Not So Good News [Archive] - Page 4

icarusrising

February 22nd, 2008, 09:40 AM

OFW kids ‘worse off’ in life

By Cai U. Ordinario
Reporter
The Business Mirror

MIGRATION has placed Filipino adolescents in danger of becoming “worse off” in life, according to a study presented at the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef)-Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Seminar Series on Public Policies and the Rights of Children Thursday.

The study titled “The Effects of Parent’s Migration on the Rights of Children Left Behind” was presented by Asia-Pacific Policy Center (APPC) vice president and executive director Rosemarie Edillon. It showed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) devote less time and money to their children when they reach the age of 13 to 16.

This, Edillon said, makes these children susceptible to being engaged in unwarranted acts, such as premarital sex that results in teenage pregnancies and subjects them to abuse, whether sexual or physical; or they go into drugs.
Based on an index, the study plotted the self-rated scores of both OFW and non-OFW children on overall emotional state, relationship with parent OFWs, relationship with siblings, relationship with other members of the household, health status, performance in school, security for the future, participation in extracurricular activities and participation in family decision-making.

Edillon said that at the onset, at age six to eight, OFW children are better off than children of non-OFWs but as the age progresses, more and more OFW children fell below the general preference of their age group and category—whether OFW or non-OFW.

“Many children of OFWs aged 13 to 16 appear to be worse off than children of non-OFWs of the same age. Some receive less-than-average money inputs but all receive less-than-average adult attention.

“This can be explained by the fact that, on the average, there are fewer adults but still a substantial number of children in these households. This is in complete contrast to the preference of children in this age group, where they require more adult attention [AA] and more budget inputs than children in the other age groups,” the study stated.

Scalabrini Migration Center research director Dr. Maruja Asis said OFW children in this age group should be closely monitored. She said one of the reasons these children require more time may be the fact that most of them already share in responsibilities in the household.

Asis explained that in cases when a parent or both parents go abroad to work, the eldest usually assumes part of the absent parent/s duties, sharing these responsibilities to an older relative like grandparents or aunts and uncles.

This was supported by Aurora Javate-de Dios, executive director of Miriam College’s Women and Gender Institute. She said this is especially prevalent among female firstborns who assume the caregiving responsibilities of mothers who become OFWs.

De Dios even said that migration, whether international or regional, is the engine of the global-care chain. This starts at the provincial level where firstborns become poor substitutes for their mothers, who leave the province to go to big cities like Manila to work for another motherless family—because the mother is abroad to care for foreigners’ children.

“OFW mothers take away 80 percent of care-giving factors when they leave,” de Dios said.

Further, the study showed that only 29 percent of children included in the study said they are better off than other children in the same age group in terms of their family life and their participation in family decisions.

The study also showed that 39 percent said they are better of in their future; 40 percent said they are accepted by their peers; 42 percent said they are better off in terms of their health; 44 percent said they are better off in terms of extracurricular activities; while more than half, or 53 percent, said they are better off in terms of education.

The study recommended that stakeholders, including the community and the church, should become more involved in the development of these children. Stakeholders, the study said, should help improve the communication between OFWs and their children.

The government is also urged to promote health-seeking behavior among parents. This can be done by requiring them to submit a medical certificate in behalf of their children before they are admitted in schools.

Further, but more important, the study said parents must not always equate their presence with material things. The study asked that parents or relatives who stay with the children must be educated regarding the unique circumstances the children are in.

Edillon said that based on Overseas Workers Welfare Administration data, there are 8.23 million Filipinos abroad in 2006. This is broken down into 3.6 million permanent migrants, 3.3 million temporary migrants, and around 0.37 million “irregular migrants.

Unicef deputy country representative Colin Davis said around 56 percent of migrants are married, based on 2000 data. If there are 1 million female and 1-million male OFWs abroad who are married, and assuming an average of three children per household, there are six million children left behind.

“Children bear the brunt of migration, [that’s why] the social costs of migration must be examined and that policies must be formulated to overcome the negative effects of migration. We need to address the tradeoffs,” Davis told the forum.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0222&232008/headlines06.html

chocolato1000

February 22nd, 2008, 09:41 AM

DFA confirms Filipina rape complaint vs US soldier in Japan

MANILA, Philippines -- A Filipina has complained of having been raped by a United States serviceman in Okinawa, Japan, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

Citing the report by Consul General Sulpicio Confiado of the Philippine embassy in Tokyo, the home office said the embassy was sending an official to Okinawa to assist the Philippine honorary consulate in Naha in extending full consular assistance and other needed support to the Filipina.

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net

OtAkAw

February 22nd, 2008, 04:58 PM

OFW kids ‘worse off’ in life

Good sir! I beg to disagree!!!:nuts:

terrapinoy

February 22nd, 2008, 06:23 PM

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/022008/02222008/358481/lo0222priest.jpg.jpg

EX-PRIEST GETS 63 MONTHS (http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/022008/02222008/358481)
February 22, 2008 12:16 am

The Rev. Rodney Rodis was ordered to pay almost $600,000 in restitution to the Catholic diocese.
BY ELLEN BILTZ

The former Catholic priest who embezzled money from two Louisa County churches will spend five years in prison.

Despite recommendations for less time from Rodney Rodis' defense attorney, as well as from federal prosecutors, Judge Richard L. Williams sentenced the 51-year-old to 63 months in prison, with credit for time served.

He was also ordered to pay about $590,000 to the Catholic diocese of Virginia.

Rodis pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud and money laundering in a plea agreement last October.

His charges followed a scam in which he stole money from Immaculate Conception and St. Jude churches over a four-year period and wired it to family in the Philippines.

Williams told Rodis the reason he was sentencing on the high end of the guidelines was because the breach of trust was so great, both to the Catholic Church as well as his parishioners.

"You did this from 2002 to 2006 and there was never a ding in your conscience," he said.

Just before his sentencing, Rodis asked the judge for forgiveness. He then turned to the many parishioners sitting in the courtroom.

"I'm really sorry for what I have done. I know what I did was wrong," he said to them.

Rodis told the judge to "please be lenient" because he wanted to spend time with his wife and children, who are expected to be living in New Mexico.

Rodis, who was married two years after he became a priest, in violation of church policy, said he was "leading a double life and wanted that to end."

He also pleaded that the judge consider his many medical conditions, including pancreatic cancer.

Williams told Rodis that his lack of assistance to the government in recovering stolen money was a sign that he should be given a high sentence, because he had made no effort to right his wrongs.

As part of Rodis' plea agreement in October, he was to sell properties he owned in the Philippines. Many of the properties had been bought with money embezzled from the churches, but federal prosecutors argued yesterday that Rodis has not been forthcoming with those properties.

According to testimony in court, he had turned eight of the properties, including a beach house, over to the government last week.

But prosecutor Brian Whisler said that was just a show for the sentencing hearing and doesn't begin to even put a dent in the property and money he owes to the churches.

An attorney for the Catholic diocese, William Etherington, said he could not say whether a civil suit could be considered yet, because they are still waiting for restitution to be paid.

"The diocese's view is that he took in excess of $515,000," Etherington said. "But I don't think anyone can tell you exactly how much.

After Rodis' sentencing, the bank manager for the two churches said the parishioners were pleased that the judge chose to lean toward the high side of the sentencing guidelines.

"Thrilled actually," Patti Smoger said.

She added that she felt most of them would be able to forgive Rodis for what he did.

"I think he's had a lot of time to think about it," she said. "I think he wants to be forgiven."

tigidig14

February 26th, 2008, 06:31 AM

c/o spearhead

Malaya online

Treason in dirty Chinese loans?
Under Beijing gun, Gloria commits RP to Spratly deal

PRESIDENT Arroyo and former Speaker Jose V. de Venecia may have committed treason if the Philippine government signs a so-called "Spratly Deal" with Beijing in exchange for loans attended by bribery and corruption.

Malaya publisher Amado Macasaet said he was told by a source that under the "Spratly Deal," China would be allowed to explore territorial waters of the Philippines.

"This is treason because the pact has the effect of giving away Philippine sovereignty to a foreign country. In return, Chinese-owned firms provide the Philippines with overpriced loans for numerous projects," he said.

He said the issue has not reached the attention of the Senate but "when it does, I am reasonably certain that the Upper House will insist that the agreement be considered a treaty which must be ratified by the Senate."

He said he was told that officials of the Philippine Navy and the Department of Foreign Affairs have raised the question of sovereignty. "My source told me that they were ignored without even explaining what the matter is all about or how the Philippines can benefit from it."

Macasaet said the Chinese are pressing for commitment on the deal. "It has not signed the North Rail agreement and insists that the Spratly deal be concluded simultaneously with the $500 million rail modernization project that covers 27 kilometers from Caloocan to Malolos, Bulacan."

He said Arroyo and De Venecia chose to ignore the fact that all minerals and marine resources are owned by the country whose domain extends 200 nautical miles from its nearest shoreline.

This, he said, is provided under the UN Conference on the Law of the Seas.

Since the project involves national sovereignty and patrimony, the "Spratly Deal" should be in the form of a treaty subject to the ratification by the Senate, he said.

Macasaet said someone who supports the deal told him that the mode should be a joint venture, not an executive agreement.

But then a lawyer claimed that a joint venture is a blatant mode of a circumventing the treaty ratification required by the Constitution.

The lawyer said a joint venture is not acceptable because it is a commercial transaction.

On the other hand, a treaty is a sovereign act that must be ratified by the Senate.

Under a treaty required by the Constitution, the Philippines partly or wholly cedes its sovereign rights.

The national broadband deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corporation and the North and South railway projects would be financed by loans from China. The Department of Trade has signed a memorandum of agreement with ZTE International for four projects that would cost around $4 billion.

The Department of Education and Culture has its Cyber-Ed, also to be financed with loans from China. There are talks of overprice in all these projects.

Macasaet said his source told him that behind all these loan accommodations from China is the motive that both Arroyo and De Venecia agreed to.

The Spratly deal also includes special and exclusive economic zones, already contained in the memorandum of agreement signed between DTI and ZTE International.

Sensing the threat to its claim to the same group of islands, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian visited the Spratlys last Feb. 2 over the objections of China, but with very few words of protest from the Philippines.

DIRTY PROJECTS

Said to be potentially rich in gas and oil deposits, the Spratlys are claimed as a whole by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, while parts of it are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines.

As it now turns out, the real motive of China is to explore, under an agreement, internal waters of the Philippines. These waters are limited to Filipinos.

"We all talk about loans from China and the briberies that attend them. Unknown to many of us is the fact that China may not sign the final agreements for these dirty projects unless the Philippines signs a deal covering the Spratlys," Macasaet said.

"The Chinese obviously dangled anomalous loans in exchange for the Spratly deal. What is involved here is not just bribery. It’s something worse. Its high treason," he said.

Macasaet said that in this treaty which both countries cover with the word "deal," the Senate has been completely ignored.

FAT BRIBES

In sum, Macasaet said, the accommodations in the form of billions of dollars of loans, overprice not included, are carrots dangled by the government of China, to get back a bigger payoff – the exploration of internal waters which belong exclusively to the Filipinos.

"How soon or how late the Chinese government will sign the final agreement for the loans and the projects is an indication of how we have plunged ourselves into an abyss that is nothing but high treason," he said.

Macasaet said his source in Malacañang intimated that the agreements for the North and South Rail may be not be finally signed until Arroyo and De Venecia make good their word that the Philippines will allow China to explore its internal waters.
________________

nabasa nyo ba'to, yung hidden agenda ni arroyo
tsk tsk tsk mga chinese nanakawan pa tayo ng oil depost
kaya pla nagtayo na nga sila dun nga military base (tsking)

flying_olympic

February 26th, 2008, 08:22 AM

^^hopefully this isnt true cause ill be really pissed!

chocolato1000

February 27th, 2008, 09:56 AM

^ i believe it is.

kyle@1008

February 27th, 2008, 11:55 PM

it doesn't make sense... no 1. she is not given that power..and no. 2 even if she could she's not that stupid...come on..

DoggMann

February 28th, 2008, 01:11 AM

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080227-121585/Today-the-Spratlys-tomorrow-Palawan

The Long View
Today the Spratlys, tomorrow Palawan

By Manuel L. Quezon III
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:11:00 02/27/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- His Excellency Diosdado Talamayan can still bask in being able to “Oye-Oye” the President, while His Excellency Fernando Capalla can still dream (of what, of Cristina Ponce Enrile securing him a red hat from the Pope?). The President can thank them for their intervention in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and say, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

And thanks to the good bishops, the latest assurance that a future Arroyo Presidential Library can be built in the Ateneo de Manila University will be a suitable monument to Jesuit principles in action. Senators Joker Arroyo and Juan Ponce Enrile may have failed to derail the Senate hearings, as they mightily tried last Tuesday, but as they say, God works in mysterious ways.

I am happy Bishops Talamayan and Archbishop Capalla successfully bought the President time, because only time can further expose the reasons why she is undeserving of continuing in office.

In Genesis, chapter 25:30-34, a mess of pottage (lentil soup) is what Esau gets from his brother Jacob:

“And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint...

“And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

“And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

“And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore unto him and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils....”

On Tuesday, a witness told the Senate that the Chinese insisted that the President leave her husband’s sickbed, because they were skeptical of the seriousness of the government with regard to the national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp. She complied, returning the favor of commissions being released in time to help the administration election campaign last May.

After repeatedly playing the China card, eventually the Chinese have to collect. What’s in it for them?

Recently, in “The Correspondents” program, the television news channel ANC’s Ricky Carandang began to zero in on what is ultimately at stake for China: the Spratlys. And what the President’s ultimate concession has been: to abandon, at least partly, the Philippine claim to part of that island chain. What Carandang reported locally has been investigated internationally, too.

Barry Wain, writing in the Far Eastern Economic Review (Jan-Feb 2008), puts it this way in “Manila’s Bungle in The South China Sea”: “What most observers don’t realize is that in the last few years, regional cooperative efforts to coax Beijing into a more measured stance have been set back by one of the rival claimants to the islands.”

Our government left its regional partners in the lurch: “[T]he Philippine government has broken ranks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was dealing with China as a bloc on the South China Sea issue. The Philippines also has made breathtaking concessions…”

How? “President Arroyo’s agreement with China for a joint seismic study was controversial in several respects. By not consulting other ASEAN members beforehand, the Philippines abandoned the collective stance that was key to the group’s success with China over the South China Sea. Ironically, it was Manila that first sought a united front and rallied ASEAN to confront China over its intrusion into Mischief Reef a decade earlier. Sold the idea by politicians with business links who have other deals going with the Chinese, Ms Arroyo did not seek the views of her foreign ministry, Philippines officials say. By the time the foreign ministry heard about it and objected, it was too late, the officials say.”

And our government did so, by means of withholding information from its own people and its neighbors: “Beijing and Manila did not make public the text of their ‘Agreement for Seismic Undertaking for Certain Areas in the South China Sea By and Between China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Philippine National Oil Company’… signed on Sept. 1, 2004…”

However, the cat’s out of the bag, and it includes, not just the Philippine claim to the Spratlys, but our own iron-clad territorial limits: “Now that the location is known, the details having leaked into research circles, the reasons for wanting to keep it under wraps are apparent: ‘Some would say it was a sell-out on the part of the Philippines,’ says Mark Valencia, an independent expert on the South China Sea. The designated zone, a vast swathe of ocean off Palawan in the southern Philippines, thrusts into the Spratlys and abuts Malampaya, a Philippine producing gas field. About one-sixth of the entire area, closest to the Philippine coastline, is outside the claims by China and Vietnam. Says Mr. Valencia: ’Presumably for higher political purposes, the Philippines agreed to these joint surveys that include parts of its legal continental shelf that China and Vietnam don’t even claim.”’

And so the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has issued an open-ended demand for the President to revoke Executive Order 464. Can she? Will she?

The official response says it all: “This deserves very serious consideration.” Which means hell will freeze over first. Give an inch and the President is ever ready to take a mile.

What she needs is an ultimatum. Who will deliver that ultimatum? Not the hierarchy, but the public. How? The Inquirer editorial put forward a suggestion yesterday. A nationwide stay-at-home strike: Leave the streets to the government’s “hakot” [hauled-in crowd] or the politicians aching for media mileage.

Will the citizenry step up to the plate? After 2010? By which time the Chinese Jacob would have secured the Philippine Esau’s birthright -- for a mess of potage for Arroyo’s political party Kampi?

DoggMann

February 28th, 2008, 01:50 AM

http://www.viet-studies.info/kinhte/Manila_South_China_Sea.htm

Far Eastern Economic Review
January/February 2008

Manila’s Bungle in The South China Sea

by Barry Wain

When Vietnamese students gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi last December to protest against China’s perceived bullying over disputed territory in the South China Sea, it signaled Hanoi’s intention to turn up the heat a bit.

And Beijing reacted in kind; instead of downplaying the incident, a foreign ministry spokesman complained, “China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands.” The bluster on both sides, while just a blip in this long-running feud, is a timely reminder that the South China Sea remains one of the region’s flashpoints. What most observers don’t realize is that in the last few years, regional cooperative efforts to coax Beijing into a more measured stance have been set back by one of the rival claimants to the islands.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s hurried trip to China in late 2004 produced a major surprise. Among the raft of agreements ceremoniously signed by the two countries was one providing for their national oil companies to conduct a joint seismic study in the contentious South China Sea, a prospect that caused consternation in parts of Southeast Asia. Within six months, however, Vietnam, the harshest critic, dropped its objections and joined the venture, which went ahead on a tripartite basis and shrouded in secrecy.

In the absence of any progress towards solving complex territorial and jurisdictional disputes in the South China Sea, the concept of joint development is resonating stronger than ever. The idea is fairly simple: Shelve sovereignty claims temporarily and establish joint development zones to share the ocean’s fish, hydrocarbon and other resources. The agreement between China, the Philippines and Vietnam, three of the six governments that have conflicting claims, is seen as a step in the right direction and a possible model for the future.

But as details of the undertaking emerge, it is beginning to look like anything but the way to go. For a start, the Philippine government has broken ranks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was dealing with China as a bloc on the South China Sea issue. The Philippines also has made breathtaking concessions in agreeing to the area for study, including parts of its own continental shelf not even claimed by China and Vietnam. Through its actions, Manila has given a certain legitimacy to China’s legally spurious “historic claim” to most of the South China Sea.

Although the South China Sea has been relatively peaceful for the past decade, it remains one of East Asia’s potential flashpoints. The Paracel Islands in the northwest are claimed by China and Vietnam, while the Spratly Islands in the south are claimed in part or entirety by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. All but Brunei, whose claim is limited to an exclusive economic zone and a continental shelf that overlap those of its neighbors, man military garrisons in the scattered islets, cays and rocks of the Spratlys.

After extensive Chinese structures were discovered in 1995 on Mischief Reef, on the Philippine continental shelf and well within the Philippine 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, Asean persuaded Beijing to drop its resistance to the “internationalization” of the South China Sea issue. Instead of insisting on only bilateral discussions with claimant states, China agreed to deal with Asean as a group on the matter. Rodolfo Severino, a former secretary-general of Asean, has lauded “Asean solidarity and cooperation in a matter of vital security concern.”

Asean and China, however, failed in their attempt to negotiate a code of conduct. In the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” signed in 2002, they pledged to settle territorial disagreements peacefully and to exercise restraint in activities that could spark conflict. But the declaration is far from watertight. A political statement, not a legally binding treaty, it doesn’t specify the geographical scope and is, at best, an interim step.

Since the issuance of the declaration, a tenuous stability has descended on the South China Sea. With Asean countries benefiting from China’s booming economy, boosted by a free-trade agreement, Southeast Asian political leaders are happy to forget about this particular set of problems that once bedeviled their relations with Beijing. Yet none of the multifaceted disputes has been resolved, and no mechanism exists to prevent or manage conflicts. With no plans to discuss even the sovereignty of contested islands, claimants now accept that it will be decades, perhaps generations, before the tangled claims are reconciled.

Recent incidents and skirmishes are a sharp reminder of how dangerous the situation remains. In the middle of last year, Chinese naval vessels fired on Vietnamese fishing boats near the Paracels, killing one fisherman and wounding six others, while British giant BP halted work associated with a gas pipeline off the Vietnamese coast after a warning by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. In the past few months, Beijing and Hanoi have traded denunciations as the Chinese, in particular, maneuver to reinforce territorial claims. Vietnam protested when China conducted a large naval exercise around the Paracels in November.

China’s decision in December to create an administrative center on Hainan to manage the Paracels, Spratlys and another archipelago, though symbolic, was regarded as particularly provocative by Hanoi. The Vietnamese authorities facilitated demonstrations outside the Chinese diplomatic missions in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to make known their displeasure.

Friction can be expected to increase as the demand for energy by China and dynamic Southeast Asian economies rises and they intensify the search for oil and gas. While hydrocarbon reserves in the South China Sea are unproven, the belief that huge deposits exist keeps interest intense. As world oil prices hit record levels, the discovery of commercially viable reserves would raise tensions and “transform security circumstances” in the Spratlys, according to Ralf Emmers, an associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

President Arroyo’s agreement with China for a joint seismic study was controversial in several respects. By not consulting other Asean members beforehand, the Philippines abandoned the collective stance that was key to the group’s success with China over the South China Sea. Ironically, it was Manila that first sought a united front and rallied Asean to confront China over its intrusion into Mischief Reef a decade earlier. Sold the idea by politicians with business links who have other deals going with the Chinese, Ms. Arroyo did not seek the views of her foreign ministry, Philippines officials say. By the time the foreign ministry heard about it and objected, it was too late, the officials say.

Philippine diplomats might have been able to warn her that while joint development has been successfully implemented elsewhere, Beijing’s understanding of the concept is peculiarly Chinese. The only location that China is known to have nominated for joint development is a patch off the southern coast of Vietnam called Vanguard Bank, which is in Vietnamese waters where China has “no possibly valid claim,” as a study by a U.S. law firm put it. Beijing’s suggestion in the 1990s that it and Hanoi jointly develop Vanguard Bank was considered doubly outrageous because China insisted that it alone must retain sovereignty of the area. Also of no small consideration was the fact that such a bilateral deal would split Southeast Asia.

The hollowness of China’s policy of joint development, loudly proclaimed for nearly 20 years, was confirmed long ago by Hasjim Djalal, Indonesia’s foremost authority on maritime affairs, when he headed a series of workshops on the South China Sea. Mr. Hasjim set out to test the concept of joint development, taking several years to identify an area in which each country would both relinquish and gain something in terms of its claims. In 1996, he designated an area of some thousands of square kilometers, amounting to a small opening in the middle of the South China Sea, which cut across the Spratlys and went beyond them. Joint development, unspecified, was to take place in the “hole,” with no participant having to formally abandon its claims. Beijing alone refused to further explore the doughnut proposal, as it was dubbed, complaining that the intended zone was in the area China claimed. Of course it was, that being the essence of the plan, without which it was difficult to imagine having joint development.

China’s bottom line on joint development at that time: What is mine is mine and what is yours is ours.

Beijing and Manila did not make public the text of their “Agreement for Seismic Undertaking for Certain Areas in the South China Sea By and Between China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Philippine National Oil Company.” After the agreement was signed on Sept. 1, 2004, the Philippine government said the joint seismic study, lasting three years, would “gather and process data on stratigraphy, tectonics and structural fabric of the subsurface of the area.”

Although the government said the undertaking “has no reference to petroleum exploration and production,” it was obvious that the survey was intended precisely to gauge prospects for oil and gas exploration and production. Nobody could think of an alternative explanation for seismic work, especially in the wake of year-earlier press reports that CNOOC and PNOC had signed a letter of intent to begin the search for oil and gas.

Vietnam immediately voiced concern, declaring that the agreement, concluded without consultation, was not in keeping with the spirit of the 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties. Hanoi “requested” Beijing and Manila disclose what they had agreed and called on other Asean members to join Vietnam in “strictly implementing” the declaration. After what Hanoi National University law lecturer Nguyen Hong Thao calls “six months of Vietnamese active struggle, supported by other countries,” state-owned PetroVietnam joined the China-Philippine pact.

Vietnam’s inclusion in the modified and renamed “Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking in the Agreement Area in the South China Sea,” signed on March 14, 2005, was scarcely a victory for consensus-building and voluntary restraint. The Philippines, militarily weak and lagging economically, had opted for Chinese favors at the expense of Asean political solidarity. In danger of being cut out, the Vietnamese joined, “seeking to make the best out of an unsatisfactory situation,” as Mr. Severino puts it. The transparency that Hanoi had demanded was still missing, with even the site of the proposed seismic study concealed.

Now that the location is known, the details having leaked into research circles, the reasons for wanting to keep it under wraps are apparent: “Some would say it was a sell-out on the part of the Philippines,” says Mark Valencia, an independent expert on the South China Sea. The designated zone, a vast swathe of ocean off Palawan in the southern Philippines, thrusts into the Spratlys and abuts Malampaya, a Philippine producing gas field. About one-sixth of the entire area, closest to the Philippine coastline, is outside the claims by China and Vietnam. Says Mr. Valencia: “Presumably for higher political purposes, the Philippines agreed to these joint surveys that include parts of its legal continental shelf that China and Vietnam don’t even claim.”

Worse, by agreeing to joint surveying, Manila implicitly considers the Chinese and Vietnamese claims to have a legitimate basis, he says. In the case of Beijing, this has serious implications, since the broken, U-shaped line on Chinese maps, claiming almost the entire South China Sea on “historic” grounds, is nonsensical in international law. (Theoretically, Beijing might stake an alternative claim based on an exclusive economic zone and continental shelf from nearby islets that it claims, but they would be restricted by similar claims by rivals.) Manila’s support for the Chinese “historic claim,” however indirect, weakens the positions of fellow Asean members Malaysia and Brunei, whose claimed areas are partly within the Chinese U-shaped line. It is a stunning about-face by Manila, which kicked up an international fuss in 1995 when the Chinese moved onto the submerged Mischief Reef on the same underlying “historic claim” to the area.

Some commentators have hailed the tripartite seismic survey as a landmark event, echoing the upbeat interpretation put on it by the Philippines and China. The parties insist it is a strictly commercial venture by their national oil companies that does not change the sovereignty claims of the three countries involved. Ms. Arroyo calls it an “historic diplomatic breakthrough for peace and security in the region.” But that assessment is, at the very least, premature.

Not only do the details of the three-way agreement remain unknown, but almost nothing has been disclosed about progress on the seismic study, which should be completed in the next few months. Much will depend on the results and what the parties do next. Already, according to regional officials, China has approached Malaysia and Brunei separately, suggesting similar joint ventures. If it is confirmed that China has split Asean and the Southeast Asian claimants and won the right to jointly develop areas of the South China Sea it covets only by virtue of its “historic claim,” Beijing will have scored a significant victory.

Mr. Wain, writer-in-residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, is a former editor of The Wall Street Journal Asia.

tigidig14

February 28th, 2008, 07:31 AM

so was it just a study or chinese started hauling oil now or taking islands not belong to them
ang dami palang maliliit na islands dun at least malaking portion ay satin, dapat nga satin lang lahat yun e
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spratly_Islands#Philippines

spearhead

February 28th, 2008, 03:13 PM

Manila may lose Spratlys by default
By Othel V. Campos
Manila Standard, Feb 26, 2008

The Philippines will lose its claim on Kalayaan Islands (Spratlys) and other Extended Continental Shelf areas if it fails to enact a law formalizing its claim on these areas.

That was the warning Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap raised yesterday as he pointed out that the United Nations has set a May 2009 deadline for filing such claims.

“Congress has to pass soon enough a new legislation redefining the Philippines’ Archipelagic Baselines to establish the standard 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone and stave off the ‘disastrous consequence’ of the loss of the country’s territorial claim over such ECS areas as the Kalayaan Island Group and Benham Rise.”

Alongside the fishery resources, which are the primary concern of the Department of Agriculture, Yap said these areas at stake have vast deposits of mineral resources such as nickel and gold along with raw materials used for pharmaceutical products.

“These areas will either become part of the International Seabed Area—the so-called Common Heritage of Mankind—or be awarded to neighboring states that are similarly contesting jurisdiction over them,” lamented Yap .

There is a pending measure authored by Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco—House Bill 3216—seeking to redefine the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines by amending Republic Act 3046 and RA 5446, the laws defining the Philippines’ maritime borders.

But this proposal is not related to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on every country’s archipelagic baselines.

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources bureau Chief Malcolm Sarmiento said that the National Tuna Industry Council raised this issue during a day-long session attended by over 500 agriculture and fisheries stakeholders at the Great Eastern Hotel in Quezon City.

Sarmiento said that following UNCLOS’ adoption in 1982 and its ratification two years later, the Philippines signed this international accord establishing a comprehensive framework for the use of all ocean space and determining the maritime boundaries for every coastal state.

Each state is authorized under this UN accord to explore and use resources of its continental shelf and adjacent seabed up to 200 miles from its shore, Sarmiento said.

In cases where the margins exceed 200 miles from the baselines, these states can assert their respective claims to these ECS areas, he added.

He said the deadline for filing such ECS claims expires on May 13 next year because the UNCLOS requires the affected states to submit their supporting scientific and technical data, maps and other pertinent documents within 10 years from May 13, 1999.

“The Philippines has to make a formal claim on the ECS areas such as the Benham Rise and the Kalayaan Island Group because these are beyond the 200-nauticial mile border set by UNCLOS,” he said.

An amendatory law is needed, added Sarmiento, because the Philippines’ existing baselines, as defined by RA 3046 and amended by RA 5446, are not in accordance with the parameters set by this UN accord.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has long been lobbying Congress to pass HB 3216, and that the Philippine Tuna Council and BFAR have expressed their concern over this issue in a joint resolution adopted in April 2007.

Trillanes wants ‘Spratly deal’ probed in Senate
02/27/2008 | 08:06 PM

Detained senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday pushed for a Senate inquiry into a so-called "Spratly Deal" involving the alleged sellout of Philippine sovereignty to China in exchange for overpriced loans for "anomalous" projects.

Trillanes, in Senate Resolution 309, asked the Blue Ribbon, defense and environment committees to undertake the Senate investigation into the matter.

"If proven to be true, the same apparently amounts to betrayal of public trust and treason, for which Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the other responsible members of her government should be held accountable," he said.

Trillanes said the projects believed tainted with overpriced loans include the $329.48-million ZTE broadband network deal, the Cyber-Education project, and the Northrail and Southrail projects.

In seeking the investigation, Trillanes cited an article in the Far Eastern Economic Review where the Philippines "made breathtaking concessions in agreeing to the area for study, including parts of its own continental shelf not even claimed by China and Vietnam."

On the other hand, he said President Arroyo caused the signing of the "Agreement for Seismic Undertaking for Certain Areas in the South China Sea by and Between China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Philippine National Oil Company" in 2004.

He said the deal prompted Vietnam, another claimant to the Spratly Islands, to voice concern and note the deal was done without consultation.

Vietnam eventually stopped its objections in 2005 when it joined China and the Philippines in turning the agreement into a tripartite undertaking, Trillanes said.

"It appears that the Arroyo government did not consult the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Navy when it negotiated and signed the subject agreement," Trillanes said.

He added the agreement is tantamount to "effectively giving away the national patrimony as it actually concedes the exploration and exploitation of natural resources to foreigners which, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, clearly fall within the archipelagic waters, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines."

On the other hand, Trillanes said the deal should have been considered a treaty instead of being considered a mere commercial contract as it involves national defense and security, national sovereignty, and the national patrimony.

"This action and actuation of the government of Mrs Arroyo apparently constitute yet another attempt to circumvent the Constitution and to undermine the powers vested by the Constitution upon the Senate," he said. - GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/82495/Trillane...robed-in-Senate

spearhead

February 28th, 2008, 03:17 PM

We're losing some small islands bit by bit... We should now develop the island of Pagasa while the government is finalizing the law that will make the philippines' claim officially.

tigidig14

February 28th, 2008, 05:02 PM

mula dun sa pahayg ni trillanes, malakas masyado ang hawak ng presidente, kailangan kunin to ng senado. nde nga naman jurisdiction nya (arroyo) para magsign ng walang kaalam-alam ang pamahalaan

daliaan din ang ipagke-claim, mga hayok na politician na'to. pabayaan muna si lozada pa ikot ikot na alng ang nangyayari parang soap opera

chocolato1000

February 28th, 2008, 06:08 PM

medyo sakim nga ang mga intsik kung titignan mo yung territorial waters nila eh halos sa kanila na lahat ang buong SE Asia. hindi pa permanent yun nag-e-expand pa. :horse:

bitoy

February 29th, 2008, 04:43 PM

medyo sakim nga ang mga intsik kung titignan mo yung territorial waters nila eh halos sa kanila na lahat ang buong SE Asia. hindi pa permanent yun nag-e-expand pa. :horse:

Hinde, ang tawag diyan "switik" --- :lol: mas artistic ang dating ng salitang yan. Hahahaha!.... dinadaan sa lagay, regalo o pautang. Or takot si GMA na ibuko ng China yung lagay kay FG.

amigo32

March 1st, 2008, 05:30 AM

sana tumulong ang mga tsinoy:), protektahan ang pinas, sa pang aangkin ng Tsina, bago maging probinsya ng tsina ang Pinas.

frustratedarchitect

March 1st, 2008, 09:54 AM

http://images.artibaldo.multiply.com/image/25/photos/40/600x600/37/Artibaldopix%20%2850%29.JPG?et=Ype4f1Hw2GueMID%2CMU%2CsnA&nmid=82312179

ub FIRE. today that building is already being reconstructed.

courtesy of aRT tIBALDO

bitoy

March 1st, 2008, 05:24 PM

sana tumulong ang mga tsinoy:), protektahan ang pinas, sa pang aangkin ng Tsina, bago maging probinsya ng tsina ang Pinas.

Walang resources ang Pinas to protect the claim, but just to get along with other nations to get a small piece of the take. Our politicians don't care much about those islands. Wala silang kikitain dun. :lol:

Isa pa, yung mga taga BI ang nagpapasok sa mainlanders. And soon, the Manila Chinatown would be dominated by the mainlanders. Duon pa, baka magsundutan kami ng mata by using chopsticks. :lol:

filcan

March 5th, 2008, 02:50 PM

Number of Philippine poor growing as prices outpace wage rises
http://www.topix.net/world/philippines/2008/03/number-of-philippine-poor-growing-as-prices-outpace-wage-rises
Posted by Jane Abao 2 hrs ago

The number of poor Filipinos rose between 2003 and 2006 despite strong economic growth because income increases failed to keep up with price hikes in food and basic services, a government statistical agency said Wednesday.

The National Statistical Coordination Board said the latest nationwide family income survey showed that a total of 4.7 million families - or 27.6 million Filipinos - were considered poor in 2006, up 16 percent from 4 million in 2003.

The agency estimates the poverty threshold - the monthly income that a family of five requires to meet basic needs - rose to 6,274 pesos (US$154; ¤101) in 2006, from 5,129 pesos (US$126; ¤82.86) in 2003 and 4,774 pesos (US$117, ¤76.94) in 2000.

Families whose monthly income falls below the threshold are considered poor. Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said external factors - such as high oil prices and the government's efforts to resolve fiscal problems by imposing new value-added taxes - contributed to the increase in poverty.

chocolato1000

March 5th, 2008, 04:09 PM

American files criminal complaint vs cosmetic surgeons

MANILA, Philippines -- A criminal complaint has been filed by an American citizen before a local prosecutor’s office against a popular cosmetic surgeon in the country.

In his complaint-affidavit, Louem Martinez ak. Louem Boschuk filed a case against Doctors Manny V. Calayan and Pie Calayan for alleged estafa, reckless imprudence resulting to serious physical injury as well as obstruction of justice against the surgeons after his penile enlargement operation went wrong.

Martinez said after several consultations at the clinic on September 24 last year, he decided to push through with the penile enlargement operation.

"Convinced of his repeated, assurance, reassurances, conformation and re-confirmation about his expertise, medical safety and success of penis enlargement operation, I decided to undergo my penis enlargement operation with Dr. Calayan at the Calayan Surgicenter," the complainant said, adding that he spent a total of P145,000 for the surgery.

However, after the operation, Martinez said his penis became "badly deformed, sagged and bumped" and that he was feeling pain.

Despite assurances by the Calayans that the pain will go away, it persisted and the appearance of his penis did not change.

He said he consulted a doctor in the United States who informed him that the use of aquagel in penis enlargement operation was cancerous and another Filipino plastic surgeon told him that the aquagel had spread and might develop into tumors.

The complainant added that when he visited the website of the Calayans’ clinic, the advertisement for penis enlargement was no longer on their website.

The complainant asked for P20 million in actual damages, P3 million in moral damages, and another P3 million for exemplary damages.

