PAGASA: Cloudy, rainy Tuesday throughout the country

 News
Jul 222013
 
PAGASA: Cloudy, rainy Tuesday throughout the country

The early morning rain that fell on parts of Metro Manila on Tuesday was due to the inter-tropical convergence zone and not to any weather disturbance near the Philippine area of responsibility, state weather forecasters said “Ang ITCZ ang umiiral. Ang habagat, sa ngayon, hindi siya nakakaapekto sa Pilipinas. Nasa West Philippine Sea ang habagat,” PAGASA forecaster Samuel Duran said in an interview on dzBB radio. PAGASA’s 5 a.m. bulletin said the ITCZ was presently across southern Luzon and Visayas. Metro Manila, Ilocos, Cordillera, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Visayas and Caraga will experience “cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms.” The rest of the country will be “partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms,” it added. Meanwhile, moderate to occasionally strong winds from the southwest will prevail over Palawan and its coastal waters will be moderate to occasionally rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest to southeast with slight to moderate seas. — DVM, GMA News

New Saudi rules set rights for domestic workers

 Entertainment
Jul 222013
 

RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday new rules to protect the rights of foreign domestic workers, most of whom are from South Asia, but stressed they must “respect” Islam and “obey” their employers. Labour Minister Adel Faqih said the new rules require employers to pay workers “the agreed monthly salary without delay, and give […]

7 CDO flights canceled due to bad weather – DOTC

 News
Jul 222013
 
7 CDO flights canceled due to bad weather - DOTC

At least seven flights to and from Cagayan de Oro City were canceled late Monday due to bad weather, the Department of Transportation and Communications said. In posts on its Twitter account, the DOTC said the affected flights included those of Philippine Airlines Express, Cebu Pacific, and Zest Air. The canceled flights were: PAL Express:– 2P-525 (Manila to Cagayan de Oro)– 2P-526 (Cagayan de Oro to Manila) Cebu Pacific:– 5J-389, 5J-391 (Manila to Cagayan de Oro)– 5J-390, 5J-392 (Cagayan de Oro to Manila). Earlier, the DOTC said a Zest Air flight was also canceled. It identified the flight as Z2-349 from Cagayan de Oro to Manila. PAGASA had said rain would fall over Luzon, Visayas and parts of Mindanao in the next 24 hours due to the inter-tropical convergence zone. “Luzon, Visayas and the regions of Caraga and Northern Mindanao will experience cloudy skies with light to moderate rain showers and thunderstorms,” said the PAGASA forecast. The rest of Mindanao would be “partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.” — DVM, GMA News

‘Ganito sila sa Makati’

 General
Jul 222013
 
‘Ganito sila sa Makati’

Gawad Kalinga (GK) founder Tony Meloto motivates volunteers to work hard all day as one united force that will bring about a nation free from poverty. Five years ago, the local government of Makati evicted 500 informal settlers from various private properties inside the country’s premier financial district. To the residents’ surprise, however, theirs was the only relocation that ended up in a place rightly called “Dreamland.” With the help of Gawad Kalinga (GK) and a vast network of private companies and donors, dilapidated shanties were exchanged for middle-class houses, constricted eskenitas for wide, fully-paved roads, and hazardous living conditions for a subdivision that has existing amenities for water, electricity, education, and healthcare. Owned and managed by the Makati local government, Dreamland Ville is a 3.2-hectare property in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan for 500 former urban poor settlers of the said city. Last June 12, with the help of Berjaya Corporation, the LGU was set to finish the housing project with 30 houses expected to be built in a span of three months. There was a time when 57-year-old Lilia Soriano was envious of her neighbors who were the first recipients of decent houses five years ago. All that changed last June 12 when Nanay Lilia became one of the projected beneficiaries of the soon-to-be constructed block. With hope ever so near, Nanay Lilia was one of the first volunteers present and working at the site hours before the official program started. Later that morning, Nanay Lilia was in Read More …

