cmiranda

Filipino cabbie in Vegas finds and returns $300K

News

Dec 272013

Filipino cabbie in Vegas finds and returns $300K

By Bert EljeraINQUIRER.net US Bureau 8:02 am | Saturday, December 28th, 2013 Gerardo Gamboa with the $10,000 reward he received for returning $300,000 in cash left behind by a passenger in his cab in Las Vegas on Christmas Day. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Yellow Checker Taxi LAS VEGAS — Filipino-American cab driver Gerardo Gamboa returned $300,000 in hard cash left behind by a passenger. He was rewarded handsomely for his honesty. Gamboa of Mabalacat, Pampanga, and Silay City, received $10,000 Friday from the owner of the money, a professional poker player who chose to remain anonymous. His identity, however, has been established. “I’ll give this to my wife, and we can buy some stuff,” said the 34-year-old Gamboa, who created a worldwide sensation for returning the money left behind in his cab on Christmas Day. “I’m happy that we can show to the world the Filipino is a good person, and can not be easily dazzled by money.” Together with the $1,000 reward and steak dinner for two from Yellow Checker Star, the cab company Gamboa has been working for, it was a rewarding Christmas for the 13-year cab veteran. Cash bundle that Gamboa found. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Yellow Checker Taxi “We’re so proud of him,” said Bill Shranko, the company’s COO. “He epitomizes the culture of honesty we try to develop among our drivers.” In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Gamboa said he found the money after noticing a brown paper bag in the back seat of the cab. When a passenger Read More …

Papal Nuncio spends Christmas with ‘Yolanda’ survivors

News

Dec 232013

Papal Nuncio spends Christmas with ‘Yolanda’ survivors

By Kristine Angeli SabilloINQUIRER.net 12:04 pm | Tuesday, December 24th, 2013 Typhoon survivors attend mass at the damaged Santo Nino Church in Tacloban, central Philippines on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013. AP MANILA, Philippines – Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, arrived in Tacloban City in Leyte on Tuesday morning to visit and spend Christmas with the typhoon survivors. Pinto, representative of Pope Francis, was welcomed by local priests when he arrived at the Tacloban City Airport around 9 a.m., Inquirer Radio 990AM said. The papal nuncio will first visit an evacuation center in the city to see first-hand the situation of families affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last month. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Pinto will attend a gathering of the clergy before leading the midnight mass at the Cathedral of Our Lord’s Transfiguration in Palo. Palo Archbishop John Du, in a statement, said they were worried about where the papal nuncio will sleep but Pinto was quoted saying, “I will sleep wherever you sleep.” On Christmas Day, Pinto will preside over a 10 a.m. mass at the Sto. Niño Church in Tacloban City before heading to Manila. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: Catholics , Christmas , Giuseppe Pinto , Papal Nuncio , Philippins , Religion , Tacloban Factual errors? Read More …

British embassy closed for 6 days

News

Dec 232013

By Kristine Angeli SabilloINQUIRER.net 10:02 am | Tuesday, December 24th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – The British Embassy in Manila announced on Tuesday that it will be closed for six days during the holiday season. “The British Embassy Manila is closed today, December 24 until December 26,” the embassy announced on Twitter. Its offices will also be closed from December 30, 2013 to January 1, 2014. “For British nationals who need urgent assistance during these days, please call +63 2 858 2200. Please follow instructions when you are connected to be put through to Consular Response,” the embassy said. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: British Embassy , embassies , Holidays , office , Philippines , services Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94

Filipinos urged to leave Sudan

News

Dec 232013

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 9:18 am | Tuesday, December 24th, 2013 In this handout image provided by the United Nations Mission South Sudan, taken on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, civilians arrive at the UNMISS compound adjacent to Juba International Airport to take refuge. AP MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines on Monday initiated the voluntary evacuation of Filipinos in South Sudan and barred all travel and deployment of workers amid the worsening civil strife in the central African state. This, after Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario raised Crisis Alert Level 3 for the 95 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there and sent a Rapid Response Team to help in the repatriation process. The level is the third highest in the country’s four-tier emergency alert system for Filipinos abroad. “Under Alert Level 3 (voluntary repatriation), Filipinos in South Sudan are enjoined to seek repatriation assistance from the personnel of our embassy in Kenya, or the Rapid Response Team which will depart tonight,” Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said in a statement yesterday. “Our citizens are also advised to defer travel to South Sudan regardless of purpose,” Hernandez said, adding that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will also initiate a total ban on OFW deployment under the alert level. The DFA spokesperson said 23 of the 95 Filipinos in South Sudan have travelled to Kenya, while 15 have fled to Uganda as the South Sudanese government had lost control of its oil-producing capital of Bentiu to rebels intent Read More …

