VP Binay eyes Germany's dual vocational system vs unemployment

 News
Jun 152013
 
VP Binay eyes Germany's dual vocational system vs unemployment

The Philippines could learn from Germany’s  use of a dual vocational system to help address the problem of unemployment, Vice President Jejomar Binay said. Binay, who recently returned from a working visit in Germany, said the dual vocational system is reason for the relatively low unemployment among German youths. “We hope we can apply a similar scheme in the Philippines especially with the implementation of the K-12 program and we look forward to a possible cooperation with Germany on this in the future,” he said. Binay, the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino worker concerns, discussed the matter with German Labor Minister Dr. Ursula von der Leyen during his recent working visit to Germany. He said von der Leyen, who talked about the dual education system with the chief executive officer of Ayala Corp., “expressed her interest to return to the Philippines to speak more about the dual vocational system of training.” Also, he said Germany is offering to help the Philippines integrate the K-12 basic education system to the dual vocational system. Under the German dual vocational system, students take apprenticeships in a company and vocational education at a vocational school. The training at the firm lasts two to three-and-a-half years, with the trainees getting a certificate at the end of the training. Binay also noted those taking the vocational courses are treated like professionals. “Isa ‘yan sa ipinagmamalaki nila. That is giving dignity doon sa mga vocational courses,” he added. Equivalency of academic degrees Meanwhile, Binay said he and Read More …

Climate talk shifts from curbing global warming to adapting

 News
Jun 152013
 
Climate talk shifts from curbing global warming to adapting

Associated Press 7:07 am | Sunday, June 16th, 2013 In this Tuesday, June 11, 2013, photo, lower Manhattan is visible from the Staten Island Ferry, in New York’s Upper Bay. Giant removable floodwalls would be erected around lower Manhattan, and levees, gates and other defenses could be built elsewhere around the city under a nearly $20 billion plan proposed Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to protect New York from storms and the effects of global warming. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW WASHINGTON—Efforts to curb global warming have quietly shifted as greenhouse gases inexorably rise. The conversation is no longer solely about how to save the planet by cutting carbon emissions. It’s becoming more about how to save ourselves from the warming planet’s wild weather. It was Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement last week of an ambitious plan to stave off New York City’s rising seas with flood gates, levees and more that brought this transition into full focus. After years of losing the fight against rising global emissions of heat-trapping gases, governments around the world are emphasizing what a U.N. Foundation scientific report calls “managing the unavoidable.” It’s called adaptation and it’s about as sexy but as necessary as insurance, experts say. It’s also a message that once was taboo among climate activists such as former US Vice President Al Gore. In his 1992 book “Earth in the Balance,” Gore compared talk of adapting to climate change to laziness that would distract from necessary efforts. But in his 2013 book “The Future,” Gore Read More …

PAGASA: LPA hovering off Surigao City; floods, landslides threaten Bicol, Vis-Min

 News
Jun 152013
 
PAGASA: LPA hovering off Surigao City; floods, landslides threaten Bicol, Vis-Min

Flash floods and landslides threaten parts of Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao as a low-pressure area hovered off Surigao City Sunday morning, state weather forecasters said. PAGASA said the LPA is embedded along the inter-tropical convergence zone and was estimated at 460 km east of Surigao City as of 4 a.m. “Bicol region, Central and Eastern Visayas and Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rain showers and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides,” it said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. It added Palawan and the rest of Visayas will be “cloudy with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.” Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will have “partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms,” it said. PAGASA said Metro Manila may expect temperatures of 25 to 34 degrees Celsius, while Tuguegarao City may expect temperatures of 25 to 33 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, PAGASA said moderate to strong winds from the southwest to southeast will prevail over Central and Southern Luzon and from the east to southeast over Northern Luzon and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough. Light to moderate winds coming from the north to northwest will prevail over Visayas and from the southwest over Mindanao with slight to moderate seas, it added. Heavy rain falls on Davao City Heavy rain pelted Davao City Saturday night, with the city government’s responder teams placed on alert for possible flooding. In posts on its social networking sites, Read More …

