Maniolas

By Christian V. Esguerra |Philippine Daily Inquirer 2:44 am | Sunday, September 21st, 2014 President Benigno S. Aquino III at a forum in Berlin with members of the Philippine media before he left for Boston. Malacañang Photo Bureau BERLIN—Mission accomplished. President Benigno Aquino III ended his weeklong European trip on Saturday convinced that he had gathered enough support behind the Philippines’ call for a peaceful resolution of conflicts in the South China Sea, particularly through international arbitration. “The short answer is yes,” he told reporters over coffee at 8 p.m. on Friday here (3 a.m. Saturday in Manila) when asked if he felt he had achieved the goal of his four-nation tour of Europe. With Spain (which has offered to be the Philippines’ voice in the European Union), Belgium, France and Germany all seeking a resolution of the territorial disputes through processes provided under international law, the President said it was time to “get to a stage where we have reasonable and doable objectives.” Mr. Aquino said he had been told by some of his European counterparts that they had been asking Beijing about its claim to 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea. He said another point of inquiry was “adherence” to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). “There seems to be a push,” he said. One of the most categorical statements came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel who described “international dispute settlement arrangements that we have on the basis of Unclos” as Read More …

By Eunice Barbara C. Novio |Philippine Daily Inquirer 1:42 am | Sunday, September 21st, 2014 CARVING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES Katrina, Paolo and Angela Harrold For mother and son, Katrina Develos Harrold and Paolo Janssen, success in a foreign country is not measured by skin color, age, nationality nor education, but by perseverance and self-esteem in one’s chosen fields. A dual citizen of Australia and the Philippines, Katrina, 49, has just finished her Bachelor of Commerce, Major in Accounting, degree at the Australian Catholic University in line with the Australian standard of education while managing their family business—J and A Harrold Services, a consultancy service company involved in occupational, health and safety services. Meanwhile, Paolo, 20, the youngest chef ever employed by his company, is starting to carve a name for himself as a commis chef at Qantas Chairman’s Lounge under Accor, a company that operates in 90 countries. Struggles as immigrants In 2007, Katrina and her Australian husband, John Reed Harrold, with one-year-old daughter Angela, decided to move to Australia, leaving Paolo in the Philippines to finish his studies. “The plan was to stay in my country and visit Australia during holidays. But our plans changed upon seeing that we could not afford the medical [costs] and education that we wanted for our daughter if we had stayed in the Philippines,” Katrina explains. Katrina suffered from depression being away from her immediate family and son Paolo. Her husband was always away, so she and Angela were left in the Read More …

CHENGDU CITY, China – Eighteen Chinese citizens have died so far this year in separate incidents in the Philippines. A Chinese official said the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Manila is alarmed by the development. The embassy has stepped up coordination with the Philippine National Police and local anti-crime advocates. In an interview with reporters in Chengdu, the Chinse foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least four of the Chinese citizens died in accidents while the 14 others were killed in separate kidnapping and murder incidents. “The Philippine government declared that it is safer in the Philippines, but we cannot feel it…In the past years, only 6 to 7 deaths average per year was recorded, but this year, it’s not even the end yet, it’s already 18,” he said. He added that they have also received reports of an alleged plan to attack the Chinese Embassy in Manila by a self-proclaimed anti-China group. “There was even someone who wanted to attack the embassy. They wanted to bomb the embassy,” he said. “So, it is our obligation to remind the Chinese to keep safe.” The official said the Chinese government has coordinated with local police and the Philippine National Police, and anti-crime advocate Teresita Ang-See, adding that no suspect has been arrested in connection to recent crimes against Chinese nationals. Chinese tourists going to popular locations in the Philippines has also been a growing coordination concern with Philippine authorities. “For tourism, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol, Read More …

PNoy meets with Pinoys in Paris. President Benigno Aquino III addresses members of the Filipino Community during a meeting with the Pinoy expatriates at the Chapelle Sainte Bernadette in Paris on Wednesday, September 17. Aquino is in France as part of his four-nation European tour. Before this, Aquino went to Spain and Belgium. He is expected to visit Germany next before proceeding to the US. Ryan Lim After his budget secretary was nearly mobbed by students at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, President Benigno Aquino III received a warm welcome from a UP alumnus in France. Following a speech and a forum at the French Institute for International Relations, or Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), Aquino got a pleasant surprise after a tall Frenchman greeted him in Filipino. “Maligayang pagdating po sa inyo dito sa France,” Wesley Romain told Aquino. Romain learned to speak Filipino when he was an exchange student at the University of the Philipines from 2012 to 2014.  Because of his height og 6’5″, Aquino even joked if he could recruit Romain to play basketball for the Philippine national team.  But Romain said he did not have the hardcourt skills.  Aquino’s close friend and political ally, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, was nearly mobbed by student-activists after attending a forum at the UP Diliman on Wednesday night.   Aquino himself was at the receiving end of heckling by student-protesters a few times before. Before flying to Germany to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, Aquino went to Read More …

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to turn more American high school students into well-paid techies — and even hire some of them to work at his social-media company. Zuckerberg told students Thursday at Redwood City’s Sequoia High School that understanding technology and computers will be critical to having options later in life. Facebook says it is donating 50 laptops and creating a class to teach mobile-application development at Sequoia High, a short drive from Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters. Zuckerberg’s appearance is part of Facebook’s campaign to encourage more young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Silicon Valley companies have recently come under criticism for workforces that are mostly young, male, white and Asian.