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net

Weina

March 5th, 2008, 04:55 PM

medyo sakim nga ang mga intsik kung titignan mo yung territorial waters nila eh halos sa kanila na lahat ang buong SE Asia. hindi pa permanent yun nag-e-expand pa. :horse:

wais lang sila kung pwede maka lusot bakit hindi. tapos gago naman mga politiko natin kaya ayan kakainin na tayo nang buhay nang china pero walang kwentang away pa rin inaatupag nila. Gutom ang china sa resources kaya sabi ko it will use whatever means to protect it's interest. Lalo na sya mag kalakas loob ngayon kasi ang US down ang economy at susunod ang europe. At ang economy naman nya ay paganda nang paganda. Lalo na pag nakuha nya na ang taiwan, malamang kasi malaki ang chance na manalo ang KMT pro china party (so eventual unification ang siguradong resulta nito) kayo lalong magiging malakas ang legitimacy nang claim nya. Kaya ayan sige mag pakatanga pa tayo at lalamunin na talaga tayo nang buhay :ohno:

bitoy

March 5th, 2008, 06:12 PM

SURVEY:
High oil prices drive millions of Filipinos back to poverty (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080305-122966/High-oil-prices-drive-millions-of-Filipinos-back-to-poverty)

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 17:54:00 03/05/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Soaring oil prices and the rising cost of living have driven nearly four million people in the Philippines back into poverty, officials said Wednesday.

The number of Filipinos living on just $1 a day rose from 23.8 million in 2003 to 27.6 million in 2006, according to a survey released by the economic planning ministry.

One in three Filipinos is living in poverty despite the modest economic gains in recent years.

The survey blamed rising oil prices, which have pushed up the cost of transport, which in turn has pushed up the cost of basic food items.

.......
The Philippines posted a 31-year high economic growth of 7.3 percent in 2007, along with a 20-year low inflation of 2.8 percent.

Inflation, however, has been rising steadily this year. Data released Wednesday showed inflation at 5.4 percent in February, the highest since October 2006.

tigidig14

March 6th, 2008, 12:18 AM

OtAkAw

March 6th, 2008, 03:12 PM

American files criminal complaint vs cosmetic surgeons

Hay, di kasi nakontento sa kung anung meron siya eh. Ayan tuloy. :bash:

amigo32

March 6th, 2008, 03:23 PM

mali, dapat kasi kay dra. belo sya nagpunta.

chocolato1000

March 7th, 2008, 04:26 PM

Foreigner banned after insulting Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines -- For insulting Filipinos in public and bad-mouthing an immigration officer, a foreigner has been banned from entering the country by Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.

Libanan issued the blacklist order against Jenifer Sharmila Kalka, 42, identified as a Dutch national.

The incident occurred at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) immigration arrival area last February 8, minutes after Kalka arrived aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Hongkong, Libanan said.

NAIA-BI officials reported that Kalka allegedly refused to answer routine questions from immigration officer Fortunato Manahan who was on duty at the NAIA-BI counter. He asked her purpose in coming to the Philippines and after being politely advised to fill up the disembarkation form, she refused to do so.

Instead, the woman allegedly turned rowdy and said: “You Filipinos are f___ing lazy!” which caused a commotion among the other passengers, according to Libanan.

Kalka reportedly continued to shout her invectives even after she was warned that she won’t be allowed to enter the country.

When brought to the airport’s immigration office, the woman allegedly repeated her unkind remarks, saying “you Filipinos are f___ing lazy. That is why you are poor,” according to Libanan.

She was thus refused entry, issued an exclusion order, and booked on the first available flight to her port of origin, said Libanan.

Libanan said Kalka was among thousands of foreigners who have been blacklisted by the BI for being rude and arrogant towards immigration officers.

Libanan noted that Kalka and many of the other foreign travelers who were blacklisted also uttered insulting remarks about Filipinos, an act which, he said, was “an affront to the dignity of our people and to our sovereignty as a nation.”

“A foreign tourist who exhibits arrogance and rude behavior upon his arrival in the Philippines should be turned back right away for he does not deserve the hospitality of our country and people,” the BI chief said.

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net

tigidig14

March 7th, 2008, 06:51 PM

^that beyootch deserved that, racist white woman

bitoy

March 7th, 2008, 06:57 PM

^^ but sometimes you wonder why are there people that will utter those remarks. Baka may nabalitaan siya about NAIA's immigration and customs officers or napanood niya sa ABS-CBN or GMA-7 ? :lol:

filcan

March 7th, 2008, 08:41 PM

chocolato1000

March 8th, 2008, 09:11 AM

^^ hahha, i've thought of that too. funny but true.

OtAkAw

March 8th, 2008, 06:08 PM

bitoy

March 8th, 2008, 06:47 PM

^^But no matter how ugly or stinky or unclassy our airport is, that doesn't give that woman the right to do that to our fellowmen. People like her don't deserve what our country can offer. Let her go to some place else like for instance, Iraq, baka makahanap pa siya ng katapat nya dun.

We need to give that passenger a benefit of the doubt. Remember
Luli Arroyo's experience at the airport? Although it was a different situation, it could be of the same manners and attitude problem of those employees at the airport.
Teka, nakapunta ka na ba sa Iraq? :lol:

tigidig14

March 8th, 2008, 08:03 PM

i have :D

pi_malejana

March 8th, 2008, 09:04 PM

balita ko may nationwide transport strike na naman daw sa march 11..??:ohno:

bitoy

March 8th, 2008, 09:31 PM

i have :D

Hehehe, wala naman makakapalag sa Iraq International Aiport, upakan sila ni Mang Pepe.

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9946/iwaknp4.jpg

http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/iraq/baghdad_international_airport_iraq_photo_usaid.jpg

Baghdad International Airport

Photo by USAID, used with permission. (http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/iraq/index.html)

diz

March 9th, 2008, 06:14 AM

Replacing Arroyo big mistake for RP: lawmaker

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Replacing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be a big mistake the country cannot afford, according to Representative Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga's third district.

"It will only further destabilize the country and will certainly compromise the ongoing economic rebound," Gonzales, a first-term congressman and ally of President Arroyo, said.

In addressing the current issues involving the Arroyo administration, the congressman said there is a need to stress the importance of focusing on the positive direction the country has already taken under the current leadership.

"There's no denying that the President's leadership has provided a new direction for reforms, growth and opportunities that could pave the way for the positive changes that everybody seeks for the good of the nation," Gonzales said.

The neophyte lawmaker said even foreign leaders, policymakers, and analysts have been impressed by the rapid and substantive achievements of the Philippine economy under Arroyo.

"We can only disregard the optimistic and encouraging views of the outside world at our own risks," he said.

Gonzales had, during his campaign for Congress last year, expressed optimism that the next three years of President Arroyo will be better for the country.

"I haven't changed that view, and in fact, this has been further reinforced by what I have seen in terms of the President's determined effort to elevate the country to a new level of economic stature and stability," Gonzales said.

The congressman said the dynamics and parameters of due process, Constitutional provisions, as well as decency and respect should be applied at any effort to bring out the truth on the prevailing issues of the day.

"It will be illogical and potentially disastrous for anyone to subscribe a solution when the problem has not been fully and clearly established," he said.

"We might end up burning the whole house to catch a rat," he added.

Definitely, Gonzales said, President Arroyo is not the problem as her critics and the opposition would want the public to believe.

Quoting US Presidential aspirant Senator Barack Obama, Gonzales said: "We are the change that we seek."

---

IMO, Anti-Arroyo protestors are seriously ungrateful.... They're freakin retarded, IMO. If they just cooperated and appreciated the efforts the Arroyo administration made for the economy, then we would be in a better state right now.

bitoy

March 9th, 2008, 07:49 AM

^^ Whoa! ... such a strong word coming out from you by just posting that article. You better read these articles posted by 3CR - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=18922593&postcount=110

then you might have a better grip of the economy and poverty in the Philippines.

I'll take a break and will decide if I need to reply further on your statement. :wink2:

diz

March 9th, 2008, 09:28 AM

bitoy

March 9th, 2008, 10:56 AM

^^ I'm taking my comment from:

"There's no denying that the President's leadership has provided a new direction for reforms, growth and opportunities that could pave the way for the positive changes that everybody seeks for the good of the nation," Gonzales said.

---

I believe that her administration has done a lot, especially in infrastucture.

Too bad they're corrupt as well... and corruption brings out the worst in our politicians. It's hard who to believe...

If you read and research further about the Philippine economy, it mainly boils down to an OFWS AND CALL CENTER driven industry. Wala tayong masyadong local production or output, kung meron man, most of them are foreign-owned. It looks good on how those infrastructures are popping up but with a very high cost and effect to every citizen of the nation because of those alleged corruptions.

OtAkAw

March 9th, 2008, 11:38 AM

We need to give that passenger a benefit of the doubt. Remember
Luli Arroyo's experience at the airport? Although it was a different situation, it could be of the same manners and attitude problem of those employees at the airport.
Teka, nakapunta ka na ba sa Iraq? :lol:

Ah oo nga, let's give her benefit of the doubt tutal she can never ever set foot on this country again. Well, good for her! :tongue2:

Di pako nakapunta ng Iraq, based dun sa pix na napost mo ok naman pala ariport nila. Nag-isip lang ako ng country na medyo, you know.

capricce.

March 9th, 2008, 11:58 AM

If you read and research further about the Philippine economy, it mainly boils down to an OFWS AND CALL CENTER driven industry. Wala tayong masyadong local production or output, kung meron man, most of them are foreign-owned. It looks good on how those infrastructures are popping up but with a very high cost and effect to every citizen of the nation because of those alleged corruptions.

Another source you could take into consideration is the CIA's World Factbook. Here's an excerpt from the Philippines' Economy section:

"The Philippine economy grew at its fastest pace in three decades with real GDP growth exceeding 7% in 2007. Higher government spending contributed to the growth, but a resilient service sector and large remittances from the millions of Filipinos who work abroad have played an increasingly important role. Economic growth has averaged 5% since President MACAPAGAL-ARROYO took office in 2001. Nevertheless, the Philippines will need still higher, sustained growth to make progress in alleviating poverty, given its high population growth and unequal distribution of income. MACAPAGAL-ARROYO averted a fiscal crisis by pushing for new revenue measures and, until recently, tightening expenditures. Declining fiscal deficits, tapering debt and debt service ratios, as well as recent efforts to increase spending on infrastructure and social services have heightened optimism over Philippine economic prospects."

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html#Econ

Therefore although what most of what you've said is true, according to the CIA's opinion of the Philippines, Arroyo--despite her corruption--also played a significant role in increasing economic optimism. If you've studied economics, you'd know optimism is a significant factor in economics. The better the outlook of the economy, the higher the consumer expectations or profit expectations, and the higher the aggregate demand there is for products.

bitoy

March 9th, 2008, 12:28 PM

Another source you could take into consideration is the CIA's World Factbook. Here's an excerpt from the Philippines' Economy section:

"The Philippine economy grew at its fastest pace in three decades with real GDP growth exceeding 7% in 2007. Higher government spending contributed to the growth, but a resilient service sector and large remittances from the millions of Filipinos who work abroad have played an increasingly important role. Economic growth has averaged 5% since President MACAPAGAL-ARROYO took office in 2001. Nevertheless, the Philippines will need still higher, sustained growth to make progress in alleviating poverty, given its high population growth and unequal distribution of income. MACAPAGAL-ARROYO averted a fiscal crisis by pushing for new revenue measures and, until recently, tightening expenditures. Declining fiscal deficits, tapering debt and debt service ratios, as well as recent efforts to increase spending on infrastructure and social services have heightened optimism over Philippine economic prospects."

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html#Econ

Therefore although what most of what you've said is true, according to the CIA's opinion of the Philippines, Arroyo--despite her corruption--also played a significant role in increasing economic optimism. If you've studied economics, you'd know optimism is a significant factor in economics. The better the outlook of the economy, the higher the consumer expectations or profit expectations, and the higher the aggregate demand there is for products.

I knew that economic optimism is widely spreading and attracting local investors to suit the needs of OFWs when they come home or when they send their remittances to their extended families. Other than that, other investors are weary because of political scandals and military restlessness.
Call centers and other small businesses are really helping in lowering the unemployment rate but I may be asking too much if I wanted to see more local residents in or out of the metro areas being employed.
And here comes the increase of the price of Oil and Rice.

God bless the Philippines.

amras

March 10th, 2008, 07:35 AM

@tsinoy, I think it is unfair to blame the Philippines' lack of manufacturing output against the current government. This problem can be traced back in the 70's where the manufacturing industry had been growing in other Asian countries, except the Philippines. We already had the chance decades ago, but we lost it. And with the current state of our infrastructures, it is a suicide to compete over this industry.

And what is wrong with call centers? At the end of the day, a job is still a job. Besides I think the government also know that we cannot rely with outsourcing forever. That's why you hear news about Clark and Subic becoming a logistic center of Asia, or Northern Mindanao as shipbuilding hubs. How about biofuels, wherein our potential is being explored? Our increasing Peso (thanks to our OFWs), which mind you have dampened the effects of increasing oil pricess? Tourism? Increasing FDIs?

Well, God bless the Philippines, indeed!

IsaganiZenze

March 10th, 2008, 08:08 AM

^^But no matter how ugly or stinky or unclassy our airport is, that doesn't give that woman the right to do that to our fellowmen. .

AMEN!!!

tigidig14

March 10th, 2008, 08:17 AM

^pakhi-amen nga ren ako

bitoy

March 10th, 2008, 09:42 PM

kiretoce

March 11th, 2008, 06:19 PM

11.6M Filipinos illiterate, almost half of them children (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/84353/DepEd-116M-Filipinos-illiterate-almost-half-of-them-children)

Around 11.6 million Filipinos have never attended school and thus considered illiterates, according to the Department of Education.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus on Tuesday said reaching these “unschooled Filipinos" is among the critical issues and challenges currently confronting the agency.

“We need to reckon with the 11.6 million Filipinos who have never attended schools, and are, therefore, illiterates," Lapus said.

Records from DepEd show that of the 11.6 million, around 2.2 million are six to 11 years old and 3.4 million are 12 to15 years of age. “These unschooled children are in the streets or are in high-risk but low-paying jobs," Lapus said.

Lapus stressed that there is a need to “muster all support" to get this group to seek basic education, whether formal, informal, or non-formal.

Lapus also bared that first grade elementary readiness rate in the country is only at 35% despite the fact that most of five-year old children had undergone preschools through the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other programs by the local government units.

Lapus also tackled the unabated opening of private preschools “whose programs are of doubtful quality yet they charge high tuition fees" has aggravated the problem on the preschool sector.

Lapus said that they will require 65 percent of the children to undergo an eight-week course on preschool education through the Grade I Readiness Assessment Tool evaluation as they enter Grade I to determine the child’s readiness for formal school curriculum of Grade I.

Weina

March 13th, 2008, 03:21 AM

Levi’s to shut down apparel plant in July due to rising costs

SAYING IT COULD no longer find a way to cut costs, apparel giant Levi Strauss & Co. will close its "cut-and-sew" plant in Makati that has been producing Levi’s jeans for the Philippine and Asian markets since 1972.
The apparel giant will be shelling out $50,000 to help residents around its Makati plant cope with the closure.
The apparel giant will be shelling out $50,000 to help residents around its Makati plant cope with the closure.

At the same time, Levi Strauss announced it would donate $50,000 to a charity to aid residents around the Makati plant and people affected by the closure.

In a statement, Levi Strauss Philippines Country Manager Ramon Martelino said 257 workers will be terminated. Operations will stop at end-July.

As a result of the closure, Levi Strauss will only become a retailer of the Levi’s and Dockers brands in the Philippines.

The company did not say where the operations will be moved, only that it has many subcontractors in the region.

Workers will be given a "fair and proper" separation pay, but Mr. Martelino did not go into details.

"This has been a very difficult decision for us. We have examined comprehensively all other options, including cost containment and improving the efficiency and productivity of this plant as first options. Unfortunately, such measures cannot overcome the significantly lower costs of outsourcing," Mr. Martelino said.

Levi Strauss said the move will allow it to "focus on its core competency of marketing its branded products in Asia and grow its business in the region."

In a phone interview, Mr. Martelino told BusinessWorld the work force was informed about the shutdown yesterday.

"It came out very well We had a meeting with the employees and spoke to them about the situation. It is painful. The domestic business will continue to operate by marketing Levi’s and Dockers. The Philippines remains an important part of the total business in Asia," he said.

On its Web site, the apparel giant founded by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss in the US in 1853 is anticipating a "difficult retail environment in several markets around the world."

Mr. Martelino said the Makati plant had a number of disadvantages.

"Our plant produces jeans for the Philippines and Asian countries particularly in Japan. We will transfer the sourcing of the products in other locations in Asia-Pacific. At any given point in time, we maintain subcontractors around the region. As the manufacturing garment industry has become developed, obviously, sourcing products has become borderless," he said.

The Levi Strauss Foundation will make a "philanthropic grant" of $50,000 to a nongovernment organization to "assist residents of communities near the plant with social and economic development programs," Mr. Martelino said. — R.A.M. Rubio/Businessworldonline

icarusrising

March 13th, 2008, 12:14 PM

RP warned FDIs shunning it

By Estrella Torres
Reporter

A FOREIGN business group said Wednesday the controversy on the national broadband deal only confirms investors’ long-held sentiment on the worsening corruption cases in the Philippines, and noted that, as a result, foreign business interests are shifting to other Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand.

Michael Clancy, chairman of the Philippine Business Leaders’ Forum, said the Philippines is no longer attracting foreign direct investments due to a wide range of corruption and Manila’s overdependence on “bad” loans from China.

Clancy assessed the competitiveness of members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the integration of the East Asian Region. He was one of the presenters at the International Conference on the Implications of the Asean Charter for East Asian Integration at Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

“Generally, it’s [ZTE controversy] another story in the wind. Even without ZTE, nothing would change much, it’s a problem of governance. It’s been a problem here for long, and it’s not getting any better. What [that case] has done.... it has confirmed what’s in other people’s minds that [corruption] is getting worse and there has been no improvement in governance,” said Clancy in an interview at the sidelines of the International Conference on the effects of Asean
integration in the East Asian Region hosted by the Asian Institute of Management held Wednesday at the Sofitel hotel in Manila.

In an internal survey of the members of the PBLF composed of 40 companies from Europe, United States and Australia, there was a shared belief that at least 50 percent of the project costs in doing business goes to “commissions” and only 10 per cent of the total investment is being used for facilitation, and the remainder for implementation.

Among the 40 companies surveyed, nobody aired plans to pour in additional investments.

“Those who invested here already, they’re committed to staying and not pulling out. But in terms of asset management mode, they’re not looking to expand because it’s too hard... everywhere you turn [in the government system] somebody got his hand [on] money, everybody wants something under the table,” Clancy lamented.

He said foreign companies that have invested in China are seeking back-up investments in the region “but they are not looking at the Philippines as they would prefer Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.”

Clancy, meanwhile, criticized Manila’s overdependence on concessional loans from China, saying the government puts itself at risk of being hostage to Chinese technology that could be substandard.

He explained that under concessional loans, the government is usually tied to a specific supplier coming from the donor country. “By its very nature, if you have a build-operate project, whoever builds the technology has to operate it; but if it’s done under a loan, you pay the money and somebody will build it, then five years later, it [structure] falls into pieces and no one takes the blame.”

Clancy also pointed to data in 2005-2007, showing foreign direct investments (FDI) in the East Asian Region were captured by China, with $253.3 billion and India, with $44.4 billion, and only $151.9 billion left to the Asean economies.

“But half of the net FDI flowing into Asean goes to Singapore and the Philippines’ share is only at 1 percent to 2 percent,” said Clancy.

He stressed that the Asean economic zone targeted by 2015 would only reduce tariffs but “trade within Asean is still dropping in spite of the zero tariff because of the problems [from] the nontariff barriers.”

Meanwhile, he stressed that Manila’s overdependence on China also sends wrong signal to Western investors.

“We were involved in European investment delegation here two years ago to look at investment prospects, but government officials [whom we’ve met] told us, ‘we don’t need your money anymore, we have China now, we can get all money we need from China,’” said Clancy.

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/03132008/headlines01.html

GearX

March 14th, 2008, 04:37 AM

ANTILLON KOs BOBBY PACQUIAO IN THE FIRST ROUND (http://philboxing.com/news/story-15424.html)
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 14 Mar 2008

Undefeated lightweight Urbano Antillon of Maywood, California via Chihuahua, Mexico made a rousing statement moments ago by knocking out Bobby Pacquiao of the Philippines towards the end of the first round of their 10-round lightweight battle at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, NV.

http://philboxing.com/news/pix/pac.downed.by.antillion.300w.jpg
Bobby Pacquiao still feeling the effect of the liver shot by Antillon after he was being counted out by Referee Joe Cortez at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas March 13.

A powerful left hook by Antillon to Pacquiao's liver sent Pacquiao gasping for breath before Antillon finished him off with left-right combinations to the head and body sending Pacquiao to the canvas. Pacquiao was unable to beat the referee's count.

Antillon cruised to his 22nd victory in as many bouts also upping his knockout tally to 15. Pacquiao dropped to 28-14-3 win-lose-draw record.

chocolato1000

March 15th, 2008, 05:38 PM

Levi Strauss closing Manila plant

MANILA, Philippines -- Levi Strauss & Co. said it would close down its cut-and-sew apparel plant in Manila, with 257 employees to be terminated.

The company, which has been in the Philippines for the past 36 years, said its last day of plant operations would be on July 31.

It said it “believes the plant closure will allow it to focus on its core competency of marketing its branded products in Asia, in line with the company’s global strategy.”

Country manager Ramon Martelino said, “This has been a very difficult decision for us. We have examined comprehensively all other options, including cost containment and improving the efficiency and productivity of this plant. Unfortunately, such measures cannot overcome the significantly lower costs of outsourcing.”

He said Levi Strauss would continue its Philippine presence through its commercial business, “retailing branded apparel in major cities through a large franchised retail distribution network.”

Martelino also said the company, through Levi Strauss Foundation, would make a grant of $50,000 to a nongovernmental organization in the Philippines to assist residents of communities near the Manila plant with social and economic development programs.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Weina

March 15th, 2008, 06:43 PM

^^double post po:)

barukdok

March 17th, 2008, 06:16 AM

I don't know where you are going thru with your statement. But I'll get along with you on the future adventure of our country in research and development. We really need local jobs... any jobs.

ano bang pinagtatalunan nyo? anyway, have you heard of the "blue ocean strategy"? :cheers:

Weina

March 17th, 2008, 06:48 AM

Recession-prompted outsourcing could bypass RP electronics firms

SOUTHEAST ASIAN electronics firms are expected to benefit from a US recession as technology heavyweights contract out manufacturing, but the boon will apparently not extend to the Philippines.

Analysts, according to a Reuters report last week, see Southeast Asian electronics makers as set for earnings growth of at least 10% this year as firms such as Hewlett-Packard outsource requirements to regional rivals.

Philippine electronics industry officials, however, said the outsourcing could bypass the country given constraints such as high power rates, a strong peso, and lower-end services.

"The investments would actually slow down. If they’re looking for cheaper locations that would be China and not the Philippines," said Arthur R. Tan, president and chief executive of the Ayala-led Integrated Microlectronics, Inc. (IMI).

IMI, he said, was using its diversified manufacturing base to hedge the impact of the strengthening peso. Apart from its local presence, IMI is also in Singapore, China and the United States.

Arthur J. Young, Jr., chairman and chief executive of listed PSi Technologies Holdings, Inc., asked "How can we get business if the cost in the Philippines is so high because of the stronger peso? The US recession coupled with a weaker dollar and a stronger peso is bad news.’

"We should focus on creating newer markets that are less volatile that we could continue to grow without being totally dependent on the US market," he added.

For his part, EMS Components Assembly, Inc. (EMSCAI) Business Development Director Perry A. Ferrer said the country needs "to go up the value chain."

At the moment, local contract manufacturers like Filipino-owned EMSCAI are primarily doing assembly work instead of development and engineering design.

"As we get higher edge technologies the cost of utilities and forex (foreign exchange) losses get seemingly smaller. That percentage of the operating cost becomes negligible because they would be paying for talent already," Mr. Ferrer said.

The industry grew by almost 5% last but a repeat in 2008 is unlikely, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. President Ernesto B. Santiago said.

"We (the electronics sector) are really affected by the turbulence in [the] US. It’s a global thing," he said.

Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. warned that the Philippines might be left behind by Asian neighbors with cheaper power costs.

"Locators are not giving priority to us because of our more expensive power costs," he said.

But First Metro Securities Brokerage Corp. analyst Jan Michael B. Acebo said the US recession could lead to capacity expansions in the country of firms Texas Instruments, Inc. and Intel Corp.

"If you already have the human resource, the learning curve is already in place, that would mean lesser cost on training," he said.

In last week’ report, Reuters said Singapore’s Venture Corp. and Thailand’s Delta Electronics stand out as major beneficiaries of the outsourcing trend because both companies focus on higher margin products, such as automotive safety sensors and medical devices, than their regional rivals.

"Global companies are still looking to outsource from manufacturing centers in Southeast Asia and Thailand should benefit," said Parin Kitchatornpitak of DBS Vickers Securities.

"Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries have been manufacturing bases of global companies for many years. Their long-term experience to produce high-quality products should attract them to outsource."

The value of the original-equipment manufacturing business has reached more than $1 trillion currently and only 10-15% of this market had been outsourced, offering a huge potential, Venture Corp.’s chief executive Wong Ngit Liong told a media and analyst briefing last month.

The key to achieve robust earnings growth in a increasingly cost-conscious industry is to focus efforts on higher margin products, like medical monitoring devices and power systems for telecoms networks, analysts say.

Unlike some electronics part makers in Asia, Venture, which makes printers for Hewlett-Packard and hard drives for US computer storage firm Iomega Corp., focuses on making high profit products, such as health monitoring gadgets.

"In Southeast Asia, my pick is Venture. The company has consistently displayed its ability to achieve above industry return and generate solid free cash," said analyst Jonathan Ng of CIMB Research in Singapore.

Venture, one of the world’s top 10 contract manufacturers, was expected to post earnings growth of 12% in 2008, said Ai Teng Tan of DBS Vickers Securities.

Although some analysts have downgraded Thailand’s electronics sector on worries that a stronger baht will squeeze margins, Delta, the country’s largest electronic listed firm, is expected to perform better than its rival Cal-Comp, because of its focus on high-margin power controllers for firms such as Nokia and IBM.

"Delta has a brighter outlook in the first half of this year. Its growth is mainly from the telecom industry in India and Europe," said Solaya Na Songkhla at Kim Eng Securities, who expected a 15% earnings growth in 2008. — reports from Reuters, MGSR

Weina

March 17th, 2008, 07:20 AM

More fuel price hikes ahead
Despite expectations of another oil tariff cut next month

FUEL PRICES HAVE BEEN RAISED for a third straight weekend by oil companies and industry officials say further increases should be expected despite the prospect of a fresh reduction in oil tariffs next month.

The latest price hike was initiated by oil refiners Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Petron Corp. and Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex), which collectively control some 85% of the market.

"Please be advised that due to the significant increase in world oil prices we are increasing prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 50 centavos/liter effective 12:01 a.m., 15th March 2008," Shell spokesman Roberto S. Kanapi said in a text message.

Fuel prices are now at an average of P44.96 for gasoline and P37.94 for diesel.

The government, seeking to mitigate the impact of high oil prices, this year revived a tariff reduction scheme which sets stepped cuts in the 3% duty. Based on established "trigger" prices, a 1% duty could be imposed in April, officials said.

The tariff rate is currently at 2%, up from the 1% imposed when the scheme was first implemented in February.

Dubai crude on Friday hit an all-time high of $100.17 per barrel, while the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) for diesel is at $120 per barrel.

The steady ascent of both benchmarks was marked by a solid 15-day average of above $91.70 per barrel for crude and $113 per barrel for diesel, which points to a tariff cut next month. Even without formal Energy department confirmation of the data for Dubai and MOPS diesel, an official said the tariff cut would likely be at that level.

"It’s just indicative. But it’s nearly there," the official said on Friday.

In its March 11 oil monitor, the Energy department said "The month-to-date average price of Asian Dubai crude increased by about $5 per barrel over the February average. Likewise, gasoline and diesel averages were higher by about $4/barrel and $10/barrel, respectively, over the previous month levels."

The import tariff was cut to 1% in February but was raised to 2% this month due to weaker oil prices. The increase translated into a 50-centavo hike in the first week of March.

A downward adjustment, which estimates show will be worth 25 centavos, might not be enough to offset record world oil prices, industry officials said.

An official noted that the tariff could be eventually cut to zero by the summer if oil prices keep rising. Although MOPS diesel has already breached the trigger price for a zero tariff, Dubai crude has been lagging.

MOPS and Dubai have to be at $117 and $103.5 per barrel, respectively, for a zero tariff.

MOPS is steamrolling its way to record prices and Fernando L Martinez, president of Eastern Petroleum Corp., said "[We are raising prices] to partially recover a significant jump in international oil prices of up to $126 per barrel of finished petroleum products."

Eastern and ten other retailers base their costs on MOPS.

"So independently of Dubai, we have to raise our prices," Mr. Martinez has previously said.

bitoy

March 17th, 2008, 07:40 AM

ano bang pinagtatalunan nyo? anyway, have you heard of the "blue ocean strategy"? :cheers:

Red and Blue oceans? :lol:

Lahat na yata ng available market na explore na sa Pinas. Kung meron man na titira, we need other nation's assistance.
There are lots of demands, but we just can not produce enough.

Pag hindi na nahirapan ang pangkaraniwang negosyante magtatag ng kanyang sariling hanapbuhay, then, I can say we are doing good in our economy.

(Subukan niyo mag tatag ng kahit na anong hanapbuhay na dadaan sa munisipyo para kumuha ng mga permit.and other needs, pag hind naturete kayo kung hindi kayo maglalagay)

barukdok

March 17th, 2008, 09:55 AM

^^
that's the common impression. but if you know where to look, there's always that niche ;)

as to business permits, if that's how it works, that won't stop the determined entrepreneur from setting up the business. of course, the demand to cut red tape must continue ;)

Weina

March 18th, 2008, 06:16 PM

Philippine jobless rate balloons to 7.4% in Jan
03/18/2008 | 09:52 AM

MANILA, Philippines- The country's jobless rate increased to 7.4 percent in January 2008 from 6.3 percent in October last year, the National Statistics Office said Tuesday.

The unemployment rate was at 7.3 percent in October of 2006.

Year-on-year, however, the NSO said January 2008's unemployment rate is a slight decrease from the 7.8 percent recorded in the same month in 2007.

NSO's latest data also showed that the country had 33.7 million employed persons, out of a labor force of 36.4 million in January, placing employment rate at 92.6 percent. In October last year, there was a smaller labor force of 35.9 million persons, but almost the same number, 33.69 million, were employed.

According to GMANews.TV calculations, there were 2.69 million unemployed individuals in January 2008, up from 2.26 million in October 2007, showing that the local economy was apparently unable to keep up with the expanding labor force.

Underemployment also increased in January.

The underemployment rate in the first month of the year was recorded at 18.9 percent, a slight increase from the 18.1 percent level reached in October 2007. Versus a year ago, however, the incidence of underemployment decreased from 21.5 percent.

The underemployed are defined as people who already have jobs but are looking for more employment to augment their income. Underemployed people are also those who are working less than 40 hours a week.

Of the country's regions, NSO said the National Capital Region has the highest incidence of unemployment at 12.5 percent.

Around one-half (50.2 percent) were employed in the services sector, more than one-third (35 percent) in the agriculture sector and the rest (14.8 percent) were in the industry sector.

However, the data also showed that among the various occupation groups, laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest proportion (31.6 percent) of the total employed population. - GMANews

Arroyo administration missed job creation targets - economist
03/18/2008 | 03:39 PM

The Arroyo administration has failed to meet its target of creating 1 million new jobs every year, as evidenced by the latest employment data showing that the unemployment rate expanded to 7.3 percent in January 2008 from 6.3 percent in October 2007.

“In terms of employment generation, the total net jobs created for the whole year ending January 2008 was only 150,000, which was even lower than the corresponding figure of 483,000 in October 2007, and definitely way below the government’s target 1 million jobs a yea," Victor Abola, University of Asia and the Pacific economist, told GMANews.TV.

Abola said the increased number of jobless Filipinos is also due to seasonal factors, as October is harvest season which creates more opportunities for workers in the farm sector. These opportunities lessen significantly when January rolls in.

Year-on-year, unemployment eased slightly from 7.8 percent in January 2007.

“The unemployment rate went down primarily because labor participation rate dropped substantially from 64.8 percent in January 2007 to 63.4 percent in January this year. That translates to a labor force that is supposed to have grown by only 3,000 or 0.0 percent for the same period," he said.

Abola explained that whatever jobs were created in the period came primarily from self-employed, family-owned, and unpaid family work" which offset the large drop of 492,000 in the wage and salaried employment.

"Agriculture provided net new 153,000 jobs, while industry (basically mining and construction) added 22,000 slots at the same time that the service sector was shedding 26,000 positions. The strong peso continued to takes its toll on the manufacturing sector which lost 88,000 jobs over a one year period, and 99,000 posts since October 2007. These figures are hardly conducive to a sustained strong growth," he said.

Abola said that another way of looking at the weak employment generation was the preference of employers to make their existing workers work longer than employ new people.

“This is reflected in the decline in the number of employed persons working less than 40 hours per week which was more than compensated for by the number working more than 40 hours. Thus, the underemployment rate was 18.9 percent which was lower than the 21.5 percent registered in January 2007, but a bit higher than the level of 18.1 percent chalked up in October 2007," he said. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews

3cr

March 18th, 2008, 10:16 PM

‘9 M jobless, underemployed’
By Mayen Jaymalin
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080318152

Nine million Filipinos are either jobless or looking for additional jobs, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

At the same time, the Asian Development Bank reported in a recent study that the Philippines has one of the highest unemployment rates in Southeast Asia, contributing to growing poverty despite last year’s 7.3 percent economic growth, partly due to low levels of private and public investment.

The latest NSO Labor Force Survey showed that the number of unemployed Filipinos went up to 2.69 million in January from 2.26 million last October or a jobless rate of 7.4 percent from 6.3 percent.

NSO also recorded a total of 6.37 million underemployed or those working less than 40 hours a week and looking for additional jobs to earn extra income.

But the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) stressed that the recorded number of unemployed and underemployed Filipinos was the lowest ever in three years.

Based on data from the DOLE-Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), the unemployment level of 7.4 was lower than the 7.8 jobless rate during the same period in 2007.

“There were 2.85 million unemployed in January 2007 and a total of 2.83 million in January 2006. The unemployment level in the past years was much higher than today,” a labor official said.

The number of underemployed also declined from 6.7 million in 2006 and 7.21 million in 2007 to this year’s 6.3 million.

Labor officials further said the employment level also increased to 33.69 million from 33.5 million in 2007 and 32 million in 2006. Based on the NSO data, a majority of the unemployed were from the National Capital Region (NCR), male and those belonging to the 15 to 24-year age bracket.

Manila and surrounding cities had the highest unemployment rate of 12.5 percent while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had the lowest unemployment rate of 4 percent, the statistics office said. Unemployment tends to be lower in rural areas, because the majority of the population work on family farms or are hired as farm hands of big landowners.

The statistics office said the country’s total labor force was 36.4 million out of a total population of around 90 million.

Of the 33.7 million people employed in January, half were in the services sector, more than a third were in agriculture and the rest were in the industries sector.

More than half of the employed, or nearly 52 percent, were wage and salary workers, while more than a third were own-account or self-employed workers. The rest were unpaid family workers.

Nearly two-thirds of the employed were full-time workers, or those working at least 40 hours a week. The rest were part-time workers.

Of the underemployed, nearly half were in the agriculture sector, more than a third were in services and the rest were in the industry sector.

Acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said DOLE would prioritize programs promoting employment and he would work harder to curb the country’s high unemployment rate.

Meanwhile, Roque reported that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is allocating P50 million to upgrade skills and promote employment of Filipino seafarers.

“We want to give assurance to our global employers that we have competent officers and that we are addressing this shortage of marine officers,” Roque said.

He added that they are targeting fourth year high school students, graduates of engineering courses and seafarers who want to upgrade their skills for the nationwide program.

3cr

March 18th, 2008, 10:18 PM

Is our GDP growth overstated?
By Cielito Habito
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://business.inquirer.net/money/columns/view/20080316-125107/Is-our-GDP-growth-overstated

A GOOD NUMBER OF ECONOMISTS AND financial analysts I know continue to scratch their heads over the reported 7.3-percent GDP growth of our economy in 2007, which made us the fastest growing economy in our neighborhood last year. Have we Filipinos become so unaccustomed to success that we find it hard to believe it when it comes? Or is it that we Filipinos have become so accustomed to deceit and lies from the government that it’s hard to believe information coming from their direction anymore—statistical data included?

