MANILA, June 3 (Mabuhay) – President Benigno Aquino III on Monday confirmed that he has already offered Cabinet posts to Senators Panfilo Lacson and Francis Pangilinan, who are set to end their terms as lawmakers this month. Aquino, however, was tight-lipped on the details of his offer to the two outgoing senators, saying he wants […]
One week after a magnitude-5.7 quake jolted Cotabato, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council will hold a nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill this Monday, June 10. The NDRRMC said its chairman and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin will lead the drill at Barangay San Vicente in San Manuel town in Pangasinan at 9 a.m. of Monday. “The drill shall include San Roque Dam in its scenario and aims to gauge the response of the local government surrounding communities,” it said. Gazmin will be joined by NDRRMC executive director Eduardo del Rosario and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology head Renato Solidum Jr. in leading the drill. In Pangasinan, local officials including Governor Amado Perez and San Manuel Mayor Alain Jerico Perez are also expected to attend. “This activity is part of the ongoing disaster preparedness activities of the NDRRMC-Office of Civil Defense,” the NDRRMC said. Last June 1, a magnitude-5.7 quake hit Cotabato and caused damage to several houses and schools, forcing may students to miss the first week of school. The quake has prompted the provincial council to declare a state of calamity over Cotabato. —KG, GMA News
Satellite Image at 7 a.m., June 6, 2013. | Weather Central Flash floods and landslides threaten parts of the Visayas and Mindanao as a potential cyclone or low-pressure area (LPA) moved closer to Eastern Samar early Friday, state weather forecasters said. PAGASA forecaster Elvie Enriquez said the LPA was estimated at 460 km east of Borongan City, Eastern Samar as of 4 a.m. “Ito bigyan natin ng 50-50 chance maging bagyong tropikal… Malapit na ito sa land mass,” she said in an interview on dzBB radio. She said the LPA is bringing rain to Eastern Samar, though it is not heavy as yet. Enriquez also said the LPA may cause the southwest monsoon to affect the country and start the rainy season. “[Pero] wala pa ang onset [ng rainy season], hindi pa,” she said. Should the LPA intensify into a cyclone while inside the Philippine area of responsibility, it will be locally codenamed Dante. Friday outlook PAGASA’s 5 a.m. bulletin said the LPA is embedded along the inter-tropical convergence zone affecting Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao. “Eastern Visayas, northern Mindanao and Zamboanga Peninsula will experience cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms which may trigger flash floods and landslides,” it said. It added Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol region and the rest of Visayas and of Mindanao will have “cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms.” Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will be “partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon Read More …
NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar) The meeting between President Benigno S. Aquino III and Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will focus on economic and political reforms that are taking place in the two countries, an official said. President Aquino, who is set to arrive here Friday, will meet with Suu Kyi, chairperson and general secretary […]
You are cordially invited to a reading and reception of The Mango Bride with author Marivi Soliven, Grand Prize Winner – 2011 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, at the Romulo Hall of the Philippine Embassy onJune 27, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to marivi_blanco@yahoo.com. About the Author […]
MANILA (Mabuhay) — A US fact-finding mission has submitted its findings on the grounding of the USS Guardian at the Tubbataha Reef last January 17. President Aquino said the report was given to him last week and it will take some time to go through the 1-inch thick document. “I have to go through it. […]
With heavy rain now affecting more parts of the country, the Philippine Coast Guard has mobilized its rescue units to respond quickly to flash floods and other emergencies. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said rescue units are on alert particularly in Davao, eastern Visayas and Bicol, radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported Thursday. Balilo also said Coast Guard commandant Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena will check the readiness of rescue teams’ equipment and personnel in the coming weeks. Isorena’s order for rescue units came as state weather forecasters said the rainy season may start soon, especially with a potential cyclone approaching the Philippines. PAGASA had said the LPA may trigger the rainy season. On Wednesday night, Balilo said the coast guard’s unit in Davao responded to the flash floods brought by heavy rain in Davao City. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Wednesday night’s floods caused heavy traffic in Davao City and rendered some roads impassable. It added many families were preemptively evacuated from their homes due to the threat of floods. — DVM, GMA News
