compelled the government of Peru to settle a sovereign-bond related issue after Elliot won court cases all over Europe, US and Canada.

Meantime, the option to buy out the bondholders, which was floated as early as 2005, was supposed to lessen the pressure on the government as far as meeting the rentals is concerned. If the bondholders are out of the way, then the government will not have to be concerned with the threat of a default call or go through a negotiation process with a hostile vulture fund.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/MRT3metrostar.jpg

Recently, too, the Philippine’s good reputation in the international capital markets has been highlighted in media to push the option of borrowing to fund the buy-out. Why not take advantage of the cheap interest rates, observers say. After all, the government can borrow funds from the capital markets way below the 15 percent cost of the bonds.

Buy Out Bondholders?

But these are not without flaws. The option of buying out the bondholders just relieves the government of the fact that the MRT 3 is not profitable and will still keep on bleeding the national government’s coffers with annual subsidies.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb244/jibrael865/MRT3_Taft.jpg

Newsbreak asked Finance Secretary Margarito Teves about the MRTC bonds but he prefers not to give out details. “We will are still talking to the justice department so we will know what should be our parameters if we restructure the contract or seek appropriation from Congress [to finance the buy-out.]"

Restructuring the contract may mean the bondholders will have to take a cut, or the government will have to find a new partner that will consent to lower profits.

Philippine Web Awards: GMANews.TV is Best Media Website

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/43692/Bad-news-for-800000-commuters-MRT-3-in-dire-financial-straits

-----------------------------------------------------

Govt to take over MRT3 by next month

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/58251/Govt-to-take-over-MRT3-by-next-month

Govt enters formal negotiations for MRT3 takeover

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/47228/Govt-enters-formal-negotiations-for-MRT3-takeover

Govt mulls 3 options for financial rescue of MRT3

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/46121/Govt-mulls-3-options-for-financial-rescue-of-MRT3

.

chocolato1000

August 31st, 2007, 09:29 PM

500,000 Filipino mail-order brides worry Villar

Websites promoting marital match to be probed too

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 04:20pm (Mla time) 08/31/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Despite a law banning mail-order marriages about 300,000 to half a million Filipino mail-order brides continue to leave the country each year and Senate President Manuel Villar wants this investigated.

In Senate Resolution 101, Villar urged the Senate committee youth, women, and family relations to “inquire into the plight of these women and [into] the brazen violation of corresponding laws…with the end view of charting remedial measures to protect the dignity of Filipinas.”

He worried that criminal syndicates are behind mail-order bride operations.

The figures on the number of mail-order brides, said Villar’s staff, came from the women’s organization Gabriela.

Villar, whose election campaign last May banked partly on a pro-woman stance, also noted the proliferation of websites promoting mail-order matches, citing three sites as an example.

It said the first website advertises itself as a “world-class service for a 10th of a century [that] has been in business to introduce girls from the Philippines who would like to correspond, meet, and marry Western men through which Filipino women can be instantly ordered,” subject to a $5 processing fee.

The second website advertises “mail-order brides, pen pal girls exclusively from the Philippines, lovely Filipina ladies wishing to correspond and meet foreign gentlemen for romance and possible marriage.”

The third site boasts: “Philippine women from Luzon have masters degrees.”

Villar said Republic Act 6955 of 1990 “declare(s) as unlawful the practice of matching Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals on a mail order basis and other similar practices, including the advertisement, publication, printing or distribution of brochures, fliers, and other propaganda materials in furtherance thereof and providing penalty therefore.”

“The government must implement the law prohibiting the violation of Filipino women, and should look after distressed Filipinas who have suffered abuses in the hands of foreign spouses,” he stressed.

Various non-government organizations working with women and migrant Filipinos note that many Filipino mail-order brides become prostitutes, are raped or abused.

TheAvenger

September 2nd, 2007, 05:05 AM

.

A Boy Died Last Monday.

-----------------------------------------------------

Blood brothers

By Patricia Evangelista
Inquirer
Last updated 08:20pm (Mla time) 09/01/2007

His name was Cris Anthony Mendez. His friends from the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) called him CA, and his pictures show a boy who made faces at the camera while surrounded by friends. This year was his last in the University of the Philippines Diliman, the year he sat in the student council. He was the eldest of his family, and his mother in Tiaong, Quezon believed he would pull them out of poverty. He was 20 years old.

Cris was tall, and thin, and kind, and when he was killed last Monday, his killers ran away and tried to forget who he was.

I write this at dawn, six days since he was carried into the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center, battered and bruised purple. The doctors say Cris was dead on arrival. According to the statement of security guard Jonathan Garduce, it was Dr. Francisco Cruz, a VMMC physician, who brought Cris in from a white Toyota Innova. And after leaving information, Cruz and his companions rushed out. Reports say Dr. Cruz has gone on emergency leave.

According to classmates in UP Law, his son Miko is a member of Sigma Rho, a UP Diliman law-based fraternity. Chief Insp. Lino Banaag of the QCPD-CIDU told this paper that the doctor has gone into hiding.

Cris Mendez left testimony with his friends that he was joining Sigma Rho, and that Ariel Paolo Ante, chair of the NCPAG student council, was his recruiter and initiation master. Ante has disappeared. In a report from this paper, Ante asked Cris’ friends to wish him good luck “for the initiation” which was to take place over the weekend.

Right now, the men who watched Cris die can still sleep in their beds at night. They remember how his eyes looked those last few minutes. They know if he cried, if he begged; if he said please, stop. They held his broken body on the way to the hospital. They saw him and touched him and heard him scream, and today some of them still go to class and study human rights law.

There are many things I do not understand. I understand that these fraternity men are scholars, law students, people educated by the state in the hope that someday they will give back in service to the nation. I do not understand what sort of twisted logic can make intelligent men believe that friendship and loyalty need to be proven through a brutal initiation.

“Such distorted values,” as UP Diliman Chancellor Sergio Cao says, “have no place in an institution of higher learning like UP.” Hazing is illegal, and has been for more than a decade. The administration is currently building its case against Sigma Rho, and its officers have been suspended.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sigma Rho has closed ranks. There is a conspiracy of silence, even among the alumni. In spite of evidence linking members to Cris and his death, members deny they know him, and that any sort of hazing has taken place.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In Tiaong, Quezon, Cris’ mother sits beside his coffin. She is quiet, and her eyes are flat and blank. And then she shakes her head, violently, and moans, and her wail cuts through the thick air of the quiet funeral parlor. There is anger here, and a stunned sort of disbelief. Why, she asks, why her son, her Cris who was such a good boy? Why did they have to kill him, they didn’t have to, and even if they had beaten him up, she would have made him well, she would have nursed him, she would have gotten a doctor even if she was poor. And while she trembles, she tells his killers that someday, they will have children too.How can men, who gleefully smash their paddles behind thighs and arms, be called brothers by their victims? Don’t they know that had they died the way Cris died, none of their loyal fraternity brods would call them brother?

* * *

For comments, just text: PM REBEL name, age, location, message then send to 2948 for Globe/Sun and 3940 for Smart. E-mail at rebel.inquirer@gmail.com.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquirer...ticle_id=86071

.

crappypants

September 11th, 2007, 09:00 PM

Local News
Opposition likely to exploit Estrada verdict in moves to oust president

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 01:34 PM
MANILA (AP) - No matter what the verdict is Wednesday in ousted President Joseph Estrada's corruption trial, the Philippine opposition is likely to seize the opportunity to try to rally its dispirited, disjointed followers.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration is not taking any chances, putting together a massive police and military presence to nip any protests in the bud before they have a chance to spin out of control. Live TV coverage of the verdict has been banned.

The opposition has been trying virtually nonstop to oust Arroyo since she was sworn in _ as the country's second "people power" revolt forced Estrada to leave the presidential palace by the back door in January 2001.

Each effort _ including at least two military-backed coup plots and another failed power grab _ has drawn less public support. Midterm elections earlier this year entrenched the Arroyo administration's hold on the House of Representatives, quashing the threat of a third impeachment attempt and cementing Arroyo reputation as a political survivor.

Estrada's verdict, the culmination of a six-year trial, will provide the latest opportunity for the largely headless opposition to try creating a rallying point to end Arroyo's tenure before her term ends in 2010. The law bars her from seeking another term.

If Estrada is acquitted, he would almost certainly emerge as the opposition's rallying focus, with a moral mandate as a man who wrongly spent six years under house arrest _ in line with his image as an action film star who often played underdog heroes.

Estrada continues to claim his ouster was the result of an unholy alliance among the Roman Catholic church, the always-restive military and the Philippines' business elite. He still wears a wristband with the presidential seal whenever he appears in public, and still portrays himself as an innocent everyman subjected to hardship and false accusations.

"I have been imprisoned for six years, four months and 17 days but because of your prayers, help and love, I have endured all these," Estrada said Tuesday in a taped message to Filipinos. "Whatever the Sandiganbayan (court) will decide, I am ready because I know my countrymen have acquitted me."

The opposition has been lacking such a charismatic leader since Arroyo's main opponent in the hotly contested 2004 election, another action film star and Estrada buddy Fernando Poe Jr., died of a stroke several months later without conceding defeat.

A guilty verdict could get Estrada more time behind bars _ he has said he would refuse a pardon _ which could rile the urban poor who have formed the base of his political clout. When he was first arrested in April 2001 with one of his sons, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, photos of them in a Spartan cell sparked a public backlash, with protests that turned into a violent attempt to storm the presidential palace.

Since then, with the government well aware of possible fallout over anything seen as a slight, Estrada has spent his time in a hospital, a specially built house inside a military camp, and his own nearby villa.

He has been allowed to leave several times, most recently to see his ailing 102-year-old mother on Saturday. He has had steady access to the media, commenting by cell phone on radio and in newspapers on every controversial topic that has come up.

The only thing left to decide is whether he will continue to speak his mind from detention, or as a free man.

tigidig14

September 11th, 2007, 10:24 PM

yung biik nyang si jingoy dapat isama narin ipakulong dun sa estero ng quiapo

3cr

September 12th, 2007, 10:44 AM

Bottom Line
By Michael Alan Hamlin
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/BSNS20070912102732.html

Let’s start with the good news. Developing Asia received a record US2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006, an increase of 22 percent over 2005. Now, the not-so-good news.

Regional FDI as a percentage of global FDI was down close to two percent last year from 2005, and growth in FDI is expected to slow sharply this year to just 2.7 percent.

These findings are provided in World Investment Prospects to 2011: Foreign Direct Investment and the Challenge of Political Risk (WIP), released last week. The report was produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in cooperation with the Columbia Program on International Investment (CPII), and charts FDI trends over the next five years. Among other factors, it is based on a global survey of more than 600 direct investors, according to a statement by CPII.

"Although FDI inflows into Asia will remain robust over the medium term, a combination of global and domestic factors means that the fast pace of growth in FDI inflows of recent years will not be sustained," said Laza Kekic, who is director of Country Forcasting Services for EIU and one of the report’s editors. Other prominent editors and authors include Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Karl P. Sauvant, executive director of the Columbia Program on International Investment.

To put the Philippines into context for what comes next, the report ranks the Philippines number 55 among 82 countries. In Asia, only Bangladesh and Sri Lanka rank lower. Last year, it received $ 2.3 billion in FDI, about 0.16 percent of the world total. By comparison, Thailand received $ 9.7 billion; Malaysia, $ 6.1 billion; Indonesia, $ 7.5 billion; and, Vietnam, $ 4.1 billion. Pakistan took in $ 4.3 billion. China was the number three global recipient of FDI after the U.S. and U.K., raking in a stunning $ 78.1 billion.

For the period 2007-11, on average, the Philippines is expected to take in $ 2.4 billion annually in FDI. That’s nice, except when compared to its potential, as evidenced by its regional competitors. China will increase its annual take to $ 86.8 billion, and retain its number three rank for the same period. Thailand will fall somewhat, but still receive $ 8.9 billion; Malaysia will rise to $ 6.8 billion, while Indonesia drops to $ 6.6 billion. Vietnam will experience a solid increase in FDI, to .5 billion.

There are a number of reasons for these FDI disparities. For example, the report notes that India, despite its relevant parity to China in terms of population and thirst for investment, lags far behind its somewhat more populous neighbor in terms of FDI ($ 20.4 billion annually 2007-11, less than Singapore at $ 27.1) because FDI mostly targets the services sector in India while in China manufacturing is the magnet.

According to the WIP report, FDI inflows into India will remain well below potential in part because of "persistent business environment problems, among which inflexible labor laws and poor infrastructure feature prominently." It is worth noting that inflexible labor laws, poor infrastructure, and a dearth of manufacturing FDI are also prominent features of the Philippines’ investment climate.

The FDI gap between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, however, will narrow according to the report. "FDI inflows into China were in 2002-06 80% higher than inflows into the ASEAN ten; in 2007-11 the difference is projected to narrow to 45%." While still substantial, that’s close to a 50% drop. But as we’ve already seen, unfortunately, not much of the gap will be made up by the Philippines.

What of political risk and its impact on investment decisions? Although the report notes substantial rising risk of FDI protectionism in Asia as a whole, it appears to be "less salient" than in other regions. "However," the report noted, "the experience of companies operating in Asia suggests that they face a host of regulatory and political risks, which partly mar the abundant business opportunities."

According to respondents, those risks include the inability to transfer currency, contract cancellations or official requests for renegotiations, payment defaults by governments; asset expropriation; blocked M&A deals and cancellation of import or export licenses. Moreover, "some 40 percent of the survey respondents believed that Asia would experience during the next five years a major political crisis that will disrupt business. China was rated among the riskiest countries."

Which is why it’s interesting that only 20% of respondents agreed with the statement that "the fact that China is an autocracy and India a democracy helps explain why China attracts so much more FDI than India; the fast majority of respondents disagreed." So democracy perhaps isn’t the excuse for comparatively low levels of FDI into the Philippines, either, as some suggest. Then what is? And why isn’t something profound being done about it?

__________________________________

Firms reinvesting less in RP
Business World
http://www.bworldonline.com/BW091207/content.php?id=004

WHILE FOREIGN COMPANIES have been reporting profits out of their investments in the country, their appetite for rolling over these earnings back into the domestic economy has been waning over the past six months compared to a year ago — a down-trend economists said will persist in the next half and through early 2008 given the worsening US housing loan market.

Reinvested earnings, which used to account for 12%-14% of the net foreign direct investments in the country in 2005 and 2006, had thinned their share to only less than 2% as of end-June.

In the first half, it stood at $20 million, a huge 84.5% drop from 2006’s $129 million, data from the central bank showed. FDI net inflows for the January to June period, meanwhile, hit $1.2 billion from last year’s $1.05 billion.

Economists noted that the figure reflects a weakening expansion activity of existing foreign companies in the country, as well as profit-taking amid rising risk aversion spawned by the US subprime mortgage woes.

"There will be less expansion activities, supported by the slow-down in manufacturing. If you look at the output level, the production index has been negative for a year," said Benjamin Diokno, professor at the UP School of Economics.

"When there are problems in their domestic [arena, in this case, the US], investors cash in what they have outside the US to cover for the losses and won’t reinvest their earnings in emerging markets," he added.

Raul V. Fabella, also of UP’s School of Economics, noted the Philippines’ increasing vulnerability to a negative global sentiment, with the continuous contraction in reinvested earnings despite the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

Foreign investors, bulk of which are based in the US, must have detected as early as the start of the year that the contagion from the slackening US housing market could be serious, he said.

"There’s no reason in the first half, at a time when the macroeconomic numbers are attractive, that they would be moving out," Mr. Fabella said.

"This is systemic. This trend is not only in the Philippines, but presumably across all emerging markets; so that not only will the entry of FDIs be much lower but also the rate, at which foreign investments are repatriated, will increase," he added.

Economists believed the market turmoil would persist until the fourth quarter of the year and throughout the first half of 2008, further hurting prospects of increased foreign capital flows into the country. "The trend will continue through the second half, simply because the subprime problem hasn’t seen the last of its manifestation," Mr. Fabella said.

An expected easing of monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve to boost a slowing eco-nomy would neither be of much help, Mr. Diokno said. (Read the full story on page S2/1). "Even if the Fed cut rates now, the impact is not immediate as there is an 18-month lag," Mr. Fabella explained.

"The rapid growth of the US economy in the fourth quarter of 2006 is hard to replicate, so there’s a possibility of not only a slow-down but ’negative growth’ [in the fourth quarter of 2007]. If that happens, you can say goodbye to FDIs," Mr. Diokno said.

While admitting that foreign investors have not been reinvesting their profits in the country "as much as they used to," central bank Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo cautioned in an interview: "I don’t think you should judge the movement in foreign investment by the move-ment in reinvested earningsThe incentive to keep the investment here is large. It will even be more expensive if they move out, so [investors are on a] wait-and-see until the situation clears up."

GearX

October 1st, 2007, 11:54 AM

Laguna most lawless province in Calabarzon

Camp Vicente Lim -- With highest number of violent crimes recorded, Laguna emerged as the most “lawless” place in Southern Tagalog this year.

Data from the office of Calabarzon police director Chief Supt. Nicasio Radovan, showed that since January until Friday, last week, murder, homicide, rape, robbery theft and physical injury cases in Laguna reached 557, with 167 of the crimes committed with the use of firearms.

Laguna, which is under Gov. Teresita “Ningning” Lazaro and police director Senior Supt. Felipe Rojas, is followed by the provinces of Cavite (540), Rizal (414), Quezon (405) and Batangas (385).

Batangas, under Gov. Vilma Santos and Senior Supt. David Quimio, has the most number of murder cases with 122, of which 114 were committed with the use of firearms. It was followed by Laguna (102), Cavite (100), Quezon (68) and Rizal (66).

Quezon, under Gov. Raffy Nantes and Senior Supt. Erning Zafra, has the most number of rape cases (48) followed by Laguna (33), Cavite (29), Rizal (26) and Batangas (20).

Cavite, under Gov. Irineo “Ayong” Malicsi and Senior Supt. Fidel Posadas, has the most number of homicide and robbery cases with 109 and 110 incidents respectively, followed by Batangas (95/30), Laguna (87/107), Quezon (83/61) and Rizal (82/31).

The prevalence of crime in Calabarzon contrasted heavily with the situation at the other half of Southern Tagalog comprising the island provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (Mimaropa).

Records from the office of newly-installed Region 4B police director Chief Supt. Luisito Tinio Palmera, showed Marinduque, as the most “peaceful” place in the region with only three murder cases and nine homicide cases committed this year.

On the other hand, Palawan has the most number of heinous crimes committed with 131 incidents followed by Mindoro Occidental (101), Mindoro Oriental (86), Marinduque (42) and Romblon (28).

Palawan, under Gov. Mario Joel Reyes and Senior Supt. Dennis Pena, has the most number of murder and rape cases at 30 and 26, respectively, with the two Mindoro provinces not far behind.

The data also showed that 2,303 violent incidents have so far occurred in the Calabarzon region, in contrast to the 388 similar incidents that occurred at Mimaropa. Paul M. Gutierrez

ivanhenares

October 1st, 2007, 01:26 PM

bariQ

October 2nd, 2007, 02:59 AM

booo!!!!! >(

hiiamdib

October 2nd, 2007, 04:29 AM

Desperate Housewives maligns Philippine med schools
http://ivanhenares.multiply.com/journal/item/21

This came from my Ateneo High School batchmate Dr. Chino Perez:

I don't really watch this show. Here's another reason why you shouldn't too!

BOYCOTT THIS SHOW!

[In the episode entitled. "Now You Know", Susan's character was questioning the credibility of a gynecologist and said, "Ok before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Cause I would just like to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines. "]

- just recently posted by another Filipino doctor who watched the show in the US

From Yahoo! Answers:
Did any Filipinos watch Desperate Housewives on 9/30/07???

I was watching it online today and they made a comment that was a bit disturbing to me. It was a scene when Terri Hatcher was being told by her GYN that she might be hitting menopause, and her reply was something like "Wait a minute, I need to check your credentials.. I have to make sure that you didn't get your degree from the Philippines."

This upsets me because there are a lot of medical professionals that have graduated from the Philippines. I don't think that a direct pun was necessary in this particular situation.

Feedback????

Wow look who's talking. FYI to everyone, schools here sucks. Its so easy, I barely study and still make straight A's whereas a lot of my American counterparts fail even if everything is simplified even the tests. Western perception about our country is really so wrong!! I have experienced it first hand how they impune our country thinking it is a jungle pariah, whose beaches are good but guerrillas will abduct you anytime. Their ignorance are so.... hmmm. Even the American business groups acknowledge that the American public perception about the Philippines is wrong, their perception is so last century. Well probably not so last century heh, but still "guerillas will abduct you anytime" what the hell!!

waketrex

October 3rd, 2007, 09:16 AM

Here's my take on the whole hoopla with ABC being against Filipinos

Desperate Housewives, Philippine Medical Schools and How Many of You Got it All Wrong

http://waketrex.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/abcdesperatehousewives.jpg

The Filipino community is in uproar due to how Filipino Medical Schools are treated in this show. See Desperate Housewives maligns Philippine med schools (http://ivanhenares.multiply.com/journal/item/21/Desperate_Housewives_maligns_Philippine_med_schools), Reacting and Over-Reacting to Desperate Housewives Script about RP Med School (http://lestercavestany.com/2007/10/03/reacting-and-over-reacting-to-desperate-housewives-script-about-medical-school-in-rp) and Desperate Housewives’ Rather Insulting Remark about Medical Schools in the Philippines (http://misteryosa.com/429/desperate-housewives-rather-insulting-remark-about-medical-schools-in-the-philippines/)

Several have started to boycott the show, but let’s be honest the show’s audience is actually intended for the American audience, 30–45 something housewives and not the Filipino audience. ABC could care less Filipinos boycotting the show but…

They Have All Been Taken out of Context
If taken out of context anything said by one party to other party could be offensive. So I decided to show the whole clip on how they were interacting. This is not the same clip on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWqvI2nMUFI) or this other youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34_qvfh3X7c) but this is the whole interaction between the two in the room. And a separate clip much later in the show.