Well, in the case of the recent data on the growth of the Philippine economy, there appear to be compelling reasons to question the reliability of the numbers we have been getting lately. I have mentioned in past columns the continuing work being done by former Neda chief Felipe Medalla to analyze data on our gross domestic product (GDP) over time. A key finding he makes is that the trends in these data have been in direct contradiction to the data that actually feed into it. I will cite just two instances here.

Overstated consumption?

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) make up the bulk (70 percent) of the spending side of the GDP accounts. The most reliable data on this comes from the Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES), which surveys about 50,000 households all over the country every three years, since 1985. This would obviously be a key source for the PCE estimates in the GDP accounts. The problem is, GDP is reported every quarter, forcing government statisticians to find other ways to estimate PCE at that frequency (exactly how they do it has never been fully explained to the data users). Still, trends in the PCE estimates from the GDP accounts and those from the FIES should be consistent. And in fact, they have been—until after 2001.

Medalla finds that something strange happened after 2001. When he graphed the growth rates of PCE from both sources against each other, he found that the two trends had a clear systematic relationship from the 1980s up to 2000. But from 2001 onwards, PCE growth based on GDP data inexplicably got jacked up much higher than PCE growth implied by the FIES data--so the data points for 2001 onward end up in the wrong place (“outliers”) in the graph. The jump was so drastic that PCE based on GDP data grew fastest in the Arroyo years, and yet PCE from the FIES grew the slowest in that same period! Most analysts who know the data would tend to believe the FIES more. If this indicates PCE to be overstated in the GDP accounts, therein lies strong reason to suspect that GDP growth has been overstated lately.

Understated imports?

An equally compelling point from Medalla’s analysis concerns how the recent growth rate of GDP is made higher by slower import growth compared to the past. On the demand side, the economy’s output is measured as the sum of personal consumption expenditures (C), government consumption expenditures (G), investment expenditures (I), and net exports (exports X minus imports M). Domestic output (GDP) is thus measured as C+I+G+X minus M. A lower M thus makes measured GDP higher.

C+I+G+X grew much faster in the Ramos years (around 5 percent) than in the Arroyo years (less than 4 percent). And yet, GDP growth comes out higher lately simply because growth in imports, the item subtracted out, has been much slower. From more than 10-percent annual import growth in the 1990s, we see low single-digit growth rates under Arroyo, even turning negative (-5.4 percent) last year. If the data are reliable, this suggests that our economy has become less reliant on imports both inputs and finished products—and this would be good news. But is this really the case? Or are we simply increasingly unable to keep track of our true imports?

Smuggling: growing industry

I was recently informed that while our data record about $7 billion in imports from China, the Chinese government records about $30 billion in exports to us! With such huge discrepancy in our trade data with China alone, the likely value of smuggling into our country—the part of M that has gone unmeasured—is mind-boggling. And herein lies another answer to the apparent overestimation of our GDP growth—and I must point out that this is no fault of our dedicated professionals in the statistical system, who can only rely on the Bureau of Customs for official import data. If smuggling has indeed become the country’s fastest-growing industry in recent years, as many people have come to perceive, then that also explains why the reported growth in GDP has been so uncharacteristically high.

Peter Wallace, who has watched the Philippine economy closely for decades, simulated how GDP would have fared if imports had grown at a more “normal” rate of about 5 percent annually. He finds that 2007 GDP growth would have been only 4.8 percent under that scenario—and he believes that is much closer to the truth than the 7.3-percent growth reported by government. And he hasn’t even yet considered the likely overestimation of consumption explained above.

Fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia? Think again.

Fundador

March 19th, 2008, 06:17 PM

Typhoid outbreak in Samar downs 150

Epidemiologists suspect the outbreak was caused by the lack of sanitation facilities and recent heavy rains

By Miguel Antonio de Guzman,

BORONGAN, Samar: A second outbreak of typhoid has left about 150 people hospitalized, health officials said Tuesday.

The latest typhoid outbreak occurred on the island of Zumarraga, said Aura Corpuz, medical specialist with the National Epidemiology Centre in Manila.

Epidemiologists suspect the outbreak was caused by the lack of sanitation facilities and heavy rains that fell on the area in recent weeks that washed sewerage into the open wells residents use for drinking, said Corpuz.

Corpuz, however, assured the latest outbreak had not yet reached a dangerous level and no fatalities were reported.

Dr. Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center (NEC), said local health workers are now teaching the residents in Alegria village in Zumarraga town on disinfections, reported the Philippine News Agency.

The health official noted that the outbreak stemmed from two months of rains, with the surface runoff contaminating the local deep wells from which the residents draw drinking water. He added that a medical team from the Department of Health regional office is on standby for dispatch to the area affected by the outbreak should there be a need to augment the services of the local health office.

Earlier this month, there was an outbreak of typhoid fever that reached epidemic proportions in Calamba City, Laguna that left 1,200 people hospitalized.

At the overcrowded Jose Rizal Medical District Hospital in the city, sick children in soiled nappies and on intravenous drips spilled into hallways from overcrowded wards, many in makeshift cots.

It took almost two weeks for health officials to put the typhoid outbreak soon as officials identified that it came from contaminated water distributed to homes by the city’s water district.

Areas close to the city were also put on a tight watch, and water sources were analyzed daily. The Calamba City government also established a command center to provide quick reaction to distress signals from communities.

Tayag said the health department verified the data provided by the Calamba Health Office, while urging the Calamba City government to distribute chlorinated water to the residents to prevent further outbreak.

The epidemiologist had also advised the residents to boil their drinking water for at least two to three minutes and use chlorinated water in cooking food.

Meanwhile, a Chinese-Filipino medical team conducted a medical mission in Calamba City in Laguna province on Tuesday to treat residents downed by typhoid fever. James Dy, head of the Filipino-Chinese Charitable Association that headed the mission, said most of those downed by typhoid were children.

“We’ll bring the serious cases to Manila,” he said, referring to his founda*tion’s Chinese General Hospital.

Typhoid is a communicable disease characterized by fever, diarrhea, prostration, apathy, headache, eruption of rose spots, leukopenia, an inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and caused by the salmonella typhi bacteria that can be either transmitted through food and water intake www.manilatimes.net

lazybum

March 22nd, 2008, 01:43 AM

The latest news headlines in the Philippines are really troubling. On top of the news for a couple of days now is the concern about possible rice shortages. The other major troubling news is the almost tacit admission by the Arroyo government that the budget deficit this year will be much larger than projected, and of course, there is the concern about the effect of a US slowdown in US investments in the Philippines.

All the other news related to government officials' corruption are hardly creating a ripple...to me it proves one thing and one thing only - that when the people's stomach starts to growl, all bets are off - they don't want to hear anymore about ZTE or any of the corrupt officials - the people just want to be assured that they can still buy rice at a price they can afford. Now that Vietnam officially informed the Philippine government that it can only commit to about half of what the Arroyo administration was looking to buy, where is the shortfall in the supply of rice going to come from?

None of these events are really surprising but the way they are played out in the Philippine media, it sounded as if the media have just learned about the bad news today.

lazybum

March 22nd, 2008, 01:51 AM

In this season of lent, I just hope and pray that the Filipino intellectual leaders and the rest of the Filipino middle class will finally find the courage to get up and advance the much needed solutions to the ills of this God-fearing country for a better tomorrow.

Fundador

March 22nd, 2008, 12:46 PM

'Big 3' oil companies hike pump prices anew by P0.50/L

The 'Big 3' oil companies in the Philippines Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex) and Petron Corp. for the fourth time this March implemented a P0.50 per liter increase in their pump prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene products Saturday.

Pilipinas Shell said the increase on its products was implemented 12:01 a.m. Saturday. It said the oil price hike is "due to the significant increase in the world oil prices."

Chevron and Petron likewise attributed their new round of oil price hikes to continued rising cost of crude in the world market.

Petron said the average of the Dubai crude oil is at $97 per barrel or $7 higher than the February average.

Petron implemented its price increase 6 a.m. Saturday while Chevron hiked prices noon Saturday.

The latest round of increase was the fourth implemented by oil companies which have now increased pump prices for four consecutive weekends - each time by P0.50 per liter.

World oil prices reached record level of $111 per barrel but have retreated to just over $100 a barrel in the past days.

www.abs-cbnnews.com

Weina

March 24th, 2008, 08:26 AM

Arroyo neglect, gov't infighting jeopardize RP's territorial claim
VERA Files
03/24/2008 | 01:56 PM
(First of two parts)

MANILA, Philippines - Neglect by President Gloria Arroyo and squabbles over turf and money have derailed government efforts to establish the country's new archipelagic baseline, and may jeopardize the Philippines' claim over resource-rich Spratlys that fall within its extended continental shelf.

With a year left before the May 13, 2009 deadline for filing its claim for an extended continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippines is nowhere near completing the studies, surveys and report required to bolster the country’s claim over its extended territory.

The UNCLOS, which the Philippines ratified 14 years ago, requires coastal states to declare their extended continental shelf, which is the underwater extension of the land.

In Congress, lawmakers are debating a redefined archipelagic baseline bill. Although there is no deadline to the filing of a country's archipelagic baseline with the UN, it is, however, going to be the basis for measuring all maritime regimes or zones: territorial sea (12 nautical miles from the baseline), contiguous zone (24 nm), economic exclusive zone (200 nm), continental shelf (200 nm) and extended continental shelf (350 nm).

The drafting of the country's claim under the UNCLOS is a tale of infighting among agencies wanting to take the lead and subsequently controlling the billions of pesos of government fund for that undertaking, including a $250,000 grant from the Norwegian government.

It is also a story of President Arroyo’s failure to give importance to the complicated tasks involved (such as marine hydrographic, gravity and magnetic surveys and studies) to come up with data required in drafting territorial baseline despite the urgency of a May 2009 deadline.

In 2001, President Arroyo abolished the Cabinet Committee on the Treaty on the Law of the Sea, created under Ferdinand Marcos and maintained by the three succeeding presidents – Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, and Joseph Estrada. Arroyo replaced it with the mid-level Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center (MOAC), which was just a unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) then headed by Assistant Secretary Alberto Encomienda.

It was only in March 2007, after six years, that Arroyo restored the issue as a Cabinet-level concern when she issued Executive Order 612 creating the Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs (CMOA) under the Office of the President. The CMOA is to be chaired by the Executive Secretary with the Justice Secretary and Foreign Affairs Secretary as vice chairs.

The initial members were the departments of national defense, environment and natural resources, budget and management, transportation and communications, tourism, trade and industry, National Security Council, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, National Mapping and Resources Information Authority (NAMRIA), and the Philippine Coast Guard.

Arroyo designated the Department of Foreign Affairs as the lead agency and secretariat of the CMOA. She also committed a major oversight: she excluded from the EO creating CMOA the Department of Energy, which had been involved in doing scientific studies on the country's continental shelf with other agencies.

It took nine months for Arroyo to correct the lapse. On Dec. 17, 2007, she issued EO 612-A including DOE in the CMOA "in order (for it) to be able to fully contribute its knowledge and expertise" in the preparation of the country's claim for extended continental shelf.

Outside the Palace, however, there were other initiatives toward complying with the UN requirement. In 2001, the University of the Philippines, through its National Institute of Geological Sciences and the UP Law Center's Institute of International Legal Studies, undertook a project, "Delineation of the Outer Limits of the Philippine Continental Shelf," with the DOE, NAMRIA and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

UP law professor Harry Roque, an international law expert, recalled the confusion on who was to take the lead in this project. Foreign affairs officials wanted the DFA to lead because it was in charge of submitting the claim to the UN. DENR said they should take the lead because the project involves natural resources and NAMRIA is its line agency. The NSC also got into the picture, citing security considerations.

In the end, the project proposed an executive order creating an interagency national committee with the president or vice president as chair and the DFA and DENR as vice chairs. When the UP-led project ended months later, Arroyo had not created any such committee.

In the case of MOAC, interagency coordination was saddled by its not being Cabinet level; thus, no policy decisions could be made. To be fair, Encomienda presented updates on the project before the Cabinet cluster on security attended by President Arroyo.

There were also personality differences among MOAC members. Some did not regard highly the entry of a retired police general, Dionisio Ventura, as head of NAMRIA, while others resented what they said was Encomienda's "soliloquy" during meetings. Worse, some agencies refused to share data with MOAC.

Bureaucratic wrangling also marred baseline-related activities of the past administrations. During the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos, interagency power play derailed a project that would have strengthened the Philippine position to include a portion of the disputed Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) within the Philippine archipelagic baseline. The KIG is part of Spratlys.

Documents obtained by Vera Files showed that as early as 1994, Ramos ordered various agencies to work together on projects to redefine the country's archipelagic baseline.

In mid-1994, then NAMRIA administrator Jose Solis (now congressman of Sorsogon) sought financial assistance from then Energy Secretary Delfin Lazaro for the building of lighthouses on three islets in the KIG: Nares Reef, Recto Bank or Marie Louise Reef, and Sea Horse Bank.

This was about the time that the Chinese were starting to occupy Mischief Reef in the KIG, which is only 135 nautical miles away from the Philippine baseline. Lazaro supported the lighthouses project and sought Ramos’ approval to draw funds from the DOE's Special Account.

In a memo to Ramos, Lazaro cited possible international complications and risks of the lighthouse project: "While this project will be beneficial to the Philippines in terms of expanding available area not only for petroleum exploration but for other natural resources as well and that the lighthouses will also be important navigational aids, we wish to point out that actual construction of the lighthouse could provoke international protests from other countries (such as China and Vietnam) including possible physical stoppage of the work by their navies."

Lazaro’s request for a go-signal got stalled in Malacanang. His successor, Francisco Viray, pursued the lighthouse project. In a memo to Ramos dated Dec. 12, 1994, Viray said: "Once established, these lighthouses will serve as legal basis in determining the new baseline. Other countries are doing the same things to fortify their territorial claims."

Viray said the presence of lighthouses would reinforce the country’s claim over the Reed Bank. A lighthouse would have qualified Reed Bank, which is within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone, to be part of the archipelagic baseline. This would increase Philippine archipelagic waters within the baseline by 11,042 square nautical miles or 7,750,000 hectares.

Documents obtained by Vera Files showed that on Feb. 15, 1995, Ramos finally approved the release of P178-million for the mapping, survey, and construction of lighthouses in the KIG. He instructed the DOE to supply the funds, and the NAMRIA to supervise the design and construction of the lighthouse as well as the coordinates of the benchmarks identifying the territorial limits based on the 200-nautical mile EEZ. Formal public bidding was waived "in view of the urgency and confidentiality of the project."

But soon after the funding was approved, Ramos himself revoked NAMRIA's authority to oversee the project and transferred it to the Philippine Navy upon the recommendation of Defense Secretary Renato de Villa.

This led Solis to complain: "The NAMRIA has been religiously working for the immediate implementation of the KIG project. I would like to inform the Executive Secretary that when there were still no available funds for the project, it was the NAMRIA which did all the work to convince the funding agency to support the project. However, when the funding was approved and the authority was given to the NAMRIA, the Cabinet made a decision to transfer the project to the Philippine Navy."

For one reason or another, the KIG lighthouses never got built—and the Philippines has lost its chance to build them. In 2002, the Arroyo government signed the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct in the South China Sea that bans construction of new structures on uninhabited islands in the disputed areas. Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines are claiming wholly or partially about 160 islands in the South China Sea.

A number of baseline and continental shelf legislations have been filed in both chambers of Congress. In the Senate, Sen. Leticia Shahani filed such a bill in 1993. A proposed baseline law authored by detained senator Antonio Trillanes IV is pending in the 14th Congress. The bill seeks to amend existing baseline to include Scarborough Shoal and treating the KIG as a regime of islands to conform to the criteria set by UNCLOS.

In the House of Representatives, Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco's bill has been returned to the committee level after reaching second reading last December. There were earlier initiatives in the House by then representative and now senator Francis Escudero and Rep. Gerry Salapuddin. "The project was stalled due to lack of available funds," Salapuddin said back then.

Indeed, it is the government's failure to provide the money that has slowed down projects needed to revised the baseline law and identify the extended continental shelf. After receiving an initial P50 million funding last year, CMOA is getting only P10 million in the 2008 budget.
It also took Malacanang five years to include the budget needed for the extended continental shelf project. A source privy to the project said NAMRIA had initially estimated that P10 billion would be needed for the scientific and technical surveys. Deputy Executive Secretary for Legislative Liaison Jake Lagonera balked, saying, "Masyado yatang malaki 'yan (That's too much)."

Indonesia had spent about $100 million for its project. But MOAC had said about P500 million would be enough for the extended continental shelf project.

The source said the Palace also found NAMRIA'S second proposal, totalling P2.9 billion, on the high side. It finally approved a P1.7 billion funding to be released over several years.

The Arroyo administration's last-minute effort to meet the May 2009 deadline is reflected in NAMRIA's P 1.2 billion budget for this year. For the first time, it is getting a P380 million allotment for the extended continental shelf delimitation project on top of the P547 million for its regular mapping and remote sensing activities. - Ellen Tordesillas, Chit Estella, Luz Rimban, Booma Cruz, Yvonne Chua and Jennifer Santiago, VERA Files/GMANews

Louman

March 24th, 2008, 09:22 AM

May colon cancer daw si dating Pangulong Cory Aquino. Yikes.

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/19936/Cory-Aquino-has-colon-cancer---Kris-Aquino

diz

March 24th, 2008, 11:25 AM

Dang that's terrible. Hope she recovers well.

Weina

March 25th, 2008, 02:42 PM

Philippine banks exposed to high credit losses -- Moody's

Thomson Financial
First Posted 17:29:00 03/25/2008

BANGALORE -- Moody's Investors Service said, in a report on overviews of banking systems worldwide, that banks in the Philippines are exposed to potentially high credit losses due to their operating environment.

Besides the moderately high volatility in the Philippines' business cycles, credit losses have historically been exacerbated by weak governance, Moody's said.

"Bank credit risk in the Philippines has been elevated by a difficult operating environment, a new and developing supervisory and regulatory framework and low level of government support," S&P said.

The ratings agency said these challenges outweigh the benefits derived from the dominant role of banks within the financial system, which have historically faced little competition from domestic capital markets or non-bank financial institutions and developed strong earnings profiles.

The ratings agency said reforms to the Philippine banking system, undertaken since the Asian currency crisis, helped to improve the regulatory and supervisory system, but confidence would be enhanced by greater transparency, formalization of procedures and institutionalization of reforms.

Weina

March 26th, 2008, 06:43 PM

RP ranks 8th with most TB cases in world -- WHO

By Julie Alipala, Charlie Señase
Mindanao Bureau
03/26/2008

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- Tuberculosis (TB) remains to be one of the top killer diseases in the country, according to health officials here.

Quoting recent data from the World Health Organization, Western Mindanao health director Aristides Tan said the Philippines even ranked eighth among 22 countries with high incidence of TB.

“Since the discovery of TB bacilli by German Robert Koch, tuberculosis is still a pandemic and we are No. 8 among 22 countries considered producers of TB in the whole world,” Tan told reporters here.

In Western Mindanao alone, Tan said about 4,000 people die of TB every year.

“We have to do something to at least control the situation,” said Dr. Pascualito Concepcion, coordinator of the city health office’s TB Prevention and Control Program.

Mirriam Kanti, a clinical instructor at the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU), said what is more alarming is that more women are catching TB these days.

“Women are susceptible because of stress,” said Kanti, also chair of the Zamboanga City Coalition Against TB.

Tan agreed by saying that females are more physically attached to children than males.

He said this made the possibility of TB transmission higher.

Weina

March 27th, 2008, 11:47 AM

RP human rights measures 'window-dressing'--HRW

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 16:28:00 03/27/2008

MANILA -- Measures introduced by the Philippine government to curb human rights abuses are mere "window-dressing," an official from Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

"The list of actions touted by the Philippine government as progress unfortunately seem little more than window-dressing," said Elaine Pearson, Asia deputy director for the New York-based rights group.

Although the government has said extra-judicial killings fell sharply last year, Pearson said a "pause in political killings will mean little in the long run unless those responsible are prosecuted."

She told reporters in Manila that the government's failure to convict military men for human rights abuses will be brought up during a review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on April 11.

Pearson said Human Rights Watch (HRW) research showed that since 2001, there had been hundreds of cases of suspected insurgents, leftists, reporters, government critics and activists who had been murdered or had vanished, but no military man had been convicted of these crimes.

Although the government had set up a task force to investigate these incidents and had put in place measures to protect witnesses in these cases, these actions had "in fact accomplished little, and seem designed to merely deflect domestic and international criticism," Pearson added.

"Human Rights Council members should be asking the government why it hasn't taken strong action against abusive military personnel that would finally put a stop to these killings," said Pearson.

She noted that UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, following a visit to the Philippines in February 2007, said the military was in denial about the killings.

She said HRW had already submitted its findings to the council in Geneva and they would be taken up at the review session next month.

"The Philippines is among the first countries up for the universal periodic review, and as such it will be a test for the Human Rights Council," said Pearson.

She said the United Nations would not seek sanctions against any of the countries concerned but said the session "would help focus attention on the serious concern on the human rights problem in the Philippines."

"We hope to apply peer pressure on the Philippines," she said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

jbkayaker12

March 27th, 2008, 12:25 PM

Weina

March 27th, 2008, 01:24 PM

ADB: Power, infra costs cripple RP

Bank cites Manila's 'unfinished' transport agenda

By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:56:00 03/27/2008

MANILA, Philippines--The Asian Development Bank sees the "expensive" and "unreliable" electric supply as well as "inefficient" transport network in the Philippines as the two most critical infrastructure constraints to the country's growth.

The ADB cited studies, which included inputs from the World Bank, the Philippine government's unfinished reform agenda for the power and transport sectors.

A comparative study of 10 Southeast Asian cities showed that power tariffs for businesses in Manila were 20 to 80 percent higher than that in neighboring countries, the bank said.

"In addition, the reliability of electricity supply has been poor, and the investment climate survey shows that small and medium enterprises have been losing up to 8 percent of their production due to frequent power disruptions," the ADB said.

Losses due to power failure were estimated at about 8 percent of production.

"Power outages hurt SMEs most, costing them about 8 to 11 percent of production, compared with 6 percent for large firms," the ADB said.

To enhance domestic productivity, the ADB study said the government would have to address the following constraints:

- Financial viability of the National Power Corp. and Power Sector Assset Liabilities Management Corp.;

- The need for new investments in the power sector in view of forecast of power shortage in the near future;

- Privatization of the rest of the state's power generation assets; and,
An efficient and credible regulatory framework and institution.

On the transport network, the ADB noted that more than half of the country's road network was in poor or bad condition. Vehicle operating and inter-city freight costs are reported to be over 50 percent higher than that in Indonesia and Thailand.

"While the Philippine road network is extensive, much of it is in poor condition," the ADB said. "Only 70 percent of the national road network is paved. The national road network is a mere 12 percent of the total public road network."

The bank also said that village roads "are mostly unpaved and in poor condition and comprise more than half of the road network."

Likewise, the report cited a World Bank estimate that the high level of congestion on the main roads alone was costing as much as P185 billion a year.

The ADB said this was ironic because the government had accumulated a substantial amount of money since May 2001, when a law was passed creating the Road Fund, mandating the collection of a motor vehicle user charge from vehicle owners. An estimated P22.6 billion had been collected under this law from May 2001 to April 2005.

"The efficiency with which these funds are used could be improved," it said.

It was also noted that the port of Manila ranked 31st among the top 50 ports worldwide in the 2005 world port rankings in terms of container traffic.

However, ADB also pointed out that the Philippines was way behind other Asean ports in the top 50 list.

The bank added that the Philippines had the highest cost in the Asean for exporting a container, which it attributed to inefficiencies in port handling.

tigidig14

March 27th, 2008, 07:03 PM

patunay na kinurakot yung perang nakalaan sa infrastraktura
tapos ang pinalit ay yung mababang abilidad

Weina

March 28th, 2008, 06:32 AM

Japan firms think RP a risky place for business
03/27/2008 | 06:00 PM

MANILA, Philippines- Japanese companies view the Philippines as one of the riskiest countries to do business in, due to the rapid appreciation of the peso, lack of needed infrastructure, and intellectual property rights issues.

In its 2007 survey on international operations of Japanese firms the Japan External Trade Organization showed that while 66.4 percent of the Japanese companies which participated in the poll plan to expand overseas operations, the Philippines was an unpopular choice among 18 destinations.

The destinations included in the poll were:China, the United States, India, Thailand, Western Europ, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Russia, Hong Kong, Central and Eastern Europe, Singapore, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.

According to the poll, the Philippines is the last place (18th) Japanese companies would want to expand sales operations in. Japanese firms ranked the country only the 13th best place to expand production of mid to low-end products, 13th choice to expand production of high-end products, 15th best place to conduct primary research and development in, and, worst place to conduct new product development.

The survey also showed that Japanese firms found the Philippines the second to the worst (17th) place to conduct localized research and development, second to the worst (17th) place to establish regional headquarters, and, third to the worst (16th) country to expand in distribution efforts.

The Philippines was cited in the top riskiest countries in four categories out of six that were included in the poll.

The poll also said Japanese companies ranked the Philippines fourth in high foreign exchange risk, third in inadequate infrastructure, fifth in underdeveloped legal system, third in lack of clustering or development of related industries, fourth in problems with protection of intellectual property rights, and fifth in labor issues.

But Japanese firms gave plus points to the Philippines in the areas of little language barrier, second; fifth in full set of preferential measures and incentives; fifth in low business costs; and fifth in easy to access local information and services.

The poll was conducted between November 27, 2007 and January 4, 2008, wherein 733 Jetro member firms participated. These companies are engaged in manufacturing, trading, and wholesale/trading.

Jetro is a Japanese government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. It has a Philippine office located in Makati City. - GMANews

diz

March 29th, 2008, 01:06 PM

that's a big smack in the face for arroyo ... not sure abot the disgraceful opposition... makes u think if they even consider themselves Filipino...

anyway, more bad news. PBCom is no longer in the top 100 tallest buildings in the world.
http://www.skyscrapers.cn/billboard.htm

3cr

March 29th, 2008, 09:09 PM

Govt to boost asset sales to fund higher spending
Manila Standard
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news3_mar29_2008

THE Philippines may sell more assets than planned or increase domestic borrowing to finance additional spending, an official said yesterday.

“The focus today is on targeted spending on social services and infrastructure,” Finance Secretary Gary Teves told reporters in Clark, Pampanga.

He did not say why the government needed to spend more, but Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said on Wednesday more spending was needed to sustain economic growth.

He said the government might miss its goal of balancing its budget this year to boost growth amid the US slowdown, and to increase farm production to counter rising food prices.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific says the Philippine economy is poised to grow 6.7 percent this year despite the US recession.

It says that growth—marginally down from 7.3 percent in 2007—will be supported by strong domestic demand, investment and government consumption.

“The Philippines is expected to see robust private consumption as a result of booming remittances,” the UN agency said in its Economic Survey for Asia and the Pacific 2008.

It says the Philippines’ 6.7-percent expansion will be faster than Indonesia’s 6.2 percent, Malaysia’s 5.8 percent, Singapore’s 4.9 percent, and Vietnam’s 4.9 percent.

But it will be slower than Vietnam’s 8.2 percent growth, China’s 10.7 percent, and India’s 9.0 percent.

Another UN agency says rapid urbanization in Asia and the Pacific has driven up poverty in many countries including the Philippines.

An increase in urbanization aids growth but it also pushes up urban poverty, says the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

It says the year 2008 represents a turning point in human geography because, for the first time in history, there are more people living in cities than in rural areas.

“This growth in Asia and the Pacific is having a knock-on effect,” said Pietro Gennari, head of the agency’s Statistics Division.

“We’re seeing more and more people living in slums and also a negative effect on people’s ability to access clean water and sanitation in the urban areas.”

Gennari says two out of five urban dwellers in Asia and the Pacific live in slums compared with three out of five in Africa—although this is notably higher than the 33-percent prevailing in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“This urbanization and the increase in the number of people living in slums are largely responsible for a decrease in urban access to improved water sources in Asia and the Pacific since 1990,” Gennari said.

“Countries with high access rates in the 1990s, such as China, Indonesia and the Philippines, have all recorded a fall in the proportion of the urban population with access to improved sources of water.”

3cr

March 29th, 2008, 09:09 PM

Economists: Worst is yet to come
ABS-CBN News
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=113428

Filipinos still need to tighten their belts for the next six months as economists predict that the worst is not yet over.

Economic experts said prices of rice and petroleum products would continue to soar in the next few months.

The average price of petroleum products this March has reportedly reached US$96 per barrel as compared to the US$90/barrel in February.

Meanwhile, the cost of rice, a staple food in the country, is also climbing because Thailand and Vietnam’s harvest weakened. The Philippines is importing rice from Thailand and Vietnam.

Experts said the price of the rice and oil will continue to increase because of the big demand in China and India.

Cause to worry

"We have on one side the picture of a very rapid growth of the Chinese and Indian economy. As they double a lot of their supply of coal, wheat, oil and rice, these things are going to be very expensive in the Philippines. We're beginning to see it in the case of rice," said Dr. Felipe Medalla, dean of the University of the Philippines, School of Economics.

"Obviously there is worry especially about prices. Prices obviously are having a strong pressure upwards because of oil prices and again this global rise in food prices is really with us," Dr. Cielito Habito said.

Medalla and Habito were former socioeconomic planning secretaries.

Long-term uncertain

Medalla said it would be hard to stop the price increase particularly since the country is facing external factors, political problems and poor governance.

"Is a government mired in all sorts of scandals to be trusted by the people? Suppose the government says I'm an honest government, I'm telling you we have to have a slight rise in price to encourage farmers to produce. Who will believe it?" Medalla said.

They however advised the public to prepare as the long-term effect to the country is still uncertain.

"Let's prepare for the worst, let's be ready to tighten up our belts because definitely the worst things are coming but then again, not to lose hope. In the end, the economy is only as good as the people who make up the economy," said Habito.

Reuters poll - RP econ to slow

Philippine economic growth will slow this year from a three-decade peak in 2007 dampened by weak exports, slowing private investment, as well as rising inflation, a Reuters quarterly poll showed.

But government spending to rehabilitate and upgrade public infrastructure after years of neglect should provide some support, analysts said.

The median forecast of economists polled was for gross domestic product (GDP) to expand 5.8 percent in 2008, slower than 7.3 percent growth in 2007.

Lower than Dec poll

The latest 2008 growth forecast is lower than the 6.1 percent estimate in a similar poll conducted in December and is lower than the government target of 6.3-7 percent growth this year.

"The expected slowdown in the Philippine economy is really externally driven," said Frederic Neumann, an economist at HSBC.

"Aside from exports, remittances will also take a hit on the chin, which means slower consumption growth."

Fears of an abrupt US downturn loom large in the Philippines, where 16.2 percent of exports are bought by Americans, and where an estimated 30 percent of overseas Filipino workers' remittances come from.

kiretoce

March 31st, 2008, 01:06 AM

Bishop criticises Playboy Manila edition proposal (http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10201430.html)

A plan to publish a Philippine edition of Playboy has drawn condemnation from a high profile leader of the country's conservative Roman Catholic Church.

Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese said the proposed April 2 launch "shows the declining moral values and system among the present generation of Filipinos".

Cruz said that while people have yet to see the issue Filipinos should shun it as much for what it may contain as for what it represents. He said the magazine is synonymous with graphic nudity.

"It means to say that we are drifting away from morality and these are indications that we failed to inculcate the right value system among our people," Cruz was quoted as saying by reports.

But Playboy Philippine edition's editor Beting Laygo Dolor said the traditionally racy magazine will not feature frontal nudity and will appeal to readers not so much for the pictures but for the "intelligent and well written" articles inside.

Wide experience

Dolor, who has wide experience in international journalism, says Playboy Philippine edition will contain articles on "anything under the sun of interest to men".

He said the edition will continue with Playboy's track record of combining the work of investigative journalists and award-winning fiction writers.

Dolor said he believed the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines would be more receptive to Playboy than neighbouring Indonesia, where the magazine was met with violent opposition from Islamic groups.

red_jasper

March 31st, 2008, 03:20 PM

After rice, prices of bread to increase too
03/31/2008 | 08:12 PM

MANILA, Philippines - After rice, prices of bread are expected to increase too, with some small bakeries already implementing the increase by as much as P5.

GMA’s 24 Oras reported that some small bakeries in Sta. Rosa town in Laguna had already jacked up the price of loaf bread from P35 to P40 Saturday.

The report said the owners of the small bakeries attributed this to the high price of wheat, a prime ingredient in bread-making, in the market.

A group of bakery owners, however, said they are yet to increase the price of their bread, but said such is inevitable if the price of wheat continues to rise.

“Eto ay gawa ng shortage ng wheat sa buong mundo. Ang Australia nagkaroon ng short planting ngayong taon at noong nakaraang taon (This is due to an international shortage of wheat. Australia had a short planting this year and last year)," said Simplicio Umali Jr, president of the Philippine Baking Industry Group.

At present, a sack of wheat costs from P920 to P940.

The report said the baking industry will be left with no choice but to put a 5 percent increase in the price of their products once the price of a sack of wheat reaches P980.

If this pushes through, there will be a P2.50 increase in the price of bread loaf, and P0.25 in pandesal, which is a common Filipino breakfast.

Bakery owners, however, assured that the quality of their bread will not be affected with the global wheat shortage. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/87030/After-rice-prices-of-bread-to-increase-too)

wynngd

April 2nd, 2008, 07:12 PM

I just heard a bad news in Semicon Industry in the Philippines. Intel is packing up and leaving the country this year.... :(

IslandSon.PH

April 4th, 2008, 12:53 PM

Intel considers Philippines pullout: report:ohno:

MANILA (AFP) - Intel Corp, the world's top chip maker is considering pulling out of the Philippines, the economic daily BusinessWorld said Friday, citing a company statement.

Located south of Manila and employing 3,000 people, Intel Technology Philippines Inc is the US firm's second offshore assembly operations center in Asia and also serves as a test site.

The company said it has invested around 1.51 billion dollars in the country.

The economic daily said the subsidiary's senior management discussed its long-term options with the employees on Wednesday. Company spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

"In an effort to keep employees informed, Intel has updated its employees that significant investments would be required to ensure the long-term viability of its factory building in Cavite," the daily quoted an Intel press release as saying.

"Intel would like to reiterate that it has made no decision on this matter and is currently exploring multiple options," it reportedly added.

BusinessWorld quoted company sources as saying Intel would decide on the fate of the site within six to nine months.

It quoted industry officials as saying that while high power costs are a problem in the Philippines, it could not have been the only factor being considered by Intel in deciding to review its options.

huwag naman sana matuloy ito...

3cr

April 4th, 2008, 10:11 PM

Korean edifice complex in Subic forest slammed
April 05, 2008 01:15:00
TJ Burgonio Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://www.inquirer.net/propertyguide/aroundtown/view.php?db=1&article=20080405-128485

MANILA, Philippines—It looks like it is being built for people who want to commune with nature, but some environmentalists are raising a howl.

“It’s horrible. It’s horrific,” Gina Lopez, managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation, which oversees Bantay Kalikasan [Nature Watch], said in a phone interview Friday.

“Foreigners should respect our environmental laws when they come here.”

Lopez was referring to the ongoing construction of two buildings by a Korean investor right inside the lush rainforest of the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales province, northwest of Manila.

“How can you do that? I’m sure that’s not private property. I feel very bad about it,” Lopez said.

Concerned individuals have called the Inquirer’s attention to the two structures being constructed by the South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction (HHIC) Ltd.

The company denied reports that the two buildings were commercial hotels, saying these were residential condominiums intended for its staff.

“These are going to serve as quarters for our Korean staff and, in the future for some Filipino employees,” Shim Jong Sup, HHIC-Philippines president, said by phone.

The first building is 10-story-high and the other is 20-story-tall.

“We want to provide accommodations for our staff,” Shim added, ruling out reports that HHIC had ventured into a hotel project.

The units are designed for Korean expatriates working for Hanjin who have families or who are bachelors, he said.

Shim could not immediately say how much the construction of the condominiums would cost, saying only that “we spent a lot of money to make the structure very strong against earthquake.”

Administrator Armand Arreza of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), which runs the free port zone, estimated the costs of the housing project at $20 million.

‘No environmental violation’

Shim said the construction of the buildings near the lush forests of Subic, a former US naval base, did not violate any environmental regulations.

