Maniolas

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will extend financial support to the beneficiaries of overseas Filipino worker Vilma Mamuri Gumpal, who died in a plane crash in Sadbury, Ontario, Canada, last month. “Financial assistance will be given to the legal beneficiaries of Gumpal,” said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz in a statement. The OWWA will facilitate the release of her death benefit in the amount of P200,000, burial assistance of P20,000, and educational benefits for dependents. The OWWA will also provide repatriation assistance, specifically in the release of her remains on arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” Baldoz said. Gumpal, 42, single, was from Echague, Isabela, and had worked as a caregiver in Canada since June 2012, according to OWWA records. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said Gumpal also worked as a caregiver in Israel in 2003. Labor Attaché Leonida Romulo of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Toronto said Gumpal was with her lawyer-employer and his wife on board a small plane on March 17 when it   crashed in a remote heavily wooded area near the mouth of the Pickerel and French Rivers in Sudbury, Ontario. Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards. To subscribe to the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper in the Philippines, call +63 2 896-6000 for Metro Manila Read More …

The National Bureau of Investigation arrested a swindler who dupes people into investing in fake companies supposedly connected with the local government unit of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. In the NBI’s entrapment operation for her, the suspect tried to get P200,000. An exclusive report on GMA 7’s “24 Oras” on Wednesday said that 62-year-old Catalina Villamarin used fake documents and introduced herself as a businesswoman who is helping ARMM procure medicines, school supplies, and books.    During NBI’s entrapment operation, she used a supposed bank letter of confirmation where she faked the signature of the bank president.  The bank document stated that the ARMM allocated P1.2 billion for her supposed projects with the local government unit.  She also used the letterhead of the ARMM in the document and faked the signature of Governor Mujiv Hataman.  During the transaction, Villamarin asked for P200,000 from the NBI agent to hasten the process, which prompted the NBI to arrest the businesswoman and her companions.  But she denied the allegations against her.  “Lehitimo ho akong negosyante. Hindi naman po panloloko ‘yan kundi mag-negosyo ho eh,” she told the NBI representatives.  ARMM Manila Liaison chief Jolly Lais said that people like Villamarin are giving the region a bad reputation.  “Ang problema ho diyan, sumasama ang aming image, ‘yung ARMM, kasi ‘yung supplier legitimate eh. Hihingan nila–pambihira manloloko pala ang mga taga-ARMM. Pero sila ang manloloko, hindi kami,” he said.  Villamarin will face syndicated estafa through falsification for misrepresenting the officials of ARMM.  NBI Read More …

THOSE familiar with the legal travails of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) know how much headache bank regulators have had in the many years that they have been trying to go after businessman and former banker Jose Go, whose Orient Bank collapsed in the 1990s. Well, it now seems that that headache is no longer exclusive to the BSP. We learned recently that United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) has been struggling with its own issues in going after some assets presently under the control of Go, who is also a former “mall magnate.” Here’s the story. In 2005, UCPB initiated the filing of three cases for unlawful detainer with damages (meaning that certain properties are being held by another party without a legal right to do so) against a Go-controlled firm called Superfriend Holdings Inc. with the Metropolitan Trial Court of Makati City. The bank properties in question are the Gotesco Caloocan Annex, Manila Plaza and Gotesco Corporate Center—all owned by UCPB and leased by Go, presumably with ownership changing hands after the latter ran into financial trouble. In 2006, the court granted UCPB’s plea and ordered Go’s Superfriend Holdings to pay its rental arrears and to vacate the leased premises. But then, Superfriend Holdings appealed the decision with the Regional Trial Court of Makati City, which then sided with Go and reversed the other court’s decision. So UCPB ran to the Court of Appeals, which, in 2009, agreed with the bank. It issued a resolution ordering the Makati Read More …

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano has accused actor Robin Padilla of playing politics when the latter specifically named him as one of the lawmakers who should brush up on history before giving their opinion on the Bangsamoro. “May special mention (ang pangalan ko) kasi malapit siya sa mga Tinga, so everytime na may mga issue po talagang tinutuligsa kami,” Cayetano said in a radio interview Monday morning. He said Padilla was a supporter of the Tingas during the 2010 and 2013 elections. The Tingas and Cayetanos are political rivals in Taguig. He added the Cayetanos and Muslim residents has invited the actor several times to show the development in Taguig. “Nagsalita siya nung 2010 at 2013 para sa mga Tinga…ilang beses po naming winelcome si Robin Padilla sa Taguig, ilang beses po siyang minessage. Iniimbitahan siya ng mga Muslim para maipakita yung development,” the senator said. Cayetano said that he is ready to talk with Padilla but unfortunately the latter has already branded him as anti-Muslim because of his opposition to the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. “Kung history pag-uusapan, magkape kami ni Robin wala pong problema yan pero ang problema tinanggap na nya yung propaganda na ako ay anti-Muslim. Pag ikaw po ay anti-MILF hindi ibig sabihin na ikaw ay anti-Muslim, anti-peace,” he said. Cayetano has repeatedly made statements against BBL and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Padilla, in a post on his Instagram account Monday night, belied the accusations of Cayetano saying there was no politics involved in Read More …

MAX’S Group Inc., a listed restaurant group best known for its chain of fried chicken outlets, posted a “pro-forma” net loss in 2014 following expenses related to the acquisition of Pancake House Inc. through a P4-billion deal. Max’s said in a stock exchange filing Monday that its pro-forma full-year losses in 2014 amounted to P56 million. Excluding one-time costs and extraordinary expenses, Max’s said its pro-forma core net income in 2014 would have been P154.1 million. Revenues during the period hit P9.55 billion, it said. “The Max’s Entities-Pancake House integration came with the challenges that are typical of transactions of this scale and magnitude,” the company said in its filing. “Last year was a transformative and preparatory period for the company, anchored on a series of market-moving transactions, beginning with the acquisition of Pancake House Group, post-integration activities and capped off by a successful follow-on offering,” Dave Fuentebella, chief financial officer of Max’s, said in a statement. He noted that the company’s expenditures in 2014 included marketing costs, write-off of doubtful accounts receivables, one-off fees and expenses for kitchen upgrades, repairs and maintenance, along with the revamping of new and key branches of Pancake House, Teriyaki Boy and Dencio’s. The company underwent a comprehensive revamping program to align its portfolio of brands and consolidate operations—which included enhancing top brands and discontinuing underperformers and upgrading service platforms, the disclosure said. This revamping program is currently underway. For 2015, Max’s “expects to benefit from considerable cost savings” as it plans to realize Read More …