Veoh Link: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1251222gcWrf6ys

Continue Reading http://waketrex.com/blog/2007/10/03/desperate-housewives-philippine-medical-schools-and-how-many-of-you-got-it-all-wrong/

crappypants

October 4th, 2007, 12:42 AM

that's foul. This is not good for the image were trying to project of our medical tourism industry. Lots of people watch this show around the world and viewers will be subliminally conditioned to think of medical care in the' phils to be subpar. oh well I'm not surprised people from "first world countries 'always belitte third worlders capapabilities. although the term is obsolete they still throw this word around like it's the common plague.
I had my follow up checkup on my eye in the US, after getting lasix done in the PHils ten years ago and they were so shocked and surpised that they were able to do the procedure in the PHils. :lol:

Askal82

October 4th, 2007, 05:52 AM

kiretoce

October 4th, 2007, 05:56 AM

^^ Finally, someone with a level head and an objective view. :okay:

GearX

October 4th, 2007, 06:43 AM

...dapat marami pang racial slur sa labas lalo na sa mga medical practitioners so di maubos mga doctor at nurses natin in our hospitals..... wala ng mag-care sa atin sa mga hospitals, puro na lang mga OJTs from nursing schools na hindi pa marunong mag-injection. Nandidiri pang humawak ng patients....:ohno: kawawa ang mga pinoy na maysakit dito sa pinas...:ohno:

kyle@1008

October 4th, 2007, 07:05 AM

like what I said, it's more about the diploma than filipino medical practitioners in general...

crappypants

October 4th, 2007, 07:15 AM

I don't watch that show, but from watching the clip my first impression when she made the comment was doctors with a diploma fr the PHils, thereby graduating in the PHils, were not to be trusted or are not the at same level of competence.

bitoy

October 4th, 2007, 08:03 AM

ABC - had sent out an apology.

ABC Studios sorry for racial slur on ‘Desperate Housewives’ (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=92435)

GearX

October 4th, 2007, 09:48 AM

'RP health services among world's worst'

The Philippine government's health program has been branded as among the worst in the world when it comes to providing services to citizens, independent think-tank IBON Foundation said Wednesday.

IBON based its report on the World Health Organization's World Health Statistics 2007 that gave the Philippines dismal rankings in various health provision indicators.

"Among 192 countries, the Philippines ranks 153rd in terms of government spending on health as a share of a country's total health spending. Filipinos have increasingly relied on out of pocket expenses on health, as against government allocation," the think-tank said.

WHO also ranked the Philippines 156th in terms of share of the government budget for health services.

In the proposed 2008 national budget, only 1.5 percent or P22.9 billion will go to health. This is equivalent to just 0.31 percent of the gross domestic product Health budget was marginally better at 0.58 percent of GDP in 1997 and 0.74 percent in 1990.

Health budgets, however, still fall well below the five percent of GDP that should be committed to health spending recommended by the WHO, IBON said.

It added that the per capita health spending in the proposed 2008 budget is just P253 per Filipino, further highlighting how government is taking the least responsibility for meeting its citizens' health needs.

The WHO report came at a time when Filipino doctors were insulted by an apparent racial slur in the US television show "Desperate Housewives" over the weekend.

The offending remark was made by one of the show's characters, Susan Mayer (played by American actress Teri Hatcher). In one scene Mayer asks for the credentials of the gynecologist who examined her and told her that she was approaching menopause.

Mayer said, "Can I check those diplomas 'coz I just want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines." The premiere episode, which has been posted on YouTube.com, drew criticisms from the Filipino community on the Internet.

The racial slur also came at a time when dozens of Filipino doctors migrate to other countries, particularly the US, because of better pay.

IBON is an independent development institution established in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.

kiretoce

October 4th, 2007, 01:22 PM

ABC - had sent out an apology.

ABC Studios sorry for racial slur on ‘Desperate Housewives’ (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=92435)

:ohno: Once again, only news coming from Philippine based news agencies. No apology being broadcasted in mainstream American media which still leaves the ordinary US viewer of the show clueless as to what happened in the wake of that racial slur.

“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

Also, people overlooked the word "some" in the dialogue, implying that not all medicals schools in the Philippines forge their diplomas and giving them to quacks.

heathcliff

October 4th, 2007, 01:25 PM

Desperate Housewives on Philippine med schools

".....The doctor in the episode is Caucasian and it is his diplomas that Teri Hatcher’s character wanted to see as she did, in fact, walk over to the framed documents on the wall. I mean, if anyone’s going to start reacting, better check the facts first. Just note the quotes above — I’ve underscored them. The quote going around in e-mails and some blog entries is NOT accurate.

Is it a racial slur?..."

Click here (http://www.sassylawyer.com/2007/10/02/desperate-housewives-on-philippine-med-schools/) to continue reading on Sassy Lawyer's take on this issue.

I already replied in Sassy's blog. I do not think that racial stereotyping should be tolerated under the excuse that it is a widespread belief, or that there are indeed fake diploma mills in the Philippines.

I can't believe some Filipinos are even trying to justify this because we somehow "deserve it". Objective criticism is different from blatant stereotyping.

hiiamdib

October 4th, 2007, 03:48 PM

then what does their script trying to imply? they must explain.

“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

I don't think she is referring to fake diploma mill schools. I think the word "some" is the start of the degrading remarks, like saying that Med Schools in the Philippines doesn't even need a proper way to be addressed. Not respectable, in short.

I think their apology is not even an admission of mistake, mistake nor guilt of how degrading what they made out of us. And as Kiretoce said, the apology wasn't even broadcasted here in the U.S. That fact will always keep us under their western perception, perception that is never accurate.

bitoy

October 4th, 2007, 07:52 PM

:ohno: Once again, only news coming from Philippine based news agencies. No apology being broadcasted in mainstream American media which still leaves the ordinary US viewer of the show clueless as to what happened in the wake of that racial slur.

Also, people overlooked the word "some" in the dialogue, implying that not all medicals schools in the Philippines forge their diplomas and giving them to quacks.

That's what I said on my earlier post here and some PEX posters did the same. But others just could not accept the fact that things like this happen everyday in any place.

then what does their script trying to imply? they must explain.

“Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

I don't think she is referring to fake diploma mill schools. I think the word "some" is the start of the degrading remarks, like saying that Med Schools in the Philippines doesn't even need a proper way to be addressed. Not respectable, in short.

The word "some" - means, just a part or not everything. But if you believe that there are no bad medical schools in the Philippines, then, I can believe you also.

I think their apology is not even an admission of mistake, mistake nor guilt of how degrading what they made out of us. And as Kiretoce said, the apology wasn't even broadcasted here in the U.S. That fact will always keep us under their western perception, perception that is never accurate.

It might not be an admission of fault but since the Filipinos ask for an apology or any sort of, then we have it, but are the Filipinos accepting the apology?
I think not, we better stop talking how great we are but prove that we can.

crappypants

October 4th, 2007, 09:01 PM

some was used in a deragatory context like when someone says 'you people' or those people.

Anyway what good will an apology do if it's not coming fr the heart. just like that malou Fernandez issue. An apology is not sincere when it is asked or forced. damage is done already.

hiiamdib

October 5th, 2007, 05:36 AM

The word "some"- means, just a part or not everything. But if you believe that there are no bad medical schools in the Philippines, then, I can believe you also.

That is true, but the word "some" can also imply things in a "so, so" manner depending upon the context. Have you seen how she said it.
She also believed then that she has menopause, after seeing that the doctor graduated from Harvard. Is she saying that Harvard Grad doctors are the only ones that are believable.

hiiamdib

October 5th, 2007, 05:49 AM

It might not be an admission of fault but since the Filipinos ask for an apology or any sort of, then we have it, but are the Filipinos accepting the apology?
I think not, we better stop talking how great we are but prove that we can.

Prove that we can? We already proved that we can. Our nurses are sought after, some are even heads of their hospitals. Our doctors are no less in recognition. We don't need to prove anything. It is how they look down upon us despite everything that make the healthcare professionals pissed. One even said in the comments: "try going through Medicine, pass the Philippine boards, then pass the 4 exams of USMLE, and then go through 3, 4 or 5 years of US residency training so you can understand why we are getting pissed. Ooops! That’s just 10 years of your life after college…" (seigfried perez MD).

Askal82

October 5th, 2007, 05:55 AM

^^ But we still can't deny the truth that exporting our medical workers becomes too commercialized when diploma mills keeps mushrooming here and there to take advantage of the situation. Where is the dignity in the medical profession nowadays?

hiiamdib

October 5th, 2007, 05:59 AM

^^ the another question would be, hath they became successful? Dignity? where is the dignity then if you are not even respected that you can do your job and there is doubt in your competence?

Askal82

October 5th, 2007, 06:12 AM

^^ Does being successful necessarily equate quality health care? Many doctors still get sued because of malpractice.

Askal82

October 5th, 2007, 06:21 AM

^^ the another question would be, hath they became successful? Dignity? where is the dignity then if you are not even respected that you can do your job and there is doubt in your competence?

Exactly, not respected simply because of that one rotten apple in the basket. The nursing exam fiasco is that bad apple.

hiiamdib

October 5th, 2007, 03:48 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc4RhBBw0b8

kyle@1008

October 5th, 2007, 03:57 PM

^^ that's the daily show, it insults america 90 percent of the time, and that clip is more about women than filipinos, and why aren't the brits reacting to this..??

jaywalker

October 5th, 2007, 04:01 PM

The DH incident has reached Australia.The apology was also being reported and said they are going to edit that part of the scene.
Damaged has already done,you're right guys.:ohno:

bitoy

October 5th, 2007, 05:37 PM

Prove that we can? We already proved that we can. Our nurses are sought after, some are even heads of their hospitals. Our doctors are no less in recognition. We don't need to prove anything. It is how they look down upon us despite everything that make the healthcare professionals pissed. One even said in the comments: "try going through Medicine, pass the Philippine boards, then pass the 4 exams of USMLE, and then go through 3, 4 or 5 years of US residency training so you can understand why we are getting pissed. Ooops! That’s just 10 years of your life after college…" (seigfried perez MD).

That's why the word some always come into the picture. I'm most of the time surrounded by medical persons while deployed overseas. Filipino ex-pats work harder than others but there seems to be a trait with us that won't go away, the so called "crab mentality".
My sister is a supervisor nurse in a Texas hospital, I've met some of her Filipino co-workers and those new arrivals from the Philippines a few years ago. I can tell you, not everyone out there are dedicated with their profession.

Care to tell me why some Filipino Doctors would rather work as a nurse when opportunity comes?

driftwood

October 5th, 2007, 06:19 PM

23 children fall ill after eating Chinese sweets (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_oct6_2007)

TWENTY-THREE children were hospitalized after eating sweets made in China, officials said yesterday, even as the education department ordered all private and public schools to ban Chinese food products containing cancer-causing formaldehyde.

The pupils, aged nine and 10, were rushed to hospital on Thursday suffering from stomachaches, vomiting and dizziness after eating candy given out at a birthday party on Bantayan Island near Cebu.

Romelo Mates, an adviser at an elementary school in the town of Madridejos, said that, according to its wrapper, the Ube Milk Candy was made in Guandong, China.

Mates told local media the children were kept in overnight for observation and four were given intravenous liquid after showing signs of weakness. The Cebu provincial government is now examining the sweets.

Last month, the education department banned four Chinese food products from school canteens following reports they contained formaldehyde.

Yesterday, the department ordered the more than 50,000 public and private schools nationwide to pull out Chinese products suspected of containing formaldehyde and to keep them out.

It said the Chinese sweets found to have high concentrations of formaldehyde included White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Milk Candy, Bairong Grape Biscuits, and Yong Kang Foods GrapeBiscuit.

China has been battling to improve the reputation of its products amid fears over food safety.

Industrial oils, acid, cancer-causing chemicals and other dangerous ingredients have been found in thousands of food items such as baby milk powder, rice and flour.

In July, Beijing executed the former head of its food and drug safety watchdog for corruption as part of drastic steps to contain the problem.

AFP with Florante S. Solmerin

hiiamdib

October 5th, 2007, 09:26 PM

That's why the word some always come into the picture. I'm most of the time surrounded by medical persons while deployed overseas. Filipino ex-pats work harder than others but there seems to be a trait with us that won't go away, the so called "crab mentality".
My sister is a supervisor nurse in a Texas hospital, I've met some of her Filipino co-workers and those new arrivals from the Philippines a few years ago. I can tell you, not everyone out there are dedicated with their profession.

Care to tell me why some Filipino Doctors would rather work as a nurse when opportunity comes?

Are you saying that some proved adn dedicated, some didn't? That is so normal, that aplies not only ot he Filipino people but also to everyone. You don't expect everyone to make it through and be the same. Atleast it has been proven that people from this race can make it through if they want to. It is funny how you really highlighted the use of "some" in the paragraph. Are you implying that I don't know how to use that word? And when it comes to the question why doctors in the Philippines prefer to become nurses, have you read what a doctor from our country had to go through just to pratice their profession in the US? Think of the convenience it would give them. Im not saying that Nursing is easier but compare it to what they have to go though in Medicine.

hiiamdib

October 5th, 2007, 10:09 PM

^^ that's the daily show, it insults america 90 percent of the time, and that clip is more about women than filipinos, and why aren't the brits reacting to this..??

Who said this is about the Filipinos? This is about Corazon who coincedentally played huge role in the Philippines. So are they insulting her because she is a woman. And, atleast when they insulted 90 percent of america, they have basis of doing it. But insulting a person not even in the picture anymore aside from sudden bouts, that's bad. You didn't saw the person being insulted smiling, did you? One even said that if Gloria was the one being insulted, then it would be a comedy. But, yea I guess we should ignore the below the belt insult huh. Much like the British people.

bitoy

October 5th, 2007, 10:40 PM

Are you saying that some proved adn dedicated, some didn't? That is so normal, that aplies not only ot he Filipino people but also to everyone. You don't expect everyone to make it through and be the same. Atleast it has been proven that people from this race can make it through if they want to. It is funny how you really highlighted the use of "some" in the paragraph. Are you implying that I don't know how to use that word? And when it comes to the question why doctors in the Philippines prefer to become nurses, have you read what a doctor from our country had to go through just to pratice their profession in the US? Think of the convenience it would give them. Im not saying that Nursing is easier but compare it to what they have to go though in Medicine.

Yes, I think you don't know the meaning of the word. (and we always have to prove ourselves to everyone not only when it is needed.).

And about the Filipino doctors as you mentioned, you just answered the meaning of "dedication" on your own terms. :ohno:

odyssey

October 5th, 2007, 10:45 PM

I know of a UP Medical Graduate who's very much respected in Fairfax, Virginia. Her excellent practical surgical procedures all came from the trainings she learned from UP PGH and not from her residency and fellowship in the U.S. Medical Schools in Maryland and Connecticut.
Her US Medical graduate peers, with the exception of the owner of the private practice clinic where she works, couldn't even perform the simple surgeries she does so well.
Furthermore, patients of all nationalities including the kano treat her with great respect because of the caring way she treats them.

crappypants

October 5th, 2007, 11:45 PM

bitoy

October 5th, 2007, 11:58 PM

well part of the reason is US does not honor Phil license to practice so they have to go through tedious process of residency and all other laborious US requirements. Some have the energy to go through it again ,maybe some don't.

Yun na nga, meron akong kilala na naging doktor dito sa OHSU, dalawa na anak niya nagtiyaga talaga siya, now she's on her way to a special field of medicine. And I met a Pinay nurse from St. Vincent, (lapit yan sa inyo )
she was pursuing to become a Physician, medyo na sidetrack, dahil sa bf niyang Pinoy who wanted them to move to California. I hope she makes it there.

And to the rest of the manongs(orderlies) and manangs from providence, keep it up! :okay:

pinostalgic

October 6th, 2007, 09:18 AM

Again, the damage has been done whether the show will be edited before viewing in other countries. It may be related to the nursing test fiasco and trying to make light out of it. However, I think ABC and the show's producers were insensitive knowing fully what this may cause. It's always after the fact or until some community and/or leaders complain that you hear some kind of apology. Sorry, I don't see any value in this show.

jonno

October 6th, 2007, 09:52 AM

Asking for an apology once is enough but the series shouldn't be taken too seriously. Most educated Americans are smart enough to know reality from fiction.

Espma

October 6th, 2007, 03:36 PM

heyaa sorry to disrupt your discussion regarding Desperate Housewives, not sure if this article has been posted elsewhere???

TV Show Joke Calling Philippine Icon of Democracy a ‘Slut’ Sparks Protest

Julie Javellana-Santos, Arab News

MANILA, 6 October 2007 — The uproar against a perceived “racial slur” on the US sitcom “Desperate Housewives” has barely cooled down and already another protest against a US television show is coming.

The cause of the outrage this time is the “The Daily Show,” a satirical program aired over the cable channel Comedy Central, which portrayed former Philippine President Corazon Aquino as a prostitute or loose woman. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee, said she will ask the Department of Foreign Affairs to protest the slur on the Philippines’ democracy icon with the US State Department.

Santiago earlier asked Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo to issue a diplomatic protest for a “racial slur” recently made in “Desperate Housewives” against the Filipino medical community.

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said he understood that “The Daily Show” TV episode where her mother was featured together with former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher “was part of a joke intended for American audiences who are facing the possibility of having a woman president.”

The spoof was shown in “news report” by Samantha Bee titled “Is America Ready for a Woman President?”

Sen. Aquino said he has nothing against satire but the portrayal of her mother was “insensitive” and “in extremely poor taste.”

“It is sad that while adding humor to such an important issue, the producers of the show chose to use pictures that were disrespectful, insensitive and in extremely poor taste,” the senator said.

“My mom only wishes to convey that she will include those who made this video in her prayers,” he said.

TV show host and actress Kris Aquino, the former president’s daughter, said what she found offensive was the word “slut” written on her mother’s picture shown in the segment.

“What if we took someone like, say, former President Jimmy Carter who builds homes for the poor all over the world, and said he was a former ‘call boy,’” Kris Aquino told ABS-CBN’s online news.

Deedee Sytangco, spokeswoman of the former president, questioned on ABS-CBN television the sanity of the show’s producers.

“Whoever put that graphic has a sick mind. Why would (they) do that to a revered democratic icon all over the world, known very much for her clean living and religious life?” Sytangco asked.

Corazon Aquino, the 11th president of the Philippines and world-renowned advocate of democracy, peace, women empowerment, and religious piety, used to be a low-profile housewife until her popular husband Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport on his return from exile in the US on Aug. 21, 1983.

Filipinos from all walks of life who were outraged by the murder rallied behind her and overthrew the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986, in what has become known as the EDSA People Power revolution.

Born into a landed gentry, Mrs. Aquino was a consistent honors student in school and studied in exclusive schools in the Philippines and the US. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree major in French and minor in Mathematics in 1953, she took up law at the Far Eastern University in Manila, but her studies were abbreviated when she married Ninoy Aquino, the rising political star during those times.

Ninoy Aquino, a former journalist, was widely considered as the likeliest successor of Marcos as president of the Philippines. Marcos prevented that from happening by placing the country under martial rule and throwing Aquino and all his political enemies in jail.

mich07

October 6th, 2007, 04:17 PM

^^
K-vEemtZE7o

dreamtime07

October 6th, 2007, 05:09 PM

haha, yan napupuno na naman ang mga message boards.

Dati ang Desperate housewives na messageboards ang napupuno ng mga protests ng mga Pinoy sa buong mundo.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate/?pn=mb

Ngayon naman, message board naman ng Comedy Central ang napupuno ng mga protesta

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/message_board.jhtml

haha, check nyo ang mga links.
Kaso, yung sa Desperate Housewives, di na makita yung message board. siguro tinanggal na nila kasi maraming Filipino Protests. daming threads hehe

dreamtime07

October 6th, 2007, 05:19 PM

http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate/index?pn=mb&cat=25224

eto yung link ng message board sa Desperate Housewives. Hirap magclick click dun sa message board kasi minsan mapupunta ka sa isang video

le Reine

October 6th, 2007, 06:13 PM

I think we're just overreacting to this issue. I thought it was only Mrs. Aquino who was singled out in that show. But apparently, other leaders were also not spared. What can we expect, it's a comedy show after all.

great184

October 6th, 2007, 06:49 PM

^^^ And a satire, which naturally includes sarcasm... Look how he lambasts George W. Bush every episode and you will see that the segment with Cory Aquino pales to that. But then again that segment was very cheap, and unneccessary and I would not have liked its portrayal either, although he could have highlighted her administrations failure instead.

great184

October 6th, 2007, 06:59 PM

This is "not so good new" in itself... Far more important articles like this overshadowed by DH and cory aquino issues...

'RP health services among world's worst'

The Philippine government's health program has been branded as among the worst in the world when it comes to providing services to citizens, independent think-tank IBON Foundation said Wednesday.

IBON based its report on the World Health Organization's World Health Statistics 2007 that gave the Philippines dismal rankings in various health provision indicators.

"Among 192 countries, the Philippines ranks 153rd in terms of government spending on health as a share of a country's total health spending. Filipinos have increasingly relied on out of pocket expenses on health, as against government allocation," the think-tank said.

WHO also ranked the Philippines 156th in terms of share of the government budget for health services.

In the proposed 2008 national budget, only 1.5 percent or P22.9 billion will go to health. This is equivalent to just 0.31 percent of the gross domestic product Health budget was marginally better at 0.58 percent of GDP in 1997 and 0.74 percent in 1990.

Health budgets, however, still fall well below the five percent of GDP that should be committed to health spending recommended by the WHO, IBON said.

It added that the per capita health spending in the proposed 2008 budget is just P253 per Filipino, further highlighting how government is taking the least responsibility for meeting its citizens' health needs.

The WHO report came at a time when Filipino doctors were insulted by an apparent racial slur in the US television show "Desperate Housewives" over the weekend.

The offending remark was made by one of the show's characters, Susan Mayer (played by American actress Teri Hatcher). In one scene Mayer asks for the credentials of the gynecologist who examined her and told her that she was approaching menopause.

Mayer said, "Can I check those diplomas 'coz I just want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines." The premiere episode, which has been posted on YouTube.com, drew criticisms from the Filipino community on the Internet.

The racial slur also came at a time when dozens of Filipino doctors migrate to other countries, particularly the US, because of better pay.

IBON is an independent development institution established in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.