“We got an ECC [environmental compliance certificate],” he said. It was obtained from the SBMA ecology department.

Amethyia de la Llana-Kovak, SBMA ecology department chief, confirmed the issuance of an ECC last year to the housing project.

Regarding the location, she said the structures were being constructed near the “built-up area” of the Subic forests.

In the protected area management plan of the SBMA, the built-up areas—those allowed for development activities—are marked in pink, De la Llana-Kovak said.

She said the marking indicated that the former tenants, the United States Navy, had previous uses for those areas within the forests.

The HHIC site is near a naval magazine, De la Llana-Kovak said.

She said the project cost was not indicated in the company’s application for an ECC.

The SBMA business development department said the condominiums were a “subsequent” project to Hanjin’s $1.65-billion investment at the free port.

The housing project came more than a year after the HHIC went full-blast in its shipbuilding operation in late 2006, it was learned.

The shipyard, off the Redondo Bay in Subic, Zambales, employs more than 10,000 workers.

Koreans account for about 15 percent of that labor force, the Inquirer learned.

At least seven Filipino workers have died in separate incidents at the shipyard since December 2007 due to what officials said was lack of safety measures at the sites.

Ecological impact

ABS-CBN Foundation’s Lopez expressed concern at the ecological impact of building the condominiums in the Subic rainforest.

“Seventy-five percent of our rainforest has disappeared because nobody knew what was happening. This same thing is happening here,” Lopez said.

“That’s what they wanted to do with La Mesa. Because of high public awareness, this was stopped.”

Bantay Kalikasan, an environmental arm of ABS-CBN Foundation, fiercely fought against the construction of housing projects for executives and former employees of the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in the La Mesa watershed in Quezon City.

Lopez said the use of the land and the issuance of environmental compliance certificate by local authorities to the Korean company for the right to build the structures should be the subject of an inquiry.

“Who issued the ECC? Who sold the land? How did that happen?” she said.

diz

April 5th, 2008, 03:03 AM

Church has last word in the Philippines
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JD05Ae01.html
By William Sparrow

BANGKOK - The Philippines' Department of Education (DepEd) is aggressively trying to push through a sex education plan for high school students, despite the protests and lobbying of the Catholic Church, which seeks to muzzle educators from presenting what it considers to be "immoral" information.

The DepEd must clear a final hurdle from the Presidential Council on Values Formation (PCVF) - the body which is currently reviewing the secondary schools' "adolescent reproductive health manuals", according to Education Secretary Jesli A Lapus.

"The new draft modules which are subject to PCVF review and approval are purely health and science angles on reproductive health ... They are not sex educational materials at all," Lapus

told the Philippine Daily Inquirer this week after the DepEd furnished the newspaper with copies of the revised manual titled "Secondary Teachers' Toolkit on Adolescent Reproductive Health."

Lapus stressed that the revised modules were "products of nationwide multisectoral consultations".

Although the Philippines has been given positive marks in recent decades for its sex education programs, recent years have seen the progress steadily erode. Getting past the PCVF is likely to be a formidable challenge as there is a strong presence of the Catholic clergy on the council, which is chaired by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is also known for bending to pressure of the church.

In 2005, Arroyo told the UN General Assembly to "respect the deep Catholicism of the Filipino people" and said that natural family planning is more effective than artificial means like condoms. Her statements prompted outrage from activists and non-governmental organizations.

The church in the Philippines - where more than 85% of people are Catholic - has long held what many observers view as a negative influence on sexual and reproductive health. In an era of HIV/AIDS it seems staggering that a government, or even a church for that matter, would advocate what appears to be a "head in the sand approach" that puts citizens and parishioners at risk.

Statistics as of 2005 showed the country's annual population growth at 2% - compared to India's 1.7% and Thailand's 1.3%. The study also found that there are over 470,000 illegal abortions each year, nearly 80,000 of which resulted in complications leading to hospitalization.

"The government's bending to the policies of the church is a key force that is setting back reproductive and sexual health in the country," said Rhodora Roy-Raterta, executive director of the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, at a 2005 conference.

"Public policy on family planning choice is also seen as a moral issue, which has drawn the Catholic hierarchy," said Roy-Raterta, who has called the church a major hindrance to reproductive health and sex education.

The Catholic church views condom use as promoting adultery and pre-marital sex, and church leaders believe that sex is meant solely for procreation, In this context, using of condoms - even for HIV/AIDS prevention - becomes an immoral, sinful act.

The problem is becoming very real. An AIDS crisis threatens the Philippines as the number of people who are HIV positive has doubled in just over three years, the Health Department warned in 2006, echoing earlier concerns raised by the UN. A Health Department study at that time projected the number of HIV carriers to have risen to 11,168, from about 6,000 in 2002, Health Secretary Francisco Duque was quoted as saying to local media.

The Philippines, now home to around 85 million people, has become one of the fastest-growing populations in Asia with about 2 million new births each year, many of them in public hospitals so overwhelmed that new mothers are forced to share beds. Meanwhile, the Philippines' population is projected to expand to as many as 142 million by 2040, by the government's own estimates, and the rapid arrival of new mouths to feed is straining the country's creaking infrastructure and choking its efforts to cut poverty.

While family size has fallen to 3.5 children per woman - from six in the 1970s - Filipino mothers, on average, still have one more child than they intended to, according to research by the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Beth Angsioco, chair of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines, said her group will join the campaign to press the DepEd to continue reintegrating lessons on adolescent reproductive health into the secondary school curriculum.

Angsioco said other groups, such as the Philippine Women Legislator's Committee on Population and Development and the Theia Initiative, will start their own signature-gathering drives to ensure that there will be no let-up in the campaign to have sex education taught in high schools.

"Teaching the youth the ABCs of reproductive health and responsible parenthood would help prevent 'accidents' such as teen pregnancies or worse, sexually-transmitted diseases. The youth should be empowered through knowledge," Angsioco said. "The church should help, not hinder, young people from rising above the immorality of ignorance."

Sunny Cortes, leader of Aksyon LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transexuals), agreed. "There is no reason why DepEd should not push through with the module. Most of us youth are learning sex and sexuality from the wrong sources, like peers and classmates and pornographic materials," he said.

The Inquirer reported this week that the revised modules include teaching notes on pre-marital sex, commercial sex, abortion and homosexuality. High-risk sexual practices are also discussed and classes are urged to debate the long-term health and social consequences of sexual risk-taking. However, the new textbooks stress sexual abstinence among adolescents, and ask teachers to lead discussions on the advantages of delaying sexual activities during adolescence.

In the end, so much emphasis has been given to women's rights and sex in the Islamic world in recent years that sometimes it can be overlooked that religious fanaticism and conservatism in any form can have extensive negative effects on people's reproductive rights. The Catholic Church's centuries-old doctrine, created by a bunch of celibate priests, on sex only for procreation leaves many people ignorant about sexual health. This is the sad reality.

Taking away people's right to protect themselves, and their right to education and to responsibly manage their sex lives is certainly taking away some of their humanity.

---

It's hard to be faithful when the church is like this.

3cr

April 5th, 2008, 11:49 PM

‘Condos beyond treetops’
Gordon: ‘Travesty’ of environmental zoning

By Tonette Orejas, Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080406-128674/Condos-beyond-treetops

MANILA, Philippines—The construction of two high-rise condominium buildings by Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Ltd. in the Subic rainforest came under fire yesterday from Sen. Richard Gordon, a former administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

A “shocked” Gordon said the buildings were only the latest “travesty” done to the former US naval base since he was replaced by Felicito Payumo as SBMA administrator during the Estrada administration. The SBMA is the government agency that manages the Subic Bay Freeport.

“I would not have accommodated it,” the senator said, adding that he would have convinced the Koreans to build the condominiums for their company staff in Olongapo City—”so they could mix with the populace”—or in neighboring Bataan province.

The site of the Hanjin condominium buildings is within the Subic Watershed Forest Reserve, a check by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, showed.

Covering 10,000 hectares and cared for by the US Navy until its pullout in 1992, the site was classified as protected by virtue of Proclamation No. 926, which then President Corazon Aquino issued on June 15, 1992.

The reserve, located on the Morong, Bataan, side of the free port, was declared protected for “purposes of protecting, maintaining, or improving its water yield and providing a restraining mechanism for inappropriate forest exploitation and disruptive land use.”

An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Bataan said the proclamation had been amended, shrinking the reserve to 8,000 ha.

While the original proclamation had assigned executive control and administration of the area to the environment secretary, the SBMA has actually been managing it, the official said.

Gordon said the three-ha area where the 10-story and 20-story condominium buildings were put up had already been cleared of trees when Subic was still a US naval base.

He said an ammunitions and explosives testing area, warehouses and bunkhouses used to stand in that area.

“There were no trees anymore. Maybe 18 or 19 trees were cut, but these were small ones,” Gordon said, correcting the impression that the buildings were put up in the middle of the forest.

He said the structures only appeared to be in the middle of the rainforest because the photo run by the Inquirer was taken “as you enter the naval magazine.”

“What I disagree with is that [a building went too high], beyond the treetops. They allowed the Koreans to go beyond 10 stories. Nakakainis iyon (That’s annoying),” Gordon said.

He said he himself was shocked to see the structures, which cannot be seen from the ground because of the tree cover and can only be seen from the sea or from the air.

Environmental zoning

According to Gordon, whom then President Joseph Estrada replaced with Payumo as SBMA administrator, his successor did away with the Americans’ careful environmental zoning and planning, which he himself had strictly followed.

He said that if environmentalists were up in arms against the Hanjin condominiums, they should also assail the eight-story structure that was allowed to be built “very close to the forest” during Payumo’s term.

He pointed out that there was no “brouhaha” raised when that structure was built.

“I’m glad the Inquirer reported this, so everybody will see how Subic has been opened up to the rapaciousness of some,” Gordon said.

“There were areas that were not supposed to be occupied, yet they were occupied. Subic now is very different from the one left by the Americans and the one I left after my term,” he said.

‘Mere political appointee’

Gordon defended SBMA administrator Armand Arreza and laid the blame on SBMA environmental manager Amethya dela Llana Koval (not Amethyia de la Llana Kovak, as earlier reported) who, he said, was not qualified to hold the post but was a political appointee of Payumo.

He said Arreza had only followed the revised zoning plans made during Payumo’s term.

“I asked him why he (Arreza) approved it. He said they accommodated Hanjin because it was Subic’s biggest investor. He said he was not told by the staff that there was something wrong,” Gordon said.

In 2005, Hanjin’s P1.65-billion shipyard was the biggest single investment in the country.

The senator said Koval should be sacked: “She has no business holding that office.”

Not in core zone

Koval had earlier told the Inquirer that Hanjin obtained an environmental clearance certificate (ECC) for the two condominium buildings “last year.”

The SBMA was empowered to issue ECCs when then Environment Secretary Michael Defensor and SBMA officials signed a memorandum of agreement recognizing its “self-regulatory power” over the free port.

Koval said the Hanjin site was not within the “core zone,” the heart of the protected forests.

“The core zone is strictly no-touch,” she said, adding that the other areas were allowed for “sustainable use and recreation.”

“It’s among the built-up areas or sites that were previously used by the US Navy,” she said.

Arreza said the built-up areas had been “zoned for light industries with low-intensity use.”

“There were pockets of development there long before Hanjin came,” he said.

Double standard in housing

In Zambales, officials are seeing a double standard in Hanjin’s housing policy.

“There’s an imbalance, a discrimination,” Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso said after seeing a photograph of the high-rises in the Inquirer on Saturday.

Arreza earlier said the cost of building the high-rises was some $20 million. But in a press statement issued Saturday night, the SBMA put the figure at P455.6 million or $13 million.

In contrast, said former Zambales Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II, the Agusuhin resettlement project for the families displaced by the Korean shipyard turned out badly.

Lacbain heads Task Force Hanjin, which Deloso formed to oversee the social and employment aspects shipyard.

Agusuhin

Sitio Agusuhin, located on the hilly and rocky slopes of Barangay Cawag, was where the Subic local government transferred some 400 families from Sitio Quarry.

Portions of Quarry are now occupied by the 400-ha Hanjin shipyard just off the coast of Redondo Bay.

Hanjin funded the families’ relocation, donating P18 million to the local government for the construction of basic facilities like schools, day-care centers, chapels, water systems and electricity.

But Task Force Hanjin reports showed that most of the facilities were left unfinished, and a school building collapsed in August 2006 before the 300 students could use it.

A team from the Department of Public Works and Highways reported in August 2007 that structures worth P3 million had been built on the site.

Nagyantoc

Another relocation project for 280 families living in a portion of Sitio Nagyantoc that will be occupied by Hanjin’s expansion has been proceeding at a snail’s pace. Only 100 houses had been built at the 9.4-ha relocation site, also in Nagyantoc, as of last week.

The SBMA, which has jurisdiction over the former base lands in Subic, is having the units built at P90,000 each with funds from the land rental paid by Hanjin, Lacbain said.

“Hanjin put our fellow Filipinos in Agusuhin in a pitiful situation,” he said. “It showed that it has the capability to build beautiful condominiums. But why did it not at least offer a safe and livable place for those in Agusuhin? Why is it that it’s easy to part with money when their own Koreans are involved, and [not when it concerns] Filipinos?”

Hanjin president Shim Jong Sup did not reply to a request for comment.

But in September 2007, Hanjin asked the SBMA to set aside at least 40 ha for a planned workers’ village for its 15,000 Filipino employees.

Arreza confirmed this Saturday, saying President Macapagal-Arroyo had issued a proclamation assigning 40 ha of public land for the housing needs of Hanjin’s Filipino workers.

Rejoinder

Reached for comment on the phone, Payumo said Gordon was “shooting from his mouth without verifying the facts.”

“It was not during my term that the SBMA board approved [Hanjin’s] housing project. You can check with the SBMA ecology center and it would show that it was approved last year,” he said.

Payumo’s term ended in 2005.

According to Payumo, talks on Hanjin’s shipyard project began during his term but it was during the term of his successor, Francisco Licuanan, that the SBMA board approved it.

Payumo also said Gordon was “responsible for the cutting of trees.”

He was referring to that part of the Subic forests that was cleared to make space for at least 21 luxury villas built for the use of the heads of state who attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held at the free port in 1996.

“He did not only order the cutting of trees there. The villas were also put up as mortgage. When the developer failed to pay the banks, and the banks foreclosed on the loan, the Home Guarantee Fund assumed the payments for several hundred millions. The government shouldered the liabilities,” Payumo said.

bitoy

April 13th, 2008, 06:03 AM

OtAkAw

April 13th, 2008, 08:41 AM

^^Wow, that's just shocking. Yan dapat ang ipromote nila sa ads, instead of the white beaches of Bora or Palawan. Magigising pa ang kamalayan ng mga Pinoy.

GearX

April 15th, 2008, 03:18 AM

not so good news in SSC...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x287/GearX_2007/another/sports/ssc.gif

odyssey

April 19th, 2008, 03:36 PM

Alert....Taxi-Cab Riding Rapists (2nd incident)

A horrible incident happened in a remote and unguarded (middle-class) village near Kamuning and Timog Avenue in QC. A young woman standing in a shed waiting for a ride was seized by guys riding a taxi cab. She was gagged and injected with a “sleeping” drug. After a few hours, the woman was released at the same waiting shed - groggy & intoxicated- she didn’t know what happened. She reported this to her friends and co-workers who brought her to the hospital which confirmed her having been raped.

The mischief was already reported to the Village Barangay but what can they do when there’s not enough cops to patrol the area. This could happen in any unguarded QC Village. Please report this to the QC City hall. The QC City Hall should do something to prevent the predators from striking again.

Spread this to your friends and families as they could be the next victim.
And this could also happen in other remote villages outside QC.

TambayBlues

April 22nd, 2008, 10:52 PM

Shultz and the 'Hit Men' Destroyed the Philippines

by Mike Billington

Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of features on the assault against the Third World by the "Economic Hit Men." We examine here first the case of the Philippines, and then later on Mexico.

The U.S.-orchestrated coup which overthrew the government of Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 was a classic case study of what John Perkins describes in his recent book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, as the post-World War II preferred method of imposing colonial control under another name. In the Philippines case, George Shultz performed the roles of both the economic hit man, destroying and taking full control of the Philippine economy, and the coup-master, deposing the Philippine President in favor of an IMF puppet—while calling the operation "people power."

Throughout this process, from the late 1970s through the February 1986 coup, and beyond, Lyndon LaRouche and his collaborators were fully engaged in the fight to expose and reverse this subversion and destruction of one of America's most important allies, by the supranational financial institutions which Shultz and his ilk represent. By mobilizing support from patriots of both the United States and the Philippines, the LaRouche effort put a spotlight on the crimes of the Shultz cabal, as will be shown below. Although the effort failed to stop the process at that time, the crimes thus exposed in the Philippines can and must serve today as a nemesis to Shultz and his neo-conservative operatives, who are in an endgame in their effort to impose a new fascist order over the planet.

In a Nov. 16 interview on radio station DZAR in Manila, LaRouche described his own view of the special mission of the Philippines nation: "The Philippines has a very important pivotal role, some people would say geopolitically, in the entire region, of trying to bring together on a global scale for the first time, a world system, which is capable of accommodating both the European cultural heritage and Asian cultures. This is the great barrier, the great frontier, of a hopeful future for this planet: to bring together the cultures of Asia—which are different than those of Western Europe generally—with European culture, to get a global culture based on a system of sovereign nation-states, which understands that this unresolved cultural question has to be addressed, with a long-term view, of several generations, of creating an integrated set of sovereign nation-states as the system of the planet. So the Philippines is a very special country, with a unique importance for the people of Asia, in particular, in playing a key role in bringing about this kind of general integration of Asian and European civilizations."

The lesson of the subversion of the Philippines in the 1980s for today is clear. Shultz is the eminence gris behind the neo-conservatives running the Bush Administration, which has brought the world to the current disastrous circumstance. It is also the case that the Philippines, although currently lacking any national leadership comparable to that of Marcos, is nonetheless facing a new coup threat, orchestrated by the same neo-conservative circles in Washington who were responsible for the 1986 coup.

The popular memory of Ferdinand Marcos today, in the U.S. and in the Philippines, is largely shaped by the massive disinformation campaign created in the early 1980s by the circles around then-Secretary of State Shultz, and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz. Marcos was accused of corruption, human rights violations, plunder, and even the murder of a political opponent, Benigno Aquino—and this caricature is repeated ad nauseam still today. While Marcos was not without faults, he was by far the last Filipino head of state to have understood the challenge of true leadership in a world slipping towards chaos. His overthrow by the Shultz cabal had nothing to do with the charges issued publicly, but were intended to stop his national development policies, and his international collaboration with LaRouche and others in countering the genocidal policies of the IMF, and bringing into being a new world economic system based on development and justice.
Marcos's True Legacy

Marcos was elected President in 1965, just as the United States launched the disastrous and futile war in Indochina. The fact that the United States used its bases in the Philippines, Subic Bay and Clark Airfield in Luzon, as launching pads for the Indochina War, fed a domestic insurgency by the Maoist New People's Army (NPA). Marcos was then treated as a close friend and ally of the United States. Even when he declared martial law in 1972, with the Indochina War still raging, the Administration of President Richard Nixon raised no objections.

But Marcos was not only concerned about "counterinsurgency" in declaring martial law. When he was elected President in 1965, the Philippines was still essentially a colonial economy, although the United States had granted full independence on July 4, 1946, as had been promised by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1934. Productivity was low in both agriculture and industry: agriculture lagged as the Philippines relied on special access to U.S. food exports, and industry was confined to process industries, rather than the development of basic industries.

Marcos set out immediately to establish Philippine food self-sufficiency in rice and corn. This also required breaking the control of the landed aristocracy left over from the Spanish imperial era. Marcos was the first President of the Philippines who did not rise from this elite class, but was a "commoner" trained as a lawyer.

As President, he focussed on basic agricultural infrastructure, especially irrigation, in the major food-producing regions of Luzon and Mindanao. Credit facilities, mechanization, and the introduction of high-yield rice varieties, which needed irrigation, resulted in the elimination of rice imports by 1968.

Land reform, primarily a political problem, remained illusive. However, when Marcos imposed martial law in 1972, among his first acts was a proclamation that the entire nation was to be considered a "land reform area," and a declaration that all tenants working land devoted primarily to rice and corn were to be the owners of that land, up to a specified limit. Despite the enraged opposition of the oligarchy, the program proved to be extraordinarily successful. Coupled with the infrastructure and mechanization improvements, a quarter of a million peasants became land owners, and grain productivity increased by half.

Another major step after the declaration of martial law was to contract with Westinghouse for the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant—which was to be the first (and would still be the only) commercial nuclear power plant in Southeast Asia. While nuclear power is clearly the only sane solution to the energy requirements across the region, the sad saga of the Bataan Nuclear Plant symbolizes the pure evil of the policies enforced by the "economic hit men." As originally contracted, the plant should have cost about $1 billion, and produced 1,200 MW of electricity by 1984. However, after the hysteria generated by the anti-nuclear "Nuclear Club of Wall Street" (see EIR, Dec. 3, 2004) following the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant in Pennsylvania, the Carter Admistration imposed retroactive safety regulations which contributed to more than doubling the cost of construction. Then, after the overthrow of Marcos in 1986, one of the first acts of the new Presidency of Corazon Aquino was to mothball the fully completed, but never used, Bataan Nuclear Plant. The Philippines has been forced to pay countless billions in debt service, and pays still today over $155,000 per day, for this nuclear facility, without having drawn one watt of electricity from the state-of-the-art facility. Two further nuclear power facilities which were planned to provide 1,880 MW of electricity by 1991, were also scrapped.

Nuclear energy was not the only innovation of the Marcos regime. In 1979 Marcos announced a plan for 11 major industrial projects, with the intention of shifting the focus of the nation's industrial economy from consumer goods to basic heavy industry. Included in the plan were steel, petro-chemical, pulp and paper, a copper smelter, aluminum, phosphate fertilizer, diesel engines, gas and oil, a coconut industry, and the nuclear power program.

The Marcos Administration, during the 1972-81 martial law period, tripled the country's road network, doubled the electrification of the country's homes, increased irrigated cropland eight-fold, and achieved rice and corn self-sufficiency.

Minimum daily wage rates tripled, although inflation, driven by international oil price hikes and exploding U.S. interest rates, more than wiped out these wage increases.

Enter the Economic Hit Men

This level of development—especially the capacity to free the nation from dependence on the international oil and raw materials cartels—was not to be tolerated by the international financial institutions. The contrived oil shortages of the 1970s left the Philippines, like all non-oil-producing nations, with huge debts. This was followed by the 20%-plus interest rates imposed by U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker in 1979, which doubled and tripled the debts of most Third World nations within a few years.

In 1981, Marcos lifted martial law. Also in that year, he attended the North-South Summit in Cancun, Mexico, organized by Mexican President José López Portillo (see accompanying article) where he spoke out for a "new world economic order," and denounced the destructive "conditionalities" imposed by the IMF in exchange for financial assistance in a crisis. Then, in September 1981, Marcos pushed through the Philippine Congress nearly $4 billion worth of priority infrastructure projects, including irrigation, drainage and flood control programs, highways, telecommunications, and airports.

This was answered in 1982 (the year George Shultz became Secretary of State) by an IMF report which attacked Marcos's projects, demanding debt payment instead: "In the Philippines situation, restraint on public investment could be an effective instrument for securing an improvement in the current account deficit." IMF Director Jacques Delarosière lectured that the country had set "unrealistic growth targets," while the World Bank denounced the Marcos government for supporting national industries.

These "softening up" raids were not adequate to control the Marcos government. Shultz visited Manila in the Summer of 1983, overseeing another 20% devaluation of the Philippine peso, thus further increasing the costs of financing the already-illegitimate foreign debt.

The full-scale assault began in the Fall of 1983, with the murder of Benigno Aquino. Aquino, an opposition leader whom Marcos had allowed to leave prison in order to get medical treatment in the United States (despite facing a death sentence for murder and subversion), chose to return to the Philippines in August 1983 after three years in the United States. He was gunned down as he emerged from his plane in Manila.

Although the actual conspirators were never officially discovered, the assassination was immediately blamed on Marcos, and the economic hit men called in the "jackals" (as Perkins called those whose job was to depose or even kill world leaders who resisted the demands of the economic hit men like himself). In the Philippines, Shultz and Wolfowitz doubled as economic hit men and jackals.

As to Aquino's view of the pending threat to his life, he had been asked by the U.S. magazine Mother Jones in January 1983, while contemplating his return to the Philippines: "What do you think Marcos will do?" Aquino replied: "He will keep me alive, because he knows the moment I die, I am a martyr, like Martin Luther King, and he wouldn't want that. Another possibility, he lets me out, and the communists knock me off. They blame Marcos. They have a martyr and they have eliminated a stumbling block." Aquino also understood the actual cause of the economic disaster striking the Philippines: "If you made me President of the Philippines today, my friend, in six months I would be smelling like horseshit. Because there is nothing I can do. I cannot provide employment. I cannot bring prices down."

Within two months of the assassination, the remaining credit lines to the Philippines were drastically cut, and another 21% devaluation was imposed. The nation was bankrupt. Finally, on Oct. 15, 1983, Marcos was allowed to declare a moratorium on the unpayable debt, but only on condition that the big projects he had backed to modernize the nation be scrapped, while many of the industries supported by the state were turned over to domestic and international vultures (this was done under the guise of accusing the owners of these industries of being corrupt "cronies" of Marcos).

The LaRouche movement, meanwhile, was sponsoring conferences in Bangkok, Thailand, one in October 1983, and another in October 1984, on the subject of the proposal authored by Lyndon LaRouche for "Development of the Pacific and Indian Ocean Basins." Philippines Deputy Foreign Minister Pacifico Castro attended the 1984 Conference, speaking on "Regional Economic Cooperation and Security," joined by government and business leaders from across the region. The conferences proposed such "Great Projects" as the Kra Canal in Thailand, and the physical transformation of Asia, as the driving force behind a new world economic order.
Jackals

The opponents of Marcos were soon being wined and dined in Washington, by both the right wing (Shultz and Wolfowitz) and the left wing (Rep. Stephen Solarz, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and Princeton's Richard Falk) of the "Project Democracy" apparatus, which performed the subversive tasks assigned by the synarchist banking institutions. Salvador Laurel, the son of the quisling President of the Philippines under the Japanese occupation, headed the opposition after Aquino's assassination, and in February 1984, visited Washington, where he was greeted by Vice President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State Shultz. Representative Solarz introduced legislation into the Congress to abdicate the treaty regulating the U.S. bases in the Philippines, cutting the agreed aid to the Philippines by two-thirds. At the same time, a nest of anti-nuclear and anti-development NGOs in the United States took up the cause of overthrowing the "Marcos dictatorship," including a gathering of anti-nuclear forces in Manila, including Richard Falk and representatives of the West German Green Party. Stephen Bosworth, a close collaborator of Henry Kissinger, was appointed Ambassador to the Philippines, and from that position he would subsequently orchestrate the coup against Marcos.

By October 1984, the Philippines was forced to submit to an IMF refinancing package that included an end to price controls on rice and other staples, a float of the peso, unrestricted foreign exchange speculation, import reductions, domestic austerity, and yet another devaluation—making a total of a 63.3% devaluation in one year, nearly doubling the cost of financing the foreign debt. Ironically, the opposition, fully supported and sponsored by the IMF-related institutions, rallied support among the population by denouncing Marcos for "acceding to the oppressive conditions of the IMF."

Throughout 1985, President Ronald Reagan defended the American relationship with the Philippines and with President Marcos, despite the fact that Secretary of State Shultz and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz openly disagreed with that assessment, instead demanding Marcos's head. The crisis came to a head in July 1984, when the U.S. Congress adopted the Solarz proposal to rip up the Bases Agreement, not only slashing the financial commitments, but insisting that the remaining aid be distributed not by the Philippine government, but by the Church, which, under Cardinal Jaime Sin, had openly called for insurrection against the government.

By November, the plans for insurrection were unveiled publicly, as the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the home of Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brezezinski, carried out a "war game" against the Philippines, based on a scenario in which President Marcos is assassinated, Soviet "spetsnaz" commandos join the New People's Army in taking over the Philippines, and the U.S. military goes into action to "save" the country.

The CSIS's work in Asia was largely financed at that time by the C.V. Starr insurance empire, run by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. Greenberg and C.V. Starr owned most of the insurance industry in the Philippines, and a number of Philippine politicians as well, and served as the crucial "on the ground" economic hit man in the Marcos coup.

Marcos continued fighting for the principle of a new world economic order. In November 1985, EIR and the Schiller Institute, the international association directed by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, invited Gen. Edgardo Mercado Jarrin (ret.), the head of Peru's Institute of Geostrategic and Political Studies, to tour Asia, promoting the partial moratorium on foreign debt then being implemented by the Peruvian government. In addition to conferences in Thailand and India, General Mercado Jarrin and the EIR/Schiller Institute delegation met with President Marcos in Manila. Marcos told the delegation: "Third World Asian and South American countries should get together and push through the condonation of part of their loans. How can Third World countries pay their loans, amounting to $900 billion?" Marcos estimated that the paying capacity could not exceed $300 billion.

The Aug. 16 EIR published a story entitled "Plotting the Fall of an American Ally," which reported that U.S. Ambassador Bosworth was plotting a military coup against the Marcos government. The article reported: "Bosworth now meets up to two hours every day with Acting Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Fidel Ramos, a West Point graduate whom the United States is attempting to groom as a leader of a new civilian-military junta, despite his loyalty to President Marcos." The story was based on information from reliable sources both in the Philippines and in Washington, where certain patriotic layers within the government, intelligence, and the military did not accept America's transformation into an imperial power serving the synarchist financial interests.

The EIR exposé forced a public denial by General Ramos and by Ambassador Bosworth. As events proved, the warning was deadly accurate.

Marcos was finally coerced by Washington into calling new elections for February 1986, even though the Constitution mandated elections only in 1987. The opposition, in constant coordination with U.S. Ambassador Bosworth and the Shultz State Department, chose to run Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, as the Presidential candidate, with Laurel for Vice President.

As still seen today in such neo-con-controlled "people's power revolutions," such as in Georgia and Ukraine, U.S. intelligence agencies financed and controlled the "citizen" electoral monitor organization, the National Movement for a Free Election (Namfrel), and prepared to declare "vote fraud" if the election did not go the way intended. Paul Wolfowitz in November 1985 told the U.S. Congress that there would be a "complete collapse of political confidence" if the elections were not perceived as "fair"—i.e., if Marcos were not defeated.

Indeed, on election day, the opposition was ahead in the early returns from Manila—which was expected—and Aquino was instructed to declare herself the winner. However, when the rural votes came in, where Marcos was still loved for the development he had brought to the nation, Marcos overtook Aquino and won the election.

In an astonishing public admission, former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines William Sullivan (who had also been Ambassador to Iran when the Shah was overthrown by similar means in 1979), told CBS News on Feb. 9, two days after the Philippines election: "The facts as they emerge are becoming increasingly irrelevant, because it's the perception that prevails both in the Philippines and, I think, internationally, that Mrs. Aquino won the election as far as the polling places were concerned, but the government, in the tabulation, changed the vote counts."

As EIR had warned, General Ramos then led a military revolt against President Marcos, calling for crowds to surround the military base in the center of Manila, to create an image of "people's power," while the masses of the population were disenfranchised by the overthrow of their elected President. By the end of February, President Reagan had been convinced by Shultz to give up his defense of President Marcos, and endorse the military coup; Marcos and his family were sent to Hawaii.

IMF Carnage

The results of this subversion are still evident today in the decay of the economic and social fabric of the Philippines. Corazon Aquino fulfilled every IMF request, from the closure of the completed nuclear power facility to the deregulation and privatization of much of the economy. It was a surprise to some of Aquino's supporters, but not to LaRouche, when the pro-IMF members of the Marcos Cabinet were retained in the new government. General Ramos took over directly in the next Presidential election in 1992, selling the nation to the Enrons of the West through corrupt, unequal contract agreements, especially in the energy sector, which left the country in absolute bankruptcy after the speculative assault on the Asian economies in 1997-98. Joseph Estrada, another "commoner," was elected President in 1998, but was allowed only two years in office before another "economic hit man"-orchestrated-coup (again with General Ramos doing the bidding for his foreign controllers) brought him down in January 2001.

The current President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has generally done what was demanded of her by the neo-conservatives in power in Washington. However, when she pulled the token Philippine military force out of Iraq, and then upgraded the country's relations with China, she won the ire of her patrons, and is now facing the threat of yet another coup—with General Ramos again the neo-cons' man on the scene.

LaRouche, together with his collaborators in the Philippines, intends to use this history of the economic hit men, in the Philippines and elsewhere, as a necessary part of the fight to end such criminality forever. As LaRouche concluded in his address to the Nov. 16 radio show quoted above: "I have had a long-standing special attachment to the Philippines, and I am very much concerned for its integrity and sovereignty and well-being today. I would be very happy, and the Philippines would make me very happy, by being truly sovereign, successful, growing, and peaceful again today. And you may expect that wherever I am and whatever I am doing, that commitment is very active within me, for very special reasons that I won't bother going into, on this question of the Philippines. I am concerned. The sovereignty of the Philippines and the success of the Philippines as a sovereign Presidential republic is, to me, one of the necessary ingredients of a future for the whole Pacific area of the world."

3cr

April 22nd, 2008, 11:21 PM

In Crisis, a Primer from A to ZTE
By Rodel Rodis
INQUIRER.net
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/mindfeeds/mindfeeds/view/20080305-122920/In-Crisis-a-Primer-from-A-to-ZTE

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) was considered a loyal ally of the United States until July of 2004 when she “caved in” to Iraqi hostage takers’ demands to withdraw the Philippine government’s 51 soldiers and police officers from Iraq a month early, in exchange for the release of the Filipino hostage Angelo De La Cruz.

In directing the Philippines to be the 5th country (after Spain, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras) to withdraw from the US-led “Coalition of the Willing” in 2004, GMA incurred the wrath of the US government. It retaliated by reducing US military and economic aid and limiting loan assistance from US financial institutions.

Prior to that date, the Philippines had shown its loyalty to the US by rallying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deal as one bloc to push China out of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where four ASEAN allies and China hold competing claims. The Philippines was hailed by the US for standing up to China when it successfully prodded ASEAN and China to sign a “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,” to stop China’s growing military presence in the area.

After the US punished the Philippines by imposing de facto sanctions on and refusing any face-to-face meetings of GMA with President George Bush, the Philippines changed course.

As Barry Wain wrote recently in the Far Eastern Economic Review, “President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s hurried trip to China in late 2004 produced a major surprise. Among the raft of agreements ceremoniously signed by the two countries was one providing for their national oil companies to conduct a joint seismic study in the contentious South China Sea, a prospect that caused consternation in parts of Southeast Asia…The Philippines also made breathtaking concessions in agreeing to the area for study, including parts of its own continental shelf not even claimed by China.”

According to Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc, “There might be a hint of the real reason there. For, soon after RP capitulated, China offered to lend $2 billion a year till 2010 for government projects. China wasn’t doing it out of the goodness of its heart, though. It was bursting at the seams with $2 trillion in reserves, and was to collect 4-percent interest, hardly concessional in a period of much lower rates. China was only too willing to look like it was accommodating a new ally.”

These generous Chinese loans may have helped the Philippines reach an unprecedented 7.3% growth in 2007, the highest in 30 years. But they laid the ground for the present crisis which may yet topple the Arroyo government.

In 2007 alone, the Philippines signed 33 new projects for financing by the China Export-Import Bank. One of the projects was the NBN-ZTE deal which the Philippine government signed in April of 2007, where Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE), the Chinese telecommunications giant, was awarded a contract worth US$ 329.5 million to set up the National Broadband Network (NBN) to improve government communications capabilities nationwide.

On August 29, 2007, Rep. Carlos Padilla in a privileged speech in the Philippine House charged that Philippine COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos brokered for the ZTE deal. A week later, the Philippine Senate called for hearings on the ZTE-NBN deal.

On September 10, 2007, Joey De Venecia, son of Joe De Venecia, then Philippine Speaker of the House, testified before the Senate and claimed that he was with Abalos in China when he heard Abalos “demand money” from ZTE officials.

Although Joey De Venecia was barred by Philippine law as the son of a high official from participating in and obtaining Philippine government contracts, he nevertheless submitted a losing bid for the NBN project as president of Amsterdam Holdings. He told the Senate that the president’s husband, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, had counseled him to back off” from pursuing the project and offered to compensate him.

