Maniolas

PAL decided to operate the special flights to Mecca as it expects Muslims from the Philippines to take part in the Hajj or yearly Islamic pilgrimage. File Photo MANILA, Philippines – Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is offering special flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia next month to cater to those taking part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. In a statement, PAL said the special flights would run from Aug. 15 to 24. The special flights , utilizing the Airbus A330, will depart Manila and fly non-stop to Medina in Saudi Arabia. From Medina, the pilgrims will then go to Mecca which is Islam’s holiest city. PAL decided to operate the special flights to Mecca as it expects Muslims from the Philippines to take part in the Hajj or yearly Islamic pilgrimage. The Hajj is a mandatory religious duty that must be carried out by all adult Muslims at least once in one’s lifetime. PAL expects majority of the passengers taking the special flights to come from Southern Philippines. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We are heeding the clamor of our Muslim brothers and sisters for a convenient link to a destination in the Middle East which will serve as their gateway to Mecca. PAL looks forward to be their official carrier as they fulfill this annual religious tradition,” PAL president and CEO Jaime Bautista said. For Pilgrims who wish to return to Manila via PAL, they will need to travel from Mecca Read More …

HEIGHTENED de-risking among foreign correspondent banks likely led to slower growth in monthly remittance inflows, a senior central bank official said, even though more Filipinos are leaving the country to pursue jobs abroad.

This column was originally published on July 21 and is being reprinted in this issue because of a computer error that garbled parts of the originally published piece. We apologize to Mr. Villalon for the error. — Ed. Change has come even in the field of real estate broker licensure examinations.

The connector road project which has an estimated construction cost of P15.74 billion and right-of-way cost of P7.46 billion, involves an elevated four-lane, eight-kilometer tolled expressway starting at NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 or Fifth Avenue, Caloocan City and connecting to the SLEX, through Stage 3 of the Metro Manila Skyway System Project in Manila. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to award to a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) the contract for the North Luzon Expressway – South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road after no comparative proposals were submitted yesterday. “As of today, because there is no other proponent, no challenger…so we have to prepare resolution of award recommending Metro Pacific and it will be submitted to the Secretary,” Public Works assistant secretary Eugenio Pipo Jr., who is also the Special Bids and Awards Committee chairman for civil works, told reporters. He said the project would be awarded to the original proponent Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) within the week. The contract is expected to be signed by November. A Swiss challenge was conducted for the project as it is an unsolicited proposal received by the government from MPTDC in April 2010. Among the firms which expressed interest in the project by purchasing bid documents are San Miguel Holdings Corp., Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, Hunan Road and Bridge Corp. and four law firms. The connector road project which has an estimated construction cost of P15.74 billion and Read More …