Organization of Islamic Cooperation offers to help in ending Zamboanga City crisis

 News
Sep 152013
 
Organization of Islamic Cooperation offers to help in ending Zamboanga City crisis

FILE PHOTO ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has offered to mediate in ending the standoff in Zamboanga City between Philippine government troops and forces loyal to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari. The standoff entered its seventh day Sunday. “The OIC stands ready to offer all possible assistance to ease the tension and resume the peace process,” read a statement attributed to OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The OIC news release on the Zamboanga siege was posted on its website Saturday. “The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is deeply disturbed by the reported resumption of violence that occurred in the city of Zamboanga and other places in Mindanao in Southern Philippines. He condemned the loss of innocent lives and called for calm and maximum restraint to avoid further bloodshed and to allow peaceful resolution to these incidents,” the news release stated. “The OIC strongly rejects all unlawful acts and expresses its deep concern at the shortcomings that occurred in the peace process which led to the resumption of violence and unlawful acts,” it added. The pan-Islamic body, the largest international organization outside of the United Nations, has played a key role in bringing peace in Mindanao since the 1970s. It brokered the negotiations between the Philippine government and the MNLF that led to the landmark 1976 Tripoli Agreement of Peace. This same pact was spelled out in details in the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA). The negotiations for that peace Read More …

First in Asia: Philippine bananas to be sold in US

 News
Sep 142013
 
First in Asia: Philippine bananas to be sold in US

Photo from official account of Philippine Embassy in the United States. @philippinesusa. MANILA, Philippines – The first batch of fresh Philippine bananas has finally arrived in the United States, the Philippine Embassy in the US announced Sunday. A shipment of 7.047 metric tons of highland cavendish from Bukidnon arrived September 9 in California, making the Philippines the first Asian country to export bananas to the US. “With this shipment, we are hopeful that Philippine bananas would be able to find and satisfy a niche in the competitive US banana market,” said Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. The shipment came after eight years of negotiations with the US on quarantine and sanitation issues. “Philippine bananas are among the best in the world and there is opportunity to bring in the unique and special banana varieties like lakatan and latondan, which Filipinos in the US have long been craving for and which Americans can learn to love,” said Agriculture attaché Dr. Josyline Javelosa. Javelosa said the shipment, a first of an estimated 3,000 metric tons from Dole Philippines, was transferred to a ripening warehouse and will soon be available in the Los Angeles market. She said they are hoping that the new market will help the Philippine banana industry, especially Mindanao which is recovering from the onslaught of the recent typhoons. With the successful shipment, US joined other Philippine banana importers – Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Korea, China, Singapore, the Middle East, Canada, Russia and Indonesia. Bananas are among the country’s dollar earners. Read More …

Info sought on Fil-Ams in alleged gunrunning

 News
Sep 142013
 
Info sought on Fil-Ams in alleged gunrunning

Two of three Maralit brothers pose with their high-powered firearms in these photos, copies of which were forwarded to the Inquirer from the US Attorney’s Office that have them and other pictures as evidence. Rex and Wilfredo Maralit who work for the New York Police Department and Customs Border Protection respectively were arrested separately in the US and charged with smuggling weapons to the Philippines. A third brother, Ariel, is in Manila and at large. PHOTOS FROM US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has asked the United States government for documents on the importation of high-powered firearms into the Philippines allegedly by three Filipino-American brothers to determine if they had accomplices in the country. Fernandino Tuason, BOC Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service director, said he had asked the US Department of Homeland Security for copies of the shipping documents used by the Maralit brothers in their alleged international gun smuggling activities. “(The Americans will) be giving us shipping documents so we can get more information about their modus operandi,” Tuason said in an interview. “Up to now we have not seen any documents; it is just hearsay or news reports so we contacted our counterpart in the US. We will use these documents to backtrack and find out who their contacts are in the Philippines,” he said. Tuason said the BOC could go after the recipients of the firearms if it were proven that they did not pay import duties or failed to secure the necessary gun Read More …