PNoy decision awaited on May 9 report on death of Taiwanese fisherman

 News
Jun 152013
 
PNoy decision awaited on May 9 report on death of Taiwanese fisherman

President Benigno Aquino III has yet to issue any instructions on the report he received earlier this week about the incident wherein a Taiwanese fisherman died on May 9 during an encounter involving the Philippine Coast Guard. “Let’s just wait. Everyone is anticipating what the results will be. At this point we have not received any instructions apart from confirming that the report has been submitted to the Office of the President,” Deputy presidential spokespersons Abigail Valte  said on government-run dzRB radio. Earlier this week, the National Bureau of Investigation’s final report on the May 9 incident was submitted to Malacañang, more than a month after the encounter between a Philippine fisheries surveillance ship and a Taiwanese fishing vessel. A Taiwanese fisherman was shot dead in the incident, prompting Taiwan to demand an apology from the Philippine government. Taiwan has frozen the hiring of new labor from the Philippines, and issued a travel alert discouraging travel to the Philippines. The tension has since eased somewhat after a parallel investigation of the incident by both sides.  — ELR, GMA News

Weather disturbance hovers near Surigao; flash floods, landslides threaten parts of Mindanao

 News
Jun 152013
 
Weather disturbance hovers near Surigao; flash floods, landslides threaten parts of Mindanao

State weather forecasters warned of possible flash floods and landslides over parts of Mindanao in the next 24 hours as a potential cyclone — a low-pressure area — hovered over Surigao del Sur Saturday afternoon. In its 5 p.m. bulletin, PAGASA said the LPA was estimated at 390 km east of Hinatuan City in Surigao del Sur province as of 4 p.m. “The regions of Caraga, Davao, Socckssargen, ARMM, and Northern Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rain showers and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides,” the state weather forecaster said. The Visayas region, Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms, it added. Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will experience partly cloudy skies with thunderstorms mostly during the afternoon or evening, it said. Luzon’s coastal waster will be moderate to rough due to southwest monsoon, while slight to moderate seas will prevail in Visayas and Mindanao, PAGASA said. — with a report from Rouchelle R. Dinglasan /LBG, GMA News

138 Filipinos remain in camps in S. Arabia

 News
Jun 142013
 
138 Filipinos remain in camps in S. Arabia

By Dona Z. PazzibuganPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:34 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—From about a thousand two months ago, less than 150 Filipinos remain camped outside the Philippine Embassy and a Philippine consular office in Saudi Arabia, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez reported that a total of 414 individuals have so far been repatriated from Saudi Arabia before the July 3 deadline for undocumented workers to either return to their home countries or correct their status. Among those repatriated were mothers and their children. Since June 10, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh reported having repatriated 77 Filipinos, including 16 mothers and 20 children. Fourteen more individuals will arrive in Manila on June 15 at 3:20 p.m. from Riyadh on board Etihad Airways flight EY 424. Hernandez said only four people remain camped outside the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and 134 people outside the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah. The rest of the undocumented workers and their families are staying in temporary shelters. “From a high of 77, the number of campers in our embassy in Riyadh is down to four. In Jeddah, from about a thousand several weeks ago, there are now only 134 individuals at the camp site near our consulate,” Hernandez said. “There are also 161 mothers and children seeking shelter at the consulate,” he added. With the deadline approaching, Philippine diplomatic officials have asked Saudi immigration authorities to streamline their procedures to Read More …