Also this...

23 children fall ill after eating Chinese sweets (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_oct6_2007)

TWENTY-THREE children were hospitalized after eating sweets made in China, officials said yesterday, even as the education department ordered all private and public schools to ban Chinese food products containing cancer-causing formaldehyde.

The pupils, aged nine and 10, were rushed to hospital on Thursday suffering from stomachaches, vomiting and dizziness after eating candy given out at a birthday party on Bantayan Island near Cebu.

Romelo Mates, an adviser at an elementary school in the town of Madridejos, said that, according to its wrapper, the Ube Milk Candy was made in Guandong, China.

Mates told local media the children were kept in overnight for observation and four were given intravenous liquid after showing signs of weakness. The Cebu provincial government is now examining the sweets.

Last month, the education department banned four Chinese food products from school canteens following reports they contained formaldehyde.

Yesterday, the department ordered the more than 50,000 public and private schools nationwide to pull out Chinese products suspected of containing formaldehyde and to keep them out.

It said the Chinese sweets found to have high concentrations of formaldehyde included White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Milk Candy, Bairong Grape Biscuits, and Yong Kang Foods GrapeBiscuit.

China has been battling to improve the reputation of its products amid fears over food safety.

Industrial oils, acid, cancer-causing chemicals and other dangerous ingredients have been found in thousands of food items such as baby milk powder, rice and flour.

In July, Beijing executed the former head of its food and drug safety watchdog for corruption as part of drastic steps to contain the problem.

AFP with Florante S. Solmerin

le Reine

October 6th, 2007, 07:56 PM

^^I was really shocked when I saw the title of the first article knowing that some people here are defending our health sector. But when I saw the word "IBON Foundation," everything bacame clear. You won't hear anything good from that "institution" anyway.

And besides, if they're (IBON) really serious in assessing the state of our health services vis-a-vis other countries in the world or even at least to other countries in Asia, then they should've at least used other standards like infant mortality rate, maternal mortality, life expectancy, etc. This is how international organizations assess and compare the state of health sector of various countries. The problem with IBON's study is that it lacks these measures that I've mentioned. Of course, the Philippines would rank lower in terms of health expenditures per capita and health expenditures % of GDP because we have a lower cost of living here relative to other countries. Some may argue that it came from the WHO so it must be reliable. Of course, it's realiable. The problem is that the IBON has only focused on things where the Philippines scored low. It didn't focus on other areas like what i've mentioned before.

Although I agree with them with regards to the urgency of increasing our spending for health and other social services, the problem is that we couldn't just do it overnight. The government also knows this and has said this many times before.

Askal82

October 6th, 2007, 08:37 PM

normandb

October 6th, 2007, 08:40 PM

I think the issue is not all about racism on this issue by making some aimless remarks against her. It just shows how sexists America really is doubting if we ever going to have an woman president.

I feel bad for her. She was accused of hiding under the bed and now she is called a slut! :lol:

mana sa anak?

Askal82

October 6th, 2007, 09:08 PM

^^ Maybe they knew what's going on in the Philippine showbiz too. :lol:

crappypants

October 6th, 2007, 09:18 PM

maybe it was really meant for Kris and they just got confused.
I don't know i don't think it's the same level as the desperate housewife issue.

Rolls-Royce

October 7th, 2007, 04:22 PM

The Daily show which depicted Baroness Maggie Thatcher in such a rude joke hasn't even invoke such argument in England nor it landed a single word in any daily papers. But then again, that's cultural thing. The British press hasn't even compelled to write anything about it, knowing how much they despise Americans.

hiiamdib

October 7th, 2007, 09:04 PM

^^ hehhe. Yea, most Europeans despise Americans.

GearX

October 8th, 2007, 10:33 AM

This is "not so good new" in itself... Far more important articles like this overshadowed by DH and cory aquino issues...

Also this...

yeah, I opened a thread for "Bad News Thread" for the above article but the mods moved it here.....:ohno:

heathcliff

October 8th, 2007, 11:53 AM

I don't think there is racism here by portraying her as a slut for comedic purpose. It's basically a satire of prevalent sexism in America by placing a doubt on a woman's capacity and competence to lead the country. Before they make a fool of themselves, they should get their comprehension straight.

I feel bad for her. She was accused of hiding under the bed and now she is called a slut where her daughter should have been the butt of those jokes. :lol:

I agree. It was obviously a political satire of American bias against women leaders. The procession of these women leaders all coming from different countries not as known for women's lib as America is, implies that American society is not as progressive as Americans like to think it is. America is an old democracy, but it has yet to install a woman at the White House.

3cr

October 9th, 2007, 07:42 AM

RP behind on millennium goals
By Darwin G. Amojelar
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/09/yehey/top_stories/20071009top2.html

The Philippines is making slow progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals or MDG, which are development targets that 189 countries have pledged to achieve by 2015.

In a joint report Monday by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations, the Philippines is lagging in poverty reduction, reducing the number of underweight children, providing sufficient potable water and improving sanitation.

In fact, the Philippines is either slow or showing no progress in nine of the 21 categories, according to the report entitled “The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007.” There eight development pledges, and each has several categories.

Also some 14.8 percent of Filipinos live on less than $1 a day, according to a previous story of The Manila Times. But some say the poverty threshold be living on $2 a day.

“For both Vietnam and the Philippines the current ratios of under-5 [years old] mortality between poorest to riches quintile also represent deterioration. Despite their success in achieving or moving toward he under-5 survival goals, the gaps between poor and rich have been widening,” according to the study.

The Philippines, the study said, is either showing no progress or even regressing in the MDG criteria for the number children enrolled in primary education, number of those able to reach fifth grade, the extent of forest cover, levels of carbon dioxide emissions, and water accessibility in urban areas.

Good marks

However, the Philippines is an early achiever in other MDG criteria, including primary education completion rate, gender equality as far as finishing school up to the tertiary level is concerned, lowering the tuberculosis prevalence rate, reducing the tuberculosis death rate, increasing the number of its environmental protected areas, and reducing ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) consumption.

Besides this, the study said the Philippines is making progress in reducing the mortality rate for children younger than five years, infant mortality rate, reducing the number of people infected with HIV, and improving urban sanitation.

The millennium development goals are based on the United Nations Millennium Declaration endorsed by all 189 United Nations member-states in 2000. The goals include halving extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality; reducing child mortality by two-thirds; reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters; reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and creating a global partnership for development. The deadline for meeting these goals is 2015.

3cr

October 13th, 2007, 07:35 AM

Less schooled poor get poorer; income disparity widens
BY ALBERT CASTRO
Malaya
http://www.malaya.com.ph/oct09/busi2.htm

The Philippines is succeeding in lifting more Filipinos out of poverty but it has failed like other countries in Asia in narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor according to the Asian Development Bank.

ADB in its most recent report on the world’s progress in eradicating poverty under the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) noted that the rich are getting richer faster than the poor crawling out of the poverty trap.

What is sadder is that in the Philippines, lack of education by breadwinners or head of families drive them deeper the poverty quicksand.

It pointed out that in 2003, three out of five people in poverty lived in a household where the head had the lowest education level, a higher proportion than a the beginning of the 1990s.

ADB also pointed out that the Philippines is sliding back on its promise to protect the environment.

It said government focus on developing mining poses the biggest pressure on the country’s forest cover.

ADB said that benefits from economic growth are being skewed towards the better off, not only in the Philippines but worldwide.

It said that while in many countries the poor continue to see their incomes rise, the richest have seen their incomes rise even faster and as a result here have been significant increases in inequality.

In the Philippines the ratio of the the population surviving on $1 per day has dropped from 19.8 percent to 14.8 percent. Unfortunately the poorest 20 percent’s share in national income has been reduced to 5.4 percent from 5.9 percent.

This means that while the number of the abject poor had gone down, their income as a proportion to total income had gone done.

The Philippines is among the 14 Asian countries where the gap widened.

ADB Poverty unit head Shilo Chaterjee said the Philippines is at the bottom two of the 14 countries where income disparity widened.

Poverty also saw the increase in the number of deaths of children below five years from 2.7 percent to 3.2 percent for the very poor.

It also pointed that in the very poor families, only 25 percent of births are attended to by skilled birth attendants compared with 90 percent for the richest.

The ADB said that in general, the Philippines like many other countries is poised to achieve most of the goals identified under the MDG — (1.) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2.) achieve universal primary education; (3.) promote gender equality and empower women; (4.) reduce child mortality; (5.) improve maternal health; (6.) combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases; (7.) environmental sustainability; and (8.) develop a global partnership for development.

"Most developing countries can point to success in some of the goals, but none is on course to achieve all of them," said ADB.

Philippines for one regressing in its vow to stick with goal number seven, particularly in keeping the country’s forest cover, reducing forest cover, reducing carbon dioxide emission, and cutting by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.

The ADB noted that "some of the economic growth in the region has been at the cost of rapid deforestation — notably in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines." The Philippines is currently promoting its mineral deposits whose extraction poses big pressure on the country’s forest cover.

Chaterjee stressed that for countries to achieve the target, "major changes has to be made, with more cooperation among regional countries in the Asian region, and increased aid for countries who are deemed unable to achieve the MDG targets."

________________________________

16 million workers are poor, group says
By Joel M. Sy Egco
Manila Standard
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics3_oct13_2007

More than half of the country’s 30 million workers are languishing in poverty, with each earning only P41 per day or even less, according to non-government organization.

Citing its own study, the Global Call to Action against Poverty Philippines said roughly 16.1 million Filipino wage earners are poor.

GCAP-Philippines explained that this was one of the many reasons for the hunger rising to its record high status since [mid-] 1998 with 21.5 percent of families living in poverty.

The group claimed that the workers’ low income, combined with skyrocketing prices of goods and services, fuels the rising poverty and hunger in the country.

“According to official data, 1 out of 4 Filipinos is poor, but if you have P41 [national poverty threshold] in a day for all your food and non-food needs then you are not poor,” the group said. “P41 is not enough for any person to live a decent life, the government is mocking us all by saying so.”

In the past few years, the group said, household incomes have gone down by 10 percent and most Filipinos have problems making ends meet because of skyrocketing prices of goods and services.

The latest survey results of the Social Weather Stations showed that hunger has worsened, surpassing the previous records of 19 percent in November 2006 and February 2007. From 3.5 million families, a new record high of 3.8-million families (21.5 percent) experienced “involuntary hunger” at least once in the last three months.

The SWS survey last February 2007 prompted the government’s declaration of the war against hunger with the release of a billion peso-fund designed to fund school feeding programs, food for work programs, and feeding programs run by religious and civic organizations, to alleviate hunger in depressed areas in Metro Manila and in some provinces that have high incidence of hunger.

But GCAP-Philippines bewailed that “the government’s P1 billion worth six-month hunger response which ended last September proved worthless.”

“This just shows how ineffective the government hunger intervention programs are... We said it in March and we say it again, more strategic solutions, rather than palliatives or stop-gap solutions are needed to fight worsening hunger,” it further said.

The P1 billion hunger mitigation program of the government, which began last March, could have been put to better use rather than just for stop-gap measures, the group added.

To boost the government’s hunger and poverty mitigation measures, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently increased the budget for her Food-for-School Program in 2008 to P3.3 billion, a 1.2-percent increase from this year’s FSP allocation of P2.75 billion.

iloilocitykid

October 14th, 2007, 05:03 AM

^^ Well most people can live on less than P50 a day because their lives depend on the free food they can till in the farm.

odyssey

October 14th, 2007, 06:08 AM

^I agree with you, the study failed to distinguish the poor city dwellers from the poor countryside dwellers. They measure hunger in terms of the lack of money/cash to spend for food which could only be true for the poor city dwellers but not for the countryside dwellers who plant or raise their own food and could barter with neighbors. The latter may not have more than P50 cash on hand but they get free supply of food. On the other hand, the poor city dwellers not only spend their little money on food but also the capricious text messaging fix.
The study has a lot of flaws.

DoggMann

October 14th, 2007, 06:57 AM

DoggMann

October 14th, 2007, 07:08 AM

^^ countryside dwellers are the same human being too who wants to enjoy 21st century living ... let us not discount them to just have backyard freebies and 50 bucks ... :)

... they are considered poor for 21st century living standards ...

iloilocitykid

October 14th, 2007, 07:29 AM

^^ Yes they do however that is out of the topic. Lack of luxury does not mean someone is poor. COme to think of it, the 50 bucks they earn every day can surmount to a lot more if they do that constantly. These are enough to pay for the bills, which when you are in the country is far cheaper than when you are in the city.

Askal82

October 14th, 2007, 09:02 AM

... whats the difference between poor city dwellers and poor countryside dwellers ... was it just food?

... what about electricity, water supply, gas, clothing, school supplies etc...

... country dwellers also wants to enjoy the little "luxuries" city dwellers have like watching movies in the big screen, fastfoods (jollibee) after sunday mass, new shoes and clothing at christmas time ... :)

I would say that they may not be blessed with the basic needs of the 21st century yet they can still feed themselves from their own produce. Some towns, particularly the poor ones don't have electricity, running water and still use charcoal and clay pots to cook their food. I've experienced life in the province for a day in the middle of the the typical farmland in the Philippines and food is running everywhere, literally speaking ;).

Butanding

October 14th, 2007, 06:08 PM

KORINA SANCHEZ - PINATANGGAL DATI NI MANNY PACQUIAO SA ABS CBN 2

Di lang ang mga Manilenyo ang galit kay Pacquiao kundi lalo na si
Korina Sanchez
SHOWBIZ MISMO! Ni Cristy Fermin

Kahapon nang umaga ay kumawala ang emosyon ng premyadong news anchor na si Korina Sanchez sa kanilang programa ni Ted Failon sa DZMM. Highblood si Ate Koring, tahasan niyang sinabi na
totoong si Pacman ang pinakamagaling na boksingerong nadiskubre ng Pilipinas, pero si Manny Pacquiao din ang pinakamayabang at pinakamaangas na boksingerong nagkaroon ang bansang ito.

May pinagmulan ang komentarista, binalikan niya ang mga araw na
pinilit brasuhin ni Pacman ang isang network para alisan ng trabaho ang isang reporter, hindi raw nagustuhan ng boksingero ang report nito tungkol sa kandidatura ng People's Champion nung nakaraang eleksyon.

Ayon kay Ate Koring ay kinausap ni Manny ang ehekutibo ng istasyon, isinumbong ang mga ginawa sa kanya ng reporter, na umabot sa pagtatangka ni Manny na tanggalan ng trabaho ang nasabing reporter.

At alam mo ba, Ted, ang sabi pa ni Manny, eh, palagi raw niyang
pinagbibigyan ang reporter na yun para sa interview, pero binibira pa siya, teka muna! "Hindi niya dapat isumbat yun sa reporter, dahil nagkatulungan lang naman sila. Hindi niya dapat sabihing may utang na loob sa kanya ang reporter na yun, dahil kung tutuusin, eh, siya pa nga ang dapat magpasalamat, dahil gumanda ang imahe niya!
madiing sabi pa ni Korina.

Napakaraming tumawag sa amin nang dahil dun, tinatanong kami ng
ating mga kababayan kung sino ang reporter-komentaristang pinagtangkaan alisan ng trabaho ni Pacman, sino raw ba ang taong tinutukoy ni Korina?

Alam namin ang kabuuang kwento nun dahil parehong malapit sa amin
sina Manny at Korina, pero kahit minsan ay hindi namin inilabas yun sa alinmang kolum namin, pero dahil nabuksan na ang paksa ay pwede na naming pakialaman ang isyu.

Ang reporter-komentaristang tinutukoy ni Korina na pinagtangkaang
ipatanggal sa trabaho ni Pacman ay siya mismo, si Korina Sanchez, kaya niya nasabing si Pacman ang pinakamayabang na boksingerong natuklasan ng bansang ito.

:lol: Boo Pacman

Louman

October 15th, 2007, 03:57 AM

Is this ABS CBN's revenge agenda on Manny for signing up with GMA7? haha.

icarusrising

October 15th, 2007, 04:31 AM

^^ Yup. Had Manny stayed with ABS, Korina wouldn't have lifted a finger against him. Now that he's at the other camp... it's high time for "V".

GearX

October 15th, 2007, 05:45 AM

di ba Korina is also the pinaka-arte na newscaster sa ABS-CBN...prima donna who wants to be praised all the time...insecure...remember when Karen Davila was pirated to join ABS-CBN? she didn't want to share equal exposure with Karen. And of course that show with Kris Aquino and when Kris overshadowed her on that show, she resigned.....her smiling face projected on screen is so damn plastic...:ohno:

icarusrising

October 15th, 2007, 05:55 AM

^^ Some media peepz here also think of themselves as high and mighty... Is there a thread that talks about Philippine press or the mass media here? IMO, this Philippine brand of democracy combined with the mass media isn't compatible with our aspirations for national development. When I listen to the news these days, I get more confused instead of becoming enlightened with the issues. :ohno:

zeejay

October 15th, 2007, 06:44 AM

^^ Haha. Natatawa naman ako sa balitang ito. Ang laki na nga talaga ng ulo nitong si Manny Pacquiao. Hindi porke boksingero siya at nananalo siya eh magyayabang na siya at mag-aastang may authority siya. The nerve of this man to complain about Korina's commentaries about his running in the elections. Eh talagang nakakatawa naman talaga ang pagtakbo nitong isang to noh! Yes, Manny was able to unite Filipinos whenever he has a fight with another popular boxer. But his "kasikatan" should not rise above his head. I don't think Korina is making a revenge against Pacquiao's transfer to GMA7. Hindi naman kawalan si Manny sa ABS-CBN noh. Akala lang talaga nitong si Manny eh may power na siya sa lahat ng tao. Hindi kasi dapat pinag-aaksayahan ng panahon to.

heathcliff

October 15th, 2007, 01:57 PM

^^ Yup. Had Manny stayed with ABS, Korina wouldn't have lifted a finger against him. Now that he's at the other camp... it's high time for "V".

Baka ganun na nga. Anyway, maybe Pacquiao was just reacting to the derogatory image that media elitists are portraying of him and his candidacy, na parang minamaliit siya. Alam naman natin ang media, talagang exaggerated, kaya nga galit sa kanila si Susan Roces noon because of their derogatory portrayal of FPJ. The media should be neutral and should not ruin the image of someone like Pacquiao just because they think that he was too ambitious in running for congressman. Though considering the oppositionist bent of ABS-CBN, this is not really unexpected.

dattebayo

October 15th, 2007, 09:30 PM

naku lagot ka manny, puputaktihin ka ni Cristy Fermin.

kiretoce

October 15th, 2007, 10:22 PM

Louman

October 16th, 2007, 01:02 AM

Philippine Mass Media is like having Fox News on every channel and print. Everything that comes out of it is dumbed down, depressing, and will scare you out of the country.

kiretoce

October 16th, 2007, 01:05 AM

^^ :hahano: I just realized that! It is indeed like Fox News Channel! :runaway:

c0kelitr0

October 16th, 2007, 01:45 AM

exactly like fox news channel!! it's just so depressing. the reporters and producers are all dumbasses.

and i just can't figure out how two manangs catfighting in a police station made it on national tv! :eek: for christ's sake, who cares about these old fat ladies anyway?

Louman

October 16th, 2007, 08:46 AM

^^ parang youtube material yan ah. hahaha... not since mr. mercury drugs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz5hPy4iJTk)has there been news more worthy to be reported on TV...

The day the BBC or alJazeera does a Filipino language news station is the day I stop watching news from GMA7 or ABSCBN and here's why..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otVZiPosHRw

compared to..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R72kxZW1orE

Rence

October 16th, 2007, 05:44 PM

‘Inday’ jokes in English, smarter than ‘Eraptions’
By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines -- Inday, the housemaid or “kasambahay,” is riding the airwaves.

Whether in e-mail, blog posts, Internet chats or text messages, she’s smart, spouts flowery English (even a little Spanish) -- and is keeping Filipinos here and abroad in stitches.

Inday’s “adventures” in and out of household service are threatening to be as widespread as the “Erap” and “Gloria” jokes.

She has morphed from the old promdi (from the province) ignorant of city life and entangled in a dalliance with the man of the house.

The jokes started spreading last month (although some chatters put it at circa 2005).

A web search showed one early post made at www.podcentral.ph late in August. It was titled “The Chronicles of Wonder Yaya” -- either a reference to the government’s “SuperMaid” skills training program for domestic helpers, or an imitation of the superhero themes of prime-time telenovelas.

In one joke, the employer asks Inday why her son has a bump on his head.

Inday replies: “Compromising safety with useless aesthetics, the not-so-well-engineered architectural design of our kitchen lavatory affected the boy’s cranium with a slight boil at the left temple near the auditory organ.”

Asked in another instance why the food she has cooked is salty, Inday says: “The consistency was fine. But you see, it seems that the increased amount of sodium chloride (NaCl) affected the taste drastically, and those actions are irreversible. I do apologize.”

Not funny

Both the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), a militant labor alliance, and the Visayas Forum Foundation (VFF), which is fighting the worldwide traffic in women, said there was nothing wrong with being amused by the jokes.

But the message behind the jokes is not funny and should make people pause and think, they said.

“These jokes are reflective of the long-standing low regard for our domestic workers,” said VFF deputy executive director Rolando Pacis. “While humor is appreciated once in a while, we must realize that it can also be an insidious medium for normalizing certain negative stereotypes.”

Pacis, however, said the VFF was angry because some mobile companies had been sending the jokes to their subscribers.

“Is it really unusual and amusing when domestic workers are [portrayed as] smart in the jokes? Is there a presupposition that they are ignorant? Are maids that inconsequential and incapable of any intelligent discussion?” he said.

Nenita “Ka Nitz” Gonzaga, KMU vice president for women’s affairs, said she thought the jokes were funny “because Inday has the most complex replies and even scientific explanations to simple questions, indicating that she is an erudite person.”

So what’s wrong?

The Inday jokes have elicited negative remarks in Internet discussion groups.

In the gay forum guys4men.com, one poster said he also found nothing funny in the jokes.

“Are we amazed that there’s a maid who speaks English?” he said. “Filipinos excel in jobs such as call center agents, domestic helpers, caregivers, nurses, etc. What’s wrong if we all try our mighty best to do that English thing?”