On September 22, 2007, GMA announced that she was suspending the ZTE-NBN contract. On September 26, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Chair Romulo Neri and COMELEC Chair Abalos appeared at a Senate hearing. There Neri claimed that in a golf game earlier in the year, Abalos offered him $4-M (P200-M) for signing off on the ZTE deal. Abalos denied the charge.

On October 1, 2007, Abalos resigned his post as COMELEC chair. On October 2, GMA traveled to China to tell Chinese President Hu Jintao of her “difficult decision” to cancel the ZTE contract for the NBN project.

On January 30, 2008, the Philippine Senate issued warrants of arrest for Neri and NEDA consultant Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr. Neri went into hiding to avoid being served the warrant and Lozada flew to Hongkong. When he returned from Hong Kong On February 5, 2008, a Senate team was waiting to arrest him to take him to the Senate to testify on the ZTE-NBN deal. Before he could be served the warrant, however, he was whisked away by unidentified military personnel, only to be later dropped off under media pressure to join his family at La Salle Greenhills.

The day after his return, Lozada testified that Abalos and Mike Arroyo were behind the “kickbacks” in the deal, charging that they stood to make about $200-M from the $329.5-M contract. He said he warned them that the overcharge was too high and wouldn’t fly, but they ignored his warnings.

For allowing his son to testify against the GMA and the FG (First Gentleman), Speaker De Venecia would be voted out as Speaker of the House. On Friday, February 29, approximately 50,000 people gathered at the Ninoy Aquino monument in Makati in an Inter-Faith Rally that called for the resignation of GMA. The next day, Jose Maria Sison, leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), called for 100,000 Filipinos to gather in a street protest in Manila to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This should be enough, he said, “to ignite the withdrawal of support from the regime by the bureaucracy and the military."

That’s the A to Z of this saga, from Angelo De La Cruz to the ZTE telecom giant, all in less than four years.

TambayBlues

April 23rd, 2008, 12:12 AM

If anyone here would take the time to read my post you would come to the same conclusion. You will see the root cause of our problems, whoever sits in Malacañang will be hogtied by the dictation of the IMF/WB dahil sa malaking utang natin na obviously IMF din me kasalanan kaya lalo tayo nabaon. They don't want us to prosper para lalo nila tayong ma control. Kasi the Philippines will be instrumental in bringing about an Asian Economic Union. It's already planned for ASEAN, we already have an ASEAN charter. Ang deadline nila is 2015 ang implementation. With the EU already growing, the planned North American Union, they are getting closer to their plan for World Enslavement. Meanwhile si Juan dela Cruz, Iniisip nya pag sya umupo sa Malacañang aasenso na Pinas dahil sa kanya. Puro tira ke Gloria dahil sa kahirapan natin instead of tirahin yung nagdidikta ke GMA who really has no choice in the first place. Karamihan sa Pinoy they don't have an idea kung sino me control sa Pilipinas kala nila Presidente, The people we're dealing with are so powerful they can eliminate Presidents whether it is the one who sits in the White House or Malacañang and also instigate revolutions at the flick of a finger. They know that a country cannot function without revenues and/or financing so they will make every effort to bring us down to our knees so we have no choice but to practically swallow their conditions which later on become detrimental to our economy. This will force us to beg them to keep our economy going so they can control us even more. And that exactly is what happened and is happening if anyone will take the time to read my post. All our problems are but symptoms of a much deeply rooted problem. And the problem is that we have lost control of our sovereignty. Our President may go against their whims from time to time but if she keeps on doing it in the long run she will eventually be eliminated either by coup d' etat, snap elections or whatever means necessary.

RonnieR

April 23rd, 2008, 04:41 AM

In Crisis, a Primer from A to ZTE
By Rodel Rodis
INQUIRER.net
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/mindfeeds/mindfeeds/view/20080305-122920/In-Crisis-a-Primer-from-A-to-ZTE

These generous Chinese loans may have helped the Philippines reach an unprecedented 7.3% growth in 2007, the highest in 30 years. But they laid the ground for the present crisis which may yet topple the Arroyo government.

In 2007 alone, the Philippines signed 33 new projects for financing by the China Export-Import Bank. One of the projects was the NBN-ZTE deal which the Philippine government signed in April of 2007, where Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE), the Chinese telecommunications giant, was awarded a contract worth US$ 329.5 million to set up the National Broadband Network (NBN) to improve government communications capabilities nationwide.

On September 10, 2007, Joey De Venecia, son of Joe De Venecia, then Philippine Speaker of the House, testified before the Senate and claimed that he was with Abalos in China when he heard Abalos “demand money” from ZTE officials.

Although Joey De Venecia was barred by Philippine law as the son of a high official from participating in and obtaining Philippine government contracts, he nevertheless submitted a losing bid for the NBN project as president of Amsterdam Holdings. He told the Senate that the president’s husband, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, had counseled him to back off” from pursuing the project and offered to compensate him.

On January 30, 2008, the Philippine Senate issued warrants of arrest for Neri and NEDA consultant Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, Jr. Neri went into hiding to avoid being served the warrant and Lozada flew to Hongkong. When he returned from Hong Kong On February 5, 2008, a Senate team was waiting to arrest him to take him to the Senate to testify on the ZTE-NBN deal. Before he could be served the warrant, however, he was whisked away by unidentified military personnel, only to be later dropped off under media pressure to join his family at La Salle Greenhills.

The day after his return, Lozada testified that Abalos and Mike Arroyo were behind the “kickbacks” in the deal, charging that they stood to make about $200-M from the $329.5-M contract. He said he warned them that the overcharge was too high and wouldn’t fly, but they ignored his warnings.

For allowing his son to testify against the GMA and the FG (First Gentleman), Speaker De Venecia would be voted out as Speaker of the House. On Friday, February 29, approximately 50,000 people gathered at the Ninoy Aquino monument in Makati in an Inter-Faith Rally that called for the resignation of GMA. The next day, Jose Maria Sison, leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), called for 100,000 Filipinos to gather in a street protest in Manila to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This should be enough, he said, “to ignite the withdrawal of support from the regime by the bureaucracy and the military."

That’s the A to Z of this saga, from Angelo De La Cruz to the ZTE telecom giant, all in less than four years.

This is poor journalism, quoting not an ioata of evidence but based on hearsays. The no. of people who attended the Makati rally was only 15,000...I work in Makati and saw the people. He quoted JOMA on the 100,000 filipinos but failed to mention that nobody listened to his call, well, the act of this writer clearly speaks what he is into.

crappypants

April 25th, 2008, 05:42 AM

I believe this is true. Even without all the conspiracy theory and reading this, if you just analyze how the whole world is structured and who yields the power of course they'll want to always maintain the status quo.

bitoy

April 26th, 2008, 01:29 AM

Dami na naman krimen. Yung barilan sa Del Pan bridge, tapos yung notorious robber na nakakawala and those peke na Peso bills.

red_jasper

April 28th, 2008, 04:28 AM

LPGMA to raise LPG prices by P2/kg starting Wednesday
04/28/2008 | 10:03 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Amid soaring prices of basic commodities, there seem to be little respite for local consumers as small retailers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on Monday said they will increase the price of their LPG products by P2 per kilogram starting Wednesday.

This is equivalent to a P22 increase in the price of an 11-kg LPG tank from its current selling price of about P535 to P557.

Arnel Ty, president of the LPG Marketers Association, said the price hike, which takes effect 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, is due to a $30 per metric ton increase in prices of petroleum in the world market.

“Maliit lang naman na factor ito para sa consumers (This plays a small factor for consumers), considering that they can use the tank for 30 days. Minimal lang naman ang taas ngayon, halos wala pang piso bawat araw ang idadagdag nila (The increase is just minimal. Consumers will only have to pay an additional of less than P1 a day)," Ty told GMANews.TV in a telephone interview.

As for the price of the Autogas, Ty said a P1.20 per liter increase will follow suit and take effect on Thursday. “Titignan namin kung maisasabay naming sa Wenesday. Pero malamang-lamang, sa May 1 na ang para sa Autogas," he said.

The price of their Autogas stands at P26.20 per liter, according to Ty.

This will be the second time that the LPGMA will increase the price of its LPG for 2008, the first one in January. On the other hand, small oil players have rolled back LPG prices by P5 per kilogram for household LPG since February. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/91992/LPGMA-to-raise-LPG-prices-by-P2/kg-starting-Wednesday)

boju2

April 30th, 2008, 08:24 AM

Hanjin abandons $2-B Misamis shipyard project (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=116619)

Korean investors from Hanjin Corp. have packed up and are reportedly leaving the $2-B shipyard complex project in Tagoloan and Villanueva in Misamis Oriental because of "too much politics."

Reports received by ABS-CBN Northern Mindanao said the Koreans are no longer interested in pursuing the billion dollar project because of politicking in the local government level.

They also complained that they officials earlier assured them of being given an environmental compliance certificate (ECC). However, the Koreans were later denied the ECC.

Officials tasked of issuing the ECC declined to explain.

Hanjin officials have declined to grant media interviews for fear of reprisal from government officials.

Some of the Koreans have already left for Manila for the flight to South Korea on Monday.

Hanjin started to clear the 400-hectare land in Villanueva and Tagoloan towns for the shipbuilding starting February this year. They started training hundreds of welders since March. Hanjin needs 40,000 skilled workers to build huge and modern ocean vessels.

Following the withdrawal of Hanjin, hundreds of skilled workers who are hoping to land jobs are now fearing for their future.

Another multi-billion project in the province -- the Laguindingan International Airport -- might be affected by the Koreans' withdrawal.

:ohno::ohno::ohno::ohno::ohno::ohno:

kiretoce

May 4th, 2008, 01:58 AM

Will "pan de sal" disappear from Filipino table? (http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20080502-134047/Will-pan-de-sal-disappear-from-Filipino-table)

The iconic “pan de sal,” the Filipino breakfast staple bun, is not just shrinking in size but is also disappearing altogether from the breakfast table of many Filipinos.

This is not surprising, considering that the regular 40-gram pan de sal sold by neighborhood bakeries now sells at about P2.50 each, up from P2.00 at the start of the year, while the bigger pan de sal at 50 grams sells for P3.50 each, up from P3.00, putting bread farther out of reach of Filipinos who earn P325 a day.

Lucito Chavez, vice president of the Philippine Federation of Bakers Associations, tells the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the federation's 10,000 members in Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon that mainly sell pan de sal, realize that they took the chance of turning off buyers when they increased prices effective April 15.

Chavez says, however, that they had no choice but to adjust prices because of surging operating costs.

"We want the market to understand that it is a difficult decision for us to adjust the prices, but if we don't, we would lose even the small profit we have," explained Chavez, adding that a number of small bakeries were forced to shut down because they could no longer sell enough to cover the spiraling cost of raw materials.

Many people who used to buy pan de sal for breakfast or snacks have shifted to rice, which comes out cheaper, as a kilo of rice sold by the National Food Authority is now equivalent to just seven pieces of 40-gram pan de sal.

This shift has added to the government's problem of escalating demand for rice.

"These are definitely and exactly the worst times ever for the baking industry," Chavez said. "But it is not just the problem of Juan de la Cruz, but also of Uncle Sam."

The main culprit is soaring wheat prices in the world market.

Data from the Philippine Association of Flour Millers (PAFMIL), which accounts for 60 percent of the total flour output in the country, showed that wheat from the United States—where 95 percent of two million metric tons of wheat imports come from—almost tripled in price in just a year from $222 per metric ton in April last year to $601 per metric ton as of April 15.

The Philippines mainly imports the Hard Red Spring variety-called the "aristocrat of wheat" with a protein content of 14 percent-which is used in the production of breads, rolls, croissants, bagels and pizza crust and the Soft White, which is used to produce flour used in cakes and pastries.

Contributing to the high landed price of wheat shipped out of Portland, Oregon—which comes to the Asia-Pacific region—is the doubling in the freight cost in the one-year period to $67 a metric ton from $30, thanks to record-high oil prices that are approaching $120 a barrel.

PAFMIL executive director Ric Pinca tells the Inquirer in an interview, however, that the flour millers have not been able to pass on the entire increase due to the low purchasing power in the Philippines.

Thus, while wheat prices tripled in a one-year period, the local millers have only been able to increase the selling price of flour by 60 percent to P957 a 25-kilo sack from P600 in April last year, for fear that they will price themselves totally out of the market.

But even then, the effect on bread prices has been significant and bakers are bracing for difficult years ahead.

Peter Sing, whose family owns the Pan de Pidro chain of bread shops, says daily sales in one branch dropped by as much as 40 percent when the price of pan de sal was increased to P2.50 each.

"People got angry when we increased prices, but the production cost has been dramatic," Sing says. "Our main problem is the cost of wheat flour. It has really affected our sales."

To keep its selling price at P2.50 each, Pan de Pidro downsized its pan de sal from 40 grams to 30 grams. If it had kept its size at 40 grams, it would have to increase the selling price to P4 each.

Sales of Pan de Pidro's other bread products were likewise affected by price adjustments.

Pan de Pidro's fast-selling pan de coco, for instance, now sells for P4 each, from P3 last year. It has also stopped selling egg pie because the cost drove up the selling price to P25 a slice, given the similar increase in the price of eggs and milk.

Johnlu Koa, director of the Philippine Baking Industry Group (PhilBaking) and owner of the French Baker chain, likewise saw a drop in his sales of the Pinoy pan de sal when he raised prices by 33 percent from P30 for a bag of 20 25-gram pan de sal to P40.

Koa says that he was doing everything possible to keep pan de sal prices at bay despite the continued increase in wheat prices.

"We are able to keep prices because we are using lower protein wheat flour with higher mineral content," Koa says. "Also, we sell directly to our customers in our stores without passing through middlemen like supermarkets."

"By employing traditional French baking techniques that require long fermentation and delicate dough handling, we are able to achieve a superior piece of pan de sal without having to add more chemical additives to the flour to compensate for the lower protein content in the flour," he adds.

Pinca says that flour millers and bakers would have to contend with high wheat prices for some time because it would take a while for global wheat production to catch up with demand.

The trend toward biofuel production has exacerbated the tight supply situation because farmers in the United States have shifted to corn, which is now increasingly used for biofuels.

Corn prices tripled in three years from $2 a bushel to $6 a bushel today.

Data from the US Department of Agriculture showed that the area planted to corn soared from 31.7 million hectares in 2006 to 37.9 million hectares in 2007, while area planted to wheat grew only to 24.5 million hectares from 23.2 million in 2006.

Area planted to soybeans, on the other hand, dropped significantly from 30.6 million hectares in 2006 to 25.8 million hectares, which explains the similar surge in the world market price of soybeans, the main protein component of animal feed.

"With the high prices of corn, American farmers that used to plant wheat have shifted to corn," Pinca says.

This has wreaked havoc on world prices because the United States is the world's leading exporter of wheat, accounting for a third of the export market. Other top exporters are Argentina, Canada, Australia and the European Union.

The Philippines could tap alternative wheat sources, but countries that traditionally export wheat-particularly India and China-are closing their doors because they need the wheat to satisfy their domestic demand.

India, for instance, used to export 6 million metric ton of wheat a year. But now it imports 2 million metric ton a year because its economic growth has led to increased consumption of pasta, bread and other wheat-based products.

China also used to export wheat but has now stopped exporting its grains—soybeans, corn and wheat—to cap runaway consumer prices.

Australia, meanwhile, is suffering from low export volume because of two years of drought. Its export volume consequently dropped from a high of 24 million metric tons to just 11 million.

Canada, on the other hand, was hit by a deep freeze, reducing its export output from a high of 26 million metric ton to just 16 metric ton.

Pinca says it will take at least two years for supply to stabilize, as other countries plant more wheat to take advantage of high prices, and traditional exporters recover their lost output.

Until then, Filipinos will just to have to pay more to satisfy their craving for hot pan de sal.

kevinb

May 6th, 2008, 07:15 AM

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080409/i/r3848690015.jpg

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080409/i/r775835391.jpg

A fisherman pulls in a boat along a polluted coastline in Manila April 9, 2008.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080408/i/r2176901400.jpg

A girl picks shells at a garbage area near a polluted coastal bay in Paranaque
city, metro Manila April 8, 2008.

Juskolord... :ohno:

I believe this is true. Even without all the conspiracy theory and reading this, if you just analyze how the whole world is structured and who yields the power of course they'll want to always maintain the status quo.

I so agree. Even though there's a recession in that part of the world, I believe they're still planning some tactics on how other nations will submit to help them to reach 'it' again, instead of trying to help these nations to totally bloom. Look at what happened before the government imposed the 12% TAX. Wala naman nagawa si GMA kasi kung hindi niya gagawin 'yun, the Philippines would be done with. *sigh*

red_jasper

May 6th, 2008, 10:52 AM

Nationwide transport strike set on May 12
05/06/2008 | 03:20 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Militant public utility drivers and operators have initially set May 12 as the date for their nationwide transport strike, which they said will be the biggest protest action in history that will be staged by the transport sector.

According to Orlando Marquez, spokesperson of the United Transport Alliance Koalisyon (1-Utak), the transport strike is due to the inaction of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) with their petition for fare increase.

Marquez said the current P7.50 minimum fare is not enough for the drivers to feed their families due to the weekly fuel price adjustments being imposed by oil companies.

“We want to maintain the current fare, but because of the continuous increase in fuel prices we have no choice but to seek for an increase in order for us to live and feed our families," Marquez said.

The transport sector is seeking additional P1.50 on the minimum jeepney fare. If approved, fare for the first four kilometers would be P9.00, with additional P0.50 for every succeeding kilometer.

On Monday, members of the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (ACTO) trooped the LTFRB office to call on its chairman, Thompson Lantion, to immediately act on their petition for fare increase.

“We don’t know what is keeping them… We have been waiting for the decision for several months now. In fact prices of diesel was around P30.00 per liter when we file the fare request, now prices is at P40.00 per liter," Efren De Luna, ACTO national president, said.

He said they will only withdraw their plan once the LTFRB comes out with a favorable decision on their petition.

Aside from fare increase, the transport sector is also calling for the implementation of the Single Ticketing System and the P2.00 additional discount in fuel. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/93566/Nationwide-transport-strike-set-on-May-12)

barrera_marquez

May 6th, 2008, 01:07 PM

Pusa papayag ako sa P10 na hiling nila basta wala nang maghihintay na jeep ng mga pasahero. Nakakainis din kasi minsan yung nagmamadali ka tapos maghihintay yung jeep ng pasahero, kung magrereklamo ka naman sasabihin nila dapat nag-taxi na lang ako. Nakakagago talaga...

red_jasper

May 6th, 2008, 01:19 PM

:yes: OK lang siguro maghintay pag nasa terminal pero kainis
talaga yong maghihintay ka nang matagal habang nag-aabang ng pasahero ang tsuper sa kanyang paboritong kanto/tambayan...

barrera_marquez

May 6th, 2008, 03:12 PM

b'z2;20393991"]:yes: OK lang siguro maghintay pag nasa terminal pero kainis
talaga yong maghihintay ka nang matagal habang nag-aabang ng pasahero ang tsuper sa kanyang paboritong kanto/tambayan...

yeah, it is faster to wait for passengers in the terminal but slow in their favorite hangouts. cause pa sila ng traffic sa totoo lang kaya mabuti talaga at binigyan ng MMDA ng reprimand ang mga bus na nag-aabang ng pasahero.

le Reine

May 6th, 2008, 04:21 PM

Inflation rate for April is highest in 3 years at 8%. :cry:

FerrariLover

May 17th, 2008, 06:53 AM

iloilocitykid

May 17th, 2008, 07:05 AM

^^ It's not just GMA that should wake up...it's all of us

crappypants

May 17th, 2008, 07:19 AM

get over it! nothing new. now get up and do something about it.

azriel915

May 17th, 2008, 07:24 AM

^^ It's not just GMA that should wake up...it's all of us

Yeah, you're right. It's not GMA's fault these people can't feed themselves three times a day. These people are the ones to blame for breeding like rabbits and having so many children..:bash:

iloilocitykid

May 17th, 2008, 08:26 AM

^^ In a way it is still GMA's fault. She's the president and this is her task. You can't expect them to stop breeding so fast if they haven't got any education. Besides, pinpointing leads to nothing.

Maxxclip

May 17th, 2008, 08:31 AM

jpdm

May 17th, 2008, 04:34 PM

Ultimately, the buck stops at the entrance of Malacanang...

The national leadership and the bureaucracy are the major agencies of the Philippine State...

If only the national government has the focus, the right interests in mind (general welfare) and the political will...no problem is insurmountable...

Singapore when it was kicked out from the Federation of Malaya has nothing but a determined leader and government which incidentally because very successful in converting that tiny island nation from a backwater into one of Asia's economic powerhouses...

tuxedo_blue

May 17th, 2008, 04:43 PM

^^ In a way it is still GMA's fault. She's the president and this is her task. You can't expect them to stop breeding so fast if they haven't got any education. Besides, pinpointing leads to nothing.

I believe there are 3 kinds of people: "the dumb", who never learns; "the normal" people, who learns from their mistakes and "the intelligent", who learns from other people's mistakes. We don't have to be told what to do, we should think for ourselves and try to be "intelligent".

:)

benchjade

May 17th, 2008, 04:45 PM

di ko napanood ang report pero OA naman ang CNN. sa pilipinas lang ba may naghuhukay ng basura para makakain tapos sasabihing no more land to plant rice.

garzland

May 17th, 2008, 04:52 PM

Nothing new about this. It's even been shown in BBC and other international networks which is not good for us.

bitoy

May 17th, 2008, 05:42 PM

BLOODBATH IN BANK
9 shot dead in the head (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080517-137089/9-shot-dead-in-the-head)

CABUYAO, Laguna--as though they were compelled to queue for their doom, three of the bodies were found side by side in a common pool of blood.

Two others were in the vault, lying among scattered peso bills. The rest lay in front of the counter, between office dividers--most with a single shot in the head.

Before taking off with an undetermined amount, yet unidentified robbers went on a killing spree early Fridayat the one-story branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) in this town of industrial parks.

Officials said it was the worst crime in Laguna in recent memory.

OtAkAw

May 18th, 2008, 09:09 AM

Just view the ITN report via CNN on TV. It is so alarming and embarrasing as a filipino while watching it. It shows filipinos scavenging in a dumpsite and jeepney driver trying to make ends meet to feed. It shows manila skyline and the reporter of course mention that there is no more land to plant rice.

GMA wake-up. :bash:

CNN is garbage. What would've you expected?
Their superbly biased coverage of the China-Tibet phenomenon is just blood-boiling. What more if they are going to report about a poor nation like the Philippines.

crappypants

May 18th, 2008, 09:12 AM

jpdm

May 18th, 2008, 11:55 AM

there seems to be a disturbing trend. the last several days now there has been a bank heist almost every day. what's going on. that's scary..

...This is "one of the signs" that the administration of GMA is "leading our people and country to prosperity"....'Alot of people are now "benefiting" from the "sound economic policies" of this government... that's the reason why economic crimes are getting worst everyday in the Philippines.... :bash:

Paging fans of GMA in skyscrapercity...

venntro

May 18th, 2008, 12:28 PM

The Marketing Manager who was fighting for his life in the hospital just died. Hopefully the police will be able to track down the killers who perpetrated this horrible crime. Some people will just politicize the incident and just shows their level of maturity or the lack of it. VACC is now lobbying for the reinstatement of the death penalty but we would expect the Church to go fight against it.

bitoy

May 18th, 2008, 03:17 PM

there seems to be a disturbing trend. the last several days now there has been a bank heist almost every day. what's going on. that's scary..

Na bale wala yung mga announcement ng PNP about those holdup/kidnap gangs that they say has been neutralized. Malamang, dating mga pulis pa yung mga killers na yun. Very sickening to see lots of crimes on the news. Yung iba nga hindi na nalalagay sa diyaryo dahil hindi na kaya ng media to cover the crimes.

venntro

May 19th, 2008, 03:44 AM

There are some media outfits who are merely after covering the asses of their affiliates so much so that they are trying to revive dead issues just to divert attention. The Cabuyao heist should really be given the attention it deserves. I remember during the ERAP era that there were several months of continued bank heists in Luzon and one of my colleagues was even a victim in the Metrobank heist in 1999. It was not even in the national papers then. Lacson never had an answer to that.

jpdm

May 19th, 2008, 04:16 AM

I suppose every banks have police alarms or cctv...

how come RCBC has none of these?

How come those devils who killed those innocent and hapless civilians where able to get in and out of the industrial park?

Is the bank located inside the industrial park?If its inside, the guards of the park must have the I.Ds of the assailants...

venntro

May 19th, 2008, 04:20 AM

Based on the reports, the assailants destroyed the video tapes of the surveillance cameras.

jpdm

May 19th, 2008, 04:32 AM

crappypants

May 19th, 2008, 07:51 AM

there was also an incident a few days back where a man was robbed or killed after cashing his retirement money . :(

GearX

May 19th, 2008, 07:57 AM

Calling CSI.....:ohno:

bitoy

May 19th, 2008, 10:57 AM

grabe na talaga!

They were sleeping as gunman sprayed bullets (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080519-137478/They-were-sleeping-as-gunman-sprayed-bullets)

Cops name suspect in Calamba massacre (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080519-137420/UPDATE-4-Cops-name-suspect-in-Calamba-massacre)

Tapos meron pang pinatay na pulis sa Cebu na nag-sa-sideline as driver.

:ohno: And Esperon is now the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process .....

hmmm...nasa Mindanao siya nuon to keep the peace, Hello Garci ang nangyari na piece. :lol:

barrera_marquez

May 19th, 2008, 11:57 AM

Kuratong Baleleng 2 ba ito?

OtAkAw

May 19th, 2008, 03:28 PM

^^Both incidents are in Laguna. What is happening in the world?
Lack of rice must have taken the remaining sanity out of some of our fellow Filipinos.

Mercato

May 19th, 2008, 05:31 PM

^^ Rather, what is happening to the Philippines, not the world. Law & order is still within acceptable levels of sanity in most parts of Southeast and Northeast Asia...
The Marketing Manager who was fighting for his life in the hospital just died. Hopefully the police will be able to track down the killers who perpetrated this horrible crime. Some people will just politicize the incident and just shows their level of maturity or the lack of it. VACC is now lobbying for the reinstatement of the death penalty but we would expect the Church to go fight against it. Filipinos in the Philippines do not respect the Law. Because most of ‘em had found out that they can do almost anything they want and GET AWAY with it. Philippine Laws and Law Enforcement are a joke. Like it or not, a big sick joke and that is the view of most Western & Asian foreigners within the SE Asian region, hence, their (businessmen’s) belief that doing business in the Phils. is risky because of corruption and the utter lack of peace & order. Does Phil. Law Enforcement and Establishment accept critique? NO, they do not coz they’re smug & delusional, SNAFU (Situation Normal, All F@ck&d Up).

barrera_marquez

May 19th, 2008, 11:58 PM

^^Both incidents are in Laguna. What is happening in the world?
Lack of rice must have taken the remaining sanity out of some of our fellow Filipinos.

Hindi rin, mayroon pa namang P18 na NFA rice...

Tingin ko talaga, revenge ang dahilan kung bakit nagkaroon ng sunud-sunod na patayan sa Laguna.

jpdm

May 20th, 2008, 01:11 AM

^^ Rather, what is happening to the Philippines, not the world. Law & order is still within acceptable levels of sanity in most parts of Southeast and Northeast Asia...
Filipinos in the Philippines do not respect the Law. Because most of ‘em had found out that they can do almost anything they want and GET AWAY with it. Philippine Laws and Law Enforcement are a joke. Like it or not, a big sick joke and that is the view of most Western & Asian foreigners within the SE Asian region, hence, their (businessmen’s) belief that doing business in the Phils. is risky because of corruption and the utter lack of peace & order. Does Phil. Law Enforcement and Establishment accept critique? NO, they do not coz they’re smug & delusional, SNAFU (Situation Normal, All F@ck&d Up).

Maybe.

Animo

May 21st, 2008, 07:10 PM

Agence France-Presse (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=119016)

US logistics firm United Parcel Service (UPS) said Wednesday it is moving to a new Asia air operations centre in Shenzhen, China by 2010 and would scale back its current regional hub in the Philippines.

"In the past few years the increase in trend was moving towards the north of Asia. About 75 percent of the intra-Asia package volume shifted to North Asia, and the decision was made to handle the packages close to our clients," said Andy Connelly, UPS senior vice president for the region.

From 2010 the Shenzen airport will take most of the volume away from the UPS facility at Clark airport north of Manila, he told a news conference.

The 89,000 square-meter (958,000-square-foot) UPS Shenzen hub will launch 100 flights per week and its 400 staff will be capable of sorting 18,000 packages an hour, Connelly added.

He said the China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan markets now account for more than half of UPS' total intra-Asia volume, with a sizeable volume in southeast China and Hong Kong.

"Given the growth in shipping alone in southern China, it makes sense to sort and dispatch this volume from a hub closer to our customers," he added.

From the current nine aircraft daily, Connelly said UPS flights out of the 300 million-dollar, 7,000 packages per hour Clark facility would be reduced to two flights.

"We will maintain our presence in Clark on a reduced basis. Clark will continue its function as gateway to the Philippines' import and export," the official said.

The Clark staff will be reduced to 70 from 200, he added.

jpdm

May 22nd, 2008, 01:02 AM

^^

--Di bale, there are still alot of local companies that can replace this firms..I mean domestically..

--Our regular airlines (PAL, Cebu-pacific) also provide cargo services..

--2Go of Aboitiz, LBC, JRS to a certain extend also do this...

3cr

May 23rd, 2008, 11:01 PM

RP needs 159 years to become 1st World
By Cai U. Ordinario
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0523&242008/banking01.html

IF the Philippines grows at its highest gross domestic product (GDP) growth during the past 10 years, it will take 159 years before it catches up with the growth achieved by member-countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

This is part of the findings of the final report of the Commission on Growth and Development, titled, “Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development.” The commission is cofunded by the World Bank, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the governments of Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands and United Kingdom.

“Growth is not an end in itself. But it makes it possible to achieve other important objectives of individuals and societies. It can spare people, en masse from poverty and drudgery. Nothing else ever has. It also creates the resources to support health care, education and the other Millennium Development Goals to which the world has committed itself. In short, we take the view that growth is a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for broader development, enlarging the scope for individuals to be productive and creative,” the report noted.

The report also sought to describe the differences in the economic performance of developing countries by estimating the growth rate it would need to achieve to catch up with industrialized countries at a given date, in this case, 2050 and 2100.

In the report, the commission said that using data from 1996 to 2006, the country only grew by a maximum of 4.3 percent and an average of 2.2 percent. To catch up with OECD countries using this data, the commission said the Philippines needs 159 years to become fully industrialized.

However, if the country wants to catch up by 2050, it will need sustained growth of 6.5 percent; and to catch up by 2100, the country needs a GDP of 4.1 percent.

“Because industrialized countries’ secular growth rate is about 2 percent per capita, developing countries need to grow at much higher rates to catch up,” the report stated.

“Many countries have an average per capita growth rate for the decade well below the OECD secular per capita growth rate, implying that they would never catch up at such rates. On the other hand, [data show that] all countries grew at a rate above 2 percent in at least one year. Using this rate renders the calculation mathematically feasible, but its economic meaning needs to be interpreted carefully,” the report warned.

Meanwhile, since 1960, the report said only six of the 25 largest developing countries in the world have grown faster than 3 percent in terms of per capita while 10 had growth rates below 2 percent.

This, the report stressed, implied that many developing countries like the Philippines have fallen farther behind industrialized countries’ incomes.

The Philippines’ real GDP in 2006 was $99 billion, which contributed 1.2 percent to the total real GDP of developing countries in 2006.

The country’s real compound annual GDP growth rate from 1980 to 2006 was 2.9 percent, while per capita GDP grew by 0.7 percent. On the other hand, the report said, the Philippines’ real GDP from 1960 to 2006 grew by 4 percent while per capita GDP grew by 1.4 percent.

“Growth strategies that rely exclusively on domestic demand eventually reach their limits. The home market is usually too small to sustain growth for long, and it does not give an economy the same freedom to specialize in whatever it is best at producing,” the report stated.

“Catch-up growth is also made possible by an abundant labor supply. As the economy expands and branches out, new ventures draw underemployed workers out of traditional agriculture into more productive work in the cities. Resources, especially labor, must be mobile. No country has industrialized without also urbanizing, however chaotically,” it added.

The report also emphasized the need for a strong leadership and effective government to attain economic growth. The report said “an increasingly capable, credible and committed government” is important, particularly in achieving catch-up growth.

The commission said policymakers need to choose a growth strategy, communicate their goals to the public and convince people that the future rewards are worth the effort, thrift and economic upheaval.

“[Policymakers] will succeed only if their promises are credible and inclusive, reassuring people that they or their children will enjoy their full share of the fruits of growth,” the report stated.

The report also highlighted the need for impressive rates in public investment for infrastructure, education and health, especially when attaining rapid economic growth.

Investments for these sectors pave the way for new industries to emerge and raise the return to any private venture that benefits from healthy, educated workers, passable roads and reliable electricity.

“Growth entails a structural transformation of the economy, from agriculture to manufacturing, from a rural work force to an urban one. This transformation is the result of competitive pressure. Governments committed to growth must therefore liberalize product markets, allowing new, more productive firms to enter and obsolete firms to exit. They must also create room to maneuver in the labor market, so that new industries can quickly create jobs and workers can move freely to fill them,” the commission stressed.

Launched in April 2006, the Commission on Growth and Development brings together 21 leading practitioners from the government, business and the policymaking arenas, mostly from the developing world. The commission is chaired by Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, former dean of the Stanford Graduate Business School; Danny Leipziger, vice president of the World Bank, is the commission’s vice-chairman.

Over a period of two years the commission was tasked to seek to gather the best understanding there is about the policies and strategies that underlie rapid and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The commission’s audience is the leaders of developing countries.

filcan

May 24th, 2008, 01:48 PM

^^this is a misleading article...
it states that it will take 159 yrs for the country to be developed but they took a maximum GDP growth rate of only 4.3%.

However, if the country wants to catch up by 2050, it will need sustained growth of 6.5 percent

^^This is what should have been in the headline...
an annual growth rate of 6.5% is foreseeable for an improving Philippine economy. Especially with more improvements in infrastructure, health and education in the coming years.

Too bad though, PGMA said that Philippines would be first world by 2020. Oh well, at least we know its not impossible. :)

Igsuonnimo

May 24th, 2008, 02:12 PM

^^this is a misleading article...
it states that it will take 159 yrs for the country to be developed but they took a maximum GDP growth rate of only 4.3%.

^^This is what should have been in the headline...
an annual growth rate of 6.5% is foreseeable for an improving Philippine economy. Especially with more improvements in infrastructure, health and education in the coming years.

Too bad though, PGMA said that Philippines would be first world by 2020. Oh well, at least we know its not impossible. :)

Sa tuwing binabanggit sa Philippine MEDIA ang 2020;
meron galit na galit.

Pangit naman kung babanggitin ko dito si Marcos dahil mabubuhay ang isyu ng Philippines-Malaysia rivalry of the 70's.
Pero ng isinulat at nailabas ng isang Malaysian based in Canada ang libro ng The Malay Dilemma Revisted, nagbago ang pananaw ko.

Sana naman matuto tayong gumamit ng sariling reference number dahil ang 2020 ay para sa mga Malaysians.

Hindi ba natin kayang gumawa ng sarili para sa atin?

Sa bagay, iisang lang naman ang sinabi ni :horse: JPR :horse: , at ito ang MALAY RACE!

barrera_marquez

May 24th, 2008, 02:22 PM

Sa tuwing binabanggit sa Philippine MEDIA ang 2020;
meron galit na galit.

Pangit naman kung babanggitin ko dito si Marcos dahil mabubuhay ang isyu ng Philippines-Malaysia rivalry of the 70's.
Pero ng isinulat at nailabas ng isang Malaysian based in Canada ang libro ng The Malay Dilemma Revisted, nagbago ang pananaw ko.

Sana naman matuto tayong gumamit ng sariling reference number dahil ang 2020 ay para sa mga Malaysians.

Hindi ba natin kayang gumawa ng sarili para sa atin?

Sa bagay, iisang lang naman ang sinabi ni :horse: JPR :horse: , at ito ang MALAY RACE!

Dapat kasi mag-forge tayo ulit ng alliance sa Malaysia... kagaya ng ginawa natin sa Thailand...

red_jasper

May 27th, 2008, 04:59 AM

Trade deficit widens to $928M in March as oil costs surge
(http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20080527-139071/Trade-deficit-widens-to-928M-in-March-as-oil-costs-surge)

Thomson Financial, Reuters
First Posted 10:01:00 05/27/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- The country's trade deficit widened to $928 million in March from $79 million a year earlier as imports rose due to surging fuel prices while exports fell on weakening global demand, government data showed on Tuesday.