Time to think Asean

 News
Sep 142013
 
Time to think Asean

JUNE TAGUIWALO (second from right, back row), with classmates from Chulalongkorn University. Contributed photo PHITSANULOK, Thailand–June Taguiwalo was born in a military camp in 1984. At that time, her mother, student activist (now university professor) Judy Taguiwalo, was incarcerated at Camp Crame for resisting the Marcos dictatorship. Now 29, June is in Thailand, taking her place among a young generation of students who are taking up new challenges in an increasingly globalized world. Artist Ryan Francis Reyes, 30, is another Filipino student in Thailand, which hosts scholars who are intent on extending their gaze from national to regional horizons–starting with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Taguiwalo is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Thai Studies at Chulalongkorn University, the top university in Thailand under the Asean scholarship funded by the government of Thailand. A Geography graduate of the University of the Philippines, she is the only Filipino in the program at the moment. Prior to her Thai studies, she spent two years in Chiang Mai, as a nongovernment  organization (NGO) worker. “I’ve always been interested in Thailand. I think this was the first Asian country I ever visited. We seem so alike but so different at the same time. My interest grew more when I worked in Chiang Mai two years ago,”  she explains. Taguiwalo spent her growing up years in Canada while her mother was taking up a master’s degree. She also spent some time in the United States. RYAN REYES (third from right) with cultural Read More …

Efren Peñaflorida’s ‘Kariton Klasrum’ goes to Indonesia

 News
Sep 142013
 
Efren Peñaflorida’s ‘Kariton Klasrum’ goes to Indonesia

Somewhere in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, out-of-school kids are learning to read and write in the streets through pushcart classrooms– the same unique learning platform that CNN Hero of the Year awardee Efren Peñaflorida and his Dynamic Teen Company (DTC)  use to educate the street children of Cavite. Gerobak Pintar or Smart Cart is a project of the Indonesian nonprofit organization Yayasan Wadah Titian Harapan or Wadah, which partnered with DTC to duplicate the project among the urban poor youths of Jakarta. Inspired by the “Kariton Klasrum”(mobile cart classroom) that made an impact on the lives of underprivileged kids in the Philippines, Wadah founder Anie Hashim Djojohadikusumo approached DTC to help implement the program in Indonesia. Gerobak Pintar was finally launched last July to educate its beneficiary kids and parents in four areas: Education, Health, Extra Food Supplement, and Life Skills. The program will be facilitated by Wadah volunteers, after which it will be turned over to the communities. “Wadah is very grateful for the help and support that DTC has provided to make this project a reality,”  said Anie Hashim Djojohadikusumo. “Indonesia and the Philippines are very similar in the sense that we have the same problems in education and poverty. We hope the Gerobak Pintar here will transform the lives of Indonesian children the same way it changed the lives of many young people in the Philippines,” Djojohadikusumo said. Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to Read More …

Alleged kidnap victim in Dubai went to Bangkok

 News
Sep 142013
 
Alleged kidnap victim in Dubai went to Bangkok

Last June, we wrote about the case of Jerlyn Montoya, an overseas worker who supposedly went missing a day after her arrival in Dubai in 2004. According to the victim’s family, she was apparently abducted after having one too many drinks at her welcome party by another Filipino. Her family claimed she managed to call them to inform them that she was abducted by this man but the call was cut short. In the succeeding months, the story the family pieced together was that Jerlyn had become the man’s sex slave and got pregnant as a result. When asked why it took them nine years to report the incident, the victim’s family said they simply just believed Jerlyn would suddenly come home one day. Bantay OCW immediately contacted Consul General Frank Cimafranca of the Philippine Consulate in Dubai, who then promised to look into the reported disappearance of Jerlyn. Upon reading about Jerlyn in the Inquirer, the victim’s agency, IPAMS, and its Employee Relations Manager Maria Isabel Domingo searched and confirmed that Montoya had been sent to Dubai, UAE last September 11, 2006 (as opposed to the family’s claim of 2004) to be employed at Maritime Mercantile International (MMI). According to the Emirates Leisure Rental (ELR), Montoya was not “missing” but reported for work at MMI from her starting date up to her resignation on April 12, 2007. Montoya was then reported to have flown to Bangkok on April 17, 2007. Bantay OCW called the Philippine embassy in Thailand. Vice Read More …

