2 recruitment agencies lose licenses over collection of placement fees

 News
Apr 252013
 
2 recruitment agencies lose licenses over collection of placement fees

By Tina G. Santos Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:25 am | Friday, April 26th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—For allegedly violating the rule on placement fee, two recruitment agencies engaged in the recruitment and placement of household service workers to Hong Kong have been stripped of their licenses to operate by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). According to the Society of Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines (SHARP), an association of Hong Kong deploying agencies, the POEA issued the orders of cancellation against All Pro Staffing & Constructing Services and ABC Manpower Agency Inc. with offices, respectively, at Cubao, Quezon City and San Isidro, Makati. The two agencies belong to the top 10 agencies deploying household service workers to Hong Kong, said SHARP. The cancellation came on the heels of the moratorium on deployment of household workers to Hong Kong staged by SHARP member associations. SHARP initiated the moratorium on Feb. 27 to convince the Hong Kong employers and its counterpart Hong Kong employment agencies to pay the costs of recruitment instead of passing them on to the household service workers in the form of excessive placement fee.  It was lifted after a month as a substantial number of Hong Kong employment agencies agreed to the new terms of recruitment based on no placement fee. “The cancellation, I believe, is part of the pro-active position undertaken by the POEA with respect to the pronounced goal of the moratorium, which is to attain a hiring system of absolutely no placement fee for Read More …

Malaysian defense chief to confirm report PHL Navy killed 35 'Kiram men'

 News
Apr 252013
 
Malaysian defense chief to confirm report PHL Navy killed 35 'Kiram men'

Malaysian defense minister Gen Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin will confer with Philippine officials on a report that 35 suspected followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III were shot dead while trying to enter Sabah earlier this week. Police Inspector General Tan Sri Ismail Omar disclosed this as he reassured the public security in Lahad Datu and the situation there is under control as polling day on May 5 nears, a report by state-run Bernama news agency late Thursday said. “Asked about a report that 35 Kiram terrorists were shot dead by Philippine security forces while trying to enter Malaysian waters, Ismail said that Zulkifeli will confirm the report with his Philippine counterpart,” the Bernama report said. Zulikfeli had been quoted in a report by Malaysia’s The Star Online indicating 35 “Sulu militants” were killed while trying to enter Sabah. He claimed the incident occurred Wednesday when Philippine Navy and Coast Guard forces fired at the 35. The Philippine Navy and Coast Guard denied monitoring such an incident. Also, the report quoted him as citing intelligence reports that the group tried to enter Sabah to disrupt the May 5 polls. Meanwhile, Ismail said Ops Daulat, the offensive operation against Kiram followers that started March 5, has not yet ended. “Operation Daulat has not ended. Apart from Sabah Police, we can dispatch men from peninsula when needed,” he said. He added security forces are stationed in certain locations to prevent “terrorists” from disrupting the elections. — LBG, GMA News

PAGASA: Rain over Cagayan Valley, hot weather anew over NCR and rest of PHL

 News
Apr 252013
 
PAGASA: Rain over Cagayan Valley, hot weather anew over NCR and rest of PHL

Satellite Image as of 7 a.m. Thursday, 25 April 2013. | Weather Central Light to moderate rain may fall over Cagayan Valley due to the diffused tail-end of a cold front, while Metro Manila and other parts of the country can expect hot weather on Friday, state weather forecasters said. PAGASA forecaster Samuel Duran said the diffused tail-end of a cold front is affecting extreme northern Luzon while the easterlies or warm winds from the east are affecting most of the country. “[Mainit na naman sa Metro Manila] dahil umiiral pa rin ang easterlies sa halos kabuuan ng ating bansa,” Duran said in an interview on dzBB radio. Metro Manila, which experienced temperatures of as high as 36.3 degrees Celsius Thursday, may expect temperatures of 24 to 36 degrees Celsius Friday. PAGASA’s extended weather outlook indicated Metro Manila may expect temperatures of 25 to 36 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Tuguegarao City may experience relatively cooler weather Friday at 24 to 34 degrees Celsius, and on Saturday at 23 to 33 degrees Celsius. Angeles and Olongapo Cities may expect temperatures of 25 to 35 degrees Celsius Friday, and 25 to 36 degrees Celsius on Saturday. Friday outlook PAGASA’s 5 a.m. bulletin said the diffused tail-end of a cold front is affecting extreme northern Luzon. “Cagayan Valley will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms. Metro Manila and the rest of the country will be partly cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms,” it said. It added moderate Read More …

Fil-Am scientist, who helped find a cure for HIV baby, among TIME’s most influential people

 News
Apr 252013
 
Fil-Am scientist, who helped find a cure for HIV baby, among TIME’s most influential people