Imports rose 12.2 percent to $5.12 billion while exports shrank a revised 6.6 percent to $4.19 billion. Exports were earlier reported to have fallen 6.8 percent.

The trade deficit ballooned to $2.1 billion in the first quarter, nearly double the $1.14 billion deficit recorded in the first two months.

Electronics parts, which dominate imports and are used in the country’s export sector, fell 16.8 percent from a year earlier compared to February's revised 10.9 percent increase.

Purchases of crude oil and minerals rose a steep 87.1 percent.

Imports of cereals and cereal products rose a staggering 151 percent but made up only 3.6 percent of total imports.

Vishnu Varathan, an economist from Forecast Pte said the figures "clearly highlight the price pressure from commodities and oil filtering into imports while slower growth momentum begins to pinch exports.

"Given the global outlook for electronics demand and the fact that commodity bulls are extending their run well into Q2, we think that the trade account will continue to be pressured, which is a peso negative."
Frederic Neumann, senior economist from HSBC said the import number reflects "the decline in electronics imports into the Philippines and therefore slowing export growth ahead.

"We continue to expect a deteroriation in the trade balance of the Philippines which will weigh on the peso going forward. As long as commodity prices stay high, the Philippine peso will remain under pressure."

Thio Chin Loo, a currency strategist from BNP Paribas in Singapore said: "The widening trade deficit on a trend basis (12-month annualized) may continue to pressure the peso lower in the near term. We see a risk of dollar/peso breaking above 44.00 and testing 45.00."

bitoy

May 30th, 2008, 02:51 AM

PDEA: Some agents ‘plant’ evidence (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=2008052985)By Miriam Desacada
Friday, May 30, 2008

CANDAHUG, Palo, Leyte – The director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) admitted that his agency, tasked with the elimination of the supply of and demand for illegal drugs in the country, is forced to “plant evidence” in “some special cases.”
Undersecretary Dionisio Santiago’s admission of the planting of evidence like shabu or other drug paraphernalia stemmed from the question of a reporter during a news conference here Wednesday.

The reporter asked how the agency is helping victims of planted drug evidence.

Santiago did not directly answer the question but said that under certain circumstances, they too are forced to plant evidence, but only on “well-known drug traffickers under PDEA’s watchlist” who always escape arrest.

“We sometimes do this although this is against the rule of law. Definitely we only apply this matter to some cases, like a subject who is publicly known to be peddling drugs but always escapes arrest. This is when we enter the picture,” Santiago told reporters.

“But PDEA operatives make sure that they (known drug traffickers) won’t know that we put planted evidence. We are doing this because we want to neutralize big personalities engaged in the illegal drug trade which destroys the future of the youth,” he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

:eek: Planting evidence no matter if they think it is a noble thing to do is always illegal. Or maybe, planting it so that the suspected drug dealers would pay more for their release.
Undersecretary Dionisio Santiago’s admission of this might be the key to all convicted dealers to be out of jail.

red_jasper

May 30th, 2008, 09:58 AM

^^ Santiago is too honest for his own good :ohno:
i wonder how the Commander-in-Chief would deal this controversial admission...

3cr

May 30th, 2008, 10:08 AM

bitoy

May 30th, 2008, 07:23 PM

b'z2;21245941"]^^ Santiago is too honest for his own good :ohno:
i wonder how the Commander-in-Chief would deal this controversial admission...

That was an honest thing to say but he just ignored the consequences and the impact of his statement to the organization that he is representing.

Sumasakit na ang ulo ni Ma'm sa mga ganitong gawain ng mga tauhan niya.

^^ Wow I can't believe this Santiago fella admitted to that. He is either very honest or very inutile. Perhaps both. What they've done is break the law themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll be seeing alot of these incarcerated smugglers and dealers filling for appeals because of this revelation. And what's to stop the likes of the Shabu smuggler caught in Subic from saying that the drugs were planted. Another big mess for PGMA. :ohno:

Malamang nga.
Yung salitang "plantahan" coming from PNP or military authorities ay narinig ko na minsan during my vacation in Pinas. Narinig ko sa resto along Roaxs Blvd, when some policemen were talking about their takes for that night. :)

kiretoce

May 30th, 2008, 09:44 PM

North Korean methamphetamines floods the Philippines (http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSMAN46049)

High-grade methamphetamines from North Korea have started to flood the Philippines, reducing street prices of the drug by about 50 percent, the head of the country's drug enforcement agency said on Friday.

Dionisio Santiago, a retired general, told Reuters there was strong suspicion a huge shipment of methamphetamines seized at the former U.S. navy base of Subic north of Manila this week came from clandestine drugs laboratories in North Korea.

"We've been informed by our counterparts abroad that North Korea has become a steady source of methamphetamines in the Asia and Pacific region," Santiago, a former army chief, told Reuters in an interview.

The Philippines has long been a source of methamphetamines, enforcement officials say. Clandestine production centres make the drug for local consumption but it is also smuggled to Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

The country itself had about 3.4 million regular and occasional drug users in 2007 , down from 6.7 million in 2004, according to government figures.

On Wednesday, more than 700 kg of high-grade crystal white methamphetamine worth nearly $100 million was seized in what is believed to be the country's biggest-ever drugs haul.

"Based on our initial investigation, the Vietnam-registered boat which unloaded the methamphetamines shipment had made port calls in North Korea," Santiago said.

He warned that the Philippines could become a transhipment point for illegal drugs from other countries.

"Our ports are becoming transhipment points for ecstasy, cocaine and shabu and what had happened in Subic this week should be a wake up call for our port authorities to work closely with us," he said.

The quality of narcotics available on the street was also improving and prices were falling, Santiago noted.

"In the last few months, we've noticed methamphetamine prices going down to as much as 3 million pesos ($68,000) per kilo from a high of 6-8 million pesos," he said.

"Those that were manufactured here were of yellowish and brown crystal form, but, lately we've been seeing higher-grade methamphetamines in crystal-clear white form."

TRANSHIPMENT POINT

In its 2007 annual report, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said methamphetamines, locally known as "shabu", were the primary drug of choice in the country.

Drug use in the country cuts across all social and economic classes, enforcement officials said. A small number of wealthy people use ecstasy and cocaine but methamphetamine and marijuana are the most popular drugs, while homeless people use solvents.

Santiago said transnational drug syndicates operating in the Philippines could have resorted to importing high-grade finished products from abroad after the break up of clandestine production bases in the country.

Nine clandestine laboratories and 13 warehouses around the capital Manila last year were dismantled last year.

There were eight known international drug rings with links to criminal gangs in China and Taiwan, Santiago said.

barrera_marquez

May 31st, 2008, 12:07 AM

3cr

May 31st, 2008, 07:39 AM

GMA blows top over shabu smuggling in Subic
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=2008052990

President Arroyo will personally monitor the investigation of some P5-billion worth of high-grade metamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu at the Subic Bay Freeport last Wednesday, officials said yesterday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Mrs. Arroyo was furious over the fact that Subic, a showcase for economic zones to attract investors, was used as a drug transshipment area.

Some 714 kilos of shabu were seized by operatives of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) as they were unloaded from Taiwanese fishing vessel F/B Shun Fa Xing docked at the Subic Riviera Pier.

The entry of the drugs was allegedly facilitated by a locator in the ecozone.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza said the drugs were allegedly smuggled by Anthony Ang, a Chinese national who owns Subic-registered company Hualong International.

The President will personally witness the destruction of the drugs and closely monitor pursuit operations against the suspects, PASG chief Undersecretary Antonio Villar said in a telephone interview.

Villar remained in Subic yesterday to personally check the inventory and sealing of the drugs.

Ermita said Mrs. Arroyo was worried that similar incidents are going on in other freeports in the country and that the incident would give Subic a bad name.

“The President said it was not good for big establishments like Subic to be used for smuggling drugs,” he said.

Villar said Mrs. Arroyo wanted to visit Subic last Wednesday but was busy meeting with foreign visitors. She pushed through with her visit to Tawi-Tawi yesterday.

“She told me that she would be present when the drugs will be destroyed,” he said.

He stressed that it was the first time that this happened in Subic as syndicates were “testing the viability” of bringing in drugs through freeports.

He said the SBMA and the PASG are conducting an inventory of all warehouses in Subic and looking into the possible backers of Ang.

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Napoleon Morales called for tighter inspection and monitoring of fishing vessels docking in Subic, even as he planned to meet with Arreza on how they could establish boarding facilities so they would be informed once a fishing boat arrives.

“The fact that a fishing boat was used to transport the illegal substance is one reason why fishing vessels should be considered as high risk and be placed on alert,” he said.

“Based on risk management analysis, there is a lesser incidence of anomalies in big shipping lines than in smaller fishing vessels,” he said.

A report by Subic port collector Marietta Zamoranos showed that the boat arrived last May 25 at about 8 a.m., but did not have a notice of arrival.

The Customs Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) boarding team failed to inspect the boat which left last May 27 at an undetermined time without securing exit clearance from the BOC and SBMA.

Morales said he would suggest cooperation between Immigration, Customs, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and SBMA in terms of boarding and unloading of vessels.

He added that he would also ask SBMA officials to consider the filing of administrative and criminal charges against Ang who imported the banned substance.

The SBMA took exception to a statement by PDEA that the Subic Freeport has become a transshipment point for illegal drugs from sources abroad.
Arreza said the PDEA cannot say that Subic has become a hub for drug smuggling “just because of one shipment” that was discovered last Sunday.
”This is certainly an isolated case,” Arreza stressed, pointing out that an SBMA patrol was instrumental in breaking the case when it noticed the unloading of boxes that contained the drugs from the Taiwanese boat.

Nabartek

May 31st, 2008, 07:55 AM

I think the bank should be punished.

Its SOP already to have this and the BSP has required banks to have these gadgets...

I mean RCBC is not a so and so bank, its one of the largest in the country....and futhermore located in an industrial estates? something is wrong with the bank owners, park administrators and the police...

Agree. it's been over a month na daw when the branch manager reported about the broken hidden videocam. May liability ang bangko for not responding the the managers report. I mean, this is a bank where huge sums of money are kept.

OtAkAw

May 31st, 2008, 06:10 PM

Agree. it's been over a month na daw when the branch manager reported about the broken hidden videocam. May liability ang bangko for not responding the the managers report. I mean, this is a bank where huge sums of money are kept.

This type of mentality is present in almost all aspects of life in the Philippines, but that's not saying ALL. For example here at school, our SC office's aircon unit is dripping wet after 30 mins of operation, we reported it on September of 2007 and until now, nothing's happened! We just placed a pail underneath it to take all of the drippings! It's true that colonial and crab mentality are not the only "bad sides" Filipinos.

red_jasper

May 31st, 2008, 07:27 PM

Philippine beef and pork prices set to rise: report (http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=234336)
05-31-2008, 16h19
MANILA (AFP)

http://i1.turkishpress.com/i-e/CPS.MOX07.310508181657.photo00.quicklook.default-245x171.jpg
A rice vendor in Manila. Philippine consumers
already battling to cope with record rice and
fuel prices can expect to pay more for beef
and pork, media reports said (AFP/File)

Philippine consumers already battling to cope with record rice and fuel prices can expect to pay more for beef and pork, media reports said Saturday.

Beef and pork prices have already doubled this year and with rising oil prices, increasing freight costs and a weakening peso, are set to rise again, an importers group told The Manila Times newspaper.

Jun Lim, vice president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, told the paper 90 percent of the country's beef supply is imported, mostly from Brazil.

The price of imported beef in January was 2.65 dollars a kilo, and in May it was 4.50 dollars a kilo. Pork was 1.90 a kilo in January and 2.50 in May, the paper said.

"For now, the price of chicken is stable, because most of the supply is produced locally," Lim told the paper.

"The reasons why the effect is not yet felt immediately, a lot of what is being sold in the market today are meats that came in two to three months ago and were in storage," he said.

"But once those stocks are depleted, price increases will hit the consumers."

The paper said meat prices are expected to increase by August or September.

On Friday the government said it is to give the poor subsidies worth up to 93.6 billion pesos (about $2.1 billion) to help them with the rising prices.

Some 23.5 million Filipinos, or the 26 percent of the population who earn 67 pesos or less a day, have been hardest hit by high rice and petroleum prices.

Economic growth had slowed to 5.2 percent in the first three months while inflation spiked to a three-year high of 8.3 percent in April and could reach 9.6 percent for May, the central bank said Friday.

3cr

June 1st, 2008, 02:09 AM

President’s office fails COA audit
PhilStar
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080531119

By Malou Mangahas Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Unliquidated cash advances, “loans” without records, donations diverted to uses not prescribed by donors, understated expenses and overstated accounts in the hundreds of millions of pesos, all sourced from taxpayers’ money.

These irregular transactions in clear breach of government accounting and auditing rules mark financial transactions in the Office of the President (OP) under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2007, according to a Commission on Audit (COA) report, a copy of which was obtained by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

The report on the presidency for 2007 contained 11 qualified comments and observations on these erroneous entries – mostly the same errors COA had noted in its 2006 audit of the same office.

COA also pointed out that of the 11 audit recommendations it made in the 2006 audit, only four were fully implemented, three partially implemented, and four not implemented at all by Malacañang.

Thus, for the second year in a row, COA rendered “a qualified opinion on the fairness of the presentation of the financial statements of the OP.”

The OP Proper consists of “the Private Offices, the Presidential Assistant System, the Executive Offices, the General Government Administration Staff, the Internal Audit Service Unit, the Locally Funded/Foreign Assisted Projects, and the Other Executive Offices.” The OP also “directly supervises 58 other executive offices, agencies, commissions, and committees that warrant the special attention of the President.”

The OP kitty is obviously substantial. In 2007, the OP received total cash inflows of P3.38 billion, or 13 percent more than the P2.99 billion it got in 2006. Of the 2007 figure, P2.31 billion came from notices of cash allocation from the Department of Budget and Management. The OP collected another P1.06 billion as its share in the net earnings of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

The OP likewise raised service income of P9.3 million, interest income of P4.05 million, and miscellaneous income of P3.3 million.

COA said that the OP’s total cash outflows reported in 2007 amounted to P2.67 billion, or 13 percent more than the P2.36 billion in 2006.

Non-employees got money

Where those monies went can be gleaned from the COA audit – somewhat. In its latest audit of the presidency signed by COA Director IV Bato S. Ali Jr., the agency said that as of Dec. 31, 2007, Arroyo’s Malacañang had:

• Failed to liquidate a total of P632.9 million of cash advances and receivables from officers, employees and other persons, on account of foreign and domestic travels that the President made, typically with a large retinue of political deputies and allies. Of the total, P594 million represented “cash advances granted to persons who are not employees of the OP.”

• Diverted “donations” totaling P37.3 million to expenses “outside of intended purposes,” contrary to provisions of the General Appropriations Act of 2007.

• Erroneously remitted and deposited collections on income from OP Bus Service Fares (P1.86 million collected from Malacañang employees) and entrance fees for the Presidential Museum (P1.74 million) in a Special Account in the Bureau of the Treasury (Btr), and not in the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund.

• Granted “loans” from the President’s Social Fund (PSF) using money from Pagcor in CY 2003 and January 2004 totaling P269.5 million without complete records.

• Erroneously classified collections and disbursements on electricity and water expenses of other agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations in the books of accounts, resulting in the understatement of Other Payables account by P4.1 million, and overstatement of the Due to Other NGAs and Due to GOCCs accounts by P4.1 million and P21,422.23, respectively. (NGAs are national government agencies and GOCCs are government-owned and -controlled corporations.)

• Failed to reconcile physical count of office supplies, as well as of property and plant equipment, with balances per books, resulting in “the overstatement/understatement of various supplies” and “casting doubt on their reliability.”

• Failed to provide property, plant and equipment worth a total of P914.8 million with depreciation, “thus understating both the accumulated depreciation and depreciation expense accounts.”

• Enrolled balances of P186.7 million as “Due to Other NGAs” and P42.07 million as “Due to Other GOCCs” accounts that remain “doubtful” because of “unreconciled beginning balance” of P181.9 million, and P42.05 million, respectively.

Money changed hands

Of the P632.9 million in unliquidated cash advances and receivables, COA said P375.66 million was granted to various disbursing officers, including P222.98 million granted for foreign travels to just one Cashier.

Further verification by COA showed that “the Cashier who was granted such cash advances has not been a member or party to such foreign travels.” The practice, the report stressed, “is an indirect violation” of COA Circular 97-002, which says the “transfer of cash advance from one accountable officer to another shall not be allowed.”

The COA report added: “The cash advances on foreign travel granted to the Cashier who was not a party to the said travel could not directly/personally perform an act such as making disbursements and taking care of receipts where he/she is not present to such travel. This indicates that a person other than the one who was granted such cash advance made the disbursements abroad.”

Unbooked loans

Apart from unliquidated cash advances, COA for the second year in a row took issue with the unbooked “loans” that the presidency granted in 2003 and January 2004 under the so-called “Isang Bayan, Isang Produkto, Isang Milyong Piso” Program.

Arroyo institutionalized the program under Executive Order 176 in 2002, supposedly “to stimulate local economic activity and growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).”

Under the program, the President allocated a million pesos each to every city or municipality in the country. The amount went to individual “borrowers” who were reportedly granted not a doleout but a “loan” with six-percent interest, payable every three months to the Land Bank of the Philippines, across a four-year period.

Arroyo’s EO listed, among others, the Land Bank and the Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corp. (SBGFC) as funding sources, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as the lead agency.

The funds were in truth sourced from the President’s Social Fund (PSF), a discretionary account Arroyo controls, and which is funded by the presidency’s share in the net earnings of Pagcor and PCSO.

But the COA audit of the PSF showed deficiencies in the Fund. These include P216.5 million “loans” granted in 2003, and P52.9 million granted in January 2004 – all not recorded in the books.

No subsidiary records were maintained for each “borrower,” and neither were accomplishment and financial and terminal reports required and submitted, the COA revealed.

When COA requested records on the “loans,” Malacañang’s Director of Finance gave a peculiar explanation. According to the report, “(the) Finance Director…stated that all these documents are being stored in the Office of the Special Projects at the Presidential Management Staff and which were not submitted/attached along with the Dvs (disbursement vouchers) due to the bulkiness of such documents but can be available for verification anytime.”

Bus, museum fees

Another unusual error that COA discerned was the remittance or deposit of collections on income from OP Bus Service Fares (P1,856,218.88); entrance fees for the Presidential Museum (P1,742,261.88); and other miscellaneous income (full payments of sale of unserviceable properties and 10-percent bid bond of winning bidders) in the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) as a Special Account (Fund 184) in the General Fund.

COA said that in the absence of any authorized law, these amounts should have been deposited in the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund, and remitted to the National Treasury.

When sought for an explanation, Arroyo’s deputies said the Palace maintains several buses to service the employees in going to their office and vice-versa. For the maintenance needs of the buses, fares are collected from the riding employees.

COA found out though that Malacañang had billed the repair and maintenance of the buses from the General Fund, and “not from this Special Account.”

Yet what might seem embarrassing and irregular at the same time is another COA finding: Arroyo had used P37.3 million in “donations” her office received for reasons “outside of intended purposes,” again in violation of the General Appropriations Act.

For the whole of 2007, the presidency received donations totaling P86 million:

• P80 million from the Manila Economic Cooperation Office in Taiwan;

• P5 million, with no particular purpose stated;

• P1 million for typhoon “Reming”; and

• P5,500 refund of financial assistance.

Of this total, COA said Arroyo disbursed P68 million, including P37.3 million for the following unintended purposes of the donations:

Purpose, Amount

1. Medical Assistance
P 13,433,078.35

2. Conferences/Seminars
P 2,761,800.00

3. Legal Assistance
P 1,214,103.91

4. Burial Assistance
P 1,104,500.00

5. Educational Assistance
P 443,000.00

6. Others
P 18,353,926.86

Total
P 37,310,409.12

It must be noted that years ago, a COA circular had disallowed using public funds as donations for burial assistance.

Why Arroyo had to use these donations for purposes other than that prescribed by donors is a puzzle. Her presidency has, in fact, functioned like a virtual social welfare agency: in 2007, it disbursed “donations” totaling P618.6 million, or an average of P51.5 million a month, using her own agency budget and cash inflows.

This amount is a significant increase from the P427.7 million in “donations” that the Palace disbursed in 2006, or an average of just P35.6 million a month.

bitoy

June 1st, 2008, 04:11 AM

• P5 million, with no particular purpose stated;

Suwerte naman yung nabigyan ng donation na ito --- no question asked :lol:

Purpose, Amount

1. Medical Assistance
P 13,433,078.35

2. Conferences/Seminars
P 2,761,800.00

3. Legal Assistance
P 1,214,103.91

4. Burial Assistance
P 1,104,500.00

5. Educational Assistance
P 443,000.00

6. Others
P 18,353,926.86

Total
P 37,310,409.12

Others --- hehehe! (mag "Others" note ka sa expenses mo dito, habulin ka ni Uncle Sam) :lol:

3cr

June 1st, 2008, 10:02 AM

Filipinos need to earn more to stay above poverty line amid unstoppable soaring prices
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/01/yehey/metro/20080601met2.html

MANILA: A Filipino family of five members needs an income of P10,000 ($227) a month to survive in Metro Manila due to soaring prices of fuel and other commodities, a revised figure released by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) showed Saturday.

This income threshold covers only basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation and does not include spending for recreation, said the NSCB, adding that families whose incomes fall short of the threshold are considered poor.

The latest NSCB poverty line, drawn according to inflation triggered by the latest increases in fuel prices, means that the minimum monthly income above poverty line has been raised by 16.7 percent from P8,569 in 2006.

The NSCB said the new figure is provisional and an official one will be published next year, as surveys for poverty statistics are conducted once every three years with the last official one produced in 2006.

The NSCB earlier reported that 26.9 percent of Filipino families were poor in 2006.

The Philippine government has set a target of reducing the figure of poor families to 17 percent when President Gloria Arroyo’s term ends in May 2010.

Inflation in the country is expected to hit near 10 percent in May due to soaring fuel and food prices, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday.

Nabartek

June 1st, 2008, 10:11 AM

^^Calls for desperate measures. Let's try going back to the basics. Walk instead of taking a trike or a jeep if you're traveling short distance, use charcoal when boiling water. Gasul is for cooking lang, use pamaypay instead of electric fan. MagSpartan nalang kayo instead of Havaianas.

wynngd

June 1st, 2008, 06:26 PM

Purpose, Amount

1. Medical Assistance
P 13,433,078.35

2. Conferences/Seminars
P 2,761,800.00

3. Legal Assistance
P 1,214,103.91

4. Burial Assistance
P 1,104,500.00

5. Educational Assistance
P 443,000.00

6. Others
P 18,353,926.86

Total
P 37,310,409.12

Naks mas importante si Others kesa kila Educational and Medical Assistance... hmmmm...

jpdm

June 2nd, 2008, 01:29 AM

Manila Times
Oil price surge to hurt rich
June 2, 2008
Skyrocketing prices could reverse gains in eradicating poverty in RP

By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter

Surging oil prices could reverse gains in eradicating poverty in the Philippines, and if oil reaches $200 a barrel—as some are predicting—even the most affluent Filipino families are vulnerable.

Poor Filipinos have been switching to environmentally cleaner fuels, like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), that is also essential to eradicating poverty. These families were weaned from using non-conventional types of fuels, like wood, charcoal and biomass residue.

Data from the National Statistics Office showed that the number of households using fuel wood or firewood declined from 63.5 percent to 55.3 percent. Charcoal users declined from 38.5 percent to 34.2 percent. Those using biomass residues decreased the most, from 29.2 percent to 18.9 percent.

The trend reflected the increased accessibility of supply of petroleum products, such as LPG and kerosene, under oil-deregulated conditions, according to the National Statistics Office.

From 1995 to 2004, the number of LPG household users doubled, from 4.2 million to 8.6 million.

The shift, however, means poor Filipinos now need to spend more to meet their fuel requirements for cooking and transportation.

In a media presentation, acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said the increase in oil price would primarily affect expenditures on fuel, transportation cost, and other household expenses, in general.

“Considering a baseline oil price of $90 per barrel and no change in average family income since 2006, families in the first to third deciles would register negative average family savings,” Santos said.

Families belonging to the first decile are the poorest 10 percent, while the wealthiest belong to the 10th decile.

Based on a simulation by the National Economic and Development Authority, the families under the first decile would have a deficit average family savings of P3,106, while the second and third deciles would have negative impact of P1,574 and P280, respectively.

From May 1 to 15, the Department of Energy said the average price of the regional benchmark Dubai crude and imported diesel rose above $91.70 per barrel and $113.00 per barrel, respectively.

In addition, as of May 21, the prevailing price in Metro Manila for diesel ranged from P41.67 to P43.97; gasoline, P49.33 to P51.57; kerosene, P46.15 to P49.30; an 11-kilogram LPG cylinder, P575.50 to P627.25.

If oil prices increase to $115 a barrel, Santos said the average household expenditures of those in the lowest-income decile will increase by P1,789. ”At this price, families in the fourth decile would now also register negative average family savings, since expenditures would increase by P3,970.”

At $125 per barrel, families in the first decile would increase expenditure by P1,852; second decile, P2,744; third decile, P3,435; fourth decile, P4,134; and fifth decile, P5,000. The families under ninth and 10th deciles would have additional expenditure of P12,744 and P23,786.

In an event that the price of Dubai crude reaches $180 per barrel, the additional expenditure for households in the first decile is P2,154; second decile, P3,204; third decile, P4,038; fourth decile, P5,191; and fifth decile, P6,336.

For the 10th decile, the average additional expenditure is P27,919.

At the $200 Dubai oil price level, the sixth income decile is now vulnerable to experiencing deficit. The average family annual expenditure is expected to increase by P7,765.

For those families in the first-decile bracket, a $200 a barrel would mean an additional expenditure of P2,269; second decile, P3,380; third decile, P4,268; fourth decile, P5,191; and fifth decile, P6,336.

For families in seventh decile, the impact is P9,646. Those in the eighth decile, P12,114; ninth decile, P16,131; and 10th decile, P29,493.

A study released by the United Nations in October showed that over the last three years, households in the region—including the Philippines—are paying, on average, 171 percent more for cooking fuels, 120 percent more for transportation, 67 percent more for electricity, and 55 percent more for lighting fuels than two years ago.

“On the whole, rising oil prices have left the poor with few choices other than to cut back on their consumption of oil products or make other cuts in their household budgets,” according to a UN study.

The study added that raising the poor’s consumption of modern fuels—including oil-based ones like kerosene, diesel and LPG—and electricity is essential to eradicate poverty.

extra work must be done

c0kelitr0

June 2nd, 2008, 07:40 AM

MANILA: A Filipino family of five members needs an income of P10,000 ($227) a month to survive in Metro Manila due to soaring prices of fuel and other commodities, a revised figure released by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) showed Saturday.

10k for a family of five?? :bash: who are they kidding? kulang na kulang yan. may member nga dito sa SSC 70k net/month ang sweldo, family of 4, namumulubi daw sya :D (psst, ang tamaan wag magalit :D)

Igsuonnimo

June 3rd, 2008, 12:45 PM

Child labor remains high in RP —Philstar.com

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Unlike many school children in various parts of the country, most children in Negros Occidental are not getting ready for the coming school opening next week.

For instead of going to school, a large number of the young population in Negros Occidential would be doing their usual chores in sugar plantation.

Albertito Morados, program coordinator of the non-government organization Quidan-Kaisahan (QK) in Negros Occidental reported that nearly half of the children in the province are working.

“A high 36 percent of children in Negros are working, in fact, 8,600 children are joining the labor force every year,” Morados said.

He said that majority of the children are working in sugar plantations and exposed to health risk and other job-related accidents.

Laura Vicuna Foundation Inc. executive director Sr. Maria Josefina Carrasco said children as young as five years old are already working in sugar plantations in Negros.

“You can see in the sugar plantation five-year-old children throwing the sugarcane to the sky and cutting it before falling on the ground using bolo and other sharp tools,” Carrasco said. – Mayen Jaymalin

edjgie

June 3rd, 2008, 01:03 PM

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 09:28 PM

http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/05/50/50/image_3650505.jpg:ohno:

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 3rd, 2008, 09:29 PM

http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/05/50/50/image_3650505.jpg:ohno:

:horse:

J.P.

barukdok

June 4th, 2008, 04:51 AM

10k for a family of five?? :bash: who are they kidding? kulang na kulang yan. may member nga dito sa SSC 70k net/month ang sweldo, family of 4, namumulubi daw sya :D (psst, ang tamaan wag magalit :D)

depende sa lifestyle yan, pre.

crappypants

June 4th, 2008, 04:54 AM

another way businesses prevent price increase is by making their products smaller.
For example i noticed the greenwhich pizza only has four shreds of cheese on it.
You can really count how many shreds of cheese is on the pizza.
terrible terrible.

red_jasper

June 5th, 2008, 04:56 AM

tsk... tsk... tsk... :ohno:

New York police harrasses Philippine Independence Day Parade protesters (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=54&type=2&sec=2&aid=200806057)

Thursday, June 5, 2008 10:14 AM

Around 100 marchers from the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCOM) and Bayan USA were reportedly harrassed by the New York police department and security forces of the Philippine Independence Day Celebration last Sunday.

The New York Independent Media center's website reported that the harrassment took place during the celebration of the Philippine Independence Day Parade.

The two groups were rallying against the issue of the rice crisis in the Philippines and the commercialization of the annual parade along Madison Avenue. Two members of the fraternity Kapatirang Pilipino were arrested.

It was not the first time for members of the Filipino community in New York to hold a protest march. The same contigent have been reported stopped from rallying by the police on several occasions in the past, such as during the protest march to call for Philippine Consul General Cecilia Rebong to move out of her $10,000 a month condominium at Trump Towers in Manhattan and the call to action on the state of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of activists in the Philippines. -- Alexa Villano

P A L

June 5th, 2008, 05:08 PM

From the Victim's Blog:
Yesterday, I went to Divisoria with Vince and my mom. We bought a lot of clothes supposedly for school, but of course my mom bought everything she wanted and she thought looks good on me.

Anyway, on our way home, around 4 sales representatives approached my mom. At first, I did not really know what was happening since I have set my mind into going home. Then my mom sat down and I saw all these Aowa Appliances surrounding us. Everything causes 40K on the average. Seeing that it is just another sales offer, I figured mom would work her way around it and we would leave in only a few minutes. They sat her down and had her tried the foot massager, probably to make her more relaxed, at ease and a bit easier to negotiate with. The foot massager costs around 38K, i think. And then, they explained all the appliances there and how it is very economical to buy each and every one.

While all this talking was happening, Vince already noticed that the 15-piece silverware has just about the same price as the induction stove and the home theatre. That in itself is already fishy, for how in the world would these items from the same company have the same prices if they have different benefits for the consumer?

Moving on, when they have exhausted all possible uses and benefits, and mom seemed to be gaining interest they "called" the head office and talked to their supposed marketing manager to tell that my mom is interested. They told her that she is from Quezon City and that they are going to give her the promotional slimming belt for listening to their sales talk. The marketing manager then talked to my mom for verification purposes.

I thought that this was an unconventional way to do things. If there is a promo, the company does not really call the head office and more so, talk to the marketing manager for a go signal. If ever they do, they do not do it in front of the customer where s/he can hear the whole conversation. And it is even weirder that she wanted to talk to my mom for verification.

When my mom gave back the cellular phone (yes, take note, they USED a cellphone), the sales rep suddenly screamed in delight and told my mom that since they have not given any showcase for Quezon City, my mom has been chosen to acquire of the BIGGEST SHOWCASE: the kitchen showcase. She just has to buy at least one item and the induction stove, pressure cooker or slimming belt, microwave and another item i forgot will be given for free!

Another thing that struck me is why would a company give all these during a normal day for no good reason at all? Especially now that pretty much all the prices are going up.

Vince, on the other hand, took note of the dilapitated pictures of the other winners. He said that if this whole promo for 10 big winners has been going on for only a month, then why are the pictures so worn out? He asked, "Why they are so persistent if it is the customer's loss in the end?" -- this is so true.

So mom, after talking to my sister and giving a million excuses, finally got us out of that whole sales rep talk. And we got home.

As I was preparing to sleep, Vince called me and told me to search Aowa Scam in google. My sister and I checked it out (and I think you should too). You wouldn't believe how many people AROUND THE WORLD were victims of this scam. Of course, most of those I have read were Filipinos, but you will see people from Malaysia and such.

With the little reading I have done, I now know that it is owned by a Nigerian who says that he is from China. The prices are of course extremely high and totally a rip off. Apparently, most companies (like groceries and some malls) allow Aowa to sell their products without knowing their unethical practices (I do not blame them though, since that would be extra work and less money for them).

Here are a few readings that might help someone like you who wishes to be informed:

This has the real price list of equivalent products from another company:
http://supersawsaw.blogspot.com/2008/03/aowa-scam-beware.html

This is a report or notice to the public type saying that the company is a hoax:
http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/38495/AOWA_ELECTRONICS_IS_A_SCAM.htm

This is another multiply user who talks about what happened to his/her aunt:
http://ibumuda05.multiply.com/journal/item/48/AOWA_CHEATING_SCAM..BEWARE...

This is a forum with people sharing their experiences:
http://www.tipidpc.com/viewtopic.php?tid=59844

If you want more readings, then I suggest you look it up. :)

Be careful! God bless! :)

3cr

June 7th, 2008, 08:01 AM

Chinese drug trafficker in Subic missing, says PDEA
Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20080607nat7.html

A suspected big time drug trafficker from whom 714 kilos of shabu (hydrochloride methamphetamine) were seized last week in Subic has gone missing.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Sr. Undersecretary Dionisio Santiago said they are still trying to determine Ang’s whereabouts.

“We have seized a large shipment of shabu but the ship’s crew and the suspect has escaped,” Dionisio said.

He also revealed through an Interpol report that the captain of the ship who transported the illegal drugs has a standing warrant of Arrest in Taiwan.

Last May 25, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) personnel chanced upon a Mitsubishi Outlander van suspiciously roaming the vicinity of Riviera Pier, which later parked adjacent to Taiwanese vessel F/B Shun Fa Shing.

The operative noted that the vessel’s crew unloaded boxes which they loaded on the van, prompting the operative to notify the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG).

The inward manifest issued by the Bureau of Customs showed that the said vessel was supposed be without cargo.

When accosted by gate security, a Chinese claimed the boxes contained computer parts. Security personnel brought the driver identified as Anthony ‘Anton’ Ang, 32 yrs old, a Chinese residing at No. 55 25th St., East Bajac-bajac, Olongapo City and owner of trading firm Hualong International Inc. engaged in trans shipment, importing, exporting, warehousing and cargo consolidation of cigarettes and liquor.

Ang was later released after promising to return with the documents for the boxes.

When Ang failed to return after 24 hours joint PASG-SBMA authorities decided to open the boxes and found in each box five air-sealed plastic bags of crystalline substances, suspected to be shabu, which were later found out to be shabu by the National Bureau of Investigation following chemical verification.

PASG and SBMA operatives instead arrested an Ang’s alleged cohort Rolando Ladandelo of 271 Rizal Avenue, East Bajac-bajac, Olongapo City.

richard24

June 7th, 2008, 12:02 PM

jbkayaker12

June 7th, 2008, 12:48 PM

New York police harrasses Philippine Independence Day Parade protesters

Thursday, June 5, 2008 10:14 AM

Around 100 marchers from the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCOM) and Bayan USA were reportedly harrassed by the New York police department and security forces of the Philippine Independence Day Celebration last Sunday.

The New York Independent Media center's website reported that the harrassment took place during the celebration of the Philippine Independence Day Parade.

The two groups were rallying against the issue of the rice crisis in the Philippines and the commercialization of the annual parade along Madison Avenue. Two members of the fraternity Kapatirang Pilipino were arrested.

It was not the first time for members of the Filipino community in New York to hold a protest march. The same contigent have been reported stopped from rallying by the police on several occasions in the past, such as during the protest march to call for Philippine Consul General Cecilia Rebong to move out of her $10,000 a month condominium at Trump Towers in Manhattan and the call to action on the state of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of activists in the Philippines. -- Alexa Villano

---

Well, these group of people deserve it. Why bother an event that showcases Philippine culture while ignoring the fact that people are not there to hear their concerns but to enjoy the parade and festivities. It is their own selfish intentions that got them arrested and they sure deserved it.

normandb

June 8th, 2008, 11:07 AM

^^ :lol: my point ka

kiretoce

June 10th, 2008, 05:22 PM

Abandoned embassies become eyesores in D.C. (http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080610/BUSINESS/312530402/-1/news)

The front door to one of Washington's finer addresses, a four-story townhouse valued at $3.9 million, is padlocked and covered with plywood. The brass-toned plate above the entrance reads: "Embassy of the Republic of Malawi."