Budget carriers face slower growth this year

 General
Sep 142013
 
Budget carriers face slower growth this year

MANILA, Philippines – Think tank Center for Aviation (CAPA) expects the low cost carrier (LCC) segment in the Philippines to post a slow growth this year due to the consolidation of major players after experiencing an over-capacity last year. In its latest aviation analysis entitled “Competition in Southeast Asia’s Low Cost Airline Sector Heats Up as Capacity Surges,” CAPA said the consolidation of major players in the industry has led to an improved outlook for the local airlines. The study showed that the total LCC fleet in the Philippines is expected to grow in 2013 by a relatively modest 10 percent to 69 aircraft excluding the unit of national flag carrier Philippine Airlines – PAL Express. CAPA said budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) fleet is expected to grow to 48 this year from 41 in 2012, followed by AirAsia Philippines (from two to three), Tiger Air Philippines with five, Zest Airways Inc. of Ambassador Alfredo Yao to 13. The think tank said LCCs accounted for 80 percent of domestic passengers in the Philippines last year, giving it the highest LCC penetration rate in the world among medium and large size markets. But competition on many routes was irrational and four of the five LCCs were unprofitable – AirAsia Philippines, PAL Express, Tiger affiliate Tigerair Philippines, and ZestAir, CAPA said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 CAPA noted that Cebu Pacific was the only local airline that ended 2012 in the black. The budget carrier accounted Read More …

ADB cites top telcos, food companies for inclusive biz models

 Economy
Sep 142013
 
ADB cites top telcos, food companies for inclusive biz models

MANILA, Philippines – Top telecom firms Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, Jollibee Foods Corp. and Nestlé Philippines were among the corporations cited in an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report focused on inclusive business (IB). The ADB report defines IB as a commercially viable and profit-making private company whose core business is designed to address pressing social needs of the poor and vulnerable people below the $3 international poverty line, sometimes referred to as the base of the income pyramid. However, the report made it clear that IB is entirely different from corporate social responsibility (CSR), social enterprise or microfinance. “Companies adopt IB primarily to create shared value, increase sales, enhance company reputation and develop the ability to maintain a stable of supply of inputs,” the report, which was co-sponsored by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and the Asian Social Enterprises Incubator (ASEI), said. IBs are still concentrated in a few sectors, such as the agricultural sector (24 percent) followed by the financial services sector (14 percent) and the manufacturing sector (10 percent). IB companies in others sectors (IT, energy, education, health, and transport and logistics) are fewer but exhibit profitable IB models. Smart and Globe were cited for bringing mobile communications to the lower segment of society through their prepaid e-loading network. Both telcos also started microfinance mobile banking operations. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the food and beverage sector, Jollibee was cited for starting its Farmer Enterpreneurship Program, and subsequently expanding its Read More …

Key BSP rates to hold up until 2014 – DBS

 Economy
Sep 142013
 
Key BSP rates to hold up until 2014 – DBS

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expected to keep rates steady until the second quarter of next year, Singapore-based DBS said. This, as inflation remains manageable and amid the country’s favorable external balances, the bank said in its quarterly report published Friday. “From a price stability standpoint, there is again no urgency for the central bank to hike rates. Despite multiple quarters of strong GDP (gross domestic product) growth, inflation has been trending lower,” DBS said. “Stable food prices and depressed commodity prices have gone a long way towards keeping a lid on headline inflation. Barring an upward shock to these two components, a mild updrift in CPI (consumer price index) is expected as the global recovery gains traction, eventually translating into higher commodity prices,” DBS continued. Inflation has averaged 2.8 percent in the eight months to August, below the central bank target range of 3 to 5 percent for the year. The level is also below the BSP’s forecast of 3 percent. At the same time, DBS noted credit expansion may grow in the next few months as funds being flushed out of the central bank’s special deposit accounts find their way into the financial system. This may stoke inflation in the coming months, but DBS pointed out the rise in consumer prices is expected to remain manageable. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We maintain that inflation will average 3.1 percent in 2013 before rising to 4.1 percent in 2014. Monetary tightening Read More …

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