Market recovers, climbs 206.15 pts

 Economy
Aug 292013
 
Market recovers, climbs 206.15 pts

MANILA, Philippines – After a recent bloodbath, the Philippine stock market recovered strongly yesterday, on better-than-expected second quarter economic growth figures. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied 3.59 percent or 206.15 points to end at 5,944.21, bringing the main index back on the winning track for this year. It snapped a two-day decline that resulted in a 423.15-point drop for the main index en route to an eight-month low that erased year-to-date gains. PSEi closed at 5,812.73 on Dec. 28, 2012. “Sustained robust economic growth, an overnight decent rise in US equities and technically oversold market conditions lent a positive bias to Thursday’s trades,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp. “Overseas concerns somewhat dissipated and we were greeted by good news about the economy so the market reacted favorably,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc. Grace Cerdenia, an analyst at brokerage firm 2Trade-Asia.com, said the sizeable drop in the past few days and the strong economic growth helped the local market. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Philippine economy expanded 7.5 percent in the second quarter, matching China’s growth and outpacing Indonesia’s 5.8 percent, Vetnam’s five percent, Malaysia’s 4.3 percent, Singapore’s 3.8 percent and Thailand’s 2.8 percent. Positive news abroad also boosted investor confidence yesterday. Wall Street also posted gains on easing worries over a potential US military strike in Syria while stocks of oil firms rallied. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent Read More …

Anglo Holdings to focus on oil exploration

 Economy
Aug 292013
 
Anglo Holdings to focus on oil exploration

MANILA, Philippines – The Ramos family’s flagship investment firm Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp. will focus on upstream oil exploration following its divestment in an upscale property firm. Fresh funds from the P778-million sale of its shares in Shang Properties Inc. will finance higher investments in Philodrill Corp., the holding firm said in a regulatory filing. “The company’s overall thrust is to gain meaningful participation in all its investments in natural resources, property development and infrastructure,” Anglo Holdings said. “The company’s sale of its Shang Properties shares is in line with this thrust because the company intends to use the proceeds from the sale to acquire additional shares in Philodrill,” it added. Anglo Holdings currently owns 1.71 percent of Philodrill, which is expected to increase to roughly 10 percent with the additional investment. “From a minority interest in both Shang Properties and Philodrill, the company decided to consolidate its investment into a meaningful participation in Philodrill,” Anglo Holdings said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Anglo Holdings said it noted Philodrill’s higher dividend rate and better market liquidity. “A bigger participation in Philodrill equates to a bigger share in dividends which…will be better than having separate minority interests in two companies,” it added. The improved liquidity will also allow the holding firm to be flexible in realizing gains or minimizing losses. Early this week, Anglo Holdings sold its 214.145 million shares or 4.5-percent stake in the local property unit of Malaysia’s Kuok Group for P778.46 million. Upscale developer Read More …

GM says almost driverless cars coming by 2020

 Economy
Aug 292013
 
GM says almost driverless cars coming by 2020

MILFORD, Michigan (AP) — Sometime before the end of this decade, General Motors will put a car on the road that can almost drive itself. The automaker says the system, called “Super Cruise,” uses radar and cameras to steer the car and keep it between lane lines. Also, the radar keeps the car a safe distance from cars ahead of it, and it will brake to a complete stop if necessary. GM and other automakers such as Mercedes, BMW and Lexus already offer radar-guided cruise control systems that keep their cars a safe distance from other vehicles and even stop before a crash. They also have systems that warn the driver if they’re drifting out of their lane. But until recently, engineers haven’t been able to steer with computers, according to GM. “The steering control is the big additional piece,” said John Capp, GM’s director of electrical controls and active safety technology. On Wednesday, engineers showed off the system for reporters at the company’s testing grounds in Milford, Mich., north of Detroit. The system adds control of electric power steering to off-the-shelf technology that’s now available. Although they still have bugs to work out, a Cadillac SRX SUV equipped with the technology worked very well. Capp says a lot of development work still needs to be done about road conditions, reaction of sensors, visibility of lane lines and how the system will interact with the driver, who still would be in control and can easily override the computer system. He Read More …