Overqualified for job

But how did Inday acquire her smarts and her English-speaking skills?

According to Gonzaga, Inday must have been a teacher.

Most of the chatters and blog posters agreed that Inday read the dictionary and probably her ward’s schoolbooks in her spare time.

In one joke, the poor employer tries to emulate Inday’s example by also reading the dictionary to improve his diction and grammar. He is left cussing when Inday replies in Spanish.

Gonzaga said that while Inday’s intelligence was “exaggerated,” it was not impossible to encounter intelligent maids because many of them, especially those working abroad, were degree holders or college undergraduates.

“Inday is overqualified for her job. In fact, intelligent Filipino maids working abroad often incite anger in their married female employers who are envious of them,” Gonzaga said.

Pacis pointed out that “in the first place, no kasambahay should suffer such indignity if society sent every one of them to school.”

“It is precisely the lack of education that pushes many young girls to come to the city from the province, hoping for a chance to work and study at the same time. Yet many employers continue to deny them this right to education,” he said.

Gonzaga said employers should not think that their maids were content to be maids forever.

“They are doing this for their families. Many maids also want to study, learn new talents, and take up training to improve their skills,” she said.

Gonzaga said what she also found funny was the way the employer -- presumed to be rich and educated -- would get unsettled by Inday’s replies.

“We think it’s funny because we believe a maid like Inday is impossible. But then, is there such a real person as Inday’s employer, who can tolerate her ways? In bourgeois households, any maid who is -- or tries to be -- more intelligent than the employer is sure to get fired,” Gonzaga said.

ana_b

October 17th, 2007, 12:26 PM

A new scandal would hit the First Gentleman and President Arroyo - the bribery of millions of dollars to the first gentleman by someone close to Lucio Tan in exhange for:

1. "Clearance" for Lucio Tan's real estate projects
2. The "withrdrawal" of GMA's Open Air Policy that threatens Lucio Tan's Philippine Air Lines (PAL)!!!

The witness will be coming out within the next few days...:banana:

anone

October 17th, 2007, 05:36 PM

^^^Pwede bang malaman kong saan mo nakuha yang malaking scandal na yan? Dahil kung totoo man yan ay marami kang matutulungan dito.

Askal82

October 18th, 2007, 04:59 AM

pau_p1

October 18th, 2007, 01:58 PM

Rence

October 18th, 2007, 02:56 PM

is there a bribery issue?.... why is it not in the news last night?.... is there an article to support this?

all i heard was the cash money given to two governors and a congressman... who are asking the Malacanang what they are for...

Tig P 500,000 si Gove. Ed Panlilio at ang Governor of Bulacan - Take note common practice na daw iyan !

-TC-

October 18th, 2007, 06:25 PM

Na-kuryente na naman tayo ng Inquirer! :ohno: :ohno: :ohno: The solon misquoted was Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=95132

(CORRECTED) Arroyo wasn't present, says Manila solon
By Dona Pazzibugan, Christian V. Esguerra, Norman Bordadora
Inquirer
10/18/2007

Editor's Note: Re-posts to correct headline and statement of the congressman that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was present during the alleged distribution of funds.

Full statement of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company and one of the content providers of INQUIRER.net, follows:

"The Philippine Daily Inquirer deeply regrets that it inadvertently reported in today’s issue that Rep. Bienvenido Abante said President Macapagal-Arroyo was present during the distribution of cash handouts to politicians last Thursday. Abante had actually said the President was not present.

"The Inquirer sincerely apologizes for the error.

"We are looking into the matter to ensure that no similar errors occur in the future."

Rence

October 18th, 2007, 06:30 PM

Kanina binalita iyan sa TV patrol

red_jasper

October 19th, 2007, 10:19 AM

At least 30 hurt from Makati blast taken to hospital
- report 10/19/2007 | 02:33 PM

The Makati Medical Center (MMC) has admitted as many as 35 people who were rushed from the Glorietta 2 shopping mall, which was hit by an explosion on Friday afternoon.

A nurse interviewed by dzBB radio said no less than 30 people were in the hospital, but could not say the extent of their injuries.

The report said that "as far as the nurse knew," four people were already declared dead.

For his part, Alfie Reyes, corporate spokesman of mall owner Ayala Land, said that, "roughly about a dozen people were injured, with the possibility of some fatalities."

He added that, "We will extend assistance to all of the victims and if any of their families wish to reach out to us, we will do so (and help them)."

Reyes added the mall area has been "evacuated" and that all of the victims have been taken out of the area.

GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/65100/At-least-30-hospitalized-in-Makati-mall-blast---report)

Maxxclip

October 19th, 2007, 11:05 AM

^^:ohno: this is really BAD

some news says 4 and some says 5 were killed in the incident

red_jasper

October 19th, 2007, 12:07 PM

Initial photos of Makati blast here (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=96375)

Rence

October 19th, 2007, 06:05 PM

Arroyo visits blast victims at Makati hospital

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 07:08pm (Mla time) 10/19/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is at the Makati Medical Center to visit victims of the early Friday afternoon explosion at the Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati City.

Arroyo, dressed in black, was accompanied by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza Cabral, whom she ordered to take care of the victims’ medical expenses.

Among those she visited were the two injured victims listed as critical by the hospital.

Authorities have said the explosion was likely caused by a bomb.

(UPDATE 18) Mall bomb blast kills 8, hurts more than 100

By Thea Alberto
Agence France-Presse, INQUIRER.net
Last updated 08:53pm (Mla time) 10/19/2007

Most Read Other Most Read Stories x
News
(UPDATE 18) Mall bomb blast kills 8, hurts more than 100
AFP to ‘stand behind’ Arroyo--Defense chief
Glorietta Mall closed following blast
Arroyo-De Venecia war on -- sources
(UPDATE 3) Arroyo orders thorough probe into Makati blast
Why Abe King is in town
(UPDATE 6) Death toll in Bhutto parade bombing hits 130
Gins, Bulls clash; Devance to show stuff
Filipino billiards aces on collision course in US Open
PNP, AFP on red alert in Metro after Makati blast
Arroyo: ‘Don’t use bombing for political gain’
Abante: President no longer present during cash handouts
News Most Read RSS
Close this MANILA, Philippines -- The explosion that ripped through the Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati City early Friday afternoon, killing eight people and wounding more than a hundred others was caused by a “hard explosive,” mostly likely TNT or the military ordnance C4, police said.

Chief Inspector Raynold Rosero of the Philippine Bomb Data Center said the explosive went off near an escalator and could have been exacerbated by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks in nearby restaurants.

"We've submitted the evidence to the crime lab for chemical analysis and we saw that near the scene of [the] explosion were establishments with LPG," he said.

Rosero said they have yet to determine whether the explosion was set off by a timer or triggered remotely by cellular phone, the signature attack of the Al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah and the local Abu Sayyaf.

He described the explosion as "most likely a deliberate attack."

Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon and Alfonso Reyes, spokesman of Ayala Corp., which operates the Glorieta 2 Mall where the explosion occurred at around 1:40 p.m., said eight people had been killed.

Makati Councilor JunJun Binay, who has been providing regular updates on the situation, said the injury count had climbed to at least 126 -- 98 of these needing hospitalization and 28 other victims given first aid at the blast site for minor injuries.

Of the injured, Binay said, three are listed in critical condition and in the Intensive Care Unit of the Makati Medical Center. At least one other victim is undergoing surgery as of this posting.

Binay also said at least one of the dead was a Korean.

A partial list of the injured at the Makati Medical Center (see list at end of article) showed another Korean and a Chinese national were among the injured.

Police investigators at the scene of the explosion identified four of the dead as Liza Marquez, Jose Allan de Jesus, Lester Peregrina and nursing student Janine Marcos. All died of shrapnel injuries. Another fatality was later identified as Maureen De Leon.

At an earlier press briefing carried live by radio and television, Dr. Ernesto Santos of the Makati Medical Center said the four fatalities were “dead on arrival” and at least two of the wounded were “critical.”

Santos said the other casualties all suffered “blast injuries.”

Dr. Anthony Golez, spokesman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council and deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, told INQUIRER.net from the Makati Medical Center that the four died due to "burns and massive internal bleeding."

"It doesn't look good," he said.

Razon said: "From our assessment this is not what was initially reported as LPG [liquefied petroleum gas].”

"This was a bomb. But beyond that we can't say anything else yet because we are still investigating. What I can say is it was not LPG that caused this."

Director Geary Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, said they have yet to determine whether the explosion was caused by a grenade or an improvised explosive device and " are not discounting anything," including the possibility that the explosion was a terrorist attack.

Barias also said there had been no intelligence reports prior to the blast, despite a terror alert issued earlier this month by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, which is composed of various security institutions like the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“We actually picked up several dead and wounded,” Binay said.

He said the explosion left an eight-meter (26-foot) wide crater on the ground floor and blew a hole through the roof on the second floor.

"From what I have seen it was a significant explosion and that most of the dead and injured were all employees," he said.

Witnesses said the blast occurred in a section of the mall with clusters of stores selling baby clothes and toys.

The explosion had panicked shoppers running out of the mall as smoke billowed out of the building.

Mall security and police immediately sealed off the area and shepherded people away as ambulances rushed in to evacuate casualties.

People leaving the mall told INQUIRER.net said they felt the whole shopping complex shake as from an earthquake as the “strong” explosion happened in the area between the Glorietta 1 and 2 buildings. They also said they saw windows shatter from the blast.

Witnesses said part of a ceiling collapsed while a concrete wall was blown out.

Two cars and two delivery vans were buried under wooden planks and concrete debris outside the mall.

"It was so powerful," clothing store clerk Jeric Balendes told AFP on the scene, as rescuers applied first aid on his cuts and bruises.

"The roof just collapsed on us. I could hear my three co-workers screaming. I got out through a small hole. I don't know if they got out."

One of the injured, Teresita de La Cruz, 24, recalled thinking: "Are we going to die here?"

"People were panicking and shoving each other, and running in all directions. I was very scared," she told reporters outside the Makati Medical Center.

De La Cruz, a saleslady for a custom sticker company, said the blast likely originated from somewhere on the second floor near the escalator. "It was just one explosion, but it was loud and strong," she said.

But the police, citing initial reports, said the blast may have originated from the storeroom of the Luk Yuen restaurant, which was initially tagged as the site of the blast.

Bomb debris carpeted a 200-square-meter (2,100-square-foot) area, he added.
"The ceilings are damaged and may collapse," Barias said.

The entrance to the mall, the lobby and the activity center were a total wreck, buried under piles of wooden planks, slabs of cement, and parts of the roof.

Rosero said police were clearing the rubble, adding it could be dangerous for investigators to stay inside the mall to gather more evidence.

"There are hazards. There is falling debris inside, there could be a chemical leak [or] high-voltage wires, and the water inside is knee-deep," he said.

He added that the concrete floor of the area had also been raised by the blast.

Binay said all fatalities appear to have been recovered although late breaking news reports on television Friday evening quoted the Philippine National Red Cross as fearing there could be more victims trapped beneath the rubble.

Barias also inspected the nearby SM mall to ensure there will be no other explosions.

The United States and Australia both offered technical help in investigating the blast, and Australian experts were understood to be helping Filipino police on the scene.

Binay said roads to hospitals in the city have been secured as rescue teams continued to scour the area where the explosion occurred, which the councilor described as “severely damaged,” for more possible victims.

“We’ll keep the area evacuated until we know more,” Reyes said.

He also assured the victims and their relatives of assistance from Ayala Corp.

“We will certainly makes sure [that] anyone [who] needs attention will be able to get it,” Reyes said.

Police did not immediately name likely suspects for the attack, but Islamic extremists were blamed for a bomb attack on a bus near the site of Friday’s explosion. That attack killed four people in February 2005.

Militants also firebombed a ferry on Manila Bay the previous year, killing more than 100 people in the country's worst terrorist attack.

Arroyo's National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales has previously said the government was not ruling out future attacks on "soft" targets such as shopping malls.

Following are the names of 34 of the injured rushed to the Makati Medical Center. The list is current as of 3 p.m. Friday.

Donald Santos
Julia Hernandez
Anna Patria Villareal
Ellen Garcia
Abraham Jose
Ma. Ceronara Estilles
Fely Reyes
Agnes Ramilo
Shirley Boleno
Socorro Yrastroza
Ma. Lourdes Perez
Mutya Santos
Arlene Pansal
Robinson Orlanda
Hernanin Asis
Sally Honopra
Carmen Enriquez
Alberto Gonzales
Regina Montenegro
Christopher Pineda
Hei Wun Kim (Korean)
Queene Ngo (Chinese)
John Henry Pascual
Evangeline de Leon
Jerry Canaban
Elizabeth Liboro
Jeffrey Burser
Maricel Marcelo
Lady Katrina Santos
May Flor Garcia
Angela Maria Soriano
Mary Flor Gopis
Josephine Santos
Mabini Garcia

With a report from Joel Guinto and Lawrence Casiraya, INQUIRER.net; Originally posted at 1:39pm

dancethingy

October 19th, 2007, 08:28 PM

Let's see how they turn this tragic event into a political circus

DaimosLA

October 19th, 2007, 09:39 PM

Really, the Philippines should get their act together!!! The rare stability the country has, I mean, WTF?!

Ex!lE

October 20th, 2007, 05:21 AM

2 firms pack up due to rising labor costs (http://http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=2007101959)
By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio
Saturday, October 20, 2007

Two electronics companies are pulling out their investments in the country and moving their operations to Vietnam as local labor costs continue to soar every year, an industry official said.

At a press conference, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) board member and First Philec managing director Dan C. Lachica said Tokyo-based cordless phone giant Uniden and another company he refused to identify are abandoning local operations because of rising operating costs.

”We have to temper wage increases with realism. Now more companies are shutting down and moving to Vietnam,” Lachica explained.

According to Lachica, the legislated annual increase of minimum wage is a serious concern of all companies especially since the peso continues to appreciate against the dollar.

He proposed following the example of other neighboring countries wherein there is no minimum wage and no mandatory increase.

When asked if they will ask the Congress to amend the law requiring the mandatory increase of minimum wage, SEIPI chairman and PSi Technologies Inc., chairman and chief executive officer Arthur J. Young said no. “This is a controversial matter,” he said.

However, Young said they have discussed the matter with the National Competitiveness Council (NCC). The NCC is a collaboration of private and public sector working to make the Philippines an attractive investment site.

“Wage increases should be merit and productivity based. It should not be mandatory,” Young noted.

”The increase in minimum wage should not be an annual thing. In other countries they change their minimum wage every three to five years,” Ernesto Santiago, SEIPI executive director said.

In fact, another SEIPI board member and head of Maxim Philippines Operation GroupGeorge Rutland said it is difficult for their mother company to understand surprises in labor in the country.

”Our headquarters do not understand a country that surprises you with holidays and wage increases,” Rutland noted.

iloilocitykid

October 20th, 2007, 03:11 PM

I'm starting to lose my trust in this country.

allan_dude

October 20th, 2007, 03:16 PM

^ Nyahaay ko po! What is happening here in the Philippines? One year nalang na pagtitiis, makakaalis na rin ako. Wala na ata makakapigil saken. Balik nalang ako pag OK OK na.

amigo32

October 20th, 2007, 03:53 PM

ganun? iiwan nyo sa kahirapan? babalik kayo pag ok na?

kung kailan kailngan ng tulong sa isat-isa iiwan nyo ang Pinas?

I am not going anywhere. mahal ko ang Pinas.

icarusrising

October 20th, 2007, 04:18 PM

^^ :okay:

daks2003

October 20th, 2007, 09:13 PM

baka naman pagdating nyo sa banyagang bansa na pinapangarap nyo eh, i-iyak-iyak kayo at sasabihin nyo na, "buti pa kayo sa pinas, masaya kayo" hehehe dont get me wrong, I myself is a "naturalized" citizen of a foreign country pero there's no place like home pa rin hehehe masarap at masaya pa rin mamuhay sa Pilipinas :)

crappypants

October 21st, 2007, 06:50 AM

yes it's better to improve it than leave it because the place you dream of going may not be so welcoming with open arms, especially if you arrive in the masses.
But i know these people who run the PHilippines like it's not a real country with millions of people whose future depend on the decisions they make can be real trying .

anone

October 21st, 2007, 08:49 AM

Filipino-American doctor convicted of murder--reports
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 12:09pm (Mla time) 10/21/2007

Most Read Other Most Read Stories x
Global Nation
Filipino-American doctor convicted of murder--reports
Ifugao now tracking other OFW villagers after maid’s death
RP risks isolation if Japan trade deal rejected -- expert
Canadian mining subsidiary in hot water
Surprise shutdown
WBC orders Marquez to defend against Pacman
None but herself
Erik Santos pa doesn't see himself retiring yet
Pacquiao: No romance with Ara Mina
Local execs given cash-gifts urged: Do a Panlilio
The price of security
Caesar’s choice
Global Nation Most Read RSS
Close this Dr. Noel Chua, a Filipino-American doctor, has been convicted of murder and sentenced to "life plus five years," reports have said.

The website, firstcoastnews.com, reported that jurors in Georgia gave out a guilty verdict after 12 hours of deliberations.

Jackonsville.com, website of the Florida Times-Union, also reported on Chua's conviction.

Chua was convicted of murdering Jamie Carter III through supplying him with painkillers. He was also convicted of violating Georgia’s Controlled Substance Act

The case has been followed closely by many Filipino-Americans. Several letters and opinion columns have been written in support of Chua.

Lili

October 21st, 2007, 08:52 AM

^^ If he can be convicted of such, they should convict the doctors who gave painkillers and prescription drugs to drugged-out Anna Nicole Smith.

red_jasper

October 21st, 2007, 10:37 AM

Source: The Associated Press
Published: October 21, 2007

MANILA, Philippines: The death toll from an explosion at an upscale shopping mall in Manila rose to 11 on Sunday as investigators cast doubt that the blast was caused by a bomb.

Read more (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/21/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Explosion.php)

icarusrising

October 21st, 2007, 11:05 AM

Sigh! :ohno:

Fire hits Glorietta 4 restaurant, already contained

By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 03:06pm (Mla time) 10/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines--(UPDATE) Two days after the deadly explosion in Glorietta 2, a fire has hit another part of the Glorietta complex shortly after lunch Sunday, a police official said.

The fire started at the Seafood Seafood Market restaurant in Glorietta 4 and was declared contained past 1:00 pm, said Chief Superintendent Luizo Ticman, southern police district chief.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

An electrical wiring fault may have caused the fire, Ticman said, quoting initial reports.

"We would like to inform the general public that this is not a cause for alarm," said Ticman.

He said the fire was not related to Friday's blast in Glorietta 2 area, which authorities believe started from the basement. As of this posting, 11 people had been confirmed dead because of the blast while 120 others sustained injuries.
Originally posted 1:28 p.m.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view_article.php?article_id=95808

red_jasper

October 21st, 2007, 06:04 PM

Source: Inquirer
Last updated 09:38pm (Mla time) 10/21/2007

'Her life was just starting'--pa of daughter slain in blast

MANILA, Philippines--For a few precious minutes, Julian Marcos stood at the wreckage of the Glorietta 2 mall, in front of a single yellow candle, thinking of his daughter and of what might have been.

He thought of how his 17-year-old Janine had not yet experienced going out with a boyfriend, or donned a real nurse cap, or gone to the United States to live the life she had dreamed of.

Then he thought of the things she could never do now, like preparing her mother's chocolate drink in the morning, horsing around with her younger sister, and getting another stuffed bear to add to her collection.

"Her life was not even starting yet," Marcos insisted. "I can never accept that she's gone."

Janine was among the 11 people killed in Friday's explosion that rocked the country's financial center.

The 10th body—that of 23-year-old computer programmer Maureen de Leon—was found buried in the basement of the mall late Saturday. Hours later, the death toll rose to 11 when the injured Ricardo Petras died in a hospital from multiple blast wounds, hospital officials said. Read more (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=95846)

IsaganiZenze

October 21st, 2007, 10:51 PM

Death toll rises to 11 in Manila mall blast
International Herald Tribune, Reuters, The Associated Press
Published: October 21, 2007

MANILA: The death toll from an explosion at an upscale shopping mall in Manila rose to 11 on Sunday as investigators cast doubt on earlier statements that the blast was caused by a bomb.

The Philippine national police chief, Avelino Razon, said the explosion Friday at the Glorietta 2 shopping mall in the heart of the capital's financial district of Makati was caused by a bomb, but three government investigators told The Associated Press that the conclusion was premature.

The investigators, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said that no bomb parts had been found in a cargo storage basement where the blast most likely happened. They added that they were considering all possibilities, including an accidental blast.

The police crime laboratory office said a sample of debris tested positive for RDX, an ingredient of the high explosive C4. But that finding was being re-evaluated because all other samples from the blast site had tested negative for explosives, according to the three investigators.

"It's too premature to make any conclusion while the suspected explosion site remains under water," said Makati Councilor Jejomar Erwin Binay, who had been monitoring the investigation at the scene of the blast - the most deadly to hit the capital in recent years.
Today in Asia - Pacific
On quiet streets of Myanmar, fear is a constant companion
Bhutto pledges to pursue campaign despite attacks
In Japan, refreshing ideas for the fearful

Late Saturday, the authorities began to siphon off waist-deep water in the mall's cargo storage basement, where they found the body of a woman partly covered by debris. A badly wounded victim died from blood loss in a hospital early Sunday, Binay said.

Most of the wounded had been discharged from three hospitals, but three victims remained in intensive care, Binay said.

Once the blast site had been drained, it would be easier to determine whether a bomb had caused the explosion, investigators said, adding that they were trying to secure footage from security cameras near the area.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called an emergency security meeting Saturday and planned a larger National Security Council gathering in a few days. The authorities also announced a reward for any information leading to the arrest of suspects if the blast was an act of sabotage.

Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, called the blast a "bombing" in a statement, adding that the president has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to assure foreign governments that the Philippine authorities were committed "to find and arrest the perpetrators of this senseless, barbaric attack."

The three investigators looking at Friday's explosion said there was a possibility that fumes may have leaked from a huge diesel fuel container, or methane gas from a septic tank, and ignited in the tightly enclosed concrete basement.

