The Philippines got its first long-coveted investment-grade rating on Wednesday, as Fitch Ratings gave the country a ‘BBB-‘
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Mar 282013
Mar 282013
International visitors to the Philippines for the first two months of the year closed at another record high of 854,187 or a double-digit growth The post Foreign tourism arrivals achieves back-to-back record growth appeared first on Good News Pilipinas. You might also like: PHL sets tourism record with 4.2 million foreign visitors in 2012 Foreign tourist arrivals in Phl on course to reach 4.5M in 2012 It’s More Fun in the Philippines booth tops Thailand Travel Fair
Mar 142013
Pope Francis will be installed on March 19 at the Vatican. Newly elected Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, at the Vatican, March 13, 2013. White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out on Wednesday, signaling that Roman Catholic cardinals had elected a pope to succeed Benedict XVI. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Advocates of reproductive health (RH) and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the Philippines on Thursday said they do not expect any change in the Roman Catholic Church after the election of Pope Francis. Danton Remoto of the Ladlad party-list, which represents the LGBT sector, said he expects the Roman Catholic Church’s leadership to remain “in the dark ages” with a Pope who openly opposed same-sex marriage. “Si Pope Francis, siyempre he will just uphold the traditional Catholic dogma. That is expected of him. The Roman Catholic Church will never elect a pope who will bring it to the 21st century,” Remoto said in a phone interview. On Thursday morning (Manila time), Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, following Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation last month. The 76-year-old Bergoglio, who chose the name Francis, is the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. As a cardinal in his home country, Pope Francis opposed a bill giving same-sex couples the opportunity to marry Read More …
Mar 142013
The Supreme Court has given the go signal for the Sandiganbayan to hear the technical malversation case filed against a vice mayor from Ilocos Norte for allegedly using public funds to purchase a heavy equipment. In its decision, the Supreme Court second division junked a petition for certiorari filed by Vice Mayor Pacifico Velasco of Bacarra town seeking to stop the Sandiganbayan from hearing the case and accusing the anti-graft court of grave abuse when it denied on June 9, 2005 his motion for reinvestigation of the malversation case lodged against him. “In all, we see no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Sandiganbayan in denying the motion for reinvestigation,” said the Supreme Court in a decision penned by Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and concurred in by Associate Justices Arturo Brion and Mariano del Castillo. The Supreme Court dismissed Velasco’s claim that the Sandiganbayan denied him his right to move for the reconsideration of the Ombudsman’s recommendation to file malversation charges against him, with the high tribunal noting that he had filed earlier an Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration before the Office of the Special Prosecutor. “(W)hen petitioner filed an Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration, he was effectively appealing a Memorandum issued by the Office of the Special Prosecutor,” the Supreme Court said. “The filing of another [MR] constitutes a prohibited pleading.” The case against Velasco was filed by former Bacarra mayor Philip Corpus Velasco, who accused the vice mayor of misusing public funds to purchase a road grader Read More …
Mar 142013
By TJ BurgonioPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:28 pm | Thursday, March 14th, 2013 Justice Secretary Leila De Lima. INQUIRER/Niño Jesus Orbeta MANILA, Philippines—The 36 followers of Agbimuddin Kiram who were intercepted by the Navy off Tawi-Tawi on Wednesday with a cache of arms after apparently fleeing Sabah are to be charged with illegal possession of firearms, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Thursday. De Lima said the 35 men and a woman who claimed to be members of the Sultanate of Sulu’s Royal Security Forces (RSF) would be brought to court for inquest on charges of illegal possession of firearms at the least. “They can be charged immediately with illegal possession of firearms and other deadly weapons,’’ De Lima said at a Malacañang news briefing, adding the inquest does not preclude the filing of other charges against them. On criticisms the government was quicker to file charges against them than protesting Malaysia’s alleged inhumane treatment of Filipinos, she said, “This group has committed unlawful and criminal acts, and we can’t set these aside.’’ The interception of the group came a month after Agbimuddin Kiram and his men crossed by speedboats from Tawi-Tawi to Lahad Datu on Feb. 9 to press the sultanate’s claim to Sabah, triggering a standoff with Malaysian forces that eventually led to battles in which the Malaysians threw in aerial and artillery bombardment. More than 60 people have been reported killed since, nine of them members of the Malaysian security forces. The Philippine Navy vessel PS38 intercepted the Read More …
Mar 142013
Satellite image at 8 a.m., 14 March 2013. | Weather Central After experiencing heavy rain and sleet from a passing thunderstorm Thursday afternoon, Metro Manila residents may still have to bring their umbrellas Friday, state weather forecasters said Thursday afternoon. PAGASA, in its 5 p.m. bulletin, said the tail-end of a cold front is still affecting Northern Luzon but may cause isolated rain showers or thunderstorms in the next 24 hours. “Cagayan Valley region and the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Apayao will experience cloudy skies with light rains. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms,” it said. In its extended outlook, PAGASA said Metro Manila may expect “partly cloudy skies with brief rain” with temperatures ranging from 23 to 34 degrees Celsius. But for Saturday and Sunday, it said Metro Manila may expect partly cloudy skies with brief rain. Meanwhile, PAGASA said moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Northern Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough. “Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate blowing from northeast with slight to moderate seas,” it said. Meanwhile, PAGASA said strong to gale-force winds associated with the northeasterly winds may affect the seaboards of Northern Luzon. “Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves,” it said. — TJD, GMA News