‘Yolanda’ among top 2013 stories – AP poll

News

Dec 222013

‘Yolanda’ among top 2013 stories – AP poll

In this aerial photo taken on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, and released by the Philippine Air Force, a ferry boat is seen washed inland from a massive storm surge caused by Typhoon Haiyan, in the city of Tacloban, central Philippines. AP FILE PHOTO NEW YORK – The devastation wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in the Philippines last November 8 was among the top news stories of 2013, according to The Associated Press’ annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors. The glitch-plagued rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul topped the survey, followed by the Boston Marathon bombing and the dramatic papal changeover at the Vatican. The saga of “Obamacare” — as the Affordable Care Act is widely known — received 45 first-place votes out of the 144 ballots cast for the top 10 stories. The marathon bombing received 29 first-place votes and the papal transition 21. Other strong contenders were the bitter partisan conflict in Congress and the leaks about National Security Agency surveillance by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden. Last year, the top story was the massacre of 26 children and staff at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. That result came after a rare decision by the AP to re-conduct the voting; the initial round of balloting had ended Dec. 13, a day before the Newtown shooting, with the 2012 election at the top. The first AP top-stories poll was conducted in 1936, when editors chose the abdication of Britain’s King Edward VIII. Here Read More …

Investors sue Uniwide Holdings head, 2 former execs

General

Dec 152013

Investors sue Uniwide Holdings head, 2 former execs

By Tetch Torres-TupasINQUIRER.net 3:45 pm | Sunday, December 15th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines–Investors of Uniwide Holdings Inc. filed a case for estafa against the head of the Manila Bay Development Corp. (MBDC) and two former Uniwide executives who, they say, had allegedly conspired to defraud UHI of P2.1 billion that caused bleeding of what used to be the country’s biggest retail chain. The estafa complaint was filed by the investors led by Brenelie Rualo before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Makati City against MBDC president Jacinto Ng Sr. along with Jimmy Cabangis and Corazon Rey for questionable spending for the construction of its Coastal Mall and then defrauding P381 million more through the payment of unnecessary mall rentals. Coastal Mall, which was envisioned in the 1990s to become the country’s biggest shopping mall complex, was built on a 10-hectare portion of MBDC’s 40-hectare Central Business Park II in Parañaque City at that time when Cabangis and Rey were Uniwide’s respective chief financial officer and controller. In her Derivative Suit for Estafa/Other Deceits, Rualo said she was filing the case against the trio on behalf of over 15,000 investors “similarly situated” who bought P4 billion-worth of stocks combined when Uniwide made its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1996. “The amount of P2.1 billion that was squandered was more than half of the P4 billion that was raised through public offering,” said Rualo adding that “the fraudulent acts and unlawful payments couldn’t have been perpetrated without the complicity of Ng of Read More …

Australian minister to visit Leyte

News

Dec 072013

By Bong LozadaINQUIRER.net 1:46 pm | Sunday, December 8th, 2013 Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (“Haiyan”) survivors walk through the ruins of their neighborhood in Tacloban City on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia is scheduled to visit Yolanda-struck areas Ormoc and Tacloban Sunday to check on her goernment’s assistance, a statement said. Julie Bishop would visit the Australian field hospital in Tacloban then go to Ormoc where Australian defense forces conducted clearing and rehabilitation works at the Libertad Elementary School. A new humanitarian assistance from the Australian government to bolster the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the area would be spearheaded by Bishop. Australia has so far pledged P1,318,078,983.90 worth of assistance to the Philippine government for relief and reahabilitation operations in the country. Related stories Aussie FM urged to raise PH’s ‘paralyzed criminal justice system’ Australia gives $10 million to typhoon-hit Philippines Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: Australia , Features , Global Nation , Julie Bishop , Leyte , Yolanda Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Read More …