Meanwhile, rumors have been spread about who was responsible for the blast, with military renegades, Muslim militants and government forces loyal to Arroyo variously blamed.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Albert Ferro, chief of the police Bomb Data Center, suggested in the meeting with Arroyo on Saturday that the explosives could have come from the military, which uses the type of explosive said to have been detected in the rubble.

"Based on our 2005 and 2006 data, we could presume that those are of military ordnance components," he was quoted as saying. "We presume the explosives could be of that origin."

Leftist groups and critics of the government have suggested that the government orchestrated the blast to deflect attention away from the political scandals Arroyo was facing.

Officials have responded publicly to the assertion, calling it ludicrous. "Who would believe that?" said Norberto Gonzales, Arroyo's national security adviser and chief adviser on terrorism, on Saturday.

Compounding public alarm, smoke suddenly billowed from a seafood restaurant in the nearby Glorietta 4 mall in an unrelated incident Sunday, prompting employees and shoppers to rush out of the building, which was shut by security guards as fire trucks arrived.

The smoke, caused by faulty electrical wiring, did not ignite fire, the police said.

crappypants

October 21st, 2007, 11:09 PM

i hope they find the guy who planted the bomb. he should be tortured alive.
I wonder how much he got paid. such conscienceless persons exist in our midst. :ohno:

bitoy

October 22nd, 2007, 02:28 AM

Accident angle probed (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=95898)

But Sunday, Barias said the presence of RDX would have to be verified by “additional testing.”

In a television interview, Alfie Reyes, corporate spokesperson of Ayala Land Inc. which owns the mall, said the basement was occupied by a tenant at the Makati Supermarket. “We are also trying to obtain information from them,” Reyes said.

An investigator, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to reporters, told the Inquirer that initial tests done by bomb experts from the United States revealed no traces of RDX or any other explosive material.

The source said at least six Americans from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Navy SEALs and an Explosive Ordnance Division unit were helping in the probe. Later in the afternoon, experts from Australia arrived to join the inquiry.

The American experts, the source said, tested six samples from different locations at least three times. “There were samples taken from 500 meters from the blast site and also at the seat or source of the blasts, in this case the hole that was caused.”

Bunker oil container

He also confirmed that the blast originated from a bunker oil container the size of a 20-foot container van located near a septic tank. The area also contained air-conditioning exhaust vents, a generator set, empty diesel tanks, and fuel that might have emitted dangerous fumes.

“The confluence of the mixture of gasses trapped inside a confined space will look for an outlet and needs release,” the expert said.

The source also noted that the blast did not cause fires, unlike a C4 or TNT explosion which causes black or gray smoke. “The kind of damage we saw is consistent with enormous pressure being released. Gasses like methane don’t show up in the kind of tests already done.”

crappypants

October 22nd, 2007, 02:49 AM

thank god if it is indeed only an accident.
now all you conspiracy theorist blaming it on GMA as a diversionary tactic from the the bogus bribe scandal can shut up. No marshall law yet.
on the hindsight wouldn't ayala prefer it to be a terrorist attack since their liability may not be as great.

bitoy

October 22nd, 2007, 04:00 AM

^^ but if that was an accident or a terrorist act, the results are very tragic and someone should be liable after further investigation.

bagel

October 22nd, 2007, 04:25 AM

Filipino-American doctor convicted of murder--reports
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 12:09pm (Mla time) 10/21/2007

Close this Dr. Noel Chua, a Filipino-American doctor, has been convicted of murder and sentenced to "life plus five years," reports have said.

The website, firstcoastnews.com, reported that jurors in Georgia gave out a guilty verdict after 12 hours of deliberations.

Jackonsville.com, website of the Florida Times-Union, also reported on Chua's conviction.

Chua was convicted of murdering Jamie Carter III through supplying him with painkillers. He was also convicted of violating Georgia’s Controlled Substance Act

The case has been followed closely by many Filipino-Americans. Several letters and opinion columns have been written in support of Chua.

I know this guy. He helped me move once when I lived in Pittsburgh. My dad and I had dinner with him as he was a friend of a cousin. I don't know whether he is guilty or not, but he was a really nice guy. Very soft spoken, and very kind. And he was trying to get me to sing praise music with him, even if I think that praise music is some of the worst music ever (on the musical level that is-- I just think it sounds horrible. I don't know about content since I'm not really into the content of that praise music). If he was rightfully convicted, then I'm extremely surprised because from the people I know who know him, I heard that he was a very good doctor, graduated at or near the top of his class at UPD. But I guess if he overprescribed and caused the OD, then there are liability issues.

bitoy

October 22nd, 2007, 04:51 AM

I know this guy. He helped me move once when I lived in Pittsburgh. My dad and I had dinner with him as he was a friend of a cousin. I don't know whether he is guilty or not, but he was a really nice guy. Very soft spoken, and very kind. And he was trying to get me to sing praise music with him, even if I think that praise music is some of the worst music ever (on the musical level that is-- I just think it sounds horrible. I don't know about content since I'm not really into the content of that praise music). If he was rightfully convicted, then I'm extremely surprised because from the people I know who know him, I heard that he was a very good doctor, graduated at or near the top of his class at UPD. But I guess if he overprescribed and caused the OD, then there are liability issues.

Here are some more info and comments about that case:

http://www.jacksonville.com/publicsafety/images/chua-mast.jpg

Saturday, October 20, 2007
Chua sentenced to life in prison on murder conviction (http://chuatrial.blogspot.com/2007/10/chua-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-on.html)

I thought he graduated from FEU Med. School.

heathcliff

October 22nd, 2007, 01:01 PM

^^ This is really sad news, and I hope does not reflect on the reputation of Filipino American medical professionals in general. If he is really innocent, then so much the better. Sayang naman ang tinapos niya and his hard work to build his reputation as a doctor.

GearX

October 22nd, 2007, 02:01 PM

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:

amigo32

October 22nd, 2007, 02:18 PM

anong pinapalakpakan mo?

anone

October 22nd, 2007, 03:01 PM

^^ Ikaw talaga amigo32 lagi mo akong pinapatawa.:lol::lol::lol:

-TC-

October 23rd, 2007, 03:04 AM

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=96163

Makati gov’t orders safety inspection of Glorietta
By DJ Yap, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
10/23/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The Makati City government Monday ordered the temporary shutdown of the Glorietta shopping complex to allow engineers to determine if the building remained safe following Friday’s explosion that police investigation so far showed may have been caused by a methane gas leak.

“It’s only a preventive closure order,” Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado told reporters. He said this would give a 12-member team of city engineers and consultants of Ayala Land, owners of the shopping complex, enough time to inspect cracks and structural anomalies.

By late Monday night, Lito Anzures, political adviser to the city mayor, said that Glorietta 1, 3 and 4 would reopen Tuesday. The heavily damaged Glorietta 2, center of the explosion that left 11 dead and more than a hundred wounded, would remain closed.

Mercado, acting mayor of Makati while Mayor Jejomar Binay is in Japan to attend a scouting event, had earlier raised the possibility of a complete shutdown.

The closure was set for Monday morning but was implemented at 8 p.m. upon Ayala Land’s request.

On Sunday, a minor fire hit the kitchen of a seafood restaurant on the second floor of Glorietta 4, but authorities said it was not connected to the Glorietta 2 blast.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will meet Tuesday the National Security Council composed of former presidents, congressional and other leaders to discuss the incident.

Arson and police investigators said they had found signs of a “gas explosion” but nothing that would indicate that it was a bomb that triggered the blast.

Fire Supt. Fenniore Jaudian, chief of the Interagency Arson Task Force, Monday told reporters that there was an “accumulation of methane” in the basement of the Glorietta 2 when one of the pumps in the sewage system malfunctioned.

Heat from the motors, ventilator fans, and automatic switches in the area, Jaudian said, could have ignited the methane inside the enclosed basement. The heat generated could have triggered an eruption of a 3,500-liter diesel tank also located in the basement.

“There were signs of a buildup of pressure,” Jaudian said. “From our evaluation, it’s more on the methane (angle) and from Day 1, that has not changed. What we have seen points to a gas explosion.”

Maintenance work

Jaudian said maintenance personnel had done some work in the basement, including the rehabilitation of the pumps for the building’s sprinkler system, around a week before Friday’s explosion. One of the portable submersible pumps for the sewage system was also replaced just a day before, he said.

Jaudian was part of the team that concluded the SuperFerry 14 bombing that claimed over 100 lives in February 2004 was caused by a bomb attack and not a fire.

On Sunday afternoon, investigators entered the basement area of the Glorietta 2 mall after it was cleared of debris and fumes and after the structural integrity of the area was checked.

Chief Supt. Luizo Ticman, head of the Southern Police District who showed photos of the damage, said the blast was so strong it bent a ceiling in the basement and “pushed up” metal structures in the area.

US, Australian probers

National Capital Region Police Office Director Geary Barias said investigators from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police were helping local investigators. He added local and foreign metallurgical forensic and petro-chemical experts were being enlisted to help in the inquiry.

“We have sifted through a lot of debris and rubble and are continuing this procedure in search of IED (improvised explosive device) components that will help us determine whether or not this explosion was intentionally or accidentally caused,” Barias said in a press conference.

He added that investigators had yet to find IED components like a timing device, power source, initiator, switches or container.

Barias also said the initial report of the discovery of RDX, a component used in high explosives including C4 which is used by the military, was still inconclusive and the subject of further investigation.

No traces of RDX

Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon also confirmed an earlier Philippine Daily Inquirer report that US bomb experts did not find any traces of RDX in the samples they took from the site.

“We cannot conclude yet what happened in Glorietta 2. We are not yet at that stage in concluding what happened,” Razon said.

He said investigators were having a hard time finding clues in the rubble.

“It’s like looking for a needle in the haystack.” Razon added that police were studying the possible involvement of communist rebels, ultra rightist elements and the Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement, a group of radical Islamic converts.

To cause the kind of damage seen in the Glorietta 2 blast, Razon said 50 kilograms of explosives were needed. “It could have been brought into the mall piecemeal then assembled inside or brought in whole. All these things are possible.”

Razon also dismissed the view that the explosion was a result of a “failure of intelligence.”

He said that while the PNP had received “general threats” of a bombing attack in Metro Manila, “it is very hard to pinpoint where terrorists would strike.” He also said that they have not received any reports that the Glorietta mall was a target.

Appeal for sobriety

Barias also appealed for sobriety from the public amid the circulation of various text messages warning of another blast as well as unconfirmed information on Friday’s incident.

Razon said police had identified a group spreading text messages aimed at sowing panic and misinformation. He refused to identify the group.

“We have to separate what is true, a hoax or pranksters playing tricks,” he said. “We have identified the source and we are taking action on these groups.”

On Monday, Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, brother-in-law of the President, offered an additional P1 million to the reward put up by the government for any information that would result in the arrest of the “perpetrators” of Friday’s incident.

This brings the total reward to P4 million, including the government’s P2 million and Makati City’s P1 million.

GearX

October 23rd, 2007, 07:30 AM

anong pinapalakpakan mo?

makait lang kamay ko....:cheers:

heathcliff

October 23rd, 2007, 01:00 PM

mwahahaha

icarusrising

October 23rd, 2007, 02:45 PM

2 firms pack up due to rising labor costs

By MA. ELISA P. OSORIO

The Philippine Star
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=96437

Two electronics companies are pulling out their investments in the country and moving their operations to Vietnam as local labor costs continue to soar every year, an industry official said.

At a press conference, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) board member and First Philec managing director Dan C. Lachica said Tokyo-based cordless phone giant Uniden and another company he refused to identify are abandoning local operations because of rising operating costs.

"We have to temper wage increases with realism. Now more companies are shutting down and moving to Vietnam," Lachica explained.

According to Lachica, the legislated annual increase of minimum wage is a serious concern of all companies especially since the peso continues to appreciate against the dollar.

He proposed following the example of other neighboring countries wherein there is no minimum wage and no mandatory increase.

When asked if they will ask the Congress to amend the law requiring the mandatory increase of minimum wage, SEIPI chairman and PSi Technologies Inc., chairman and chief executive officer Arthur J. Young said no. "This is a controversial matter," he said.

However, Young said they have discussed the matter with the National Competitiveness Council (NCC). The NCC is a collaboration of private and public sector working to make the Philippines an attractive investment site.

"Wage increases should be merit and productivity based. It should not be mandatory," Young noted.

"The increase in minimum wage should not be an annual thing. In other countries they change their minimum wage every three to five years," Ernesto Santiago, SEIPI executive director said.

In fact, another SEIPI board member and head of Maxim Philippines Operation GroupGeorge Rutland said it is difficult for their mother company to understand surprises in labor in the country.

"Our headquarters do not understand a country that surprises you with holidays and wage increases," Rutland noted.

IsaganiZenze

October 24th, 2007, 08:58 AM

djhones

October 24th, 2007, 07:35 PM

manilatimes.net
Thursday, October 25, 2007

The writ of amparo took effect Wednesday and will immediately be put to the test as the Supreme Court received a petition asking the military to release three people who have been missing for more than a year.

The three are suspected of being in military custody, which authorities have denied.

The petitioners, led by Erlinda Cadapan, mother of missing University of the Philippines student Sherlyn Cadapan, argued that new evidence uncovered on the disappearance of three people (including her daughter) will be presented through the writ of amparo to show that the military was responsible for the abduction.

x x x

The writ of amparo is also called habeas data, where agents or institutions of the state can be compelled to release information about a missing person, and require them to allow access to military and police files. It also bars military officers from issuing denials on disappearances.

Read full article here (http://http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/oct/25/yehey/top_stories/20071025top4.html)

Writ of amparo takes effect; lawyers' group issues primer

GMANews.TV
10/23/2007 | 11:41 PM

The writ of amparo, a rule that grants relief to families and relatives of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, takes effect on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court last month approved the draft rule on the writ of amparo, which Chief Justice Reynato Puno said would empower courts to issue reliefs that may be granted through judicial orders of protection, production, and inspection to safeguard people’s life and liberty.

The Free Legal Assistance Group on Tuesday issued a primer on the writ of amparo. In a 16-page primer released Tuesday, the Free Legal Assistance Group explains in a 47-question-and-answer format how the rule functions.

"This (primer) is useful in better understanding how this new legal mechanism is applied and how people intending to seek remedies can make use of its provisions," said Jeong Ho Moon, urgent appeals coordinator of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

Moon noted that before the writ was adopted, there was virtually no possibility for people facing threats or families of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances to attain legal remedies.

"It is a sad fact of life in the Philippines that people facing threats have to take matters, particularly arrangements for their protection, into their own hands," an AHRC statement said.

It said the new rule can provide, after a verified petition is granted, orders for protection, inspection and production and referral to witness protection.

Before the writ was approved, it was not possible to obtain protection for people facing threats because no cases are filed or are pending in court.

"Now that these legal tools are possible, we encourage victims, families of the dead and disappeared and other concerned people to make use of this remedy," Moon said.

Any day, any time

Under the high court's rule, the petition for the writ of amparo may be filed on any day and at any time with the regional trial court of the place where the threat, act, or omission was committed, or with the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court, the high court said on its website. The filing is free of charge.

The following may also file the petition for writ of amparo: any member of the aggrieved party’s immediate family (spouse, children, and parents); any ascendant, descendant, or collateral relative of the aggrieved party within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity; and any concerned citizen, organization, association, or institution, if there is no known member of the immediate family or relative of the aggrieved party.

The filing of a petition by the aggrieved party suspends the right of all other authorized parties to file similar petitions.

Upon the filing of the petition, the court, justice or judge shall immediately order the issuance of the writ if on its face it ought to be issued.

The writ shall also set the date and time for summary hearing of the petition which shall not be later than seven days from the date of its issuance.

A clerk of court who refuses to issue the writ after its allowance, or a deputized person who refuses to serve the same, shall be punished by the court, justice, or judge for contempt without prejudice to other disciplinary actions.

A general denial from the respondent is not allowed. The respondent shall be required to give a full explanation and account in the return which shall be submitted to the court to ensure that he shall make a detailed return, which will not only seek the persons liable but also help in the determination of their compliance with the standard of conduct required of them.

Reliefs

The court, justice, or judge may grant any of the following reliefs upon filing of the petition or at any time before final judgment. These interim reliefs are the following: temporary protection order (TPO), inspection order (IO), production order (PO), and witness protection order (WPO). Under the WPO which may be issued upon motion or motu proprio, witnesses may be referred to the Department of Justice for admission to the DOJ Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program, pursuant to RA 6981, or to other government agencies, or persons or privates institutions accredited by the Supreme Court capable of keeping and securing their safety.

Likewise, the court, justice, or judge may order the respondent who refuses to make a return or who makes a false return, or any person who otherwise disobeys or resists a lawful process or order of the court to be punished for contempt. The contemptor may be fined or imprisoned.

The court, justice, or judge may call for a preliminary conference to simplify the issues and determine the possibility of obtaining stipulations and admissions from the parties. The hearing, to be conducted daily until completed, shall be given the same priority as petitions for habeas corpus. The Rule has a provision on prohibited pleadings and motions so as not to delay the proceedings.

Judgment on the petition for a writ of amparo shall be rendered within 10 days from the time it is submitted for decision. Any party however may appeal from final judgments or orders to the High Court under Rule 45. The period of appeal shall be five working days from the date of notice of the adverse judgment.

The Supreme Court said the writ of amparo imposes a higher standard of diligence (extraordinary diligence) on public officers or employees than on private individuals or entities (ordinary diligence). There shall be no presumption of regularity on the part of the public official or employee. The filing of the petition for the said writ is not mutually exclusive with the filing of other reliefs (i.e. habeas corpus), as well as the filing of separate criminal, civil, or administrative actions.

here (http://http://www.gmanews.tv/story/65642/Writ-of-amparo-takes-effect-lawyers-group-issues-primer)

demented_pigeon

October 26th, 2007, 02:28 PM

ignorance of the law ba 'kamo?

e hustisya nga wala dito e.

Rence

October 30th, 2007, 03:54 PM

From ABS-CBN news:http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=97548

9 Filipinos abducted in Somaliahttp://www.abs-cbnnews.com/images/news/newspics/10-30-2007/somalia225.jpg

Image From: http://en.wikipedia.org

Nine Filipinos were among those taken hostage when pirates took control of a chemical tanker in Somalia.

This was confirmed by Chief Engineer Redentor Anaya, Sea Crest Maritime vice president for operations, which owned the hijacked chemical tanker.

They were identified as Restituto Bulilad, Melchor Cayabyab, Loreto Quinez, Raymundo Panaligan, Mario Ozenar, Avelino Amparo, Virgilio Lotoc, Loreno Villanueva and Ismael Perez.

The Filipinos were among the 23 crewmembers of Panama-flagged Golden Mori that was hijacked on Sunday in Somalia. The 14 other crew members were from Myanmar.

Anaya said Sea Crest Maritime is now coordinating with several government agencies including Philippine Overseas Employment Authority and the Department of Foreign Affairs. They are also meeting with their principal in Japan.

Sea Crest Maritime has also informed relatives of the Filipino seamen about the abduction.

The vessel, believed to be carrying oil products, sent a distress message Sunday. The SOS was picked up by a rescue center in Norway and relayed to the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The vessel, believed to be carrying oil products, sent a distress message Sunday. The SOS was picked up by a rescue center in Norway and relayed to the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"We tried to establish contact with the ship but we failed to get any response, so we than contacted coalition warships in the area," IMB spokesman Noel Choong earlier told AFP.

The coalition naval forces informed the IMB that the ship then entered Somali territorial waters, meaning no rescue could be initiated, he said.

"Somalia has no central government so that's a big problem," Choong said.

Choong added that for the past two weeks there has been a spike in piracy activity off the coast of war-torn Somalia, including another successful hijacking on October 17 on a cargo ship which was travelling to Mombasa, Kenya.

"It was attacked with automatic weapons and hijacked. As of last week there was still no information about the safety of the crew and the location of the ship," he said.

Choong said there were also two unsuccessful hijacking attempts in the lawless region earlier this month, but that the pirates failed to board the ships.

In Tokyo, a Japanese foreign ministry official confirmed the attack on the Panama-flagged ship.

"There are no Japanese among the crew members, but we won't disclose further information as the maritime company has requested us not to," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Pirates have attacked several vessels this year off Somalia's vast and largely unpatrolled coastline, according to the IMB.

The attacks stopped in the second half of 2006 during six months of strict rule by Islamists, who were ousted by Ethiopian and Somali government troops at the end of the year.

Somalia, which lies at the mouth of the Red Sea, has been without an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre sparked a bloody power struggle. With AFP

Rolls-Royce

November 6th, 2007, 09:28 PM

heathcliff

November 7th, 2007, 06:24 AM

Yet again, Philippines is on the news for the wrong reason. In the recent CNN report, Philippines is under the spotlight because of the illegal trade of human organ - this time, it's kidney - that defies every laws of ethics. What's worst was they showed the slums and the poor people who sold their organs for a thousand dollars and they never get to benefit in the long run because they were plagued by bad luck soon after they've gone under the knife. The government is planning to legalize such activity to a certain extent that we in the Philippines would be known as exporter of human organs to the west. As if we had enough bad news already, the government fails to condemn such that make us the laughing stock of the world.

I don't think so. There are indeed "brokers" who take advantage of poor people, but this is against the policy of the government. The NBI has apparently sued people engaged in the selling of kidneys, since it is a violation of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act. The government is even distributing information materials discouraging people from selling their kidneys for a fast buck. I don't know, though, how the government's medical tourism program would impact on this issue.

Maxxclip

November 7th, 2007, 06:34 AM

Romans 6:19
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

Maxxclip

November 7th, 2007, 06:35 AM

1 Corinthians 12:18
But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

Sinjin P.

November 7th, 2007, 10:48 AM

RP ranks 65th in logistics performance (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/11062007/economy02.html)

By Cai U. Ordinario
Reporter

THE Philippines scored low and was ranked at 65th place in the first global Logistics Performance Index (LPI) released in a new study commissioned by the World Bank (WB).

The study, “Connecting to Compete: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy,” said the LPI is a benchmarking tool developed by the WB that measures performance along the logistics supply chain within a country.