By ELTON LUGAY (TheFilAm.net) INQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 6:00 am | Friday, April 26th, 2013 Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga NEW YORK CITY—One of two Filipinos who made this year’s TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World is Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, a pediatric allergist and immunologist from the University of Massachusetts, who was part of the team that developed a cure for an HIV-positive infant. The other awardee is Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino. They were among the prominent and distinguished personalities who were honored at an April 23 awards ceremony at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle. Aquino was not present. “We consider this a great achievement,” Luzuriaga, speaking for her team, said. “We’re very honored and actually very humbled to be among the ranks of these individuals that have been chosen.” Luzuriaga, a Filipino American, has been at the forefront of pediatric HIV/AIDS research. Her bio says she has over 20 years experience in “patient-oriented research focused on mother-to-child transmission of HIV.” Later, she asked me, “Pilipino ka ba? Darating ba si presidente?” Luzuriaga, who is also a professor of pediatrics and medicine, said her team is honored “to have our work considered to Barbara Walters be of greatinfluence. To a scientist, that means a lot.” The work does not end with the TIME honor, she said. “One of the things about the finding is that it points the way to new studies that we can do and we’d like to go on and continue to make progress Read More …

Filipino consul says sorry, claims he was tired, provoked

 News
Apr 252013
 
Filipino consul says sorry, claims he was tired, provoked

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:16 am | Friday, April 26th, 2013 Jose Ampeso, the Philippine consul general to Vancouver, as shown in the video posted on YouTube: So sorry. Screen grab from www.youtube.com MANILA, Philippines—He is sorry for behaving the way he did, but said he was unjustly provoked during a very tiring day at work. Jose Ampeso, the Philippine consul general to Vancouver, apologized Thursday for any offense his videotaped rant may have caused but gave the excuse that he was provoked by a Filipino-Canadian offering “to give a measly dollar” to his mission’s fund drive for typhoon victims in the Philippines. “The video alone is not sufficient to draw any reasonable conclusions from, one way or the other. Hence, it is unfair and unjust to use it to malign my character,” said Ampeso, a career diplomat for the past three decades, serving in various overseas posts. In a statement on Thursday, Ampeso claimed the 28-second video “does not tell the whole story” about his run-in with a Filipino who was applying to renew his passport during the Vancouver mission’s passport renewal outreach program in Alberta, Canada, on April 19. Insults and ridicule Ampeso said the passport applicant “insulted me and poked fun at being requested to make a donation to the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC).” “That’s why I became so agitated while explaining to him that if he had to give anything at all, it has to come from the heart for the typhoon victims. It Read More …

Int’l arbitration panel ready to hear PH case against China

 News
Apr 252013
 
Int’l arbitration panel ready to hear PH case against China

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 4:26 am | Friday, April 26th, 2013 Judge Shunji Yanai, president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, has appointed the last three members of the panel of five international arbitrators that would hear the Philippines’ case against China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, April 25, 2013. PHOTO FROM ITLOS.ORG MANILA, Philippines—The panel of five international arbitrators that would hear the Philippines’ case against China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) has been completed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Thursday. DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said that Judge Shunji Yanai, president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos), had appointed the last three members of the panel. “That means the case is moving and, as expected, we are hoping that this case that we filed in the tribunal will proceed as soon as possible,” said Hernandez in a press briefing. In a letter dated April 24, Yanai informed Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, head of the Philippine legal team pursuing the case, that the panel had been completed. The newly appointed arbitrators are Judge Chris Pinto (Sri Lanka), who will serve as panel president, and Itlos judges Jean-Pierre Cot (France) and Alfred Soons (The Netherlands). In March, Yanai appointed Polish Itlos Judge Stanislaw Pawlak to join his fellow Judge Rudiger Wolfrum (Germany) in the panel. The Philippines nominated Wolfrum to the panel upon filing its Read More …

Fil-Am papers fighting for life in a digital world

 News
Apr 252013
 
Fil-Am papers fighting for life in a digital world

By Rose PaquetteINQUIRER.net U.S. Bureau 4:20 am | Friday, April 26th, 2013 SAN FRANCISCO–Publishers and operators of Filipino American newspapers in the Bay Area are struggling to cope with the technological revolution. Like their mainstream counterparts, they are barely surviving cutthroat competition from digital news media for advertising revenue. A representative of a Fil-Am paper who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Unlike before, with digital advertising today, advertisers can choose from various options.“ Filipino-owned or controlled papers currently circulating in Northern California include the Asian Journal (LA-based), Philippine News, Philippines Today, The Filam Star, Manila Mail, Balita, Pinas, The San Francisco Post, Tribune. Most are weeklies. A previous player, the Manila Bulletin USA has discontinued its circulation in the region. One paper is rumored to be bowing out of the competition soon as it continues to  “bleed” as it tries to remain afloat despite minimal advertisements. “We are not re-loading our racks anymore, “ an editor recently told Inquirer.net. Reduced circulation   An independent newspaper contractor in charge of the delivery of various papers said another publication has apparently reduced its circulation and is dropping off papers only in selected markets in the South Bay. Some publishers are ready to give up and are said to be on the lookout for buyers. Some publishers put up a brave front.  One who declined to be identified said, “We are not affected by ‘competition’–we’ve been operating for years, and as far as we’re concerned, we have loyal advertisers and our circulation Read More …

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