SMC taps DM Consunji for P10.5-B eng’g proj

 Economy
Jul 222013
 
SMC taps DM Consunji for P10.5-B eng’g proj

MANILA, Philippines – D.M. Consunji Inc., the construction unit of the Consunji family’s listed investment arm DMCI Holdings Inc., bagged a P10.5 billion engineering and  construction contract for the NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) expressway phase II project. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, DMCI said D.M. Consunji has signed an agreement with Vertex Tollways Development Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of San Miguel Holdings Corp., for the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a project that will link the capital’s main airport terminals to Entertainment City along Roxas Boulevard. When asked for comment, DMCI Holdings chief financial officer Herbert Consunji said the contract is worth around P10.5 billion. The contract involves about 2.2 kilometers of at grade works within the Entertainment City area and about five kilometer four-lane elevated and viaduct connecting to the existing Skyway. DMCI said the phase II works comprise the design and construction of the viaduct extension from the existing phase 1 to Roxas Boulevard, Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and NAIA terminals 1 and 2 over the existing roads of Sales Road, Andrews Avenue, domestic airport road, NAIA road and Imelda Avenue and includes on and off ramps, connection ramps and provision of toll plazas. San Miguel had been given by the government until the end of the year to complete the detailed engineering for the toll road, which is estimated to cost around P15.52 billion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Construction is expected to take approximately two years with full Read More …

Mindanao faces critical power situation by Aug

 Economy
Jul 222013
 
Mindanao faces critical power situation by Aug

MANILA, Philippines – The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa), part of the government committee monitoring the power situation in Mindanao, has warned that the power situation in the island could go back to  critical levels by next month as some plants shut down for scheduled maintenance activities.  “After seeing capacity improvements in recent months, Mindanao’s power supply is expected to revert to precarious supply scenario by August to October, when some major power plants go on scheduled maintenance shutdown,” said MinDa director for investment promotion and public affairs Romeo Montenegro. Mindanao experienced rotating outages during the summer months, lasting up to 10 hours, depending on the area. Montenegro said the issuance of Executive Order 137 mandating the implementation of the Mindanao Modular Generator Sets Program would help avert another critical power situation in the region. He said the EO would firm up and fasttrack the process of assisting electric coops through the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives (Amreco). Under the EO-mandated program, electric cooperatives would generate the capacities they need either via rental or acquisition option. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC), co-chaired by MinDA and the Department of Energy, early this year backed the proposal to tap modular generator sets as an immediate measure for electric cooperatives in bridging supply gap for the next two years. The MPMC is the interagency committee tasked to monitor the power situation in Mindanao.  “This latest directive manifests the strong commitment of President Aquino Read More …

Globe, French firm tie up for UK service

 Economy
Jul 222013
 
Globe, French firm tie up for UK service

MANILA, Philippines – Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. has tied up with French-owned Transatel to provide mobile telephony services to Filipinos based or visiting the United Kingdom. Globe corporate information officer Marisalve Ciocson-Co informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the partnership agreement between Globe’s UK Globetel Limited and Transatel of France last July 20. Ciocson-Co said both companies agreed to provide mobile telephony services such as voice calls, short messaging system (SMS), multimedia messaging system (MMS), load top-up, and mobile data. She said the services would be offered by UK Globetel to Filipinos based or visiting the UK through the French firm’s platform. “This new offering is consistent with Globe’s thrust to continue providing Filipinos overseas with innovative and value for money services that allows constant communication ties with family and friends,” she stressed. Earlier, Globe partnered with UK-based iVitta to strengthen its foothold in the seafarer market. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The company will offer an exclusive SIM card that will provide Filipino seafarers the lowest call and text rates when communicating with their families and loved ones in the Philippines. The Globe Seafarer SIM allows Filipino mariners from anywhere in the world to regularly keep in touch with their loved ones back home at affordable call and text rates without the need for expensive satellite equipment connections using two numbers in one SIM – an international mobile number and a local Globe mobile number. Using their international mobile number, seafarers can call the Read More …

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