For Filipino ‘astronaut,’ trip beats dream of flying

News

Dec 072013

For Filipino ‘astronaut,’ trip beats dream of flying

Chino Roque with other Filipino contenders Evan Datuin, Ramil Santos and Axe brand manager Gem Laforteza. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—As a child, he dreamed of flying in the sky as a commercial airline pilot. Next year, Chino Roque will be taking his ambition further and farther—into space. The 23-year-old psychology graduate of De La Salle University has earned his ticket to space as one of 22 people from around the world who will take off on a pioneer suborbital flight to be launched by the Axe Apollo Space Academy, a global contest sponsored by the popular men’s deodorant. “I had a dream of becoming a pilot as a child, but going into space always seemed like a long shot because we don’t have a space program in the Philippines,” said Roque in a phone interview from the United States. Roque, a Crossfit coach from Las Piñas City, beat two other Filipino candidates after a series of grueling physical and mental challenges at the space camp to take the lone Philippine slot on the space mission. More than 100 candidates from 60 countries took part in the camp, vying for the 22 slots on the flight which will launch the winners 100 kilometers into the atmosphere at the point where outer space begins. They will be flown in the two-seater XCOR Lynx Mark II spacecraft one at a time together with a pilot in mid-2014. Roque said the astronaut hopefuls had to go through a number of “hero missions” at Read More …

Freed Jordanian thanks Filipinos, looks forward to seeing kin

News

Dec 072013

Freed Jordanian thanks Filipinos, looks forward to seeing kin

Veteran Middle Eastern TV reporter Baker Atyani looks at his X-ray record as he undergoes medical check-up following his release from one-and-a-half years of captivity in Jolo, the capital of the island province of Sulu in Southern Philippines late Wednesday Dec.4, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO/Nickee Butlangan MANILA, Philippines—Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani talked to the media on arriving in Manila on Friday but begged off from recounting the details of his 18-month abduction by Islamist militants. He is returning to Jordan today. “I’ll be focusing more on the future rather than the past,” Atyani told reporters who had waited for him at Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame. “I am meeting soon my loved ones and my feelings and emotions…I can’t really explain them well. I am sure you understand that,” he said. “And I really want to thank all of you who stood by me during this crisis. You, my colleagues in media and friends, those who gave a lot of support in the social network, maraming salamat,” he said. Atyani, 45, arrived in Manila from Sulu at dusk, accompanied by a colleague from Al Arabiya News Channel; Senior Supt. Renato Guman, director of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group; and Senior Supt. Rolando Miranda, operations chief of the group. Atyani, Southeast Asia bureau chief for Al Arabiya News Channel, appeared tired but still greeted the waiting journalists with a small wave. Gumban said Atyani gave a very short message because they had all wanted the debriefing at Camp Crame to Read More …

Hundreds protest China’s ‘bullying’ of Philippines

News

Jul 242013

Hundreds protest China’s ‘bullying’ of Philippines

Agence France-Presse 6:58 pm | Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 Risa Hontiveros. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Hundreds of Philippine activists on Wednesday accused China of “gunboat diplomacy”, demonstrating at a noisy Manila protest against the Asian giant’s moves to stake its claims in the South China Sea. Riot police cordoned off the entrance to an office building housing the Chinese consulate as an estimated one thousand demonstrators took Beijing to task for “bullying” the Philippines. The protest, which ended peacefully two hours later, came amid festering tensions between the two neighbours over Scarborough Shoal, a Philippine-claimed outcrop seized by China after a two-month naval stand-off last year. “Our simple message for China today is to stop your intrusions, and stop your bullying of other claimant countries,” Risa Hontiveros, a former member of parliament and one of the protest leaders, told AFP. The demonstrators, who included politicians, former military officers and church officials, accused China in a statement handed out at the protest of implementing “gunboat diplomacy in the region”. They put up a portable stage on the street, snarling traffic as they sang patriotic songs, blew horns, danced and hoisted anti-Chinese slogans. China claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea, even waters close to the shores of its smaller neighbours. Apart from Scarborough, the Philippines has also protested the presence of Chinese navy vessels near Philippine-held Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. The islands have been a source of regional tension for decades, with China and Vietnam Read More …

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