“Being able to connect to global markets is fast becoming a key aspect of a country’s capacity to compete, grow, attract investment, create jobs and reduce poverty,” Danny Leipziger, WB vice president for poverty reduction and economic management, said in a statement. “But for those unable to connect, the costs of exclusion are large and growing.”

The study said the Philippines scored 2.69 in the LPI. The country also ranked 53rd in Customs, 86th in Infrastructure, and 63rd in International Shipments in the LPI.

Compared with other lower-middle-income countries, the Philippines was second to the last and was just a notch higher than El Salvador, which was at 66th place.

The top lower-middle-income country was China, which was ranked 30th in the world, followed by Thailand at 31st, Indonesia at 43rd, Jordan at 52nd, Bulgaria at 55th, Peru at 59th, Tunisia at 60th and Brazil at 61st place.

“Countries performing well typically have a comprehensive approach that improves key factors in logistics performance in parallel, while countries with a piecemeal approach tend not to demonstrate lasting improvements,” the study said.

The study said that with technological progress and worldwide trade and investment liberalization, a new premium is now being placed on the ability of countries to move goods rapidly, reliably and cheaply.

However, the study said most logistics professionals are unsatisfied with the quality of the physical infrastructure in many developing countries.

“Logistics performance is more and more determined by the availability of quality, competitive private services—such as trucking, customs brokering and warehousing,” the study said.

The study urged policymakers to look beyond traditional “trade facilitation” agenda that focuses on road infrastructure and information technology in customs.

The study said countries must also reform logistics services markets and reduce coordination failures, particularly those of public agencies active in border control.

“This demands a more integrated, comprehensive approach to reforms all along the supply chain,” the study said.

The study said international companies can bring global knowledge, but the support of local exporters, operators and public agencies is crucial.

The study surveyed a total of 150 countries. The top five countries in the world in terms of logistics was led by Singapore, followed by the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Austria.

The survey is based on a worldwide survey of global freight forwarders and express carriers.

overtureph

November 7th, 2007, 04:06 PM

Girl who killed self lamented family’s poverty in diary

By Nico Alconaba
Inquirer
Last updated 08:15pm (Mla time) 11/07/2007

DAVAO CITY, Philippines -- A 12-year-old girl, who became despondent over her family’s poverty, hanged herself inside their makeshift house a day after her father told her he could not give her the P100 she needed for a school project.

Using a thin nylon rope, 12-year-old Mariannet Amper hanged herself in the afternoon of November 2. She was a sixth grader at the Maa Central Elementary School.

Her father, Isabelo, 49, who was out of job as a construction worker, said Mariannet asked him for P100 which she needed for school projects, on the night of November 1. He told his daughter that he did not have the money yet but he would ask his wife if she could get some money for her. The morning after, however, he was able to get a P1,000 cash advance for a construction work on a downtown chapel.

By the time he got home, Mariannet already lay dead.

"Duda nako nga tungod ni sa kalisod namo (I suspect that she did it because of our situation)," Isabelo said.

Going through Mariannet's things, her parents saw her school "talaarawan" or diary.

In her October 5 entry, Mariannet wrote: "Parang isang buwan na kaming absent. Hindi na kasi nakin (sic) binibilang ang absent ko. Hindi ko namalayan na malapit na pala ang Pasko." [It feels as if we’ve been absent for a month. They’re not counting my absences anymore. I just realized that Christmas is just around the corner.]

Isabelo recalled that in that week, Mariannet skipped school as they did not have money for her food and transportation allowance.

"We did not have any money and I didn't want Mariannet and her younger brother (Reynald) to walk to school," he said in Bisaya.

But Isabelo clarified that Mariannet was absent for only three days. "For her, three days was like one month," he said.

On October 14, Mariannet wrote in her diary: "Hindi kami nakapagsimba dahil wala kaming pamasahe at nilalagnat pa ang aking tatay kaya nanglaba na lang kami ng aking nanay." [We were not able to hear mass because we did not have fare money and my dad was sick with fever. So, my mom and I just washed clothes.]

Along with her diary, the Ampers also discovered a letter Mariannet wrote for the GMA 7 television program "Wish Ko Lang [I just Wish]."

"Gusto ko po sana magkaroon ng bagong sapatos at bag at hanapbuhay para sa nanay at tatay ko. Wala kasing hanapbuhay ang tatay at nagpa-extra extra lamang ang aking nanay sa paglalaba," she said in her "Wish Ko Lang" letter. [I wish for new shoes, a bag and jobs for my mother and father. My dad does not have a job and my mom just gets laundry jobs.]

"Gusto ko na makatapos ako sa pag-aaral at gustong-gusto ko na makabili ng bagong bike," she added. [I would like to finish my schooling and I would like very much to buy a new bike.]

That letter, apparently written while Mariannet was still 11 years old, was never sent to "Wish Ko Lang."

"We never knew that our daughter had dreams for us," Isabelo said.

Isabelo's wife, Magdalena, works part-time "repacking" odong and misua in a nearby factory, earning at least P50 a day. She also does laundry jobs on the side, receiving P100 to P150.

Isabelo, on the other hand, is in and out of work.

"I'm already old, no one would want to hire me," he said.

The Ampers live in a hillside community at the back of the Yñiguez Subdivision in Maa District. They do not have electricity and water supply.

Of the seven children, only Mariannet and Reynald are left with their parents as most are grown up and have families of their own.

Even with only two children left to feed, the Ampers still have a hard time surviving.

A neighbor said that even in this "mostly poor" neighborhood, the Ampers were being discriminated against.

"Ayaw makipaglaro ng ibang bata sa kanila dahil madudungis daw sila," the neighbor said. [The other kids do not want to play with them because they’re dirty.]

"Mahirap na nga sila, ni-reject pa ng ibang kapitbahay," she added. [They’re poor and they’re rejected by their neighbors.]

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=99479

overtureph

November 7th, 2007, 04:07 PM

‘We are all to blame for poor girl’s suicide’--bishop

By Beverly T. Natividad
Inquirer
Last updated 08:34pm (Mla time) 11/07/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Not only the government, but somehow, all of us, are to blame for the fate of a 12-year-old girl in Davao City who took her own life because of her family’s poverty.

This was the moral lesson conveyed by some of the country’s religious leaders in the wake of Marianette Amper’s suicide last Friday.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz said it was the “summit of desperation” for a young child to end her own life out of hunger and poverty. He said the incident showed the desperation of many Filipinos.

While suicide does not particularly go well with Roman Catholic Church teaching, Cruz said he would be the last person to blame the child for taking her own life.

He said the community, which directly influenced the young girl, should be looked into. Her death, said Cruz, was brought about by her social surroundings.

He said everyone is also to blame for her death. If one girl goes hungry due to poverty, then the entire society is responsible for it, Cruz said.

“This means we have not done well. We have not done our civic duty to correct the abuses, and to censure graft and corruption. We have kept our eyes closed. We did not act,” he said.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), which represents the mainline Protestants in the country, echoed the same view, saying the death the girl represents the failure of society as a whole.

“We have called them poor and eyesores, but what do you call a society which made them like this?” said Bishop Eliezer Pascua of the NCCP executive committee.

On the moral aspect, Jesus has always asked the people to identify with the poor, according to Pascua.

The essence of Jesus’ teachings is to fight poverty because Jesus has always talked about the poor as an act of critiquing the present order which has contributed to the poverty, he said.

“Every individual has a responsibility, yes, but we also have a calling for a collective responsibility,” said Pascua.

That calling asks all the faithful not only to take part actively to build a just and fair society, but also to fight an unjust and an oppressive society, according to the NCCP official.

The Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM), for its part, said the government, too, should take responsibility for the sad event. Poverty and hunger, which was the reason for the young girl’s suicide, could be traced directly to corruption, it said.

The Bible says that governments should be “terrors against evil” and “promoters of goodwill,” said Bishop Dan Balais, PJM national director.

Governments therefore exist to take care of the poor and the weak. But politicians have corrupted the meaning of government, Balais said.

“The death of the girl is the result of our problems of corruption, injustice and oppression. There have been many wake-up calls that have remained unheeded,” he said.

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=99480

overtureph

November 7th, 2007, 04:15 PM

11 million Filipinos among world’s absolutely poor--group

By Minerva Generalao, Eliza Victoria
Inquirer
Last updated 07:00pm (Mla time) 11/07/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- About one billion people, including 11 million Filipinos, are absolutely poor, living on less than US1$ a day, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Three-fourths of the world's poorest live in Sub-Saharan Africa, the only region where ultra poverty predominates, said the study, titled "The World's Most Deprived: Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger," which IFRI released on Tuesday.

Living on US$1 a day is the threshold defined by the United Nations as constituting extreme poverty.

Francisco Inorme, 78, can be considered as one of the world's most deprived. He makes a living by mending shoes at a stall situated beside University of the Philippines clinic in Diliman, Quezon City. The stall consists of a rickety table covered with leather shoes smelling of rubber cement and shoe polish, and a parasol to shield him from sun or rain.

Asked where he lives, he points at a house across the street, where he rents a small room for P1,000 a month. He supports his wife and his sick in-laws -- the wife and her parents live in a house on Batasan Road -- and even some of his children, most of whom already have their own families.

"Sometimes my children will drop by," says Inorme, a native of Masbate. "They'd tell me, 'Papa, your grandchild has nothing to eat.' So I'll give them a hundred pesos and borrow food from a karinderya (eatery) in Krus na Ligas." Krus na Ligas is a nearby village.

Inorme, who charges P40 per pair of shoes, says on good days he earns P200 a day. But dividing this daily income equally among himself, his wife, and his wife's parents leaves with only P50 a day.

"And these are on good days," says Inorme. "There have been weeks where I only earn P100 a day."

The IFPRI study shows that Inorme could be out of poverty if interventions were made.

The study, presented during the recent 2020 Conference in Beijing that was organized by the IFPRI, asked who are the world's poorest and identified policies to help the poor move out of poverty. It was conducted to see if the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 -- can be achieved.

The MDGs were contained in the Millennium Declaration adopted by 189 member states of the UN in September 2000.

According to the study, the world has made considerable progress in the number of people living on less than $1 a day from 28.6 percent in 1990 to 18.0 percent in 2004.

It noted that impact on economic growth is not the same for the poor. Income growth benefited those just below the poverty line most while poverty rates for the ultra poor decreased less than if everyone's income had grown equally.

The study said that of those subsisting on less than a dollar a day, half a billion live on less than 75 cents a day (medial poor) and 162 million live on less than 50 cents (ultra poor).

"This is a significant number of people: if all of the ultra poor were concentrated in a single nation, it would be the world's seventh most populous country after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan," IFPRI said in the study.

It also said that most of Asia's poor live just below the $1-a-day line. Only a small minority is ultra poor.

The Philippines is not one of the countries included in a special detailed study, but in an answer to e-mailed questions, Veronica O'Connor from IFRI provided poverty statistics on the Philippines.

She said that 13.5 percent or about 11 million Filipinos live on less than $1 a day; 9.1 percent or 7.4 million are subjacent poor (living on 75 cents to 1$) and 4.4 percent or 3.6 million are medial poor (living on 50 to 75 cents). There is no figure for the ultra poor (living on less than 50 cents).

She said that these figures were calculated from the POVCAL (Program For Calculating Poverty Measures From Grouped Data) website -- a compilation of poverty data from country household surveys put on the Web by the World Bank.

The study also stated that the most unfortunate consequence of widespread poverty is that more than 800 million people cannot afford an adequate diet.

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=99462

flesh_is_weak

November 7th, 2007, 04:30 PM

i'd love it if Oscar cruz would decide to commit suicide himself, the Philippines could use a little less pharisees

le Reine

November 7th, 2007, 10:04 PM

I feel so guilty. Wala lang, I'm wasting quite a lot while this girl was just asking for 100 from his dad. :cry: Wala lang, nagui-guilty talaga ako. Magiipon na nga lang ako ng pera.

heathcliff

November 8th, 2007, 10:23 AM

c0kelitr0

November 10th, 2007, 08:58 AM

can't help being mad at what oscar cruz said...he should blame the pope for living in a palace, wearing Prada shoes, and living in luxury!!!!!!!!!! :bash:

amigo32

November 10th, 2007, 10:37 AM

something's wrong with the child's mental state.

yung iba nga dahil sa gutom pumapatay para lang may makain at mabuhay.

normandb

November 10th, 2007, 01:17 PM

something's wrong with the child's mental state.

yung iba nga dahil sa gutom pumapatay para lang may makain at mabuhay.

Kasalanan din ng magulang yon. Minsan kasi yong ibang mahihirap na magulang ipinapamukha nila sa mga musmos na isipan na mga anak nila na wala na talagang pag-asa at sobrang miserable ng buhay nila. Sa murang edad ng bata para itong emotional torture. Meron kasalanan ang gobyerno at meron din kasalanan ang simbahan pero ang higit na mas may kasalanan ay yong mga magulang ng bata.

They should have explained to the little girl with care about their financial difficulties.

overtureph

November 11th, 2007, 05:38 AM

ON TARGET
Pinoys consider civic duty a burden

By Ramon Tulfo
Inquirer
Last updated 00:58am (Mla time) 11/10/2007

The road mishap early Thursday at the intersection of Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road) and Osmeña Highway (formerly South Superhighway) would just have been a common occurrence if not for the victims, prominent personalities both.

It was just unfortunate that the accident that was waiting to happen claimed the life of Dulce, wife of former Sen. Rene Saguisag, and also critically injured him and two others.

Why do I say that the accident was waiting to happen? Because most Filipino drivers and motorists don’t respect traffic lights; they pass a red light when no traffic policeman is around.

Beating or passing the red light seems to be a game to most drivers or motorists. They think it’s fun to beat or pass a red light as if they’re playing hide-and-seek with the cops.

What they don’t know is that an infraction done again and again becomes a habit. And so, even when danger lurks at the intersection, they become oblivious to it because the habit has been ingrained in them.

One may get away with a violation most of the time, but he doesn’t get away with it most of the time.

That’s the law of averages; even a consistent winner also loses.

The truck driver who tried to beat the red light—I’m basing my assumption on the account of the taxi driver who witnessed the accident—was probably overtaken by the law of averages.

The truck driver probably thought that since nothing happened when he beat or passed a red light in the past, he would get away with the same violation that early Thursday morning.

***

The taxi driver, identified as Jeofrey Olmoges in the Inquirer report yesterday, said he saw the truck hurtling toward the van that the Saguisags were riding in.

The van crossed the intersection on a green light, according to Olmoges, and the dump truck was supposed to have stopped because the red light was on.

Olmoges said he tried to get down from his cab to help the passengers of the ill-fated van but was prevented by his passenger, a call center agent, from doing so and was told to proceed to his destination in Bicutan, Taguig City.

The call center agent is like most Pinoys who don’t want to help others even when the situation demands it. As long as he or those close to him are not directly affected, a Pinoy won’t get involved.

That’s the reason we have criminals walking around free because people who witnessed their crimes are afraid to testify.

Most Pinoys consider doing civic duty a burden.

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=100023

normandb

November 11th, 2007, 05:59 PM

diz

November 11th, 2007, 10:36 PM

^^ I had a dream once about the guys who kept stealing the telephone lines in our neighborhood while I was still in the Philippines, and that I shot and killed him one night while they were doing their stuff. Then in the morning, no one came out of the streets coz they didn't want to be involved with the dead body on the street. :dizzy:

Sorry, kinda OT. :P

jhunix

November 12th, 2007, 09:33 PM

Hello! it's better to call an ambulance than help the victim not unless if the taxi driver has a paramedic background or a graduate of medicine. Tulfo talaga :ohno:

yah you're right, here in Davao we call 911 rescue service(http://www.davaocity911.org/):)

Yre

November 13th, 2007, 11:23 AM

In the middle east nobody dare tries helping accident victims. In case the victim dies, the one who helped will be blamed and might be jailed instead unless they're paramedics though.

Ex!lE

November 16th, 2007, 05:31 PM

Govt loses P4.7b from smuggled petroleum products (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business4_nov17_2007)

The Department of Finance yesterday reported that the government has lost P4.7 billion from oil smuggling in the first seven months of the year, with the Philippines now the major target of illegal exporters in the Southeast Asian region.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said in a speech delivered by Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales before members of the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association that uncollected revenues from oil imports from January to July had reached P4.7 billion.

“We at the DoF estimate that uncollected revenues from duty and value-added tax on oil imports reached P4.7 billion in the first seven months of this year, even assuming that 12 percent of the imports are eventually exported,” Teves said.

He added that the uncollected revenues could have been used by the government to bankroll much-needed infrastructure as well as social services such as health and education.

Statistics from the Bureau of Customs show that VAT collections on crude oil imports amounted to only P16.75 billion from January to September, or P4 billion short of the programmed collection of P20.46 billion for the period.

The finance chief said the government was puzzled why the volume of crude oil imports fell 1.2 percent to 7.248 million tons from 7.335 million tons in the first nine months despite the robust 7.3 percent expansion of the gross domestic product in the first half of the year.

“This drop in crude oil import volume is counter-intuitive considering that there is higher demand for oil when an economy is enjoying fast-paced growth. The lower reported crude oil import total has adversely affected the government’s tax take,” Teves said.

He said the Philippines was now the major target market for smuggled oil shipments as other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations continued to provide oil subsidies to consumers.

He added that oil smuggling had become attractive for unscrupulous individuals as the price of crude oil surged by 56 percent this year and 365 percent in a decade.

“Given all those, the government has become extra vigilant and pro-active in trying to prevent smuggling. The current problem of fuel smuggling in the Philippines has been depriving the government of much-needed revenue and undermining the business of legitimate fuel importers,” Teves said. Lawrence Agcaoili

ofw_cebu

November 16th, 2007, 06:15 PM

I have been involved with a project we, OFWs initiated here in UK which is to donate used medical equipment to the Philippines. AFter months of painstakingly looking for recipients and the necessary means to help defray the shipment costs, one company willingly accepted the offer to become our Donee. We went through the documents needed as required by Department of Finance, e.g. Deed of Donation - fully authenticated and notarized by the Philippine Consulate here in London, UK, list of equipments, its intended purpose, etc. The donee on the other hand also submitted documents to DOF as part of the process. After weeks of waiting from D.O.F.'s decision, we finally received the letter containing the decision of DOF, unfortunately, the request was declined. Here's how the letter goes:
----
Madam:

This refers to your letter in behalf of your client (company name), bearing on your request for exemption from duties and taxes on the donation of the medical equipment pursuant to Section 105 (1) Tariff and Customs Codes of the Philippines, as amended.

In reply, please be informed that the Department finds no sufficient basis upon your request may be considered. Accordingly, the importation of subject medical equipment is subject to payment of duties and taxes.

Very Truly Yours,

By the authority of the Secretary,

Name of D.O.F. Representative
District IV
Revenue Officer

----

upon knowing about the decision, together with OFWs here and with our some colleagues from work, we felt down and disappointed, however, this is something beyond our control, even an authenticated and notarized Deed of Donation from the consulate would not paved the way to grant tax and duty free for these used hospital equipment. A £200,000 worth of equipment is something very heavy for the donee to pay for duties and taxes on top of the shipment cost they will be incurring, but that's it. Lesson learned. :(

portludlow

November 19th, 2007, 07:19 AM

Im not surprised at all. :lol:

Filipinos world’s biggest suckers for print, TV ads
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/19/yehey/business/20071119bus1.html

FILIPINOS, along with Brazilians, are the world’s most gullible consumers when it comes to commercial advertising, with “word-of-mouth” as the most powerful selling tool, according to a Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey.

In its Trust in Advertising report, Nielsen found that at 67 percent, Filipinos and Brazilians were the most trusting overall in all forms of advertising.

Trust was lowest among Danes at 28 percent; Italians, 32 percent; Lithuanians, 34 percent; and Germans, 35 percent.

The survey is conducted twice a year to gauge consumer attitudes and opinions on a variety of topics and current affairs. It surveyed 26,486 Internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East.

The Nielsen survey also found that overall, consumers trust other consumers above all platforms.

“Traditional media fare reasonably well, but online and mobile-phone ads aren’t to be trusted,” Nielsen said.

While new platforms like the Internet are beginning to catch up with older media in terms of ad revenues, traditional advertising channels continue to retain the public’s trust, the survey said.

It said that advertising in newspapers rank second worldwide among all media categories at 63 percent overall, while television, magazines and radio each ranked above 50 percent.

“Although consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising among 78 percent of the study’s respondents, Nielsen research found significant national and regional differences regarding this and other mediums,” the research firm said.

It noted that word-of-mouth, for example, generates considerable levels of trust across much of the Asia Pacific.

“The advertising industry has to do a better job at communicating the value it brings to consumers,” said Jonathan Carson of Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a service of the Nielsen Company.

“In developing markets, advertising is seen more as a conveyor of useful information. In more developed markets, people don’t need it to play that role. They have too much information already,” he said.

le Reine

November 19th, 2007, 05:35 PM

^^why am I not surprised either!

GearX

November 21st, 2007, 02:35 AM

Lapanday lays off 191 workers
Eyes shutdown of one plantation

DAVAO CITY — Banana producer Lapanday Agricultural Development Corp. has retrenched 191 workers from its production area in Mandug.

In a letter sent to the regional office of the Labor department, the Lorenzo-owned company said this was in preparation for plans to cease operations in the area because of high production costs.

The company operates several banana plantations in the Davao Region.

The letter, which was received by the government agency on Nov. 19, said Lapanday had to lay off the workers effective on Nov. 13 because of the higher costs it incurred due to diseases in the bananas produced by the plantation.

The letter, which was signed by Company Area Manager Wendel Rabaya, also said the impending implementation of the ordinance banning aerial spraying was also considered by the company.

The banana industry is among those adversely affected by the strong peso since banana export prices are tied with an annual contract figure reached with the foreign buyers.

The bulk of Lapanday’s banana exports is supplied to Japan and China.

An official of the company confirmed that it laid off the workers but declined to give more details.

Gerry Ongkingko, the company official authorized to speak on the issue, could not be contacted on Tuesday.

In its letter, Lapanday also cited the conversion of its land from agricultural use to nonagricultural use.

The company’s Mandug site is reportedly an industrial zone, sources said. The same sources said workers affected by its "cessation of operations" would be properly compensated.