Another foreign vessel runs aground in coral reef

 News
Jun 142013
 
Another foreign vessel runs aground in coral reef

By Joey GabietaInquirer Visayas 3:27 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—A foreign commercial vessel loaded with more than 1,600 pieces of lumber ran aground off Maripipi Island in Biliran province on Thursday night. The Japan-bound MV Unicorn Logger, with a crew of 18 headed by Capt. Nguyen Anh Tuan, ran aground on Sambawan Islet at around 7:10 p.m., Maripipi town local government operations head Ritchie Peñaflor said in a phone interview. The 5,691-ton Panama-registered vessel was loaded with 1,607 pieces of lumber  weighing 836.06 metric tons, Peñaflor said. He identified the vessel’s operator as Wisdom Marine Lines, based in Panama. The vessel departed from Sandakan, Malaysia, on June 11 around 9 a.m. and was sailing to Japan when it ran aground on Sambawan islet off the island town of Maripipi.   Reef damage The vessel hit about 270 square meters of coral reef, Peñaflor said. “This is now our concern. The incident has resulted in the destruction of our coral reefs covering 270 square meters, according to the initial assessment of our local fishery and agriculture office,” he said. The fishery office was also looking for possible oil leaks but so far had found none, he said. Peñaflor said the Maripipi municipal government was studying the possibility of seeking damages for the destruction of coral reefs from the owner of the commercial vessel. The site of the incident is about 50 to 60 meters away from a beach resort maintained by the municipal government, he said. Maripipi Read More …

NANCY BINAY: CLEAN SLATE, DIRTY POLITICS

 News
Jun 142013
 
NANCY BINAY: CLEAN SLATE, DIRTY POLITICS

Nancy Binay is the product of a political system in which “Anak ni…” is a prevalent and effective campaign slogan. She joined the senatorial race without a day of experience in elected office, and she survived the campaign without engaging her opponents in televised debates. READ FULL STORY

Global protest set at UN against China ‘expansionism’

 News
Jun 142013
 
Global protest set at UN against China ‘expansionism’

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 2:01 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 NEW YORK–A U.S. group critical of China’s claim on islands off the Philippines will hold a protest rally at the United Nations headquarters here on July 24. The U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) is denouncing China’s latest “incursion” in Ayungin Reef, located just 105 nautical miles from Palawan. Rep. Walden Bello of the Akbayan partylist announced that his group is joining the July 24 mass action in the Philippines and will encourage its supporters throughout the world to join in global actions to denounce China’s provocative actions in the Ayungin Reef. “China seized the Philippines’ Mischief Reef in 1994, then our Scarborough Shoal last year,” stated Loida Nicolas Lewis, the national chair of USP4GG and former national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). “This year, China is set to invade and occupy the Ayungin Reef. We refuse to accept China’s expansionist agenda.” Sansha anniversary Lewis explained that July 24 marks the first anniversary of China’s establishment of the Sansha City Prefecture, which Beijing mandated to have jurisdiction over more than two million square kilometers of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), including islands and reefs in the Spratlys that are within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested the creation of the Sansha Prefecture, after learning that its jurisdiction covered the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys, which “is an integral part of the Philippine Read More …

UN: World population to hit 8.1B in 2025

 News
Jun 142013
 
UN: World population to hit 8.1B in 2025

Associated Press 1:07 am | Saturday, June 15th, 2013 POPULATION GROWTH Babies at the neonatal intensive care unit of East Avenue Medical Center. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations has forecast that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025 and 9.6 billion in 2050, with most growth in developing countries and more than half in Africa. The report said much of the overall increase between now and 2050 is expected to take place in Africa and countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States. (As of the May 2010 census, the Philippines’ population stood at 92,337,852. The Commission on Population projected the country’s population as of June 14, 2013 at 97,898,948, based on the 1.98 population percent change.) The UN report, “World Population Prospects,” released on Thursday, said most of the population growth will occur in developing regions which are projected to increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050. During that same period, it said, the population of developed countries is expected to remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion people. India to surpass China India’s population is expected to surpass China’s around 2028 when both countries will have populations of around 1.45 billion, according to the report. While India’s population is forecast to grow to around 1.6 billion and then slowly decline to 1.5 billion in 2100, China’s is expected to start decreasing after 2030, possibly falling to 1.1 billion in Read More …

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