At least two domestic flights were canceled due to bad weather, the Department of Transportation and Communications said Saturday afternoon. The DOTC, in a post on its Twitter account, said the two flights belonged to budget carrier Cebu Pacific. It said canceled flights included: 5J-529: Manila to Busuanga5J-530: Busuanga to Manila PAGASA had noted the southwest monsoon is affecting western Luzon and may bring occasional rain. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News
By Doris C. Dumlao |Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:52 pm | Thursday, July 24th, 2014 SCREENGRAB from www.sec.gov.ph MANILA, Philippines—The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a plan by tycoon George Ty-led conglomerate GT Capital Holdings Inc. to raise as much as P12 billion from a retail offering of long-term bonds. Based on documents from the SEC, GT Capital was given the go-signal to offer P10 billion in fixed-rate bonds with a tenor of five years and three months, seven years and 10 years. The conglomerate was also given leeway to upsize the offering by another P2 billion in case of strong demand. The bonds will be issued in scripless form in minimum denominations of P50,000 each and in multiples of P10,000 thereafter. They are intended to be listed on fixed-income trading platform Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. First Metro Investment Corp., BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp. and China Banking Corp. were mandated as joint lead underwriters. They each committed to underwrite up to P2.5 billion worth of bonds. Follow Us Other Stories: S&P 500 at new record on Apple earnings; Dow drops Asian shares extend gains on Wall St. rally PSEi rises on Wall Street gains Lucio Co buying 38% of PBCom for P5.97 billion 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 Read More …
IN A SOCIETY with ever-expanding needs, health insurance continues to climb to top priority. The seeming inability of the government to provide Filipino citizens affordable — if not free — access to basic health services and medicine drives low and medium-income earners to apply (and remain) as employees of private companies offering pre-need medical benefits, even as their basic salaries are just enough to meet day-to-day needs.
MANILA, Philippines – Fifteen business-minded students enrolled in the ET Yuchengco School of Business and Management, Mapua Institute of Technology, Makati campus, will be part of Robinsons Malls’ Entrep Corner, which will be held at Robinsons Galleria’s Digi World, Level 1, from Aug. 8 to Sept. 8. During the one-month run, the students will have a chance to showcase and sell their own products, which range from “flipbags” to comfy men’s shorts, to reasonably priced men’s suits, ice cream, wood and steel works, handy nail guns and an online store. Currently taking up BS Entrepreneurship, the students are under the mentorship of Professor Marthinson Villanueva, MBA.
Charlene Gonzales and Aga Muhlach (MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Charlene Gonzales is unaffected by rumors on the dissolution of her marriage with actor Aga Muhlach. “We’re very happy. We’ve been married for 13 years. And we just get stronger and stronger,” said Charlene. Rumors of the celebrity couple’s split surfaced in May, with a blind item insinuating that it was caused by Aga’s alleged affair with a 20-year-old dancer. On May 28, Aga seemed to dispel notions of their supposed marital woes by sharing on Facebook a video of what he described as his wife’s 13th wedding anniversary surprise for him. As if to drive the point further, he also said, “We’re all good, no worries.” The couple, who are both noticeably less visible on TV these days, was subject to another rumor recently, with Aga having supposedly died. The news spread via Facebook and according to Charlene, they simply laughed it off. “You can’t believe everything that you hear… Buhay na buhay siya (Aga),” she said, relating that she, as with their twins Atasha and Andres, are actually already preparing for Aga’s birthday next month. (MNS)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says he is launching an “immediate investigation” into reports of a Malaysian jetliner crash. Malaysia Airlines said it lost contact with Flight 17 over Ukrainian airspace Thursday. It was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia Airlines lost contact with one of its flights Thursday, four months after a plane flying to China disappeared. The latest information on Flight 370: The Boeing 777 vanished March 8 while carrying 239 passengers and crew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. While over the sea east of Malaysia, the plane made a sharp turn, crossed the Malaysian Peninsula and turned south over the Indian Ocean. SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s government repealed a much-maligned carbon tax on the nation’s worst greenhouse gas polluters on Thursday, ending years of contention over a measure that became political poison for the lawmakers who imposed it. The Senate voted 39 to 32 to axe the 24.15 Australian dollar ($22.60) tax per metric ton of carbon dioxide that was introduced by the center-left Labor government in July 2012. Conservative lawmakers burst into applause as the final tally was announced. BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a state visit to Brazil on Thursday by signing a series of trade agreements with the leader of Latin America’s biggest nation. Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff said the agreements show that ties between China and Brazil have never been stronger. TOKYO (AP) — Rocket science long dismissed as too Read More …