The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association earlier questioned the Davao City ordinance banning aerial spraying, claiming it was unconstitutional.

Among the points that it questioned was the claim of the city government that it passed the law because some residents were afflicted with diseases.

The banana growers claimed there was no basis for this, but the city government, backed by nongovernmental groups, said there was enough basis to impose the law.

The banana group lost at the Regional Trial Court as it rejected its case, prompting it to elevate the issue to the Court of Appeals which has yet to decide on the matter.

source (http://www.bworldonline.com/BW112107/content.php?id=042)

GearX

November 21st, 2007, 02:36 AM

^^why am I not surprised either!

I'm surprised....^^

tigidig14

November 21st, 2007, 08:54 AM

^^why am I not surprised either!

mga pinsan kong matataba nadala din dun sa fitrum
nung umuwi yung isa last 2 months ago, parang bumili yata ng isang balikbayan box puno ng fitrum, kakatawa lang, wala akong masabi nung sinabi sakin
sabi ko na lang , thats great baka nadala kalang nung commercial ni juday :lol:

le Reine

November 21st, 2007, 01:05 PM

^^ahahaha... grabe namang dami nun :lol:

red_jasper

November 21st, 2007, 10:04 PM

By Irene Sino Cruz
Visayas Bureau
Last updated 05:17pm (Mla time) 11/21/2007

CEBU CITY, Philippines -- Unless government takes immediate action on the problems besetting the seaweed industry, the Philippines would lose its position as the world's top seaweed producer, an industry leader has warned.

Benson U. Dakay, president of the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines and the chief executive officer of Shemberg Marketing Corp., warned on Wednesday that thousands of seaweed farmers would lose a major source of their income as local processors have been sourcing their raw seaweed from Indonesia.

Dakay said seaweed production has been declining while government agencies tasked to implement the seaweed development program have not been taking concrete steps to save the industry.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics data showed that the eucheuma cottonii seaweed production reached 112,470 metric tons in 2000.

However, seaweed production went down to 89,200 metric tons in 2003 and dropped further to only 82,560 metric tons in 2006.

While the Philippine seaweed production has been on a decline over the past several years, Dakay said Indonesia's seaweed production has been registering consistent growth.

In 2002, Philippine seaweed production reached 96,120 metric tons, way above Indonesia's 46,700 metric tons. But in 2006, Philippine production went down to 90,000 metric tons while that of Indonesia rose to 80,000 metric tons.

Dakay noted that, in the past, the seaweed shipment to Zamboanga reached 80,000 70-kilo bags each month.

With the lower production in seaweed farms in Tawi-Tawi and other parts of southwestern Mindanao, Dakay said only an average of 20,000 70-kilo bags of seaweed have been reaching Zamboanga each month.

The scarcity of locally grown seaweed drove the prices up to $1,200 per metric ton, much higher than the price of Indonesian seaweed at $700 per metric ton, he said.

Dakay said most local processors would have preferred to use locally grown seaweed with its much better quality. "But, it’s getting cheaper to import Indonesian seaweed," he added.

Dakay said many seaweed processors, beset with the stronger peso, supply shortage and rising prices of seaweed, have been sourcing the bulk of their raw material requirement from Indonesia.

Dakay placed the industry total seaweed requirement at 200,000 metric tons. Since the local seaweed production reached only 80,000 metric tons, the processors have no choice but to get the balance from Indonesia.

He said the declining seaweed production could be traced to the rising sea temperature. Dakay explained that the warm seawater near the shore was no longer conducive to seaweed farming.

But setting up seaweed farms in the deep sea would require bigger investment and new technology, two areas in which the government could extend assistance to the seaweed farmers that have been dependent on the industry for their livelihood, Dakay said.

He lamented the government inaction, adding that the seaweed industry has been helping alleviate poverty by creating more jobs than the other marine product sectors. Read Full Story (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=102316)

SANA MALUNASAN.... KASI SAYANG NAMAN...

blueguy

November 22nd, 2007, 03:07 AM

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a97/van1975/picbase800xmas.jpg

diz

November 22nd, 2007, 08:33 AM

Suspect in Aquino-Galman case pardoned (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=54&type=2&sec=2&aid=200711226)
Thursday, November 22, 2007 11:53 AM

One of the accused in the murder of the late Sen. Benigno ‘Ninoy” Aquino was freed today at the Muntinlupa Prison.

Pablo Martinez, was pardoned by President Arroyo because he has reached the age of 70, according to radio station dzMM.

Martinez asked for forgiveness from former President Corazon Aquino, the widow of the late senator.

Aquino was on a flight to Manila back from the United States on Aug. 21, 1983 when he was shot at the Manila International Airport by Rolando Galman, who was also killed by shoulders.

His murder eventually led massive protests that culminated in the EDSA People Power revolt in 1986 that toppled the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and installed into power Aquino's widow.

ofw_cebu

November 26th, 2007, 07:52 AM

By Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 09:03am (Mla time) 11/26/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The P1.37-billion Emergency Network Philippines (ENP) project funded by the Austrian government four years ago is bleeding the national coffers dry, although it has yet to be fully implemented.

This was revealed in the latest Commission on Audit (COA) report on the Department of Interior and Local Government.

An expansion of DILG’s Patrol 117 Street Watch Program, the project would provide 16 regional call centers nationwide with “advanced, state-of-the-art” communication and relay equipment system to prevent, control and manage crimes, disasters and calamities.

But in its 2006 audit report, the COA noted that while funds had not been provided in the DILG’s budget to put the project into full operation, the national government continued to pay the commitment fees and interest for the project at an average of P69 million annually.

As of Dec. 31 last year, the government had paid a total of P271,682,171.56 in fees and “increasing interest expenses” since the loan was availed of in 2002.

“The national government will be paying approximately P69 million in interest annually until repayment of the principal loan starts at which point interest payments will gradually decrease,” the report said.

The COA found that of the 16 call centers, only four were “fully operational” even after the ENP project was completed and accepted in October 2004.

These call centers are in Metro Manila, which started operating a year before the implementation of the ENP project. The call centers in Puerto Princesa City, Zamboanga City and Batangas started functioning only in December 2006.

Former Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, in behalf of the government, entered into a credit facility agreement with Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich Aktiengesellschaft in Austria in the amount of euro 23,989,986.00 to finance the project, the report said.

With the approval of the agreement, the DILG entered into a supply memorandum agreement with Frequentis Nachrichtentechnik Gesellschaft for other equipment worth over P9 million for the 16 call centers. The equipment include printers, scanners, fax machines, laptops and cellular phones.

The COA noted that these supplies were “not dependent on the communication system to function” and their speedy deliveries increased the government’s expense on the loan by as much as P14 million in terms of interest charges.

In its 2005 audit report, the COA had recommended that the DILG formulate a specific course of action to maximize the use of the ENP equipment.

pinas4real

December 3rd, 2007, 11:13 PM

From Philstar.com

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=49&type=2&sec=27&aid=200712038

Cosco loses interest in setting up shop in RP, says Favila
By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Chinese investors who proposed to invest $5 billion in the country seems to have lost interest in setting up shop in the Philippines.

In an interview, Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila said he has not spoken with potential investor China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco) in months.

When asked if this is enough indication that Cosco has lost interest in investing in the country, Favila said “Let me put it this way, all businessmen who would like to invest here talk to me constantly.”

Last month, it was reported that the cancellation of the controversial broadband deal between the government and Chinese firm ZTE Corp. has delayed the investment of the shipping firm.

Ambassador Francis Chua, special envoy on China trade and investments, said the project, which was expected to make the country a maritime power in the region, has been delayed.

Chua said he is not certain if the ZTE deal is the only reason for the holdup. The Cosco investment was first made public in May

Initially, Cosco wanted to construct a modern port at the Navy headquarters in Cavite. Its initial plans include the development of a 250-hectare land in Sangley Point where they would put up a “marine school to train maritime sailors. There will be a repairing ships and building ships.”

“They will be using the Philippines as a hub for shipment to Europe and America, so all cargo from Asia will come to the Philippines, using the Philippines as a staging point to go to US, North America, Europe and vice versa,” Chua said.

He added that Cosco’s facility is expected to generate about 100,000 jobs, particularly for the country’s seafarers.

Founded in 1961 as the pioneer international shipping carrier in China, Cosco has grown into a $17-billion global company. It owns and operates 600 various types of ships operating in 1,300 ports in more than 160 countries and regions worldwide.

It is one of the largest shipping enterprises of the globe with China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. as its core, operating three main units: China Ocean Shipping Agency, the biggest shipping agency in China; China Marine Bundier Supply Co; and China road transportation Co, the biggest trucking company in China.

diz

December 5th, 2007, 04:30 AM

Our senate is doing such a bad job. They're like the worst.

Sinjin P.

December 5th, 2007, 04:40 AM

^ Headed by no other than Trapo Villar

red_jasper

December 12th, 2007, 04:53 PM

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 12:56:00 12/12/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- A Filipina staffer of the United Nations World Food Program was among those killed in the Algiers bombings, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

Gene Luna, 48, died when the third floor of the UN building housing the WFP offices was completely destroyed by a car bomb on Tuesday.

DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo expressed sorrow at the loss of Luna as he joined the international community in condemning the “senseless act of terror” in Algiers.

Luna joined the program as a finance officer in Afghanistan five years ago and was transferred to Algiers only last week, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in Rome. Read Full Article (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20071212-106386/UPDATE_3_Filipino_killed_in_Algiers_blasts)

red_jasper

December 15th, 2007, 12:53 PM

12/15/2007 | 05:25 PM

Traffic on both the south and north bound lanes of Epifaño delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) near the Magallanes Interchange was paralyzed Saturday afternoon after a group of men flagged down about six passenger buses and three private vehicles, radio dzBB reported.

The report said that while some members of the group were talking to bus drivers, other members were flattening the tires of the vehicles. Three other private cars were also reportedly stopped by the group.

DzBB said the Makati police arrested two members of the group, but most of them managed to escape heading toward Ayala Avenue. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/73013/Traffic-paralyzed-in-Makati-as-men-stop-9-vehicles-along-EDSA)

metrosuburban

December 19th, 2007, 08:28 PM

spaeaking of walang katapusang traffic kahit konti lang sasakyan sa Phils compared to ASEAN...

Patient dies as ambulance breaks down in EDSA gridlock

By Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Last updated 10:49pm (Mla time) 12/19/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The horrendous traffic in EDSA virtually killed a 65-year-old doctor, when the ambulance bringing her to a Quezon City hospital broke down Tuesday in the middle of a vehicular gridlock along the highway.

Dr. Amelia Dela Cruz, the owner of the A. De la Cruz Maternity Hospital in Cavite City, had suffered a heart attack and was aboard the hospital ambulance en route to the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City when they got stuck in a traffic jam along EDSA Magallanes in Makati City.

Upon reaching the intersection of Edsa and Kamias Road at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the ambulance radiator overheated and the vehicle conked out with De la Cruz, fighting for her life.

Concerned bystanders immediately attempted to help out by flagging down vehicles to transfer the patient, who was starting to convulse and turn blue.

Members of the media, whose press office was just across the place of the incident, tried to seek the help of police personnel from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Kamuning Station 10 in bringing the 65-year-old doctor to the hospital, but were rebuffed.

The police officers claimed that they did not have the keys to their mobile patrol unit and could not bring the patient to the Philippine Heart Center.

A computer operator of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Ireneo Baligod, driving an Isuzu Tamaraw passed by the ambulance and saw the incident. He stopped without being asked, offered to take the patient to the hospital.

Unfortunately, although Baligod was able to bring the doctor to the Philippine Heart Center, the emergency room staff were unable to revive her and she was pronounced dead at around 3:30 p.m., an hour after the ambulance broke down.

red_jasper

January 11th, 2008, 10:41 AM

100 families homeless in Makati fire--official

By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20080111-111680/UPDATE-3-100-families-homeless-in-Makati-fire--official)
First Posted 08:42:00 01/11/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- At least 100 families were affected by the fire that hit a residential area in Makati City Friday, a social welfare official said.

Mila Dumaguit, supervisor of the Makati City Social Welfare Center, said food booths were set up for the victims.

The fire at the Lapiral St. Guadalupe Viejo in Guadalupe started at 8:07 a.m. and reached Task Force Bravo before fire out was declared around 10:20 a.m., the Makati Bureau of Fire Protection said.

Task Force Bravo is the second alarm level in the seven-step fire alert level.

Victims claimed that the blaze was caused by a leak in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas in a boarding house in the area.

At least six people were reported hurt but no other details were immediately available, the Makati BFP said.

tigidig14

January 12th, 2008, 06:59 PM

san pala nila itutuloy yung mga nasunugan na yun napanood ko yan kagabi sa tfc, mga squatter ba yun sa makati

le Reine

January 12th, 2008, 07:07 PM

^^no tigs squatter yun sa psay... so hindi ko alam kung san sila ilalagay. anyway, matagal na silang andiyan so dapat maghanap sila ng bagong lugar o dun sa relocation gov't

bitoy

January 12th, 2008, 07:53 PM

^^no tigs squatter yun sa psay... so hindi ko alam kung san sila ilalagay. anyway, matagal na silang andiyan so dapat maghanap sila ng bagong lugar o dun sa relocation gov't

May nakita ako sa TFC news kagabi, giniba yung mga bahay sa ilalim ng LRT parang malapit sa Baclaran ata. :lol: pati yung outpost ng police, naka squat daw... hahaha! ayun giniba din!

tigidig14

January 12th, 2008, 07:56 PM

ah ok, napanood ko rin yung mga binabakbak na bahay dun sa ilalim ng lrt ng baclaran.reason nung mga nagtayo, e malapit daw kaya dun na lang magtatayo sa gilid ng lrt. illegal na ngang magtinda dun, tatayuan pa ng bahay. tsk tsk

red_jasper

January 20th, 2008, 08:16 AM

Boy with meningo rushed to hospital, another under observation
01/20/2008 | 01:18 PM

An eight-year-old boy said to be inflicted with meningococcemia was rushed to a hospital in Manila, while another child is now under observation in a Makati City hospital for possibly having the same severe bacterial infection.

Radio dzRH on Sunday reported that the two were brought to the Ospital ng Makati Saturday night, but one was transferred to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila after he tested positive for the said disease.

Initial reports said the child who was suffering from meningococcemia is from Pateros town. The second child is a resident of Rizal village in Makati.

The confirmation of Cruz’s case prompted doctors at the Ospital ng Makati to have Cruz’s guardian and relatives take medicines to prevent them from getting the disease.

The hospital also stopped admitting patients and referred other incoming patients to the outpatient department.

Last January 5, an eight-year-old girl, also from Pateros, succumbed to meningococcemia. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/77229/Boy-with-meningo-rushed-to-hospital-another-under-observation)

kiretoce

January 22nd, 2008, 08:24 PM

60% of Filipinos don’t read or even own a Bible (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/23/yehey/top_stories/20080123top5.html)

The Philippines may be the only predominantly Roman Catholic country in Asia, but 60 percent of Filipinos do not read the Bible—or even own one— according to a survey by the Philippine Bible Society.

Alarmed by the situation, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate has thought of a way to attract the faithful, particularly the youth, to Bible reading through the arguably most popular form of communication today—the mobile or cellular phone.

Fr. Oscar Alunday, the Episcopal commission’s executive secretary, on Tuesday said the CBCP has launched a project, “Bible Anime,” which would enable them to supply Sunday readings to every phone user in a fast and affordable format.

“Now, Christians seeking a quick spiritual boost will be able to access Bible readings in their mobile phones as part of a drive to popularize the Scriptures,” he said.

Alunday expressed confidence that the multimedia messaging service (MMS) project will appeal to more young people.

“It’s a concept of networking or being the partners of all the young people in the country using mobile phones,” he said.

The Philippines has an estimated population of 88 million, 90 percent of which or 80 million are Catholics. In 2006, a survey by the Philippine Bible Society revealed that 60 percent of Filipinos do not read or own a Bible.

“It’s very alarming indeed, but at the same time I look at it as an opportunity to look for these young people who are hungry for the Word of God,” Alunday said.

By sending “BIBLIYA ON” to 286, subscribers could get immediately the Sunday Bible readings plus animations. As of now, the service is only available for Smart users and costs P5 per download.

Alunday said the service would soon be available from other mobile-phone companies.

The “Bible Anime” project was also made in coordination with Bible society and Enzima International Inc., which had volunteered to do the animation.

Philippine Bible Society, a non-profit and inter-confessional organization, last year created the e-Bible, an electronic version of the Bible translated to seven Philippine languages.

It said this was the group’s way of making the Scriptures relevant amid widespread relativism, secularism and materialis—a global reality that worries no less than Pope Benedict XVI.

The Bible society added that the idea was born over “concerns that the Scriptures will be left behind in world that is moving so rapidly.”

“If we are truly to engage our present society in the Word of God, we have to do it through all positive media that reach them, and one of these is, of course, the computer,” it said.

The e-Bible, which comes in Tagalog, Cebuano, Bicol, Panga*sinan, Pampango, Samarenyo and Hiligaynon, is available in compact disc (CD) format at the Bible society office on United Nations Avenue in Ermita, Manila.

kiretoce

January 23rd, 2008, 12:09 AM

:omg: It's all over the news! Heath Ledger died! :cry:

KulasKusgan

January 23rd, 2008, 01:10 AM

ang dami ng mga artists na namatay sa edad na 27 or 28. buti na lang nalampasan ko ang edad na yan.

Actor Heath Ledger is found dead

50 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AFP) — Australian-born actor Heath Ledger, 28, the co-star of the Oscar-winning movie "Brokeback Mountain," was found dead in a New York residence on Tuesday, police said.

"Heath Ledger was found dead at 3:26 pm this afternoon," a police spokesperson said, saying he was found in an apartment in the posh district of Soho. "We don't know the cause of the death."

The entertainment website TMZ said Heath was discovered "face down on the floor" adding that "law enforcement sources ... believe it was not a crime."

The New York Times said Ledger was discovered by the housekeeper and a masseuse who arrived in the afternoon for an appointment.

They knocked on the door, but "when no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed. They shook him, but he did not respond," the Times said.

Both the New York Times and TMZ quoted officials as saying pills were found near the body, but gave no further details.

According to the newspaper, the apartment was inhabited by actor Mary-Kate Olsen.

Ledger, who was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a gay cowboy in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," had separated from his former fiancee Michelle Williams in September. The pair, who met on the set of the Ang Lee-directed drama, have a two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Lee had hailed Ledger's performance as a "miracle" of acting, reminiscent of a young Marlon Brando.

Ledger lost the Oscar for best actor in 2006 to Phillip Seymour Hoffman for his portrayal of author Truman Capote in "Capote," but "Brokeback Mountain" won three Academy Awards, including for best director.

The flaxen-haired heartthrob first came to prominence by acting as a homosexual athlete in little-known Australian soap opera "Snowy Bowles" in 1996. He played a gay cyclist in the teen soap, set at the Western Australian Institute of Sport that portrayed the lives of Olympic hopefuls.

The creator and writer of the series, John Rapsey, said it was clear even then that Ledger, then a 16-year-old sports champion and high school dropout, possessed an unusual talent.

"He himself had absolutely no problem playing the role. He handled all of that with great aplomb," Rapsey told AFP.

"What was noticeable about him was he was concentrated, very quiet, and you could see that he was really observant of other people."

Ledger, who has never attended acting school and who left his home state of Western Australia for Sydney as a teenager, credited his instincts with his success.

"The one thing that's got me to where I'm sitting is my instincts, you know, and I'm impatient. I didn't want to wait for years to work. I wanted to just get out there and do it," he said in an interview with an Australian television program in 2001.

At 19, Ledger left Sydney for Hollywood, where his standout talent was spotted by Mel Gibson when auditioning 500 actors for the role of his son in "The Patriot." The casting was Ledger's first big-time break and led to his leading role in "A Knight's Tale."

Gibson has described Ledger as possessing "the unknown factor" that "sort of lights up the screen".

Ledger continued his steady impact on Hollywood, with a small role in "Monster's Ball" (2001), followed by the lead in the lightweight "The Four Feathers" (2002), Australian drama "Ned Kelly" (2003) and "The Brothers Grimm" (2005).

At 26, the Australian was the youngest nominee for the best male actor category and the outside chance to take the statue away from fellow contenders Hoffman, David Strathairn, Joaquin Phoenix and Terrence Howard.

This month, Ledger had been working on his latest movie, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," directed by Terry Gilliam, which was due to be released next year. He also portrayed The Joker in a Batman movie called "Dark Knight" to be released later this year.

Pic from "A Knight's Tale", one of my fave movie...
http://www.aolcdn.com/aolr/knights-tale-heath-ledger-400a101106.jpg

EDIT: i just realized, may kinalaman ba to sa affairs ng bansa natin?

kiretoce

January 23rd, 2008, 01:45 AM

^^ To the fans and avid movie goers it does. :lol: But seriously, it is such a huge loss to and a blow to the arts and pop culture. Rest In Peace Heath, and condolence to Michelle Williams (ex-wife/gf) and Matilda, their daughter together. :(

chocolato1000

January 23rd, 2008, 08:12 AM

le Reine

January 23rd, 2008, 02:19 PM

haaay namatay si Heath. grabe, mabuti na lang hindi si Jake. bad! :bash:

kiretoce

January 24th, 2008, 04:50 AM

^^ So, you're more a fan of Jake than Heath?

Askal82

January 24th, 2008, 05:00 AM

:omg: It's all over the news! Heath Ledger died! :cry:

Condolence to Heath and his family.

Kimber, ikaw ba papalit? :lol:

le Reine

January 24th, 2008, 05:09 AM

^^ So, you're more a fan of Jake than Heath?Honestly, yes. :D

kiretoce

January 24th, 2008, 05:50 AM

Kimber, ikaw ba papalit? :lol:

Why you want to be the new Ennis to my Jack? :naughty: :lol: :jk: :nocrook:

KulasKusgan

January 26th, 2008, 02:15 AM

artista karin ba? :colgate:

yah. di pa sumikat pero laos na.

amigo32

January 26th, 2008, 04:29 PM

anong klasing arte kasi ginagawa mo?

chocolato1000

January 26th, 2008, 05:22 PM

AFP probes ‘ugly American’ incident

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- AUTHORITIES ARE TRYING to prevent critics of US military presence in Mindanao from stoking anti-American sentiments following a car accident involving a US soldier who left a calling card before he abandoned his victim.

Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, ordered an investigation of reports that the US soldier fled the site of the accident, one of the gates of the Edwin Andrews Airbase, after the vehicle he was riding in slammed into a passing motorcycle and injured the man riding it, Dante Clemente, a resident of Sta. Maria village.

The accident took place Wednesday.

SPO1 Rudy de Leña, police investigator, said Clemente was passing by the gates of the air base when the vehicle carrying the still unidentified US soldier came out and slammed into Clemente’s motorcycle.

The US-rented vehicle bore license plate XRU 931.

Police quoted Clemente as saying that instead of helping him, the US soldier simply left a card bearing the letters JSOTFP, acronym for Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines, the group formed to oversee antiterror exercises between Philippine and US military forces.

The American, police said, left the accident site as if nothing happened after leaving the card.
De Leña said the US soldier did not pay for Clemente’s medical expenses.

^^ US soldiers can be damn arrogant.

“Accidents can happen to anybody and I know they are law abiding citizens,” Esperon said on Friday.

But Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the American soldier had already met Clemente on Friday.

Allaga refused to say what took place in the meeting, but said the case was a simple police matter.

Police here have been trying to trace the identity of the US soldier.

US soldiers have been stationed in the city since the first Balikatan a few years ago. They maintain a camp inside the air base.

The deployment was being opposed by militant groups, which cited abuses allegedly committed by US forces in recent years.

The latest accusation was made by Silak Lakkian, chief of the Panamao District Hospital in Sulu.

Lakkian complained that US soldiers, led by a MSgt. Ron Berg, ordered the closure of the hospital at night.

Lakkian said the order was first issued on Nov. 30.

She said Berg warned that anybody who would defy the order will be shot.

icarusrising

January 27th, 2008, 03:42 AM

Good news or bad news?

LTO summons 3,500 cabbies over riders’ complaints

Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Philippine Star online

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has summoned 3,500 taxi drivers in various parts of Metro Manila for their alleged refusal to convey passengers, particularly during rush hours or rainy days.

Fernando Quiambao, executive assistant of LTO chief Reynaldo Berroya, said the “Oplan Isnabero” campaign is also directed at arrogant and abusive drivers.

“So far (the LTO) already sent summons to more than 3,000 drivers in the past two months,” Quiambao told The STAR.

He added that they continue to receive complaints from taxi riders all over Metro Manila through Task Force Isnabero hotline 0927-9366777.

Among the most common complaints are refusing to convey passengers, fast meters and arrogant drivers.

Quiambao said at least 20 taxi drivers are reporting to the LTO central office daily to confront the allegations hurled against them.

He said, however, that most drivers summoned failed to show up. The LTO stores their names in a database for future action.

Quiambao said they have also impounded 40 taxicabs with questionable registration papers. They are still checking with the Traffic Management Group (TMG) to determine whether the taxicabs are on the list of stolen vehicles.

Quiambao said taxi operators who ignored the summons were also listed in the LTO database and will be dealt with accordingly when they renew the registration of their vehicles. – Perseus Echeminada

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Metro&p=49&type=2&sec=26&aid=2008012662

bariQ

January 27th, 2008, 04:55 AM

YESSS!!!!!!!!!! sana maturuan na yan sila ng leksyon!!!!! ilang beses na ako na nabikitima ng mga taxing yan!

KulasKusgan

January 28th, 2008, 03:13 PM

anong klasing arte kasi ginagawa mo?

nasa youtube.

chocolato1000

January 28th, 2008, 04:56 PM

Body found in Canada was Filipino worker’s -- DFA
Suspect arrested linked to death

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Canadian authorities have positively identified the battered body that was found by police last week near a train station in Calgary as that of Filipino worker Arcelie Laoagan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

Citing the report by Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes, DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal also said Monday an arrest has been made in connection with the OFW’s death.

Cristobal said the Calgary Police Service has positively identified the body of Arcelie Laoagan, 41, through her fingerprint.

Laoagan’s body was found near the Franklin C-Train station east of downtown Calgary on January 18.

“The Philippine embassy and the Philippine honorary consul in Calgary, Felixberto Guerrero, are closely following the case and will provide assistance to Laoagan’s family,” Cristobal said.

The Calgary Herald, in a story on January 25, reported that Laoagan’s family and other mourners erupted into cheers and hugged each other when Calgary police showed up at the memorial reception and announced they had made an arrest.

The paper said a man in his early 20s was taken into custody Thursday afternoon, just hours before hundreds of mourners filed into a church to bid Laoagan farewell.

The report quoted the police as saying the violent attack was a random act.

Laoagan, a mother of five who had been working in Calgary to support her family in the Philippines, was disfigured beyond recognition in the attack believed to have occurred on January 17.

Laoagan’s body was released Thursday morning and is expected to be flown back to the Philippines for burial.

Laoagan’s final moments were caught by a surveillance camera. Investigators believe she got on the LRT at the 8th Street S.W. station and got off at the Franklin station. The body was found by a passerby early on January 18 on a well-travelled path near the Franklin station.

Police have been asking anyone who may have seen her on the northeast leg of the McKnight-Westwinds C-Train between 10 and 11 p.m. to contact them.

Laoagan spent her last days at the Calgary Public Library with a friend, surfing the Internet for a good deal on a used car.

She was supposed to test drive one last Saturday. Her brown purse was not found with her body.

bitoy

January 30th, 2008, 12:14 AM

Ex-town mayor killed in Manila court shooting (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080129138)

By Nestor Etolle
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

A lone gunman sneaked into a crowded hallway near a courtroom at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) at the Manila City Hall and shot dead a former mayor of a Misamis Occidental town and wounded two others yesterday morning.

Police said Reynaldo Yap, former mayor of Sapang Dalaga, was gunned down while waiting to attend a hearing at around 9 a.m. outside the courtroom of Judge Zenaida Daguna on the fourth floor of the building.

Yap was shot five times in the head and body and died on the way to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

The wounded were identified as Peter Sabihon Jr., 37, one of Yap’s bodyguards, and Bella Santos, 70, a member of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).

Sabihon sustained a gunshot wound on his back and is now under observation at the PGH, while Santos underwent surgery for bullet wounds on the right chest and leg at the Manila Doctors Hospital.

Investigators said the suspect immediately fled after the shooting and responding policemen failed to find him in the crowded building.

Matindi, sa loob pa ng city hall.... tsk..tsk..tsk..(nakatakas pa yung bumaril)

Eriq

January 30th, 2008, 02:19 AM

WTF... Ano ba yan, nakatakas pa!

c0kelitr0

January 31st, 2008, 06:13 AM

^^ have you seen that episode of CSI: Miami Season 4 when a Mala Noche gangmember went on trial? The same thing happened :lol:

filcan

January 31st, 2008, 11:13 PM

an interesting article from an Overseas Filipino Worker:

The news on ‘booming economy’ turned reader’s stomach

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:10:00 02/01/2008

“Arroyo: Our economy is booming.” (Inquirer, 1/24/08) The moment I read the news, my stomach turned. Really, Ms President, our economy is booming? How come? My personal experience is: I’m still working abroad, my family complains of the rising prices of basic commodities. And because I have to support my family and send my kids to school, I don’t see myself settling or going back home in the next 10 years.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must be dreaming. And how insensitive for her to say that money remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), because these allow our kids to go to school, are helping expand our country’s manpower and raise its quality. To become what, Ms President? To become OFWs like us?

Instead of dreaming, the President should take concrete steps to bring us home by creating jobs that pay decently so that we can afford to stay with our dear families. Why not adopt a policy of genuine national industrialization instead of selling out our natural resources at international bargain?
I don’t see a booming economy; what I see is my children becoming OFWs just like me. There are no basic industries being put up that would employ my children in the future, right here in the country. What I see is a sellout of our young to foreign labor markets, because the Arroyo administration has no serious policy to industrialize or plan to reverse the policy of labor export.

The foundation of a robust and booming economy is local manufacturing and consumption. Right now, our economy imports too much, thus killing our local industries and agriculture and displacing millions of workers.

Our economy is not booming. It is buoyed up by OFW remittance; and our peso is getting stronger not because of the President but despite her stinking economic policy of labor exportation.

PHETZ ZANTUA (via email)

le Reine

January 31st, 2008, 11:24 PM

^^That's not even news. Heck, just let his stomach turn.

jbkayaker12

February 1st, 2008, 12:28 AM

filcan

February 1st, 2008, 02:47 AM

I agree. So sad to think how so few people before us passed onto the rest of us the consequences of their lavish greed. Yes, you can't blame PGMA for the state of our economy but she is not lying when she says our economy is "booming"...the recent GDP report is proof of this. But there is still a lot of work to be done and sadly that OFW may still not be able to come home just yet.

wynngd

February 1st, 2008, 06:10 AM

What is their qualification for booming economy??? They will no longer work and the government will take care all of their expenses. :bash::bash::bash:

an interesting article from an Overseas Filipino Worker:

The news on ‘booming economy’ turned reader’s stomach

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:10:00 02/01/2008

“Arroyo: Our economy is booming.” (Inquirer, 1/24/08) The moment I read the news, my stomach turned. Really, Ms President, our economy is booming? How come? My personal experience is: I’m still working abroad, my family complains of the rising prices of basic commodities. And because I have to support my family and send my kids to school, I don’t see myself settling or going back home in the next 10 years.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must be dreaming. And how insensitive for her to say that money remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), because these allow our kids to go to school, are helping expand our country’s manpower and raise its quality. To become what, Ms President? To become OFWs like us?

Instead of dreaming, the President should take concrete steps to bring us home by creating jobs that pay decently so that we can afford to stay with our dear families. Why not adopt a policy of genuine national industrialization instead of selling out our natural resources at international bargain?
I don’t see a booming economy; what I see is my children becoming OFWs just like me. There are no basic industries being put up that would employ my children in the future, right here in the country. What I see is a sellout of our young to foreign labor markets, because the Arroyo administration has no serious policy to industrialize or plan to reverse the policy of labor export.

The foundation of a robust and booming economy is local manufacturing and consumption. Right now, our economy imports too much, thus killing our local industries and agriculture and displacing millions of workers.

Our economy is not booming. It is buoyed up by OFW remittance; and our peso is getting stronger not because of the President but despite her stinking economic policy of labor exportation.

PHETZ ZANTUA (via email)

amigo32

February 1st, 2008, 07:15 AM

feed them with milk and honey. oh yeah!

nostalgicbabe

February 1st, 2008, 08:26 AM

Instant gratification, that is what majority of the people wanted. It took 20 years for a dictator to drain Philippine resources, it will be a while for the country to see any changes and recovery in the Philippines if we have to base it on the officials governing our land. As much as people would like to put the blame on the current administration of Gloria Arroyo, previous administration has not done any better.

I would rather see Arroyo for another term, at least she has set down the country on the path to a better economy. Changes will take time and will not be instantaneously. Too many officials working on their own personal political survival. An example of which is Noli de Castro, when I read a few weeks ago he was contemplating in joining the opposition on his bid for the highest position in the county, he showed his true colors. Balimbing and trapo, these are the kind of politicians that has made the Philippines, the basket case of Asia. It will be a long time before any improvements will be felt on the lives of the marginalize sector of society. To the voters in the Philipines, goodluck with your next choice.

That's why I think GMA should support Bayani Fernando for 2010 instead of Noli. I don't trust Noli not to join the beeline to Erap when it suits his interests or convenience. Between Noli and Bayani, the former is very likely to go for populist policies while the latter has proven his firmness and capability as a leader.

The effects of decades of neglect cannot be counteracted in just 7 years of economic growth under the Arroyo administration. Many more of our kababayans will have to find greener pastures beyond our shores in the years to come. But what's important is that the foundations are already being laid down for sustained economic growth that will benefit future generations of Filipinos, if not ourselves.

chocolato1000

February 1st, 2008, 09:45 AM

^^you're right. de castro is only charisma;no strong conviction with regards to party affiliation; inexperienced; and let me bet - he has a low IQ, many news readers do.

but if ever there will be a showdown between de castro and fernando, it will be a sure landslide win for de castro. election in the philippines are personality-based not issue; and de castro has more media mileage, therefore popularity than fernando. besides fernando is only popular in metromanila which does not even account for a third of the total number of electorates.

amigo32

February 1st, 2008, 10:13 AM

are you sure? sa probinsya mas kilala ata si pinapipoy.

RonnieR

February 1st, 2008, 10:13 AM

Please remember that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia once said, it took them 35 years of growth to become what they are now, a progressive country indeed.

amigo32

February 1st, 2008, 10:17 AM

kaya nga eh, pero ang pinoy gusto, instantly hindi na maghihirap.

nostalgicbabe

February 1st, 2008, 11:51 AM

GearX

February 1st, 2008, 12:00 PM

kaya nga eh, pero ang pinoy gusto, instantly hindi na maghihirap.

I think that's what street protesters want :cheers:

nostalgicbabe

February 1st, 2008, 12:13 PM

Blame the media for cultivating the thinking that economic growth should translate to immediate improvement in the lives of Filipinos; otherwise, the economic growth doesn't exist.

Instead of helping to educate the public, the media has become a mere tool for those with their own selfish interests against the administration.

wheel of steel

February 1st, 2008, 12:57 PM

tigidig14

February 1st, 2008, 04:55 PM

media is not a mere tool
media is a tool
media is agenda setter

filcan

February 1st, 2008, 06:50 PM

Well since all of media is biased, it will only present one view. Media can't please everyone...

ofw_cebu

February 5th, 2008, 08:41 PM

Mother's epidural death unlawful

Epidural drip 'killed' mother

A theatre nurse who died after wrongly having a drug used in epidurals pumped into her arm was unlawfully killed, an inquest jury has ruled.
Mayra Cabrera, 30, died shortly after giving birth to son Zac at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon, on 11 May 2004. The baby survived.

Midwife Marie To is alleged to have administered the drug Bupivacaine but denied this in evidence.

Swindon & Marlborough NHS Trust had previously admitted liability.

The jury said gross negligence by the trust, specifically sub-standard storage of drugs in the maternity unit, had led to the death.

A spokeswoman for the trust apologised after the inquest, adding: "This case should not have happened and I hope other hospitals will be able to learn from the bitter lessons we have learnt."

'Bitter and angry'

Coroner David Masters made a number of recommendations - which the trust said it would enact - including better labelling of drugs and enforced annual appraisals for midwives.

Mrs Cabrera, who came to Swindon from the Philippines in 2002, died from a heart attack caused by Bupivacaine toxicity.

The drug should be administered via an epidural but was instead pumped through a drip attached to her arm.

His wife is killed by a blunder, then the Crown Prosecution Service decide not to prosecute anyone, and now he faces deportation
Solicitor Seamus Edney
Her 38-year-old husband Arnel now faces deportation to the Philippines. After the inquest Mr Cabrera, who was originally told his wife had died from an amniotic fluid embolism, told a press conference: "Our life together was ripped apart by the action of a midwife who failed to check the fluid she gave to my wife.

"The midwife's failure to accept responsibility or show any remorse for her actions has made me very bitter and angry. I cannot forgive her."

Mrs To, who retired last year, came on duty just after the birth and is alleged to have attached Bupivacaine to Mrs Cabrera's drip.

She denied having done so, insisting she thought it was either saline solution or Gelofusine, a blood volume expander to boost blood pressure.

Counsel for Mrs To said the verdict was a British legal landmark - the first unlawful killing verdict found against an NHS corporation, as opposed to a named individual within one.

The trust said it had carried out an investigation into the death which had apportioned no blame, and the findings as to exactly what had happened were inconclusive.

Police investigation

Detective Inspector Ian Saunders, of Wiltshire Police, said he would now be referring the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"Our thoughts are with Mayra's family at this sad time," he added.

Mrs Cabrera's job as a nurse at the hospital where she died, and where her husband also worked, was the reason the couple had been granted leave to stay until 2009.

Her husband's immigration status has changed since Mayra's death and his visa had been extended only until the end of February.

The coroner also backed the call for Mr Cabrera to stay in the UK.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: "An individual who does not meet the requirements under the immigration rules can in exceptional circumstances - for instance compassionate reasons - apply for discretionary leave to remain in the UK.

"When we receive an application such as this, we would obviously consider all circumstances surrounding the application."

The couple's son Zac has been looked after in the Philippines over the past few years as his father prepares to pursue a civil claim against the NHS trust.

kiretoce

February 8th, 2008, 06:16 PM

Bribes the "norm" in system
Lozada confirms P200-M bribe to Neri (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/09/yehey/top_stories/20080209top1.html)

Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. confirmed that Benjamin Abalos Sr. had planned to give a P200-million bribe to Romulo Neri, once the national broadband network project was approved.

Abalos, formerly chairman of the Commission on Elections, earlier denied Neri’s Senate testimony where he disclosed the bribe offer. Neri quoted Abalos as saying, “Sec, may 200 ka dito.” (Secretary, you have 200 here.)

Lozada was the witness Friday before the Senate blue-ribbon committee headed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. Lozada often represented Neri in discussions on the national broadband project with Abalos and the proponent from China, ZTE Corp.

Lozada, an electronics engineer brought in as a key witness to assess the national broadband deal, said during the inquiry he was told to reduce the kickbacks to President Gloria Arroyo’s allies and to “moderate their greed.”

The $330-million contract that ZTE Corp. won has since been canceled amid allegations of bribery and corruption linking senior government officials and President Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.

Lozada, often wiping tears from his eyes, told the investigators how he feared for his life.

The fallout from the controversy has cost a former ally of President Arroyo, Jose de Venecia Jr., his post as Speaker of the House of Representatives and seen the resignation of Abalos. The Speaker’s son, Jose “Joey” de Venecia 3rd, earlier testified that Abalos and Mike Arroyo were linked to the broadband deal—charges they have both denied.

Lozada asserted that Abalos, a close friend of the President’s husband, demanded that the contract be awarded to the Chinese firm.

“The trouble started when Abalos came to me to sell the [ZTE Corp.] proposal in September 2006,” he said under oath.

Lozada added that Abalos had told him “to protect” his $130-million “commission.”

“I warned him, that would stick out, but we might be able to get 65 [million dollars],” he said he told Abalos after consulting with Jose de Venecia. He represented another proponent, Amsterdam Holdings Inc. Lozada said he was trying to “reconcile” the proposals of Abalos and de Venecia, so that they will work together.

Lozada said Neri, who eventually approved the revised contract, instructed him to “moderate their greed.”

Over the next 16 months, he said, he met Abalos, de Venecia, ZTE Corp. officials, a commercial counselor from the Chinese Embassy in Manila and Mike Arroyo to discuss the broadband project.

Lozada said when it initially appeared that the Chinese proposal would be junked, Abalos called him in January 2007, swore at him, and told him not to show up in Wack-Wack or anywhere in Mandaluyong or he would have Lozada killed.

The witness told the Senate he asked to be taken off the project evaluation team after that. “This is not worth risking my life for,” Lozada said.

Happy Abalos

He said he recalled that he was in Wack-Wack in a meeting with Abalos when he told Chinese representatives from ZTE that their project was moving forward. Wack-Wack is an exclusive residential village in Metro Manila’s Mandalu*yong City of which Abalos was once mayor.

“Abalos was obviously elated, he put an arm on my shoulder at the locker room and said that once the contract was signed, he would immediately give the P200 million he had promised because he was unlike others,” Lozada added.

He stressed that Abalos also told him that the money was meant for Neri and not for him because he was only an “alalay” or aide of Neri. Neri had told the blue-ribbon committee that he reported the P200-million bribe offer of Abalos to President Arroyo. Neri said he had rejected the kickback.

Lozada said Neri had told him about his talks with the President but he declined to give details, even when Sen. Francis Pangili*nan advised him that it was not hearsay to tell what he and Neri had discussed.

Sen. Francis Escudero noted that Neri now appeared to be siding with Malacañang and had already abandoned Lozada. Lozada, however, said he was not taking this against Neri, whom he described as a dear friend.

“I know he still cares for me,” Lozada said of Neri. “He has chosen to take sides, but I still respect him,” he added, while expressing the hope that Neri would tell everything that he knows about the aborted broadband project.

[b]Dysfunctional system

Lozada said it was the norm in government to get kickbacks from projects but he contended that the $130-million “commission” that Abalos was trying to protect in the broadband deal was “too much.”

He identified the Southrail as another government project whose cost had gone up because of alleged graft. The Southrail, with a total cost of $932 million, was meant to rehabilitate the railways from Manila to southern Bicol Region. The first phase involves a 423-kilometer stretch from Calamba, Laguna, to Legazpi City, Albay, costing $627.8 million. Phase 2 is a new 135-kilometer railway line from Legazpi City to Sorsogon costing $304.2 million.

Lozada said he was familiar with the Southrail project, one of the three projects he had handled for the National Economic and Development Authority. He added that the project was overpriced by at least 20 percent.

Lozada said while the broadband project was followed up by Abalos, the Southrail was followed up by a certain “Anthony Wang” and a “Mallari.”

When he was asked if the two were coordinating with Malaca*ñang, he said that they had told him that they would be responsible for those in Malacañang.

He described the Southrail as a government project that had escaped scrutiny but was actually part of the government’s “dysfunctional procurement process.”

Sen. Manuel Roxas 2nd said he would file a resolution on Monday to call for an investigation of the Southrail project.

“We have to be vigilant and zealous when it comes to protecting our people’s money because obviously the looting of our treasury has been going on for some time,” he added.

In his opening statement at the Senate inquiry, Roxas said the broadband deal was not about modernizing the Philippines.

“It is about lining the pockets of those in power. It is not about serving the Republic, it is about syndicated looting of our treasury,” he charged.

Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said the investigation of the Southrail could be undertaken after the blue-ribbon committee had disposed of the broadband project.

In the House of Representatives, opposition Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City called for reopening of its probe of the broad*band project, as well as the Cyber Education project that is also perceived to be anomalous.

Rodriguez said the former Speaker’s hint of having personal knowledge of the broadband contract gives the House a compelling reason to conduct the inquiry.