Maniolas

Senator Bong Revilla (right) visits his father, former senator Ramon Revilla, Sr., at the St. Luke’s Hospital in Taguig City on Tuesday. Senator Revilla was given a furlough to visit his 88-year old father who was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and dehydration since Saturday.(MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Sandiganbayan First Division has allowed Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. to leave his detention facility for five hours to visit his ailing father, actor and former Senator Ramon Revilla Sr., who remains confined in the hospital. “The court resolves to grant the accused’s motion,” First Division chairman Associate Justice Efren De la Cruz said in open court in a short hearing Tuesday morning. In a minute resolution issued a few hours after the hearing, the First Division gave Revilla’s camp an option to go to St/ Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City either on Tuesday (July 14) or Wednesday (July 15). The court said Revilla must be transported from Camp Crame to SLMC not earlier than one hour before 3 p.m., which is considered as the starting time of his visit. The court said the senator must leave the hospital not later than 8 p.m. of the same day and must be “brought back immediately to his detention cell at Camp Crame.” The First Division directed PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina to coordinate with the Sandiganbayan Sheriff and Security Services Division in providing Revilla adequate “personal escorts” and security measures during his visit in hospital. The First Read More …

Senator Chiz Escudero, chair of the Joint Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures, conducts a hearing today on the report of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee on the status and direction of the economic, fiscal and monetary policies of the government. Also in photo is Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero is urging the government to further streamline state agencies and offices whose functions are “teeming with duplication” to improve the budgeting process and public service delivery. He said the national government should go beyond allocating funds and work harder to plug the loopholes in the budget process that prevent it from delivering basic services to the public in a timely manner. “An audit and analysis of the process of planning and budgeting will reveal the overlapping of functions of some government agencies. The government needs to close the gaps and fix the bottlenecks,” Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, said in a statement on Tuesday. Some issues within government agencies, such as reporting of field data and jurisdictional conflicts among different offices under one department, he said, impede the swift delivery of basic services. “In the end, project implementation suffers and Filipinos don’t get the services they need and deserve,” said the senator. Escudero also shared the observation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the Philippines needs to improve its unusually complex budgeting system and address the weaknesses in the quality and integrity of the country’s fiscal data, partly reflecting Read More …

This photo is of the Manila NAIA Intl. Airport – Airside (Photo by Jay Solis) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The number of African tourists to the Philippines, and the other way around, is going to increase at a faster rate as a result of the air agreement between Manila and Addis Ababa, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said. The Addis Ababa-to-Manila route would increase foreign arrivals from Africa “faster than what we see in the traditional market,” Tourism Undersecretary Benito Benzon told reporters and guests in a program held for the inaugural flight of Ethiopian Airlines late Thursday. Nearly 10 months after the Philippines and Ethiopia forged an air service agreement, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) welcomed the first commercial flight of Ethiopian Airlines. “For the whole of Africa we’re only talking about 6,000 foreign visitors a year. In the current report that we’re generating, the figures for Ethiopia are not even presented,” Benzon told GMA News Online. The Addis Ababa-to-Manila route is also expected to boost the number of Filipino tourists going to Ethiopia and other African countries. “Ethiopia is the best gateway to the African continent. It’s located in a strategic place. That’s why we were able to increase our route to over 50 destinations in Africa,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Geremariam said. Ethiopia, however, has no embassy in the Philippines. Its nearest embassy is located in South Korea. “We are very serious towards this because it is a means to expedite [visa processing].  A Philippine delegation will Read More …

LBC Hongkong Though most celebrations for the country’s 117th Independence day are held in the Philippines, LBC Express, Inc., the leading courier service, logistics, and money remittance provider has brought festivities to Filipinos across the globe. In celebration and commemoration of Philippine freedom, LBC Express held a series of games, raffles and freebies across the Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. Middle East “Among the regions, the Middle East is one of the most popular choice for overseas Filipinos,” said Barty Espino, Vice President for Middle East Operations. “So it only makes sense that we bring a touch of home, even if we’re thousands of miles away.” LBC Bahrain Over 20,000 Filipinos attended the Independence Day celebrations in malls in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, and Qatar, with the support of the Philippine Embassy and Consulate offices in the GCC. Our “Ka-LBCs” enjoyed games, raffles and freebies, such as discounts on cargo, and complimentary sea cargo services and balikbayan boxes. Some attendees were also treated to Shopping Suki deals to maximize their cargo sending. New members of the LBC Plus card were also gifted with premium LBC merchandise and Max’s Restaurant vouchers. In Bahrain, singer Angeline Quinto and model Daniel Matsunaga celebrated with Filipinos at Lost Paradise of Dilmun Water Park and visited the LBC Bahrain branch to meet and greet our Ka-LBCs. Asia-Pacific In the Asia-Pacific region, LBC held fun-filled activities in Malaysia and Hong Kong. In Malaysia, LBC set up Read More …

Citizens who have $50K or more are subject to probe PHL-US COOPERATION: Apart from the latest agreement on sharing of account information to prevent tax evasion, the two countries have been launching programs to benefit both nations as shown in this recent photo where Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. and NLRB General Counsel Richard Griffin signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Office of the General Counsel of the NLRB and the DFA aimed at educating Filipino workers and business owners on their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, as provided under the National Labor Relations Act, which is the basic US law governing labor relations. (Photo by the National Labor Relations Board) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – The Philippines and the United States on Tuesday formally agreed to share information on the bank accounts of each other’s citizens to help fight tax evasion. Under the intergovernmental agreement (IGA), Philippine banks and other financial institutions have to audit and report on accounts of Americans who have at least $50,000. US banks will be required to do the same for accounts of Filipinos in the US. “The Philippines continues to stand at the forefront of fiscal transparency across the Asia-Pacific region, reaping measurable returns for our people. Tax evasion across borders is an alarming problem that we can beat back with openness and mutual cooperation. This IGA is an affirmation of that ideal,” said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who signed on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines. A total of 219 Read More …