PHL mall giant SM targets China in $4.5-B investment

 Entertainment
Apr 152015
 
PHL mall giant SM targets China in $4.5-B investment

SM Prime, which operates Mall of Asia in Pasay City and owned by the richest man in the Philippines, plans to invest $4.5 billion over the next two years locally and in China, the company said Tuesday. Manila, Philippines, AFP – Philippine shopping mall giant SM Prime owned by the country’s richest man plans to invest 200 billion pesos ($4.5 billion) over the next two years locally and in China, the company said Tuesday. About $449 million would be spent in China each year, company officials told reporters on the sidelines of its annual stockholders meeting. “It’s the middle market. The (Chinese) government guideline is they don’t want super luxurious condos anymore,” SM Prime chairman Henry Sy Jr. said. The company, which has 50 malls in the Philippines and five in China, posted a net profit of 18.39 billion pesos in 2014, up 13 percent from the previous year, its annual report said. Apart from the malls, SM Prime has also built 25 condominium projects with more than 69,000 units, four major office buildings and four hotels, all in the Philippines. It will be opening at least four malls in the Philippines and expects to open a new mall in Tianjin, China this year. The company started as a shoe store in Manila in 1958, founded by Henry Sy Sr. who still serves as SM Prime’s chairman emeritus and is listed by Forbes magazine as the richest man in the Philippines.

DOH: No toxic substance found in milk tea sample

 Entertainment
Apr 152015
 
DOH: No toxic substance found in milk tea sample

Health Secretary Janette Garin (right) talks to the media along with toxicologists from government hospitals, Dr. Visitacion Antonio (center) and Dr. Benjamin Yson, on Monday. The officials assured the public on the safety of milk teas and that the poisoning incident is an isolated case. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday that it did not find any toxic substance in the milk tea that killed two persons in Manila last Thursday, according to the preliminary findings of the tests it conducted. “Preliminary results were negative for suspected toxic substances,” Health Secretary Janette Garin said in a press conference. Garin said that they are looking at the case as a possible poisoning incident. “The situation appears to be an isolated event, pointing to a possible case of poisoning. Let me emphasize that this is isolated. In fact, this is the third time the couple bought milk tea in the same food establishment. No untoward incident happened during the previous intake,” she said. Garin said that they will expand their tests to include blood, gastric and tissue samples obtained from the victims to determine the cause of death. Meanwhile, Manila Police District (MPD) spokesperson Marissa Bruno said that they did not tamper the milk tea samples forwarded to the DOH and the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). The findings of the DOH countered the results of the autopsy conducted by the MPD on Suzaine Dagohoy, one of the victims who took a sip of the Read More …

UNA slams Trillanes for ‘baseless’ allegations vs justices

 Entertainment
Apr 152015
 
UNA slams Trillanes for ‘baseless’ allegations vs justices

The Blue Ribbon Sub-Committee, chaired by Sen. Koko Pimentel, resumes its inquiry on the alleged overpricing of the 11-storey new Makati City II Parking Building, the 22-storey Makati City Hall Building and related anomalies. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) interim president Toby Tiangco slammed Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for throwing “baseless and malicious allegations,” this time against justices. In a statement, Tiangco said Trillanes’ alleged “lust for power has pushed him to lose his mind. Now he wants the Senate to investigate the courts which is a co-equal branch without offering any credible evidence but merely on the word of ‘sources.’” Tiangco said Trillanes is once again hiding behind parliamentary immunity. “He is prosecutor, judge and executioner and those he has maligned cannot defend themselves because he will bully them into silence,” Tiangco said. He said Trillanes should just file bribery raps in court if he indeed has evidence. “But this is not about evidence. This is all about perception and painting a negative picture of Vice President Jejomar Binay through lies and innuendoes,” Tiangco said. Citing sources, Trillanes alleged on Monday morning that Court of Appeals Justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Francisco Acosta received P25 million each in exchange for issuing a temporary restraining order and a writ of preliminary injunction in the suspension case of Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay. Atty. Pancho Villaraza of the Villaraza and Angangco Law Office allegedly facilitated the deed. These allegations are part of a four-page resolution filed by Read More …