Sun Life Assets Mgm’t posts 206% sales growth

 Economy
Aug 292013
 
Sun Life Assets Mgm’t posts 206% sales growth

MANILA, Philippines – The Sun Life Asset Management Co. Inc. (SLAMCI) reported yesterday its gross sales reached P26.2 billion at the end of July, marking a growth of 206 percent compared to the same period last year. Similarly posting an impressive figure are its assets under management, which reached P42.1 billion by the end of July – a 67.5-percent improvement from a year ago. Of the seven Sun Life Prosperity Funds, it was the Philippine Equity Fund that performed the strongest, marking a 19.89-percent increase in its year-on-year performance. Balanced Fund went up16.55 percent and Bond Fund saw an 11.88-percent growth. The other Prosperity Funds offered by Sun Life Asset Management are Dollar Abundance, Dollar Advantage, GS, and Money Market funds. “The numbers are encouraging because it shows how more Filipinos are warming up to the concept of investing in funds as a way of growing their money,” said SLAMCI president Valerie Pama. “We take pride in the fact that Sun Life’s expertise in managing investments plays a significant role in this development,” she added. Pama expressed optimism that SLAMCI’s strong performance will continue for the last quarter of the year, especially after achieving the largest Balanced Fund (mutual fund and unit investment trust fund) and largest Equity Fund (mutual fund industry) this July in terms of assets under management. SLAMCI is a member of the Sun Life Financial Group of Companies (Sun Life Financial), a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection Read More …

Phl matches China’s growth … posts fastest economic expansion in Southeast Asia

 Economy
Aug 292013
 
Phl matches China’s growth ... posts fastest economic expansion in Southeast Asia

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines sprinted to a fourth consecutive quarter of above seven-percent growth, beating forecasts with a strong 7.5-percent expansion in the April-June period to match China as the fastest-growing economy in Asia. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported yesterday that the 7.5-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter topped the 7.2-percent median forecast by analysts as well as the 6.3-percent pace recorded a year ago. “The growth came mainly from consumer and public spending, buttressed by increased investments in fixed capital,” Jose Ramon Albert, secretary general of the NSCB, told reporters, adding that the services sector and manufacturing and construction also pushed up growth. For the first half of the year, GDP accelerated 7.6 percent, faster than the 6.4-percent clip in the same period last year. “The composition of our growth shows signs of an economy that is in the process of rebalancing, moving from being largely consumption-driven to becoming investment-led and industrialized, with the ability to provide higher quality jobs for Filipinos,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement. He said for the past three quarters, capital formation has been growing more rapidly than household consumption and the growth of industry has so far outpaced that of the services sector. Notable are the double-digit growth rates in fixed capital and the manufacturing subsector in the last quarter. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He pointed out that with the latest GDP results, the Philippines remains the fastest Read More …

American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

 News
Aug 292013
 
American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

By Philip C. TubezaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 11:47 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested an American who was convicted in the United States of abusing a child and then violated his parole by fleeing to the Philippines. Immigration Officer-in-Charge Siegfred Mison said Stephen Rodden, who was convicted by a US court for “continuous sexual abuse of a child,” would be deported upon the issuance by the BI Board of commissioners of an order for his summary deportation. “We will likewise put him in our blacklist so he cannot return here and pose a risk to our Filipino children, or to anyone who could be his next victim,” Mison said in a statement. Mison said his men from the BI Fugitive Search Unit nabbed Rodden, 51, in Makati City on Aug. 31, after he violated his parole in the US by fleeing to the Philippines. The arresting agents reported that Rodden could not present his passport when he was arrested in his home along Mockingbird St., Barangay Rizal, in Makati City, Mison said. The immigration chief added that American was considered as an undocumented alien since his passport had already expired. Mison said Rodden was arrested upon the request of the US Embassy, which informed the bureau about his record as a convicted child molester. The embassy informed the BI that a Board of Parole in California issued a warrant of arrest against Rodden on March 13, 2012. The same board also suspended his Read More …