Nearly seven out of 10 Filipinos were satisfied with the Aquino administration’s performance in the first quarter of 2013, according to a new survey by pollster Social Weather Stations. While the survey from March 19 to 22 saw public satisfaction dip slightly from end-2012, the satisfaction rating of +53 was still classified as “very good,” the SWS said. The SWS survey said that 68 percent of 1,200 adult respondents were satisfied and 15 percent were dissatisfied with the government’s performance. This translated to a net +53 rating, or the difference between the percentage satisfied and percentage dissatisfied. While the SWS said this was four points below +57 in December 2012, it was still “higher than those of all previous administrations.” SWS classifies net ratings of +70 and above as “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”, +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad’; -50 to -69, “very bad”; and -70 and below, “execrable.” Respondents asked to score government on 17 issues rated the Aquino administration “very good” on two, “good” on seven, “moderate” on four, “neutral” on three and “poor” on one. SWS published the results on its media partner Business World on Friday. ‘Substantially higher’ The SWS said the Aquino administration’s satisfaction ratings have so far remained substantially higher than those of its predecessors. Its scores had ranged from +64 in September and December 2010 to a low of +45 in June 2011. The previous record was Read More …
Wan Long, 72, chairman of Shuanghui International, prepares himself before an interview in his office in Luohe, in central China’s Henan province. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan) LUOHE, China — At an age when most Chinese executives are long retired, the country’s top hog butcher is taking on a daunting new job persuading Americans to allow him to complete China’s biggest takeover of a U.S. company. Shuanghui International’s $4.7 billion bid for Smithfield Foods Ltd. has the endorsement of the American company’s board. But facing anxiety over food safety scandals in China and complaints about Chinese cyber spying, 72-year-old chairman Wan Long has launched a charm offensive to reassure Americans they have nothing to fear and possibly much to gain from the tie-up. “We want to be vigilant that Smithfield’s brand doesn’t change, its team doesn’t change, its production sites don’t change, it doesn’t cut jobs,” said Wan in an interview at Shuanghui’s 15-story headquarters in this eastern Chinese city. As for reassuring American consumers about quality, Smithfield “already has a very good food safety control system,” Wan said. “With our support, they will do better in quality and safety controls.” Wan’s strategy of talking to reporters and inviting them to visit Shuanghui’s packing plants is an unusual approach in China, where companies are secretive and corporate bosses rarely speak in public. As Chinese companies expand abroad, those habits have hurt some when the United States, Australia and other countries balked at acquisitions by unfamiliar buyers in oil, mining and technology Read More …
By Cynthia D. Balana, Doris C. DumlaoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:18 am | Friday, June 7th, 2013 President Benigno Aquino III AP FILE PHOTO NAYPYITAW, Burma—Two Southeast Asian countries are thrust into the limelight at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) East Asia—the host country Burma (Myanmar) for coming out of decades of economic and political isolation and the Philippines, once a laggard but now an investment-grade country and Asia’s fastest-growing economy. President Aquino will speak Friday in a plenary session at Myanmar International Convention Centre, sharing the spotlight with Burmese President U Thein Sein during the closing ceremonies of the three-day WEF East Asia Summit, which gathered 900 delegates from 55 countries. The two heads of state will be interviewed by WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab about their perspectives on regional transformation. This year’s summit has put a lot of focus on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) ahead of its targeted integration into a single market by 2015. Prior to the plenary session, Aquino will speak in an informal interactive luncheon hosted by Ayala Corp. before a more intimate gathering of 200-300 people. “The East Asia Summit serves as an excellent regional follow-up to Davos,” Ayala chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said, referring to Aquino’s WEF debut in Switzerland last January. Despite the gains in Davos, Zobel de Ayala said more work was needed to encourage foreign investment in the country. “President Aquino’s participation in Myanmar keeps the momentum going with the global Read More …