PHL accuses China of damaging reefs

 Entertainment
Apr 152015
 
PHL accuses China of damaging reefs

Photographed through the window of a closed aircraft, an aerial view shows Pagasa Island, part of the disputed Spratly group of islands, in the South China Sea located off the coast of western Philippines Wednesday July 20, 2011. China protested a trip made by Filipino lawmakers to disputed areas in the South China Sea to assert the claim of the Philippines. Ethan Sun, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Manila, said the trip scheduled was ‘against the spirit’ of a code of conduct signed by claimants to the areas in 2002. The Spratlys, believed to be rich in oil, mineral and marine resources, are also claimed in whole or partly by Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. (AP Photo/Roley Dela Pena, Pool) Manila, Philippines, AFP – The construction works have destroyed 300 acres of coral reefs, resulting in an estimated $100 million in annual economic losses to coastal states, Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose said. Three hundred acres is roughly three times the size of Vatican City. “China’s massive reclamation activities are causing irreversible and widespread damage to the biodiversity and ecological balance of the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea,” Jose said. He also accused China of tolerating environmentally harmful methods among its fishermen in Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground that it has controlled since 2012, following a tense maritime standoff with the Philippines. Satellite photos from the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released last week also showed a flotilla of Chinese vessels dredging sand onto Read More …

Ruffa stays collected over love concerns

 Entertainment
Apr 142015
 
Ruffa stays collected over love concerns

Ruffa Gutierrez (MNS photo) All is well now between Ruffa Gutierrez and her mom Annabelle Rama despite that the latter still seems to have concerns over the former’s non-showbiz boyfriend, Jordan Mouyal. Apparently, Annabelle got mad upon learning that Ruffa had agreed to do a magazine cover shoot with Jordan without informing her. “’Di talaga kami nagpaalam kasi alam kong ’di siya papayag. Nalaman niya lang sa news. Bilang manager ko alam kong nagalit siya,” Ruffa said. Seemingly half in jest, half out of frustration over the situation, Ruffa said at time of interview that she is planning to dare her mom to set her up with someone whom she feels is right for her. “Parang simula kasi 13 years old ako ayaw na niya (ako magka-boyfriend). Kaya baka pwedeng siya nalang mag set-up sa akin ng (date),” she said, laughing. “Ide-dare ko siya, kung ayaw mo kay Jordan or kung kahit kanino, ikaw nalang magpakilala sa akin.” Told about her mother’s earlier pronouncement that she’s merely worried about Ruffa being made a punching bag, she laughed, “Hindi na mangyayari ’yun kasi magaling na ako sumuntok… baka sila ang maging battered.” Ruffa appreciates Jordan’s effort of standing by her no matter what. “Alam mo maganda kasi may paninindigan siya kahit anong gawin ng kahit sino. Ang importante ipaglalaban ka,” she said. She related how Jordan keeps trying to endear himself to Annabelle, whom Ruffa says remains “dedma.” “Even if my mom ignores him, nagha-hi lang siya. Si mommy naman parang Read More …

Delfin Lee links VP Binay to P200-M extort try, attempts to implicate ex-VP De Castro

 Entertainment
Apr 142015
 
Delfin Lee links VP Binay to P200-M extort try, attempts to implicate ex-VP De Castro

