‘Pablo’ victims still need help–UN

 News
Jun 202013
 
‘Pablo’ victims still need help–UN

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:36 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—A United Nations humanitarian agency has called for urgent help from the international community for the Mindanao provinces devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” and decades of conflict, saying the region still needed some $47 million (around P2 billion) for shelter and livelihood requirements this year. Top officials of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) also said it was downsizing its presence on the ground in the typhoon-devastated parts of Mindanao as operations had shifted from immediate relief to long-term rehabilitation. David Carden, the head of Unocha Philippines, said the $47 million, part of the $91 million call for aid that the agency made under its revised humanitarian action plan for central and western Mindanao, had remained unfilled as of this month. “This revised plan will help us to meet the ongoing needs of those affected by Pablo, particularly in the areas of shelter, because people need shelter and livelihood,” Carden told a press conference on Thursday. “The requirements are still there in the areas of shelter, education, sociopsychological rehabilitation. A lot of people who lost relatives, friends, they are recovering now and I’d say we don’t have much time… We have to move rather quickly,” said Rashid Khalikov, the Geneva-based Unocha director who headed a high-level team of aid officials and international donors who visited Maguindanao this week. Carden said the revised call for aid aimed to “meet the humanitarian and protection needs of Read More …

PH failed to restrain human trafficking–US

 News
Jun 202013
 
PH failed to restrain human trafficking–US

By Tarra QuismundoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 5:29 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 US Secretary of State John Kerry. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines retained its Tier 2 status in the United States’ annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report as US authorities noted a “paucity of arrests and convictions” despite the country’s strong resolve to arrest trafficking incidents. In a report released in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, the US Department of State said the Philippines had failed to comply with standards for curbing trafficking, particularly with the country’s poor judicial system. “As both a source country and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit country for sex trafficking and forced labor, the Philippines remained at Tier 2 on the state department’s three-tier ranking system. Despite making significant efforts to combat trafficking, the government of the Philippines does not yet fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” the TIP report said. The report, released by Secretary of State John Kerry on June 19, is considered “the most comprehensive report” on efforts of the world’s governments to stop human trafficking. The Philippines was first upgraded to Tier 2 in June 2011, considered an improvement after the country’s initial convictions of individuals involved in human trafficking. It had been at risk of being downgraded to Tier 3, which would have led to sanctions on US aid to the Philippines. In retaining the country at its current rating, the state department noted the Philippines’ “weaknesses in its judicial system,” Read More …

US prof held for sex with Filipino kids

 News
Jun 202013
 
US prof held for sex with Filipino kids

Associated Press 4:35 am | Friday, June 21st, 2013 This 2011 image provided by the FBI shows Walter Lee Williams, 64, one of the U.S. FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives has been arrested in the resort city of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Tuesday June 18, 2013. Prosecutor Gaspar Armando Garcia Torres says Williams is wanted on charges of sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children. AP LOS ANGELES—A former professor of the University of Southern California (USC) accused of sex crimes involving two children in the Philippines has been deported to the United States after a Mexican citizen recognized his picture in a newspaper and informed the US Embassy. Walter Lee Williams, 64, will appear in a Los Angeles federal courtroom on Thursday to face charges of sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children. He had been placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. The indictment alleges Williams traveled from Los Angeles to the Philippines to engage in sex acts with two 14-year-old boys he met online in 2010, the Department of Justice said in a statement. “He allegedly engaged in sexual activity via Internet webcam sessions with these boys and expressed a desire to visit them in the Philippines to have sex,” the indictment stated. A tip from a Mexican citizen who saw a photograph in a local newspaper and contacted the US Read More …

DepEd sending 590 math teachers for enhancement training

 News
Jun 202013
 
DepEd sending 590 math teachers for enhancement training

Some 590 mathematics teachers will be going back to school to improve their ability to teach “interactive mathematics” to Grade I pupils, the Department of Education said Thursday. The DepEd said the three-day training seminar, under the Improving Technology-Enhanced Activities for Creative Honing of Mathematical Skills (iTEACH) program, will be conducted by experts from the University of the Philippines-National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP-NISMED). “Our goal here is to strengthen the capacity of teachers in learning and applying the contents of the interactive Grade 1 Mathematics courseware,” said DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro. The four trainers from UP-NISMED will facilitate the sessions on teaching 10 lessons with 16 activities using the Grade 1 Mathematics courseware. Luistro said this “enhancement or enrichment” in teaching Grade 1 Math is part of the DepEd’s “continuing thrust to upgrade Math instruction in public schools.” The latest training seminar is an expansion of the DepEd’s earlier pilot run of iTEACH. The pilot run, which the DepEd characterized as successful, was conducted in 10  selected public elementary schools. iTEACH is a joint project of DepEd, the Department of Science and Technology’s Science Education Institute, Advanced Science and Technology Institute, Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and emerging Technology Research and Development and the UP-NISMED. — DVM, GMA News

Phl still among preferred sites for BPOs – US firm

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Phl still among preferred sites for BPOs – US firm

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines remains among the preferred sites for business process outsourcing (BPO), according to a leading US-based BPO and information technology (IT) company. Shore Solutions Inc., one of the bigger players in the BPO business, said revenues from the BPO industry in the Philippines is expected to hit $16 billion this year, or almost 20 percent higher than the $13.4 billion last year. It noted that with increasing demand from prospective investors and subscribers, the industry would need at least 1.3 million direct hires by 2016 from 720,000 last year. “That should require 516,000 additional seats, and some 2.5 million square meters of additional office space,” Darcey Lalonde, Asia chief executive officer of Shore Solutions said in a forum yesterday. The industry employed over 720,000 in 2012, with another 1.6 million indirectly. Expansion has already been noted in the key urban centers outside Metro Manila such as Cebu and Davao. In Metro Manila, the major BPO centers are in Makati, Quezon City, Manila, Taguig and Mandaluyong. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Lalonde said that the next or third wave of BPOs is targeting key cities in Laguna, Batangas and Bacolod. However, he said government should consider anew opening up to a limited extent or to select sectors, ownership of land to foreign entities.