Next door, a barren nine-bedroom residence is assessed at $6 million, even with the bare flagpole out front, the weeds growing in the driveway, the paint-peeled columns and boarded-up windows. The owner: the United Arab Emirates.

Across the street, along a portion of Massachusetts Avenue known as Embassy Row, the grass outside a century-old mansion recently reached hip-high, Venetian blinds twist sloppily in a corner window and the front door is missing its doorknob.

The owner, the Pakistani government, moved out in 2004.

Over the past year, the District of Columbia has fought to eliminate thousands of vacant buildings, sharply raising property taxes to force owners to sell, lease or occupy their real estate. But officials can exert no such pressure on more than a dozen derelict properties that have added a dose of blight to some of Washington's grandest neighborhoods.

Each of the buildings served as an embassy or diplomatic residence for countries including Liberia and Malaysia, the Philippines and the Republic of Togo. Legally considered foreign soil in almost all cases, the buildings are exempt from property taxes and the fine print of the city's building code.

In some cases, the properties are vacant because the countries have decamped to more palatial confines in the diplomatic enclave off Van Ness Street. In others, the disrepair is a sign of trouble back home as the countries struggle to finance renovations.

Then there's the empty brick house on Quincy Street NW, the one with the dead leaves piled at the front door, the ungainly forest consuming the back yard and the collapsed remnants of what was once a garage roof.

Neighborhood children refer to it as the "haunted house."

Property records show the owner as the Embassy of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was dissolved in 1991.

In 2006, the republic's diplomatic properties were divided among the six succeeding countries. Although the house was turned over to Bosnia, at least preliminarily, the deed was never transferred, said Svetozar Miletic, minister counselor at the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I don't have the key," Miletic said, "and trust me, I don't know who has the key."

Last month, the D.C. Preservation League issued its annual list of endangered properties. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's ramshackle former embassy earned a spot. With its peeling paint, rotting windows and ever-weakening roof, the mansion is "a classic example of demolition by neglect," the league wrote. Neighbors have complained about squatters.

Rob Halligan, a neighborhood activist, has written letters and attended meetings about the property, all of which, he said, has yielded one obvious improvement: a board over a second-floor window. "This building is just going to crumble," he said.

Pakistan's old embassy on Massachusetts Avenue has been vacant for four years, along with its former diplomatic offices on R Street Northwest.

, where the intercom dangles by a wire in the marbled vestibule and crumpled newspapers are piled up, one dated Aug. 26, 2006. On a recent day, a bottle of Harvey's Bristol Cream stood in the corner.

"Isn't that unbelievable?" asked John Sukenik, a D.C. resident, gazing at heaps of torn shrubbery in the courtyard. "It's unsightly and disrespectful to the neighborhood."

The former Yugoslavia is listed as the owner of a deserted mansion two doors away. Just off the far corner, next to Bulgaria's embassy and across from Brazil's, Argentina owns a townhouse that a neighbor said has been unoccupied for years.

Raymond Saba, who owns an inn across from the Yugoslavian property, said he takes it upon himself to trim the hedges and water the flowers, if only to brighten the view from his entrance. "You'd like the street to be lit at night," he said. "You'd like to come out in the morning and say hello. But it's dark. You look at the buildings, and they're falling down."

The owners have their reasons.

The Philippines government built a new embassy off 16th Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW and is pondering the future of the headquarters it vacated more than a decade ago, a four-story building across the street. The country's weathered crest still hangs over the boarded-up entrance, and the only sign of life on a recent morning was an empty plastic foam container and an open packet of mustard on the front step.

The pondering is proving costly. In 2006, the State Department withdrew the former embassy's diplomatic status, according to D.C. officials, and the city sent the Filipinos a tax bill. The city has required that the Filipinos pay a higher rate charged to vacant properties, although foreign countries can gain an exemption if they seek one. As of the past week, the Philippine government owes the District of Columbia $138,961, records show.

Pakistan has no such financial worries as it decides what to do with its former diplomatic headquarters on Embassy Row, which has been empty since it moved to a new complex off Van Ness Street NW. Although an embassy official said workers maintain the property – once featured in a magazine published by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts – a recent visit found uncut grass, damaged steps and open windows, apparently exposing the interior to rain.

Nadeem Haider Kiani, an embassy spokesman, said the government might sell the building or turn it into a cultural center.

Other countries plan to reclaim their properties. That includes Malawi, which left an Embassy Row townhouse after a 2003 fire. Congo vacated its New Hampshire Avenue embassy in 2004 because of disrepair. Renovations were planned, but a war that claimed almost 4 million lives made the project less than a priority. Now the embassy says it is ready to hire a contractor. "This is not an intention, this is a fact," Ambassador Faida Mitifu said.

The Liberian government is raising at least $200,000 to refurbish a diplomatic residence that has graffiti – MAGIC 2 and CHE NUK – scrawled on its exterior. A previous renovation project stalled, but the Liberians hope to begin work by year's end on the Colorado Avenue house, which is down the street from their embassy, said Edwin Sele, the deputy chief of mission. Sele said he plans to move in when the work is done. "I can see it from my office window," he said.

A few blocks away, on leafy Crittenden Street NW, Togo's former ambassador lived in a three-story house until 2005, when he traveled to Africa on home leave. His planned return was aborted when the country's president died and Togo's new leader appointed the ambassador as chief of staff, said Joseph Sala, an embassy official.

With all of the changes, mundane details were lost. The ambassador never told the post office that he had moved, so his mail piled up. A burst pipe flooded the basement. The grass grew unruly. After neighbors complained, embassy staff went to tidy up. "You don't like to have thought that you let it go," Sala said. "It's a reflection on the country of Togo."

Although the number of vacant buildings owned by foreign countries is relatively few, they sometimes draw added attention because they're in affluent areas. Inevitably, D.C. officials and community leaders complain to a higher authority on such matters: the State Department, which "works to resolve upkeep issues through diplomatic channels," spokesman Darby Holladay wrote in an e-mail.

The United States, he wrote, can withdraw a property's diplomatic status, a sanction he described as "rare." He declined to specify when it has been imposed.

Although D.C. officials say that the State Department is responsive, contacting it does not always yield satisfying results, as Andrea Gibbs discovered after calling about the Liberians' house. Gibbs, who lives across the street from the property, said she was advised to contact Liberia directly.

Steve Gifford has found a bright side to living next to an eyesore – in his case, Congo's former embassy. In exchange for Gifford and his partner spending $200 a month cutting the grass and cleaning up, Congo granted that most elusive of city perks: parking in the embassy's driveway. "Everybody wins," Gifford said.

If vacant embassies can be unsightly, renovations aren't always the salve. Niger is spending $500,000 on its residence, which has been vacant for the past year and in disrepair for longer. The construction debris on the front lawn is only part of what annoys the neighbors. There's also the tarp-covered pool that breeds mosquitoes that swarm the adjoining back yard, said Alice Sessions, who lives next door with her husband, Bill, the former FBI director.

But what especially offends her is the new A-frame roof over the entrance and a set of two-story-tall concrete columns. In an interview, she struggled to refrain from passing aesthetic judgment. "You just live with it," she said, her exasperation melting into resignation.

Some governments eventually unload their properties.

Developer Jim Abdo bought Ghana's vacant diplomatic residence – rain was "cascading" through the roof when he visited, he said – and turned it into his home. He paid a consultant to fly to Nigeria to persuade the country's leaders to sell him their shell of a mansion in Massachusetts Heights.

Abdo paid $3.2 million for the estate, including a family of raccoons scampering about its four floors. After a massive renovation that included a new swimming pool, he is selling the mansion for $6.95 million.

The raccoons have moved out.

bitoy

June 11th, 2008, 04:14 AM

Ces Drilon still captive (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080610121)By John Unson
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police confirmed yesterday the kidnapping in Sulu of ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Ces Oreña-Drilon and two cameramen by the al-Qaeda-linked terror group Abu Sayyaf.

Abducted with Drilon were cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama.

Police said the terrorists freed a state university professor who served as guide of Drilon’s group.

“As of now we are considering the case an abduction… there was no note that they (Abu Sayyaf) are demanding (ransom),” Sulu Police provincial commander Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim said.

But police sources said the terror group, which gained notoriety for kidnapping and sometimes beheading Christians including Western tourists and Church workers, is reportedly demanding P10 million ransom.

“There are reports of a P10-million ransom demand but the information did not emanate from me,” Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, police regional director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said.

The Abu Sayyaf – listed by Washington as a terrorist group – is estimated to have 380 fighters, down from more than 1,000 eight years ago.

It has been weakened by US-backed military offensives that have led to the killing and capture of many of its leaders and members.

The militants freed Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo, who also heads the Mindanao People’s Caucus, a peace advocacy group.

In a statement, ABS-CBN said it only considers Drilon and her crew missing and appealed to the media “to report on this matter with utmost consideration for the safety of our news team.”

“All efforts are underway to find them and bring them home,” the statement read. “ABS-CBN News is in touch with the families and asks that their privacy be respected.”

Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon said they are prepared for the worst but would not yet consider Drilon and her companions kidnapped unless a ransom demand materializes.

“We have set PNP units into motion, the worst-case scenario you’re talking about, we are preparing for that,” Razon said. “But as of now we still consider this missing (persons) case.

“We are in touch with ABS-CBN and in fact they requested us to handle the case with caution. We have units that are already cooperating, coordinating with ABS and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). We have Gen. (Joel) Goltiao on top of the situation in the area,” he said.

The PNP chief said they have also coordinated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The MILF is the biggest Islamic separatist group in Mindanao. Sulu is a known stronghold of the MNLF, which signed a peace pact with the government on Sept. 2, 1996.

“As of now there are no other details yet on the incident but we are trying our best to resolve the incident,” Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said of the group’s disappearance.

Kasim said he witnessed the arrival of Drilon and her crew at the Jolo airport on Saturday, and that the group did not ask for police escort.

Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga said Drilon’s group declined an offer of security protection from the 3rd Marine Brigade.

“As of now we are coordinating with the police to really find out the incident and the Marines are ready for any eventuality,” Allaga said.

Kasim said initial investigation showed that Drilon, her crew, and Dinampo left Jolo at dawn on Sunday in a yellow Tamaraw utility vehicle for Maimbung town “to cover something.”

He said armed men identified with Gapul Jumdail, younger brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu Pula, a paramedic, stopped the group in Barangay Kusali, in Maimbung town.

Presidential Assistant for Sulu Amilbahar Amilasan said there were reports that the bandits brought Drilon’s group to Karawan complex, a known Abu Sayyaf lair in Maimbung.

Amilasan said he received information that Dinampo was carrying a handwritten note from Drilon when he resurfaced. But Amilasan said he wasn’t aware of the contents of the supposed letter or even the whereabouts of Dinampo.

It was Dinampo who reportedly helped arrange an exclusive interview for Drilon with the ASG at an unspecified rendezvous.

There were reports that Drilon wanted to interview Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Umar Patek in his mountain hideout near Maimbung.

“What we are seeing here is a setup. Ces was lured to go Sulu for a big story,” a security official who declined to be named said.

Military, MILF ready to help

The military is ready to help police locate or rescue Drilon and her two companions, a spokesman said.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said troops in the area were on standby for possible support operations in securing the release of the broadcaster and her companions.

“There are no specific instructions given to troops in the area except to, in the meantime, just follow the developments, monitor closely and should there be a need for the military to be directly involved in finding Ces Drilon we are ready to provide such support,” he said in an interview.

“What we can see from what happened to Ms. Ces Drilon in Sulu is the real color of the terrorists. We can see that they do not respect the law,” he said.

He said the Jolo-based Joint Task Force Comet, the military’s anti-terror unit, would support the police if asked to do so.

The MILF, for its part, said it has mobilized a unit to help the government locate Drilon and her companions.

Datu Jun Mantawil, chief secretariat of the MILF’s peace panel, said guerrilla intelligence operatives led by a Tausug political officer comprise the group that will help locate the missing ABS-CBN personnel.

Juan Pilgrim

June 11th, 2008, 05:30 PM

Abandoned embassies become eyesores in D.C. (http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080610/BUSINESS/312530402/-1/news)

...Each of the buildings served as an embassy or diplomatic residence for countries including Liberia and Malaysia, the Philippines and the Republic of Togo. Legally considered foreign soil in almost all cases, the buildings are exempt from property taxes and the fine print of the city's building code.

The Philippines government built a new embassy off 16th Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW and is pondering the future of the headquarters it vacated more than a decade ago, a four-story building across the street. The country's weathered crest still hangs over the boarded-up entrance, and the only sign of life on a recent morning was an empty plastic foam container and an open packet of mustard on the front step.

The pondering is proving costly. In 2006, the State Department withdrew the former embassy's diplomatic status, according to D.C. officials, and the city sent the Filipinos a tax bill. The city has required that the Filipinos pay a higher rate charged to vacant properties, although foreign countries can gain an exemption if they seek one. As of the past week, the Philippine government owes the District of Columbia $138,961, records show...

:ohno::ohno::ohno:
SHAME, SHAME SHAME.

:horse:

J.P.

Juan Pilgrim

June 11th, 2008, 09:57 PM

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS!!!

http://anton.blogs.com/flag/large.jpg

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!!

MABUHAY ANG ARAW NG KALAYAAN!!

:horse:

J.P.

jpdm

June 13th, 2008, 01:48 AM

Philippine Star
Opinion
Investors go home
SKETCHES By Ana Marie Pamintuan
Friday, June 13, 2008

Next time senators tell foreign investors they can take their money and shove it, the lawmakers should first make sure the country can afford to lose more investments.

As recent news reports showed, foreign direct investments (FDI) have dropped 60 percent in the first quarter.

United Parcel Service, the world’s largest package delivery company, is relocating from the Philippines to Shenzhen in southern China, where it aims to start operating an 89,000-square-meter air hub at Shenzhen International Airport by 2010. UPS will continue to do business here, but we’ve lost the major operation.

FedEx and DHL Express are also expanding their China operations. Which companies are expanding in the Philippines?

If Barack Obama wins in November and delivers on his campaign promise to bring back American jobs to America, we might even lose several call centers and US multinational operations.

Some countries can afford to tell foreign investors to take their money elsewhere. But these are countries whose economic activities provide sufficient livelihood opportunities for their own people. Their citizens control their own industries and public utilities. They have the technological and human resource requirements to take the lead in national development efforts. Their citizens have the funds needed for major investments.

This is not the case in our country. Like it or not, our economy is heavily dependent on foreigners — on FDI in the Philippines, and on jobs overseas that pay a decent wage, allowing our eight-million-strong army of migrant workers to remit billions in earnings every year.

Other developing countries are fully aware of their need for FDI and are doing everything to lure investments. Communist China and Vietnam are even skirting their own rules against private ownership to attract foreign investors. The two countries’ efforts are bearing fruit.

* * *

We, on the other hand, love to shoot ourselves in the foot.

The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) issued a statement dated June 6 that was supposed to be read at the Senate hearing on amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.

The JFC is the informal grouping of chambers of commerce of the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as the local association of multinational companies — in short, the largest organization of foreign investors in this country.

Their main argument in their statement was that EPIRA should be given more time to achieve its aim of bringing down power rates through open competition, and that the law was in fact working in that direction.

Part of the statement declared: “Members of the JFCs came to the Philippines to invest because they saw a climate that honored contracts, was progressive, and clearly intending to create a level playing field where competition for the best price was the intention. The JFC believes that a business environment which encourages competition between private parties will generally give the consumer the best price for power.”

It was a relatively brief statement that JFC head Hubert d’Aboville failed to read uninterrupted. He was needled from the start by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who didn’t like d’Aboville’s Tagalog with a heavy French accent, who didn’t like the statement read in English also with a heavy French accent, and who behaved as if he simply couldn’t stand the Frenchman’s face, period.

Next on the firing line was Henry Schumacher, executive vice president of the European Chambers of Commerce of the Philippines, who was told to leave the country if he couldn’t live with the business climate.

Since Malacañang expressed support for the senators’ badgering, the senators’ message must have reflected the sentiment of the national government: investors go home.

Perhaps there are more Chinese investors waiting in the wings to fill the void that those meddlesome JFC members will leave behind. The Chinese don’t poke their noses into legislative affairs, and they know how to spread goodwill all around, no questions asked. The appreciative administration has already awarded Mt. Diwalwal mining rights to the ZTE group as well as railways and joint oil exploration projects to Chinese companies.

* * *

All foreign investors are of course welcome, and the Chinese are friends of the Philippines just like the rest of the world. But Chinese investments, though hefty and backed by Beijing, are not enough to meet all our requirements for job-generating FDI.

Also, in the absence of something like the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to regulate corporate activities, Chinese investments in the Philippines tend to become bogged down in corruption scandals, the most recent of which was the aborted national broadband network deal with ZTE Corp.

We have to be ready for other sources of investments, and we cannot afford to turn away those who are already here.

Instead we have seen a steady stream of foreign companies reducing operations, leaving or about to leave the country. Apart from UPS, among the brands you may be familiar with are Colgate-Palmolive, Levi’s, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC Corp. and Goodyear.

Last year the Philippines received the lowest level and registered the slowest growth of net FDI in Asia. Of $224 billion pumped into Asian economies by foreigners last year, China got the lion’s share with $67 billion, followed by Hong Kong with $54.4 billion, Singapore with $36.9 billion, India with $15.3 billion, Vietnam with $11.3 billion, Thailand with $10 billion, Malaysia with $9.4 billion and Indonesia with $5.9 billion. Malaysia registered the highest FDI growth at 54 percent.

The Philippines? We registered zero growth in net FDI, receiving $2.98 billion in investments.

Luring investments is not the only challenge; keeping them here is equally important. Showing the door to the few who remain hardly helps.

hay....

Juan Pilgrim

June 13th, 2008, 05:39 PM

hay....

^^PATHAY...:ohno:

:horse:

J.P.

red_jasper

June 15th, 2008, 03:50 AM

P9M worth of drug evidence destroyed in predawn PDEA fire
06/15/2008 | 08:38 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Eight container vans of drugs and paraphernalia were destroyed in a fire that hit the evidence room of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Quezon City before dawn Sunday.

No one was reported injured in the incident, radio reports said.

PDEA director Dionisio Santiago insisted the destruction of the evidence will not affect ongoing cases against suspected drug syndicates.

"Wala naman. Mga accessories lang ito. May finished product naman yan. Nasa imbentaryo na yan, kulang na lang order for destruction from the court. Na-inspect na yan and everything (It won't affect our cases. These are just accessories, they have been inventoried. We are just waiting for the court to issue an order for their destruction
anyway)," Santiago said in an interview on dzRH radio.

Santiago, in a separate interview on dzBB radio Sunday morning, said the estimated damage to property amounted to P9 million.

He said this included P3 million worth of ephedrine, a vital ingredient in methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu), and P2 million worth of acetone and other essential chemicals.

Also destroyed were various drug-making equipment, including cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Likewise destroyed were archived documents, Santiago said.

Santiago said pressure and ventilation may have started a chemical reaction that led to the fire. He admitted the present evidence area had a problem with ventilation.

He said they had already bought a lot where they would relocate the evidence, but said they were "overtaken by events."

Earlier, radio dzBB's Bernie Morales reported the fire reached the first alarm but inmates had to be evacuated due to the smoke and smell of the burning chemicals.

As of 7 a.m., arson investigators found acetylene containers near the scene.

The fire was placed "under control" past 6 a.m., more than three hours after the fire started.

A separate report on dzXL radio said 20 inmates at the annex building were evacuated.

Initial investigation showed the fire hit the evidence area of the PDEA that contained, among others, shabu and LPG tanks. - GMANews.TV (http://http://www.gmanews.tv/story/101211/P9M-worth-of-drug-evidence-destroyed-in-predawn-PDEA-fire)

^^ how convenient :)

P A L

June 16th, 2008, 06:21 PM

PMx1zkVaytk
Charice--anong klaseng attitude yan? porket ba't walang rehearsal at nagkamali siya sa pagpasok sa kanta, sisimangot na siya? Hindi ganyan ang tamang attitude ng isang magaling na singer...at wala na ba siyang ibang alam na kantahin kundi ang im telling you at i will always love you?..mukhang di rin nya kaya ang madamihang trabaho.mabilis mapagod ang boses nya

amras

June 16th, 2008, 09:05 PM

OA mo.. di naman siya sumimangot... nakita mo bang kumunot ang mukha nya? she was at most blank, probably tired... ikaw ba naman sunod-sunod ang mga pagkanta mo, may kasama pang jet lag yan.

venntro

June 18th, 2008, 09:18 AM

Japan to prioritize nurses from Indonesia rather than from RP: report (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=122053)

Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Indonesia will send 400 nurses to Japan in August to help the rapidly ageing country deal with a shortage of healthcare workers, a report said Tuesday.

The workers would be the first Indonesian nurses sent en masse to Japan, which traditionally sources many of its foreign nurses from the Philippines, Japanese consul Masaro Sato was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

The agreement for 400 nurses is higher than the 200 per year originally set out in a Japan-Indonesia free trade deal inked last August.

"We are giving priority to nurses from Indonesia rather than from the Philippines because Japan and Indonesia share many similarities such as cultural diversity," Sato said.

The nurses, who would be required to have a minimum two years' experience, would work in Japanese hospitals, Sato said.

On top of the demand for nurses, Sato said Japan required 600 carers and that "hundreds" would be sent from Indonesia next month.

P A L

June 18th, 2008, 10:58 AM

Charice answers 'birit' charge by critic

By REYMA BUAN-DEVEZA
abs-cbnNEWS.com

International artist Charice is back in the country and she answered a comment made by critic Nestor Torre published in a national tabloid. In Torre's piece, he calls Charice a beneficiary of the "birit" (belting) tradition.

In an abs-cbnNEWS.com interview, Charice said she simply performs in a style that has become a hit with her fans and at the request of her international producers.

"Hindi ko po alam 'yong sinulat. Hindi na po siguro mawawala 'yung mga ganoong sinusulat hayaan ko na lang," Charice said.

Torre had commented that "birit divas" like Charice should take a break from hitting high notes since "birit" is not really singing but just a display of physical prowess. The story also said that doing "birit" injures not just the singers but also the listeners.

When asked if she's willing to change her singing style Charice replied: "Doon ako nakilala bakit ko po babaguhin. Ang dami-daming singers na bumibirit ako lang ang naapansin nila. Nandiyan si Regine, si Sheryn. Iyon lang po siguro 'yung mga taong hindi kayang kumanta ng ganoon."
:ohno:

"Saka doon ako nakilala wala akong balak baguhin iyon. Iyon ang gusto sa America.Kung ayaw nila akong tanggapin dito, okey lang po, wala akong magagawa dito.:ohno:

Charice mother, Ms. Raquel said that like other great performers, her daughter can sing in a variety of styles, and that she's not limited to just hitting high notes.

"Alam mo kasi yung birit yun yung hanap ng mga Amerikano pero may mga kanta siya na hindi niya kailangang bumirit, ito yung 'Smile,' 'It Can Only Get Better and 'Born to Love You," the mother said.

Still, the mother extended her appreciation to all Charice' critics. "Nagpapasalamat ako kasi at least kahit paano napapansin nila si Charice. Kahit paano binibigyan nila ng puna. Hindi naman siguro pagkakamali yon, maraming singers ang gumagawa noon at madami ding tao napapabilib ang talent na 'yon. Kung hindi man siya napapabilib siguro maaring sa susunod na album o kakantahin ni Charice ay mapapabilib siya dahil hindi masyadong birit. Depende kasi talaga yon sa nire-request ng mga producers--sa ibang bansa kasi sila ang namimili."

Charice arrived in the country last Tuesday, June 10 after her successful performances in New York for the Philippines Independence Day Parade and Fiesta Filipino in San Francisco.

Her arrival was just in time for the Air Supply concert last Saturday June 14, where in she performed three songs as guest artist.

While in the Philippines, Charice will be very busy with television guestings and mall tours.

jbkayaker12

June 18th, 2008, 11:19 AM

Weina

June 19th, 2008, 05:58 AM

Weina

June 19th, 2008, 06:04 AM

---

You only have your arrogant politicians to thank for. Like what I have said on another thread here regarding this issue, "Who do you think will be at a disadvantage?"

Oh well!!!!

why will they care? they're not the one suffering...they have lots of stolen wealth:lol: and filipinos are very forgetful and forgiving so it's ok for the politicians to be arrogant and corrupt in a country like ours. Anyway, they could utter their 'sorries and apologies' after the damaged has been done so ngayon pasikat muna:lol:

jbkayaker12

June 19th, 2008, 06:30 AM

OH well, just watching Aquino, Estrada and the corrupt former leader of Malaysia recently just makes me shake my head. Birds of the same feather flock together!! These are the kind of politicians we have in the Philippines. Bunch of selfish Balimbings and the people who support them are worse!!:ohno:

wheel of steel

June 19th, 2008, 07:15 AM

OH well, just watching Aquino, Estrada and the corrupt former leader of Malaysia recently just makes me shake my head. Birds of the same feather flock together!! These are the kinds of politicians we have in the Philippines. Bunch of selfish Balimbings and the people who support them are worse!!:ohno:

I feel Im satisfied with what you've said... Ang kakapal ng mga mukha nila. Ano to, EDSA3, no way.... :ohno:

venntro

June 20th, 2008, 10:22 AM

Bogus BIR employee nabbed in Manila (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122336)

A man who allegedly posed as an employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly extorting money from businessmen in Manila.

The suspect, Manuel Garcia, allegedly introduced himself to the victims as a Revenue Enforcement Officer of the Bureau of Internal Revenue's Head Office.

Police said that Garcia's modus operandi includes going to business establishments and handing out letters requiring victims to pay a certain amount.

William Tan, owner of ER William Hardware in Sta. Cruz, Manila, said that the suspect asked P2,000 from him. Tan said that Garcia also told him that an additional P18,000 would have to be paid when he would give the victim a clearance certificate from the BIR.

Tan said that he doubted Garcia, so he checked the suspect's identity with the BIR.

Tan learned that there is no Manuel Garcia working at BIR and all the documents issued by Garcia were fake. This prompted the businessman to report to the police which then launched an operation against the suspect.

Garcia was arrested but an accomplice reportedly escaped.

Brothers, Johnson and Chester Yu, owners of an office and school supplies store in Espana area said that Garcia also asked P2,500 from them on June 12. They said the suspect returned last June 14 with a clearance certificate and asked from them another P5,000.

After his arrest, the suspect told police that his real name is Rex Pacis. He told the police that he once worked at BIR but was fired due to an administrative case 10 years ago. A BIR official confirmed that Pacis was fired.

Authorities said that Pacis will face robbery-extortion charges. With reports form Wheng Hidalgo, ABS-CBN News

absinthe_888

June 23rd, 2008, 06:00 AM

We are all over the news again, CNN, BBC, etc, again for all the wrong reasons. Let's pray for the families of the MV Princess of the Stars disaster.

technoblaze

June 23rd, 2008, 06:09 AM

Large Ship Upsidedown:ohno::ohno:

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/7913/shyj5.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/8287/sh2ch5.jpg

Sinjin P.

June 23rd, 2008, 06:30 AM

Malapit lang pala siya sa shore?

technoblaze

June 23rd, 2008, 06:37 AM

Malapit lang pala siya sa shore?

malapit lang sa sibuyan island.

tigidig14

June 23rd, 2008, 06:42 AM

nga pala kung malapit lang yan sa shore ba't almost 600 ang nawawala after saving 96 ppol, tapos naka life jacket pa

absinthe_888

June 23rd, 2008, 07:00 AM

Grabe din tong Sulpicio Lines, parang every decade meh nalubog na barko...remember MV Dona Paz?

Princess of the Stars only latest in string of tragedies
http://businessmirror.com.ph/06232008/headlines02.html
By VG Cabuag
Reporter

SULPICIO Lines Inc.’s flagship vessel sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province on Saturday noon with most of its more than 700 passengers still missing, in the company’s worst sea disaster in a decade.

The tragedy, however, is only the latest in a long line of sea accidents involving the shipping firm, underscoring the crucial need for regulating ocean traffic in an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.

MV Princess of the Stars, which sank at the height of Typhoon Frank which lashed Luzon and the Visayas and parts of Mindanao at the weekend, was built in Japan in 1984 with 23,824 gross registered tonnage and a passenger capacity of 1,992. It was acquired by Sulpicio Lines in the mid- 1990s and the company has been using it since then.

In September 18, 1998, Sulpicio’s M/V Princess of the Orient, sailing from Manila to Cebu, capsized at 12:55 p.m. near Fortune Island in Batangas. Of 388 passengers on board, 150 perished. Passengers were floating at sea for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to reach survivors.

Sulpicio also owns the world’s worst peacetime shipping tragedy—when M/V Dona Paz collided with the tanker M/T Vector in 1987, killing 4,341.

M/T Vector, owned by Vector Shipping, Inc., at that time was on a charter voyage for Caltex Philippines, now Chevron.

Another Sulpicio vessel, M/V Dona Marilyn, sank a year later, killing around 250 passengers. In 2005, Sulpicio’s M/V Princess of the World caught fire while at sea, but no injuries were reported.

According to reports from the Coast Guard, the M/V Princess of the Stars was bound from Manila to Cebu, carrying 626 passengers and 212 crew members; it capsized hours before its arrival at the port of Cebu.

Coast Guard Chief Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said they allowed the vessel to leave the port of Manila at around 8 p.m. on Friday, at the time when typhoon Signal 1 hovered Metro Manila.

By the time Signal 3 was raised in Manila on the same night at around 11.30 p.m., Sulpicio’s vessel was already coasting along the Visayas area, he said.

The Coast Guard normally bars smaller to medium-sized vessels from sailing between typhoon signals one and two, but all sizes of vessels are barred from sailing when Signal 3 is raised.

Maritime Industry Authority administrator Vicente T. Suazo Jr., on the other hand, said that they have not yet sent their team to investigate.

“Because of weather condition, they (Marina team) haven’t left yet but tomorrow most likely,” Suazo said in a text message.

Marina has delegated most of its ship inspection functions to the Coast Guard, but the agency, along with the Coast Guard, will still investigate in cases of sea mishaps.

bitoy

June 23rd, 2008, 07:01 AM

Disaster preparedness must not be on anyone's mind at that time.
Yung ibang barko, after a few hours from port, meron compulsary emergency drills. It could have save some lives but in this tragedy, maraming angle kung bakit nangyari ito.

Some more photos from reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=USMAN9076220080623&channelName=topNews#a=5

absinthe_888

June 23rd, 2008, 07:19 AM

technoblaze

June 23rd, 2008, 11:24 AM

Grabe din tong Sulpicio Lines, parang every decade meh nalubog na barko...remember MV Dona Paz?

Princess of the Stars only latest in string of tragedies
http://businessmirror.com.ph/06232008/headlines02.html
By VG Cabuag
Reporter

^^
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5568/sulcn9.jpg

MV Princess of the Stars
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/491103351_df28d9b613.jpg?v=0

http://www.sulpiciolines.com/

red_jasper

June 23rd, 2008, 12:36 PM

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/galleries/1261959/0139187650085.jpg
Residents look at the sunken ferry MV Princess of the Stars off the coast of San Fernando town in Sibuyan Island of Romblon province, 300 kilometres south of Manila, Philippines on 22 June 2008. Rescuers are trying to search for more than 800 people missing after the ferry sank as typhoon Fengshen hit the country, government officials said. The ship sank after running aground on 21 June amid heavy rains and huge waves, with four survivors found and hundreds more missing.

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/galleries/1261959/0139272750085.jpg

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/galleries/1261959/0139273050085.jpg

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/galleries/1261959/0139272650085.jpg

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/galleries/1261959/0139272950085.jpg

Handout photos released by the Philippine Navy 23 June 2008 shows the sunken ferry MV Princess of the Stars off the coast of Sibuyan Island of Romblon province, 300 kilometres south of Manila, Philippines. Twenty-eight survivors have been recovered from the ferry that sank in the central Philippines, police said. The recovery brought to 32 the number of survivors while hundreds are still missing.

Source (http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/features/article_1412776.php/In_photos_Philippines_Ferry_Sinks?page=1)

crappypants

June 23rd, 2008, 05:19 PM

I'm watching the presscon of Sulpicio Lines live right now...P200,000 bibigay for every casualty. Still no word from the ship captain...Maganda na ata panahon sa meh Sibuyan, mapupuntahan na ng PCG at iba pang response teams.

ang mura kase ng buhay,200000p kaya sige lang ng sige kahit every year may lumulubog silang barko.

iamjomar

June 23rd, 2008, 06:22 PM

^^gisado sila ni Korina sa Harapan (T.V program) eh..hahaha

Askal82

June 24th, 2008, 08:06 AM

absinthe_888

June 24th, 2008, 08:18 AM

Quote:

The 23, 824 gt, 192.92 m Princess of the Stars was built by the Aichi Works of Japan's IHI and delivered in 1984.

Until 2004, when it was transferred to the Philippines flag, the vessel served as the Ferry Lilac with Japan's Shin-Nihonkai Ferry.

The ship is classed with BV as a RO/RO passenger ship with the the navigation notation "Coastal area--trade limited to Philippines national waters."

http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMVII/2008jun00220.html

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/5841/shinferry3318434dgp6.jpg

It WAS the biggest interisland vessel in the country. Flagship of Sulpicio Lines, bought for $5M 2nd hand...

venntro

June 24th, 2008, 08:29 AM

Divers find 'many' bodies in sunken ferry (http://http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=122824)

Agence France Presse

MANILA - Rescue divers have found "many" bodies inside a passenger ferry which sank in a typhoon over the weekend with 862 people on board, a navy spokesman said Tuesday.

The news confirmed the worst fears for many desperate relatives awaiting news of their loved ones after the Princess of the Stars went down Saturday off the coast of Sibuyan island.

Rough seas have hindered search and rescue missions, although navy divers had earlier been able to knock on the hull -- without getting any response. On Tuesday, they were finally able to enter.

"There are many bodies trapped inside," said Lt. Col. Edgardo Arevalo.

He said the divers had reported that it was too dark to be able to give more detail about the dead found inside the doomed vessel.

"It was too dark inside to tell how many were children or elderly, but they did say they were mostly floating and they were apparently trapped inside," he said.

Arevalo said the waters were still quite rough, making it difficult to enter and exit the sunken vessel.

"What complicates our problem is how to extricate the bodies. One of the ways they are thinking about is to weigh them down so they can take them out from the bottom of the ship. Another option is to cut the hull," he said.

He refused to speculate on how many bodies might be inside the vessel but recalled survivors' accounts that the vessel sank so swiftly that many people were unable to escape.

Coast Guard divers had been waiting for the seas to calm down before entering the hull of the 23,000-tonne ferry, which sank when seeking shelter as typhoon Frank (international codename Fengshan) tore through the Luzon and the Visayas on Saturday.

Overnight the coast guard updated the number of survivors from 36 to 43 with about 12 bodies being recovered from the sea. They did not say where the other survivors were found.

Arevalo also said a US navy supply ship which had been dispatched from Japan had been spotted near the rescue site,

A US navy surveillance aircraft, which had also been ordered to join the search, had also been flying over the area.

RonnieR

June 25th, 2008, 08:59 AM

nga pala kung malapit lang yan sa shore ba't almost 600 ang nawawala after saving 96 ppol, tapos naka life jacket pa

Most of those who died did not jump off the ship. They stayed inside their cabins or were afraid to jump due to strong waves. Even those who wore life jackets perished because of the strong and heavy waves. Some of the corpses were found as far as Quezon and Masbate.

orangejuice

June 26th, 2008, 11:50 AM

why will they care? they're not the one suffering...they have lots of stolen wealth:lol: and filipinos are very forgetful and forgiving so it's ok for the politicians to be arrogant and corrupt in a country like ours. Anyway, they could utter their 'sorries and apologies' after the damaged has been done so ngayon pasikat muna:lol:

Yeah like Honasan na nagrebelde na, nagkudeta na, lahat-lahat, nagawa pang maging Senador. Kasi nga the Pinoys are forgetful. Onli in da PILIPINS. :soapbox::tyty::mad2::cry:

red_jasper

June 28th, 2008, 03:19 AM

Toxic scare (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=221606&Sn=WORL&IssueID=31100)

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/source/xxxi/100/images/23fili.jpg

MANILA: The Philippines halted a search for hundreds of bodies feared trapped inside a capsized passenger ferry yesterday after authorities learnt that 10 tonnes of pesticide was on board.

The Princess of the Stars ran aground during a typhoon and then overturned in about 15 minutes off Sibuyan island in the central Philippines on Saturday. The vessel had 865 passengers and crew.