The Blue Ribbon Sub-Committee, chaired by Sen. Koko Pimentel, resumes its inquiry on the alleged overpricing of the 11-storey new Makati City II Parking Building, the 22-storey Makati City Hall Building and related anomalies. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Detained businessman Delfin Lee has linked Vice President Jejomar Binay to a P200-million extortion attempt supposedly in exchange for dropping the P6.6-billion syndicated estafa case against him. In a sworn statement read by his lawyer during a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee probe on Monday, Lee alleged that Vice President Binay’s close associate, Gerry Limlingan, asked P200 million from him so that the Globe Asiatique founder’s estafa case will not proceed. “Ako ay biktima ng panggigipit sa pamumuno ni Bise Presidente Jejomar Binay. Dalawang beses kaming nagkita ni Mr. Gerry Limlingan, na kilalang malapit kay Bise Presidente Binay, sa isang gusali sa Makati, kung saan ako hiningan ng halagang 200 milyong piso para hindi ituloy ang kaso laban sa akin.” Lee also accused Limlingan of asking him to implicate former Vice President Noli de Castro in the Pag-IBIG fund scam. “Hinimok din ako ni Mr. Gerry Limlingan na gumawa ng hindi totoong kwento upang makasuhan si dating Bise Presidente Noli de Castro, ngunit hindi ako pumayag.” The Senate blue ribbon subcommittee earlier summoned to Lee to testify in its probe on alleged anomalies involving Vice President Binay, concurrent chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). Lee, who has blamed Binay for his legal woes, was initially allowed by the Read More …

China’s reclamation activities in Mischief Reef have huge effect on regional security — Gazmin

 Entertainment
Apr 142015
 
China’s reclamation activities in Mischief Reef have huge effect on regional security — Gazmin

In this photo taken Feb. 25, 2014 by surveillance planes and released Thursday, May 15, 2014, by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, a Chinese vessel, top center, is used to expand structures and land on the Johnson Reef, called Mabini by the Philippines and Chigua by China, at the Spratly Islands at South China Sea, Philippines. The Philippines has protested China’s reclamation of land in the disputed reef in the South China Sea that can be used to build an airstrip or an offshore military base in the increasingly volatile region, the country’s top diplomat and other officials said Wednesday, May 14, 2014. The white arrow was added by the source. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has denounced anew China’s massive reclamation works in South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, saying that these reclamation activities have huge effects on security in the Asia Pacific region. In an interview with reporters at the military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Monday, Gazmin specifically hit China’s latest dredging activities in the Panganiban Reef also known as Mischief Reef, one of the mineral-rich islands in the disputed Spratlys. “Malaki ang epekto noon sa regional security. Maaapektuhan ang region in terms of freedom of navigation, freedom of the air space,” Gazmin said. “We are worried and we continue to stick to our initial reaction which is to apply the rule of law,” Gazmin added. In a photo released last month by the Washington-based Center for Strategic Read More …

Guingona defends Iqbal’s refusal to reveal his true name

 Entertainment
Apr 142015
 
Guingona defends Iqbal’s refusal to reveal his true name

Sen. Bongbong Marcos, chair of the Committee on Local Government, reviews the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law focusing on the ceasefire mechanisms to be implemented between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Teofisto Guingona III defended Monday Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal’s refusal to reveal his real name. During the resumption of the Senate hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, Guingona said the anti-alias laws of the country cannot be applied or will be impossible to apply to the MILF because it is a revolutionary group which is not under the Philippine government. “The concept of use of alias can be only charged against them once they are physically arrested, conceptually they are not under the law dahil rebelde sila at hindi kinikilala ang batas,” he said. “It is not proper to look at this issue on Iqbal having an alias as a legal problem because we cannot look at it using the eyeglasses of the law. It is not a legal issue, it is bigger than legal, it is political,” he added. He further said that the lawmakers should take into consideration the culture in Muslim Mindanao in asking for Iqbal’s real name. “Kailangang kilalanin ang kultura down south. Kung magkasala ka sa isang tao lalo na kung sa honor ng tao, babalikan ka at hindi sa pamamagitan ng pag-file ng kaso sa regional trial court kundi babawian ka. At kung hindi ka mahanap, iyong pamilya mo Read More …

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