Mar 142013
Catholics jubillant over election of Pope Francis . Seminarians from Australia show a special edition of the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano to diners from Ireland at a restaurant in Rome on Thursday, March 14. Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, taking the name Francis and becoming the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years. Reuters/Chris Helgren The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church has surprised a Jesuit priest, saying Jesuits are commonly “servants, and not people in authority.” In a panel discussion aired on GMA News TV’s “News To Go,” anchor Kara David cited a post on the Twitter account of Catholic News Services quoting Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, also a Jesuit, as saying he was “shocked” with the election of a Jesuit priest as the new pope. “Personally, I’m a bit shocked to have a Jesuit pope. Jesuits think of themselves as servants, and not authorities in Church,” according to Lombardi’s statement. “We, Jesuits, have never considered ourselves better than others. [I’m] glad he chose the name of St. Francis and not Ignatius,” it added. For his part, Father Joe Quilongquilong, a Filipino Jesuit, and assistant professor of spirituality at the Ateneo de Manila University, said Jesuits are more accustomed to being a follower. “Our identity and our spirituality is to obey and serve the Church,” he said during the panel discussion. “But now, as Read More …
Mar 142013
The Supreme Court has issued guidelines on the oral arguments—scheduled for Tuesday, March 19—on the controversial “Team Patay, Team Buhay” posters that were hung in a Bacolod cathedral. In a notice signed by SC Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal, the high court informed both respondent (the Commission on Elections) and petitioner (Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra) that they would each be given 20 minutes, regardless of the number of lawyers they would be bringing, to defend their respective positions. The high court last week issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the Comelec from tearing down the controversial posters, which contained a list of supposed bishop-approved senatorial candidates, called Team Buhay, and a list of supposedly undesirable candidates, called Team Patay. The list is based on a candidate’s stand regarding the reproductive health law. Under the Team Patay roster are those who supported the passage of the law while Team Buhay is the list of candidates said to be pro-life and who voted against the bill. The poll body wrote a letter to Navarra asking him to take down the tarpaulins because they violated Comelec rules of the size of election posters. Navarra accused Comelec of violating the principle of the separation of the church and state, as well as the church’s right to expression. In its guidelines, the SC said the oral arguments seek to determine whether any of the parties violated the principle of separation of church and state: the Bacolod diocese when it posted the tarpaulins and Comelec Read More …
Mar 142013
MANILA, Philippines – Monetary officials slashed on Thursday the special deposit account (SDA) rate to 2.5 percent in a bid to push out idle funds to help fund economic activity and boost growth amid a low inflation environment. Policy rates were also kept steady at record-lows of 3.5 percent for overnight borrowing and 5.5 percent for overnight lending, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. The rate of the SDA— deposits of banks and trust departments with the BSP— was cut by 50 basis points from three percent. This was the second cut made for the year, following a similar reduction in January. “The Monetary Board’s decision to maintain the policy interest rates at their current levels is based on its assessment that the inflation environment over the policy horizon is likely to remain manageable,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. told reporters. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Inflation is seen to average 3.3 percent for 2013 and 2014, slightly faster than the January forecasts of three percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. Both are still within the low-end of the official 3-5 percent target range. “The revisions (to forecasts) were because of the higher actual outturn for the January inflation,” BSP Assistant Governor Ma. Cyd Tuaño-Amador said in a briefing. Inflation accelerated to 3.4 percent in February from 3 percent in January. This put the average so far to 3.2 percent. Amador said with prices under control, BSP could allow more liquidity to flow out of the Read More …
Mar 142013
Agence France-Presse 4:56 pm | Thursday, March 14th, 2013 DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines said Thursday it would keep its contingent of United Nations peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, after Syrian rebels abducted 21 of them last week and held them for three days. “The Philippine contingent to the UNDOF (UN Disengagement Observer Force) would remain stationed in the Golan Heights to perform its obligation in the name of peace,” foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters. Follow Us 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 Philippines. Tags: DFA , Foreign affairs , Global Nation , Golan Heights , Philippines , Syria , UN Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax nos. +63 2 8974793 to 94