Basic Energy, Malaysian partner in talks for Indon oil venture

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Basic Energy, Malaysian partner in talks for Indon oil venture

MANILA, Philippines –  Basic Energy Corp., said it is currently in discussions with Petrosolve Sdn Bhd of Malaysia for a project to manage and supervise oil wells in East Java, Indonesia. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Basic Energy said it is in talks with its Malaysian partner for the assignment of rights to PT Basic Energi Solusi to manage and supervise certain oil wells in Indonesia. PT Basic Energi Solusi , a foreign investment company incorporated in Indonesia, is owned and controlled by Grandway Group Ltd., the joint venture company of Basic Energy and Petrosolve.  “The discussions involve the identification and selection of oil wells and the right to undertake some aspects of the management and operation of which shall be assigned by Petrosolve to PT Basic Energi Solusi,” Basic Energy said. When the assignment is finally negotiated and implemented, PT Basic Energi Solusi shall be poised to undertake the agreed upon aspects of the operations of the selected oil wells, which shall involve the mobilization of its financial, technical and operations resources, derived from the joint venture, Basic Energy also said. Last month, Indonesian authorities approved the investment of the Grandway Group in PT Basic Energi Solusi, to be used for projects involving the management and supervision of oil wells in Indonesia. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Basic Energy and Petrosolve announced their partnership in February, saying this would allow both companies to expand their respective operations globally. The partnership could be Read More …

Retail heiress to speak at NRCE 2013

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Retail heiress to speak at NRCE 2013

MANILA, Philippines –  Bangkok’s prominent retail heiress Busaba Chirathivat will be in Manila in August, to provide pointers to Filipino entrepreneurs and share her experiences in running the top retail and mall chain in Thailand. Chirathivat is one of the  foreign speakers invited by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA)  for the 22nd National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo 2013 (NRCE 2013) at the SMX Convention Center on Aug. 7- 8, 2013. As senior vice president of Central Retail Corp., the largest and most diversified retail group in Thailand, Chirathivat is considered one of Bangkok’s most important retail figures in the last two decades. She is the daughter and heiress of Tiang Chirathivat, the founder of the family-owned Central Retail Corp., but she did not rest on her family’s laurels. In fact, she was the brains behind Zen, the first lifestyle megastore in Thailand. Zen is now one of several retail brands and concepts under Central Retail Corp.  Other brands of the company are Central, Robinson, Zen, La Rinascente and Italy. NRCE 2013 offers educational sessions, including discussions on best practices, trends, and new technologies; tips to improve existing operations and grow profits; networking opportunities with retailers and leading business partners; and an Exhibit Hall bursting with services and solutions to improve business and operations. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For inquiries, call the PRA secretariat at 687-4180 to 81 or email ebbs@philretailers.com , philretailers@philretailers.com or visit www.nrceph.com or www.philretailers.com. 

Chamber of Mines files SC motion to nullify Hontiveros petition

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Chamber of Mines files SC motion to nullify Hontiveros petition

MANILA, Philippines – The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) filed yesterday a motion before the Supreme Court seeking to nullify the petitions filed by former Akbayan partylist Risa Hontiveros and others challenging the constitutionality of revenue-sharing provisions in the Mining Act of 1995. In a statement, the group said it is represented by former Chief Justice Reynato Puno and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza. In the petition, which was filed at 3 p.m. last Wednesday, COMP is arguing that the Supreme Court has already decided on the constitutionality of the Mining Act in the landmark La Bugal-B’laan vs. Ramos case in 2004, a decision penned by former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban. “COMP is joining its member respondents in asking that the petitions filed by former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros and others in March 2008 against Sections 80 and 81 of Republic Act 7942, or the Mining Act, be dismissed,” COMP said. COMP argued that since the La Bugal ruling – the longest in Supreme Court history which took six years for the high tribunal to deliberate on – there has been no material change in the circumstances of the Philippine mining industry. “There is no compelling reason for the high tribunal to abandon its previous ruling,” COMP said in its motion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In their petition, Hontiveros, along with Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casino and others argued that the revenue sharing provision is disadvantageous to the government. Sec. 80 Read More …

P-Noy willing to learn more to make economy better

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
P-Noy willing to learn more to make economy better

MANILA, Philippines –  President Aquino conceded yesterday that his three-year-old administration is not perfect, but expressed willingness to learn more in order that the country’s improving economy gets better as he enters the second half of his six-year term. “Our continuing education – our acknowledgment that we do not know everything yet – makes certain that we will not become obsolete or irrelevant,” he said in a speech he delivered at the Global Development Networks’ Annual Global Development Conference. He added: “Perhaps that is the most resounding message of this conference: that we remain in pursuit of more knowledge – that we are saying yes to that natural human desire to get better.” Aquino made the statement at the Asian Development Bank main office in Mandaluyong City where the GDN’s 14th Annual GDC was held. A case in point that government is willing to learn was the historic success of coco-water where there was global demand – where it grew from a $370,000 to a $15.1-million industry from 2009 to 2011 alone. “So, through approaching the problem in the context of its immediate environment, and with a dash of local ingenuity, we turned literal waste products into vibrant industries,” he said, using as example coco juice and coco coir that had no significant use before. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We found that we could effectively use the material to strengthen our roads and prevent erosion, which is why our Department of Public Works and Highways Read More …

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