Angry officials said Sulpicio Lines, the vessel's owner, would be held accountable for not alerting them to the 400 boxes of endosulfan.

Exposure to the deadly chemical, which is highly restricted, can cause nausea, convulsions and death. The US's Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as highly toxic.

Philippines Vice President Noli de Castro said had officials been told earlier about the cargo, divers would not have been sent to the vessel to search for bodies.

"This is in pure form and in powder form, so it is very dangerous, if it gets wet even a little," de Castro said.

"This should not even be aboard a passenger ship."

There is no sign the pesticide has leaked but the government banned fishing in the waters off Sibuyan island and sealed off the area around the vessel while they awaited test results.

Fishermen said the order would devastate their livelihood.

"This makes us even worse off," said Juanito Reyes.

A government taskforce is handling the aftermath of the ferry disaster, which occurred after Typhoon Fengshen changed course and swept across central and southern Philippines.

The overall death toll from the typhoon could top 1,300, including more than 500 people killed in a torrent of flooding that tore up trees and bridges, destroyed homes and forced over two million people to evacuate.

The Philippines' Fertiliser and Pesticides Authority told the taskforce the pesticide was bound for a Del Monte plantation in the southern Philippines.

Sulpicio Lines, already under fire for allowing the ferry to sail during a typhoon, said it did not know about the cargo.

"We were not aware of any pesticide on board," said Ryan Go, a company executive.

The discovery of the chemical was a grim reminder of how standards are flouted in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands with a woeful record in maritime safety. The incident is likely to be the Philippines' worst sea accident since the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker in 1987, killing more than 4,000 people.

bitoy

June 28th, 2008, 04:03 AM

Yup!... politics again.... :ohno: :ohno: That's why the Governor of Iloilo went directly to the US servicemen assisting in the relief effort to get things going.

Iloilo relief work suspended for GMA (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=20080627127)
By Jess Diaz
Saturday, June 28, 2008

Politics is rearing its ugly head in relief efforts in Iloilo and other provinces hard-hit by typhoon “Frank,” Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico said yesterday.

“The people on the ground cannot move because they have no authority to act fast from President Arroyo, who is in the United States. They are waiting for her to return so she will be the hero,” Suplico told a news forum in Quezon City.

Suplico revealed that last Tuesday, officials of the regional disaster coordinating council (RDCC) who were in the province were not able to distribute rice to typhoon victims because they were awaiting clearance from Malacañang.

He said local officials of Iloilo, including House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor and Rep. Ferjenel Biron, even pleaded with the RDCC officials to distribute the rice, but their appeals fell on deaf ears.

Exasperated, Biron, one of the richest congressmen, ordered his people to buy rice, sardines and noodles using his own money, according to Suplico.

He said Vice President Noli de Castro, whom Mrs. Arroyo has appointed government caretaker while she is absent, flew in on Monday with just a few hundred bags of rice.

“I pity Vice President Noli. He was given the authority to pose for the cameras but not the all-out support to undertake relief operations and distribute relief goods,” Suplico added.

He pointed out that while the vice president “is the one on the ground, his boss in the US still calls the shots as evidenced by the directives she issues via remote videoconferences.”

Suplico reported that of the 42 Iloilo towns affected by the typhoon, only 21 have received relief goods such as rice, sardines and noodles from the national government.

“The rest – 21 towns – have yet to see a sack of rice coming from Manila,” he said.

Earlier, Suplico appealed to his former colleagues lawmakers who accompanied President Arroyo to the US trip to return home and help out in the rehabilitation and relief of their districts devastated by typhoon Frank.

He claimed that some of the congressmen were just “gallivanting” with Mrs. Arroyo and asked them to donate part of their travel allowances and shopping money to typhoon victims.

“They get their per diem from the House, plus they get something from the Speaker and the President. They can do a lot of shopping in New York City,” he said.

“If they plan to buy two Louis Vuitton bags or two pairs of Ferragamo shoes, maybe they should just buy one bag or one pair of shoes. One such bag costs P50,000 and another P50,000 for Ferragamo shoes. Each of them can donate at least P100,000 to the victims if they can resist the temptation to buy those luxuries,” he said.

Suplico noted reports that when the same large group of House members accompanied Mrs. Arroyo to Spain in the latter part of 2007, they emptied Madrid shops of jamon Serrano (Spanish ham) and cheese, and that the plane they were riding in was almost overloaded because of their purchases.

There are conflicting reports on the size of the House delegation traveling with Mrs. Arroyo.

Sources revealed to The STAR at least 59 congressmen, two senators and 10 Cabinet members are part of the large presidential entourage.

However, one Mindanao congressman claimed that he counted 78 of his colleagues with the President.

Many of those in the group have become Mrs. Arroyo’s favorite travel companions.

They were with Mrs. Arroyo in the three US and two European trips she has made since 2005.

Among them are Amelita Villarosa of Mindoro Oriental, Martin Romualdez of Leyte and Danilo Suarez of Quezon, plus the two presidential congressmen-sons, Juan Miguel of Pampanga and Diosdado of Camarines Sur.

Mindoro and Leyte are among the provinces hardest hit by the typhoon.

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_080627-N-3659B-312.jpg
ILOILO, Philippines (June 27, 2008) Master Chief Engineman Joseph Matteo, left, and Chief Warrant Officer Zosimo Francisco meet with Neil Tupas, governor of Iloilo, prior to troubleshooting and repairing generators at hospitals throughout Iloilo.

Dolly66

June 28th, 2008, 07:29 AM

why are they laughing?

bitoy

June 28th, 2008, 08:24 AM

^^ Because it is a free service and repair. .... :D

(No overcharge?) :lol:

flesh_is_weak

June 30th, 2008, 09:16 AM

Sunday, June 30, 2008
RP ranks 3rd in ‘pro-torture’ list, survey says

SOME Filipinos believe some degree of torture should be allowed.

This was revealed in a survey by BBC/Globescan/Pipa, which said 40 percent of the Filipino respondents agree to the imposition of some forms of torture.

The Filipinos’ views on torture, as indicated in the international study, alarmed the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) as well as nongovernment organizations against torture, like Balay Rehabilitation Center, International Federation of Human Rights and the International Rehabilitation Council for Tortured Victims.

The survey said the Philippines had the third highest percentage of persons that condoned torture among 25 countries all over the world.

Israel got the highest average with 43 percent of the respondents saying they agreed with torturing prisoners.

read more (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/06/30/news/rp.ranks.3rd.in.pro.torture.list.survey.says..html)

ikaw, anong say mo?

Raven83

June 30th, 2008, 10:46 AM

Death by electric pulse 12inches dildo:yes:

dinabaw

June 30th, 2008, 11:14 AM

i like brutal love ....brutally frank relationship ! :D

bitoy

July 1st, 2008, 12:51 AM

Garin scores Army, AFP hierarchy over relief distribution fiasco (http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/06/30/garin.scores.army.afp.hierarchy.over.relief.distribution.fiasco.html)

Iloilo First District Representative Janette Loreto-Garin wants answers as to who made the shots and called off the planned aerial relief distribution set for over 1,000 typhoon victims in her district.

The schedule was apparently firmed up with Chief Superintendent Isagani Cuevas, Police Regional Office 6 (PRO 6) Director and chairman of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC). It was set at 1 p.m. Saturday with the drop-off points in Barangay Lumboyan, San Joaquin, Iloilo and another hinterland barangay in Tubungan, Iloilo.

Initially, talks were for the relief goods to be distributed by visiting American forces of the US Navy using one of the 16 US helicopters sent to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) here. The lady solon was however told late Friday afternoon that the Americans allegedly insisted on picking up the goods only at the Iloilo airport in Cabatuan "for security reasons."

Further still, the drop-off points were reportedly "not acceptable" to the Americans again "for security reasons."

Garin's dilemma though was lack of communication to relay said latest requirement vis-a-vis changes to local officials concerned with power still out in Southern Iloilo.

"Everything that we wanted to relay had to be done personally so in Tubungan alone it would take at least four hours for the messenger to reach the concerned village/barangay. It was just not feasible also to do all that at night," the lady solon explained.

Eventually, last minute decision was to transfer all 1,000 packs of relief goods to Guimbal for pick-up, the distribution then supposedly to be taken over by AFP's Philippine Army and no longer the American soldiers.

Yet the 1 p.m. pick-up in Guimbal never happened while the beneficiaries waited in vain in Tubungan and San Joaquin.

Worse, when the lady solon tried to check what happened, she learned that military helicopters were ordered to be on standby for visiting Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and other "Very Important Persons (VIPs)." She was also told that orders supposedly had to come from Philippine Army Chief Lt. General Alexander Yano, AFP Chief of Staff.
"Are we here to help the victims or please the VIPs at this very time of calamity and destruction? People are begging for food and assistance of the government. And we are trying to cope with that need. I cannot believe how something like this can happen, VIPs over victims," Representative Garin decried. "As officers and gentlemen in uniform, the least that could have been done was notification immediately after they changed their minds and decided the helicopters must be on standby for VIPs rather than distribute relief goods."

Garin said most families had to walk at least three hours to get to the drop-off points with the Barangay Lumboyan group covering nine other affected barangays in San Joaquin.

In Tubungan, the lady solon added that local volunteers and the "barangay police" assisted Army soldiers tasked to do "ground clearing" as part of security check.

"What was asked were fully complied with. Mayor Vic Tabaquirao of Tubungan was literally up all night to ensure that the families who will walk at least two to three kilometers to the drop-off point will be secured from any potential danger and harm. I do not think any VIPs or intent to please a VIP is more worthy than the effort done by everybody involved. How can we explain to the families that help did not come because the helicopters had to be on standby for people in government?," she added.

In the end, Garin got hold of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap who made an earlier ocular visit of the devastated areas in Southern Iloilo towns. Calls were apparently made that had a helicopter go to Guimbal about 5 p.m. and made two trips of aerial relief.

Any more trips had to wait because of approaching darkness. Hundreds of beneficiary-families also started to leave by 4 p.m. with the town mayor himself at a loss of explanation.

Sunday had the solon ensure continued aerial relief mission by hiring a private helicopter instead of entrusting the job to either the US relief mission team and the AFP.

"I do not blame our visiting American forces. For sure they had nothing to do with the foul-up. I just want answers though so we know who to trust and what to do when faced with the same sorry situation. We cannot be rendered helpless. We cannot afford that at the expense of the sufferings of our people," Garin ended. "It is really sad and disgusting at the same time."

GearX

July 2nd, 2008, 08:36 AM

Malaysia to deport thousands of Pinoys (http://www.philippinestoday.net/index.php?module=article&view=1008)

PHILIPPINE NEWS SERVICE -- Malaysia is set to launch a massive operation to deport tens of thousands of Filipino and Indonesian illegal migrants from Borneo island where they are blamed for drugs and crime.

“We are ready to launch a large-scale operation to flush out all illegal immigrants from the state of Sabah and deport them,” deputy prime minister Najib Razak told reporters.

Najib said authorities will also bolster security along Malaysia’s land and sea borders with the Philippines and Indonesia to prevent further illegal crossings.

“The root cause is because the borders are very porous and traditionally the people there do not recognise the borders. They move in and out due to economic opportunities in Sabah,” he said.

Sandwiched by the Philippines in the north, and Indonesia’s Kalimantan to the south, resource-rich Sabah is a magnet for immigrant workers who for decades have come to labor on construction sites and oil palm plantations.

Sabah and neighboring Sarawak state make up Malaysia’s half of the vast island of Borneo, which is shared with Indonesia.

Authorities say there are 130,000 illegal migrants in Sabah, but local politicians put the figure as high as 500,000.

Najib said that since the 1990s, at least 300,000 illegal migrants have been deported from Sabah.

“We are prepared to do even more in the future. We have ascertained that this is a serious problem and the people in Sabah want action to be taken,” he said.

Najib said Malaysian authorities will hold talks with their counterparts in the Philippines and Indonesia to organize the mass deportation.

The illegal settlers have been blamed for waves of drugs and crime, and local politicians say they are also tipping the ethnic balance against mostly Christian indigenous tribes who used to dominate the population.

Malaysia’s government has been on a drive to boost its standing in Sabah since March general elections that saw unprecedented gains by the opposition alliance led by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

GearX

July 2nd, 2008, 08:44 AM

Publiko, off limits sa Taal Volcano dahil sa pag-aalburoto (http://www.rmn.com.ph/)
June 30, 2008

Patuloy na ipinagbabawal ng PHIVOLCS ang pagpasok sa 4 kilometer permanent danger zone sa paligid ng Bulkang Taal sa Batangas.

Ito ang inihayag ni July Sabit, Volcanologist ng PHIVOLCS, bunsod na rin ng patuloy na pag-aalburoto ng naturang bulkan.

Nananatiling off-limits sa publiko ang pagpasok sa paligid ng danger zone ng bulkan dahil sa banta ng steam explosion dulot ng mataas na concentration ng toxic gases nito.

Sinabi pa ni Sabit na nakapagtala na ang bulkan ng 14 na sunod sunod na pagyanig kaya dapat mag-ingat at maging alerto ang mga residente sa paligid ng bulkan upang makaiwas sa anumang peligrong lilikhain ng Taal Volcano.

Kabilang sa mga pinangangambahan ng PHIVOLCS ang mudflow at lahar flow laon na kapag umuulan.

cyrusal

July 2nd, 2008, 05:48 PM

Goodbye $2B Shipyard!

_____________________________________________

Hanjin has quit Misamis for good

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Philippine Star
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Malacañang is trying to black out the news. But Korea’s Hanjin Corp. has pulled out for good from its planned shipyard in Misamis Oriental. The last word from the Palace — obfuscation as usual — was that the wrangling between the company and two town mayors had been settled. In truth, Hanjin in late May hauled off all its equipment and personnel from what should have been a 441-hectare $2-billion (P90-billion) facility.

Not a single nail or brick was left behind at the bulldozed phases and workers’ barracks — to show Hanjin’s disgust. The hauling crane and crew made sure of it. For the issues were never resolved. The giant ship maker-repairer’s biggest investment outside Korea would have employed 40,000 locals. But the mayors of Tagoloan and Villanueva reportedly made it feel unwelcome.

Whichever side one takes, it’s all messy. The first hint of trouble came via a newsbreak in early May: policemen allegedly were harassing Hanjin engineers on orders of the mayors. When Gloria Arroyo happened to visit the locale, the company also cried extortion in its application for environment clearances from her political allies, the mayors. It was no way to treat a top investor that earlier had plunked $1 billion into Subic — and wangled a permit to build two high-rise condos questionably at the edge of a forest. Confronted by a fuming President, the mayors claimed that their cops stopped the bulldozing precisely because Hanjin still had no environment permit. Too, that they, as party mates against corruption, were incensed by Hanjin’s bribe offer of P400 million in personal contracts for earthmoving.

Malacañang directed a police general no less to investigate. At the same time, it announced it would patch up the quarrel of its friends. The toady general naturally took that to mean he should whitewash, which he did. In an instant report, he said there was no proof of either extortion or bribery. He also recommended relief of the harassing policemen, but with no charges either. Nothing was mentioned of the fact that an environment clearance was not yet needed for ground clearing but only when erection of an edifice started. Nothing too was said of the mayors alleging bribery to newsmen but later clamming up.

This is apparently another episode of immoderate greed. One side wanted more than the law would allow; the other haggled for too high a price to grant it. Both thought they could get away with it since they were only following the sleazy example at the top.

In the ensuing confrontation, one side had to give. Then, the other side’s chances to make a quick buck faded. The big loser is the Filipino people, from 40,000 jobs and support businesses.

cyrusal

July 2nd, 2008, 05:50 PM

cyrusal

July 2nd, 2008, 05:51 PM

Goodbye $2B shipyard!

_____________________________________________

Hanjin has quit Misamis for good

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Philippine Star
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Malacañang is trying to black out the news. But Korea’s Hanjin Corp. has pulled out for good from its planned shipyard in Misamis Oriental. The last word from the Palace — obfuscation as usual — was that the wrangling between the company and two town mayors had been settled. In truth, Hanjin in late May hauled off all its equipment and personnel from what should have been a 441-hectare $2-billion (P90-billion) facility.

Not a single nail or brick was left behind at the bulldozed phases and workers’ barracks — to show Hanjin’s disgust. The hauling crane and crew made sure of it. For the issues were never resolved. The giant ship maker-repairer’s biggest investment outside Korea would have employed 40,000 locals. But the mayors of Tagoloan and Villanueva reportedly made it feel unwelcome.

Whichever side one takes, it’s all messy. The first hint of trouble came via a newsbreak in early May: policemen allegedly were harassing Hanjin engineers on orders of the mayors. When Gloria Arroyo happened to visit the locale, the company also cried extortion in its application for environment clearances from her political allies, the mayors. It was no way to treat a top investor that earlier had plunked $1 billion into Subic — and wangled a permit to build two high-rise condos questionably at the edge of a forest. Confronted by a fuming President, the mayors claimed that their cops stopped the bulldozing precisely because Hanjin still had no environment permit. Too, that they, as party mates against corruption, were incensed by Hanjin’s bribe offer of P400 million in personal contracts for earthmoving.

Malacañang directed a police general no less to investigate. At the same time, it announced it would patch up the quarrel of its friends. The toady general naturally took that to mean he should whitewash, which he did. In an instant report, he said there was no proof of either extortion or bribery. He also recommended relief of the harassing policemen, but with no charges either. Nothing was mentioned of the fact that an environment clearance was not yet needed for ground clearing but only when erection of an edifice started. Nothing too was said of the mayors alleging bribery to newsmen but later clamming up.

This is apparently another episode of immoderate greed. One side wanted more than the law would allow; the other haggled for too high a price to grant it. Both thought they could get away with it since they were only following the sleazy example at the top.

In the ensuing confrontation, one side had to give. Then, the other side’s chances to make a quick buck faded. The big loser is the Filipino people, from 40,000 jobs and support businesses.

Askal82

July 3rd, 2008, 01:34 AM

^^ I have a feeling that the the governors have the title over the land where Hanjin is building its shipyard so they are finding the best possible means (a.k.a b/s) to drive them off.

OtAkAw

July 5th, 2008, 07:24 AM

^^Whew! That one is really really bad news! Anu ba yang mga pulitiko naten dito daig pa peste.

(edit) Naku may nabasa akong article sa ibang thread na hindi daw totoo yung pullout!

red_jasper

July 6th, 2008, 04:31 AM

^^ must be this post (from CDeO forum):

Saturday, July 05, 2008
Guv spurns columnist on Hanjin claim (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2008/07/05/news/guv.spurns.columnist.on.hanjin.claim.html)
By Mark D. Francisco

MISAMIS Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno rejected Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc's opinion piece alleging that Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corporation had pulled out all its equipment "with not a single nail or brick left behind" from the shipyard construction site inside the Phividec Industrial Estate.

"Is Jarius Bondoc the spokesperson of Hanjin Heavy Industries?" Moreno retorted, when asked of his comment on the columnist’s claim.

“He (Bondoc) is just writing from his armchairs in Makati and hadn't seen the actual shipyard construction site for himself,” said Moreno.

In a July 2 commentary entitled “Hanjin quit Misamis for good,” Bondoc wrote that Hanjin’s pull-out from Misamis Oriental was permanent and that Malacañang has tried to conceal it.

“The last word from the Palace — obfuscation as usual — was that the wrangling between the company and two town mayors had been settled. In truth, Hanjin in late May hauled off all its equipment and personnel from what should have been a 441-hectare $2-billion (P90-billion) facility,” the columnist said.

The town mayors that he referred to are Villanueva’s Juliette Uy and Tagoloan’s Paulino Emano. Both denied they had tried to extort Hanjin.

Moreno said Bondoc was “entitled to his own opinion. That article reflects his opinion on the matter and should not be considered as factual.”

As a proof that Hanjin was coming back, the governor pointed to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Hanjin and Phividec, which provides that the project was still in effect until September. The MOU has not been rescinded, he added.

“In addition, Hanjin’s equipments are still within the Phividec area,” he said.

Provincial engineers, he added, are even assisting Phividec to speed up its commitment with Hanjin in relocating affected residents so that the project can proceed unimpeded.

red_jasper

July 7th, 2008, 03:39 AM

crappypants

July 7th, 2008, 04:00 AM

that's Malaysia's prerogative. A country should take care of its own people.
It's like being irresponsible by having a whole bunch of kids and giving them away for somebody else to take care of.

red_jasper

July 7th, 2008, 05:34 AM

^^ true :)

bitoy

July 12th, 2008, 12:21 AM

‘60,000 to lose jobs with GSIS monopoly of car insurance’ (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=49&type=2&sec=24&aid=2008071190)
By Rainier Allan Ronda
Saturday, July 12, 2008

More than 60,000 insurance agents will lose their jobs once the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) takes over from private insurers the task of providing compulsory third party liability (CTPL) insurance to vehicles being registered.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is expected to implement the system in two weeks.

“We are just working on the procedures on how this will be done,” LTO chief Alberto Suansing said.

Salvador “Buddy” Navidad, president of the Bukluran ng mga Manggagawa sa Industriya ng Seguro (BMIS), asked President Arroyo to stop the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) from implementing DOTC Order No. 2007-28 which transfers the function of providing CTPL to the GSIS from small private insurers.

“The implementation of DOTC Order 207-28 goes against President Arroyo’s job creation program. Giving the GSIS the monopoly in the CTPL insurance business would result in thousands losing their jobs and their families going hungry in these times of rising prices of oil and commodities,” Navidad told The STAR.

The BMIS staged an indignation rally at the DOTC head office at the Columbia Tower in Mandaluyong City last Thursday.

Navidad said there are 67 private insurance companies involved in the CTPL business.

He said GSIS’s monopoly of the business would be disadvantageous to vehicle owners.

“Who will motor vehicle owners turn to when they have problems with their claims? Are they supposed to go to the GSIS complaints department that is notorious for being inaccessible to the millions of government employees and retirees who have problems with their salary loans and benefits and their pensions?” Navidad asked.

GSIS is independent of the Insurance Commission (IC), which regulates the private insurance industry.

Also protesting the new DOTC order is the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations or ACTO.

Efren de Luna, ACTO president, said the current system is efficient enough and that doing away with it might only complicate matters for vehicle owners.

Securing a CTPL certificate of coverage is a prerequisite to the registration of motor vehicles along with a smoke emission test. CTPL provides coverage of up to P100,000 for death and injury to third parties involved in accidents.

LTO defends new system

Suansing defended the system, saying the government wants to ensure that accident victims get proper treatment.

He also said the new system will facilitate vehicle registration as well as eliminate middlemen and fixers.

“We have to work on the collection of premium payments, tax collection that will go to the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and other details,” he said.

The DOTC, IC, LTO and GSIS are still drafting the guidelines on the implementation of the new system, which is also designed to lower the cost of vehicle registration.

Under the scheme, private vehicle owners will each save P325; owners of utility vehicles, P375; light trucks, P355; and motorcycles P85.

“After the MOA signing, we need to craft rules on what we signed. The rules will be out this week and full implementation will start by next week. Right now, there is a pilot test of the system to see how the whole thing works,” Suansing said.

Under the MOA, the GSIS will accredit re-insurance companies to which it will farm out the task of providing CTPLs. Under the setup, the GSIS will be able to screen and weed out fly-by-night insurance companies so that only legitimate insurance providers with proven track records will be able to provide CTPL, Suansing said.

Complaints regarding fake CTPLs have swamped the government since the system’s inception in the 1980s.

At present, two of every three CTPLs sold to the public are of spurious nature.

From 2000 to 2007, 39.7 million vehicles were registered, but only about 17 million held valid CTPLs.

The new system is also expected to be more convenient as the issuance of CTPL will be made right inside the LTO office.

Thus, there would be no more need for vehicle owners to buy CTPLs first from private firms before registering their vehicles with the LTO.

The LTO itself will process the CTPL requirements of vehicles being registered, thus cutting red tape.

And with the LTO itself taking payments for the CTPL, the remittance of the premiums to the GSIS and its partner firms – including the taxes on the premiums due to the government – becomes automatic. – With Mary Ann Reyes and Perseus Echeminada

bitoy

July 12th, 2008, 04:06 AM

Gov’t aid being used to prop up Arroyo’s popularity (http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/letterstotheeditor/view/20080712-147962/Govt-aid-being-used-to-prop-up-Arroyos-popularity)

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:03:00 07/12/2008

In the face of the food and fuel crises the country is currently experiencing, the response of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration has been to dole out money all over the place: from outright cash through its Ahon Pampamilya Pinoy program, to electricity subsidy, fertilizer subsidy, fuel subsidy and other stop-gap measures ostensibly targeting the poorer sector of society.

What is lamentable is that this administration has effectively politicized these doles and state charity by prominently displaying Arroyo’s face on tarpaulin streamers conspicuously placed at branches and offsite cash counters of government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines where the electricity subsidy is being paid out. Infomercials shown by government-owned television stations prominently make mention of these programs as having been made possible through Arroyo’s efforts, while those hapless TV talents thank her for those subsidies.

Administration propagandists even have the gall to continue their “Ramdam ang Kaunlaran” [The Progress Is Felt] script when in fact this should have been turned into something like “Ramdam ang Kahirapan” [The Poverty Is Felt].

Arroyo’s propagandists should face up to reality and stop insulting the Filipino public.

While it is just right to extend assistance to the marginalized sectors, Arroyo and her administration paymasters should be reminded that these are essentially public funds and not her own or her family’s private money. These are money primarily coming from taxpayers; money collected in the form of withholding taxes, professional taxes and value added taxes on a host of products and services, and other taxes and fees generally paid and shouldered by the middle class.

These programs funded by the taxpayers themselves should not be used just to raise Arroyo’s performance and popularity ratings in the next round of surveys. Nor should these funds be used to prop up the image and the chances of administration presidential and senatorial hopefuls in 2010.

FERDIE T. SIBAL, 18 Green Leaves St., Capitol Green Village, Tandang Sora, Quezon City

stanleymalls

July 22nd, 2008, 04:40 PM

^^ These are so bad news! They made my day even worse! Ugh! :soapbox:

le Reine

July 22nd, 2008, 09:47 PM

^^tell that to all politicians. Tell me, is that something new to us? Such hypocrisy of Filipinos.

GearX

July 23rd, 2008, 03:29 AM

Lola raped to death (http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2008-07-23&sec=1&aid=67493)
By: Zaida delos Reyes-Palanca

FOUR hands ripped the blouse of Leonila Ipanagura, 88, exposing withered skin and waning breasts. Yet, the two men still dived into the wrinkled flesh, biting, sucking and pumping wildly, as if the victim was a young virgin. After what seemed to be at least a dozen rapes, the breathless rapists decided to pull out, leaving the lola dead and like spoiled leftover meal.

Ipanagura, a resident of Santa Cruz, Talikod Island, was believed raped then murdered by two men high on katsubong, a local flower which induces hallucinations when ingested.

She was reportedly attacked inside her home at 9 p.m. Sunday.

A report that reached Camp Crame showed the suspects also slaughtered the victim’s two pigs and cow.

Police are hunting down the rapist-murderers.

Meanwhile, the city council of the Island Garden City of Samal has offered a P25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.

One of the suspects has been identified as Amboy Bustamante.

portune

July 23rd, 2008, 06:06 AM

red_jasper

July 24th, 2008, 03:10 AM

South Luzon drivers begin transport strike
07/24/2008 | 07:54 AM

MANILA, Philippines - As early as 6 a.m. Thursday, commuters in Southern Luzon have started feeling the pinch of a region-wide transport strike, militant groups in the region claimed.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Southern Luzon secretary general Arman Albarillo said they are on track to paralyzing up to 90 percent of transport operations in Laguna and 50 percent in Batangas.

"Mga 8-9 a.m., mga 90 percent sa Laguna at sa panahon na yan 50 percent sa Batangas, mga 30 o 40 sa Cavite (We expect to paralyze 90 percent of transport in Laguna, 50 percent in Batangas and 30-40 percent in Cavite by 8 to 9 a.m.)," Albarillo said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

He said that as early as 6 a.m., drivers who plied their routes before dawn so they can buy food for their families dropped off commuters far from the terminal.

Because of this, he said many commuters in Laguna were seen walking quite a distance to the transport terminals.

Police, however, downplayed the effects of the strike, saying it was not initially felt in the early hours of Thursday.

In Laguna, Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr said he made arrangements with the local military to use their trucks to help stranded passengers.

Rojas added the local government units in the province had agreed to deploy government vehicles if the strike manages to paralyze transport. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/108965/South-Luzon-drivers-begin-transport-strike)

Update:

Stranded commuters line Laguna roads - report
07/24/2008 | 08:55 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Stranded passengers lined major roads in Laguna province as a Southern Luzon region-wide transport strike began to hit its stride Thursday morning.

Radio dzBB's Denver Trinidad reported that as of 8:30 a.m., commuters lined up roads from San Pedro to Calamba, many of them willing to hang at the back of crowded jeeps.

Militant groups joined the strike, waving their organizations' banners along the road and urging drivers to join their protest.

The militant drivers said earlier their strike was meant to bring down the expanded value-added tax (EVAT) on fuel and the oil deregulation law.

On the other hand, police kept guard to make sure militant drivers do not harass those who insist on plying their routes.

Police were also on alert in factories at Cabuyao, Laguna, particularly that of Nestle Philippines, to guard against militant workers who may stage surprise protest actions. - GMANews.TV (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/108977/Stranded-commuters-line-Laguna-roads---report)

Lili

July 25th, 2008, 12:35 AM

amigo32

July 25th, 2008, 04:35 AM

wala pa kasing malalaking isyung politikal kaya dyan muna sila nag concentrate para buminta namn dyaryo nila

Ph Man

July 25th, 2008, 06:30 AM

:ohno: i almost cried with this news about the lola. look, she even has pigs and cow. she's trying her best to be self-sufficient. probably not wanting to pose any burden to her kids. not an easy job at her old age.

these rapists are really sick!

mwg12a

July 27th, 2008, 10:24 PM

Another bad news I've seen in CNN USA about three Korean tourists stabbed to death by robbers somewhere in the Philippines. Surely not a good image for the Philippine tourism. Have you guys heard of this there in the Philippines?

crappypants

July 28th, 2008, 02:02 AM

it should be death penalty instantly for those who harm tourists. This is how it's done in other countries. :ohno:

tigidig14

July 28th, 2008, 02:03 AM

nakow, magagalit yung boss ko, nde na nga ako gusto nun, tsk tsk. bali ano na ba ginawa ng koreano na kagimbal-gimbal sa pnoy. para may pang come back incase kung malaman nya at tanungin ako. wag yung sa eskwela sa virginia, laos na yun sa knya

crappypants

July 28th, 2008, 02:07 AM

wala , siguro akala nila marameng pera mga Koreano. walang patawad ang mga halimaw na magnanakaw.

portune

July 28th, 2008, 03:07 AM

Nakita ko sa balita last night sa TV Patrol na narape pa daw ata yung dalawang babaeng koreana.... Tapos may nakuha atang P300,000 na cash o worth na gamit..... BITAY dapat ang HATOL sa magnanakaw na yun!!!!:bash:

bitoy

July 28th, 2008, 05:43 AM

^^ This news really sucks.

3 Koreans stabbed dead in Olongapo home (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080727-151019/3-Koreans-stabbed-dead-in-Olongapo-home)

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—(UPDATE) Three members of a Korean family were stabbed and killed by still unidentified men in their house in Olongapo City on Sunday morning, a report reaching this regional police camp said.

Policemen found the bodies of Seok Heijang, 54; her daughter Suna Yoo, 35; and her granddaughter, Haneul Baek, 9, sprawled in the bedroom of their house at Sitio Kakilingan, Iram resettlement in Barangay (Village) Cabalan.

Suna Yoo’s son, Sangcheol, 11, reported the killings to the police.

Investigators said the killers entered the house by removing a piece of plywood that had covered a hole in the wall intended for the room’s air conditioning unit.

Investigators suspected that the mother and the girl were raped before they were killed. The three victims had stab wounds in their heads.

An undetermined amount of cash was taken from the grandmother.

“The incident is believed to have been perpetrated between midnight and 3 a.m. [Sunday] as indicated by the continuous barking of dogs around the neighborhood,” a report from the Olongapo City police said.

The report said the family slept at around 11:40 p.m. Saturday.

Suna Yoo’s husband, Baek Jin Suk, was in South Korea when the attack happened.

Suna Yoo’s father, Henry Choi, is a former contractor at the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp. at the Redondo Peninsula of the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.

Choi, according to the police report, has been receiving death threats reportedly following the dismissal of several Filipino workers at Hanjin.

Police said three armed men went to Choi in June to ask money.

[dx]

July 29th, 2008, 07:58 AM

Manila's Outbound (http://www.aircargoworld.com/regions/pacific_0708.htm)
UPS is decamping to China, leaving the Philippines wondering about its burgeoning economy
By Ian Putzger, aircargoworld.com

To lose one integrator hub may look a trifle careless, to lose several suggests a problem. China's gravitational pull is drawing UPS to the Pearl River Delta to set up a new hub for intra-Asia traffic. As the epicenter for Asian express traffic follows the dragon, the Philippines are drifting further to the periphery of air trade lanes. Ironically this is happening after their strongest year of growth.

After six years at the former Clark Air Force Base, where it has been running its $300 million intra-Asia hub, UPS announced this spring it is going to establish a new hub facility for traffic flows within Asia at Shenzhen. The integrator's future Asian center, which has a price tag of $180 million, is scheduled to be fully operational by 2010. It is going to occupy a million square feet and will be able to process up to 18,000 pieces per hour in the initial stage, with expansion capacity to twice that amount.

The integrator cited several reasons for the move. For one thing, transit times will be shorter, as its intra-Asian flows have shifted west over the years. According to UPS international spokesman John Flick, management expects to shave a full day off transit time on almost 200 city pairs and anticipates later cut-off times for 150 city pairs. For 45 city pairs delivery can shift from afternoon to morning.

"UPS is now working on the routings and we do not expect increase in transit times for any major lane pairs," Flick said. Extensive air rights for UPS operations and access to common carriage were two other factors that appealed to the integrator.

In addition, the proximity to Hong Kong means that UPS will be able to truck intra-Asian traffic to and from that metropolis, with better cut-off and delivery times. This is where Shenzhen trumps Guangzhou in the eyes of UPS management. "Guangzhou takes too long to truck to Hong Kong to allow all ground movements," Flick said.

Bigger Brown

Perhaps more than anything else, it was the robust growth of traffic to and from China itself that prompted Big Brown to opt for the Pearl River Delta. The decision was driven by the buoyant express package sector, but air cargo is also a strong magnet. "Since UPS began flying direct to China in 2001, we have watched the region grow exponentially, not only from a small package perspective but also in heavy airfreight," said Flick.

Over in Manila, the Filipino government felt compelled to approach UPS to discuss keeping some activities at Clark, perhaps even to relocate some functions from elsewhere in the region. According to reports citing an aide to the president of the Philippines, UPS has been asked to change the set-up at Clark to offer "logistics and supply chain solutions patterned after its facilities in Louisville."

UPS said it was exploring placing alternative facilities at Clark, adding, "the country continues to be an important market for us. We will maintain our presence in Clark and Manila and continue to use Clark as our gateway for imports and exports in the Philippines."

The worries in Manila are understandable. A few years ago, the Philippines were the center of the Asian express world, boasting the regional hubs of UPS, FedEx and DHL. Deutsche Post's express arm has since decamped to Hong Kong, and FedEx this year is shifting its Asian hub to Guangzhou, where it has spent $150 million to set up a facility with twice the capacity of its operation at Subic Bay.

Outbound Freight

The exodus from the Philippines also extends to regular freighters. Korean Air concluded late last year that volumes in the Philippines did not justify a full 747 freighter service and combined Manila with a freighter service from its home to Singapore and Jakarta. Lately there have been rumors that Intel is looking to move out of the Philippines.

What adds to the frustration is that all this is happening after a record year of growth. Having fallen behind many Asian rivals with annual growth of around 2 percent, the economy grew by at least 5 percent per annum for the past four years and recorded a record 7 percent increase in 2007. Recent developments have been less inspiring, however. High fuel costs have further undermined the viability of garment exports to North America, which were already sagging as a result of the exchange rate.

According to Global Cargo Carriers, an outfit established to promote development of air cargo and logistics industries in the country, many garment exporters that used to rely on the U.S market have closed shop. On the ocean side, the Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders Association reported a visible decline in cargo volume headed for the United States during the past six months.

Shortly after the UPS announcement, the Philippines and Canada concluded a new aviation treaty that ushers in greater access for passenger airlines and unlimited cargo flights and fifth freedom rights for freighter operators. The air cargo community in the Philippines welcomed the agreement, but they would be more delighted if international carriers were to make use of existing traffic rights.