Taiwan to spend $100 million to build dock at disputed Spratlys

 News
Aug 292013
 
Taiwan to spend $100 million to build dock at disputed Spratlys

9:18 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 A handout photo shows Taiwanese garrison forces firing a gun during an exercise held in the Spratlys     AFP FILE PHOTO TAIPEI — Taiwan plans to spend more than $100 million to build a dock big enough for warships in the disputed Spratly islands, a legislator said Thursday, as other claimants strengthen their regional military presence. The plan submitted to parliament Thursday by the coastguard would cost Tw$3.4 billion ($112.4 million). Sources said the spending is expected to be approved. The dock will be an upgrade on the existing pier at the Taiwan-controlled island of Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys. It is scheduled to become operational in 2016. “National security authorities have decided to expedite the project as the other countries in the region have been increasing their naval and air force deployment in the past few years, further complicating the issue,” legislator Lin Yu-fang said in a statement. Once it is completed, large supply ships and even naval frigates will be able to berth, said Lin, a legislator from the ruling Kuomintang party who sits on parliament’s defense committee. The current pier caters only to small patrol boats. Once the dock work is completed the runway on Taiping will be extended, Lin said. Taiwan built a 1,150-meter (3,800-foot) runway on Taiping in mid-2006, despite protests from other countries with claims to the disputed island group. Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim all or part of the potentially oil-rich Read More …

PH says China withdraws trade fair invitation for Aquino

 News
Aug 292013
 
PH says China withdraws trade fair invitation for Aquino

Associated Press 7:10 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 President Benigno Aquino III AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines  — The Philippines and China, already locked in a territorial dispute, engaged in a diplomatic tussle Thursday, with the Philippine president canceling a visit to a trade fair in China after being told to stay away, and Beijing saying it never invited him in the first place. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Raul Hernandez, said President Benigno Aquino III had decided not to make the daylong visit to the China-Asean Expo scheduled for next Tuesday in the southern city of Nanning. Hernandez said China had invited the Philippines to send a high-level delegation to the trade fair a few months ago. Aquino said Wednesday that he would go, but word came from China later in the day that he should not visit, Hernandez said. “The president has decided not to proceed … taking into consideration China’s request for the president to visit China at a more conducive time,” he said in a statement. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman’s office said Beijing had not invited Aquino to attend the expo. “China never extended an invitation to the Philippine president,” it said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Speaking Wednesday, Aquino told reporters: “You may be surprised, I will travel next week. It’s quite a long trip to China. I will leave at 5 in the morning and will be back at 5 in the afternoon.” “I don’t want Read More …

Senate resumes probe into ‘sex-for-flight’ scandal

 News
Aug 292013
 
Senate resumes probe into ‘sex-for-flight’ scandal

By Kristine Angeli SabilloINQUIRER.net 2:55 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 Sec. Del Rosario and Sec. Baldoz during Senate Hearing. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Thursday continued its investigation on the “sex-for-flight” scheme involving Philippine labor officials in the Middle East. Among those present is Jojo Casicas, driver and employee at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Saudi Arabia, who was accused by  28-year-old Grace Victoria  Sales of allegedly  trying to rape her sometime  in March 2012 while  they were left alone at their office  in POLO. The joint hearing of the Senate blue ribbon and labor committees resumed almost a week after the Department of Labor and Employment filed administrative cases against Saudi Arabia assistant labor attaché Antonio Villafuerte, former Jordan Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) attaché Mario Antonio and labor attaché Adam Musa. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also recommended the agency’s investigation on Villanueva’s involvement on the “sex-for-flight” scandal. During the August 15 hearing, senators berated Villafuerte after an overseas Filipino worker narrated how she was treated by the labor official. The OFW and two others faced Villafuerte who they accused of sexual harassment. 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:

4 labor recruitment firms suspended

 News
Aug 292013
 
4 labor recruitment firms suspended

By Tina G. SantosPhilippine Daily Inquirer 2:35 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 Philippine Overseas Labor Employment office www.poea.gov.ph MANILA—The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration on Thursday ordered the preventive suspension of four recruitment agencies, which recruited and deployed the two female workers who testified against officials of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office  in Saudi Arabia in the Senate investigation into the  “sex- for-flight” scandal. POEA chief Hans Leo Cacdac issued the order of preventive suspension against Kozen International Inc , Azizzah International Manpower Services, Jobstar International Manpower Services, and Ideal Placement and Manpower Services, which were found to have engaged in alleged  misrepresentation, contract substitution and illegal collection of placement fee, and to have committed other alleged violations of the law in the process of recruitment and deployment of OFWs Elena Beleta and Grace Victoria Sales. 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: Features , Global Nation , Philippine Overseas Employment , sex-for-flight scam 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

 Older Entries  Newer Entries