CREATING a call center company in just two to three hours might seem impossible but a Cebuano startup is making that possible. Mark Anthony Lapuz and Vince Loremia, who have had years of experience in the business process outsourcing industry in Cebu, opened their own startup KallFly, an “on-demand contact center market place. “ KallFly, which gained the support of Singapore-based Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI), bridges the traditional call center system and the virtual workforce. Lapuz, the founder, said, “it connects businesses with experienced home-based call center agents.” KallFly now has 520 virtual call center agents, 95 percent of them Filipinos, whom interested companies can tap anytime after signing up. Nine companies, from Australia, United States, Singapore, and Philippines, have already availed themselves of KallFly’s services. Companies who are looking for more call center agents or even those who have not ventured into the business yet can sign up in KallFly’s website where they can upload their script and grant access, launch agents and immediately start the operation. Lapuz said companies will just have to pay $1.5 per hour to KallFly and $2.5 per hour to the call center agent. This is half the cost required in setting up a traditional call center company, he said. According to a document forwarded by Loremia published by JFDI, it usually takes two weeks for a new client to set up a new job campaign under the traditional contact center process. The clients have to pay for over provisioned capacity, with a Read More …
Insect outbreaks Insect outbreaks occur when new strains/species of insects are introduced into areas where they have no or very few natural enemies. However, eventually nature corrects itself; biological control agents appear and multiply in sufficient numbers to control the invaders. But this new state of equilibrium could take years and by then farmers would have suffered heavy losses. The new coconut scale insect (CSI) devastating coconuts in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Quezon has been identified as Aspidiotus rigidus, which is different from the more common Aspidiotus destructor. The immediate challenge to the CSI outbreak is to arrest/contain the further spread of CSI from the current adversely affected areas to the rest of the country. The idea is to reduce CSI population, slow down its spread in order to give the time for the insects’ natural enemies to multiply. Scale insects are naturally preyed upon by wasps, coccinelid beetles, earwigs and lacewings, and also infected by fungi. Our key agricultural research agencies (PCA, UPLB and PCAARRD-DOST) are working double time to artificially rear these potential biocontrol agents in great numbers to release them in outbreak areas. Nevertheless, their efforts are relatively puny considering the gravity of the situation. Their efforts should be multiplied ten-fold to make a difference. Contact vs systemic pesticides Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Scale insects are ubiquitous pests on many crops. They are relatively easy to manage/control with commercially available pesticides. In fact household detergents and oils which are inexpensive and safe Read More …
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — China has ended drilling and exploration operations at an oil rig it deployed in a section of the South China Sea disputed with Vietnam and will relocate the unit, Chinese state media reported. Beijing deployed the massive rig in early May close to the Paracel Islands, triggering a furious reaction in Hanoi and the most serious uptick in tensions in the waters in years. Hanoi demanded Beijing withdraw the rig, and sent ships to the region to try and disrupt the operations. The Chinese move triggered protests in Vietnam and deadly anti-Chinese riots. Beijing insisted it had done nothing wrong because the waters belonged to it. Xinhua said the China National Petroleum Corp on Tuesday announced the end of the operation, citing the beginning of the typhoon season. It said the rig would be relocated to operations close to China’s Hainan Island. The report said the company found oil and gas during the operation, but was assessing the data gathered before deciding its next move. It has always been unclear whether the Beijing deployed the rig for genuine commercial reasons or as part of strategy of staking out its territorial claims in the region. When it announced the deployment, Beijing said it would withdraw it on Aug. 15. The deployment of the rig was seen as a highly provocative move by China, which it claims nearly all of the South China Sea, bringing it into conflict with Vietnam, the Philippines and other nations. Beijing’s growing economic Read More …
Tens of thousands of people in the Philippines hunkered down in evacuation centres while three people were reported missing Tuesday as a typhoon pounded its eastern coast amid warnings of giant storm surges and heavy floods. The eye of Typhoon Rammasun struck Legazpi city in the eastern Bicol region in the early evening, with Manila and other heavily populated regions expecting to be hit on Wednesday afternoon, the state weather service said. “Roofing sheets are flying off the tops of houses here… the wind is whistling,” Joey Salceda, the governor of Albay province in Bicol said over ABS-CBN television. He said there had been no reports of deaths while damage to the region — an impoverished farming and fishing region of 5.4 million people — was expected to be “moderate”. However, Bicol police said three local men were listed as missing off the island of Catanduanes on Tuesday, a day after they pushed out to sea to fish and failed to return. The Philippines is hit by about 20 major storms a year, many of them deadly. The Southeast Asian archipelago is often the first major landmass to be struck after storm build above the warm Pacific Ocean waters. In November Super Typhoon Haiyan unleashed giant seven-metre (23-foot) high storm surges that devastated the coasts of the eastern islands of Samar and Leyte, killing up to 7,300 people in one of the nation’s worst ever natural disasters. More than 96,000 families were moved to evacuation centres Tuesday as a precaution, Read More …