October 2013 – Page 2

Ms. World 2013 Megan Young Pays Courtesy Call on Philippine Consul General

Oct 302013

Consul General Maria Hellen Barber De La Vega with Ms. World 2013 Megan Young. Los Angeles, 28 October 2013 – Ms. World 2013, Megan Young paid a courtesy call on Consul General Maria Hellen Barber De La Vega at the Philippine Consulate General on 25 October 2013. Ms. Young was accompanied by Miss World Events Director Steve Douglas. In their discussion with Consul General Maria Hellen Barber De La Vega, they informed that Miss World, aside from being a beauty pageant, is a platform for young women in making a difference. As Ms. World, Megan will be travelling to 40 countries. She will be involved with charity projects such as fund raising for Haiti and fund-raising for ventilator machines for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the Tuloy Foundation in Alabang, Philippines headed by Father Rocky Evangelista. Tuloy Foundation started years ago with only 12 children from the streets and presently has over 900 children in their compound. The Tuloy Foundation has built a gymnasium and a church and providing education for children, aside from housing 200 to 300 children. Ms Young was born in Alexandria, Virginia of a Filipina mother and American father. She moved to the Philippines when she was a child. She went to school in the Philippines and pursued a career in show business. Ms. World 2013, Megan Young at the Philippine Consulate General (L-R) Consul Charmaine Serna-Chua, Deputy Consul General Daniel Espiritu, Ms. Megan Young, Consul General De La Vega, Consul Marlowe Miranda, Vice Consul Read More …

Los Angeles Residents to Call for Greater Focus on Student Health; Increased Parent Involvement as “School Success Express” Bus Tour Rolls to Hollenbeck Middle School

Entertainment

Oct 302013

Los Angeles Residents to Call for Greater Focus on Student Health; Increased Parent Involvement as “School Success Express” Bus Tour Rolls to Hollenbeck Middle School

New Fair School Funding Law Projected to Bring More Than $2.7 Billion Funding Increase to Los Angeles Unified by 2021 Parents and Students to Meet with State and Local Education Leaders To Shape Law’s Impact on Los Angeles Schools School Success Express Los Angeles, CA – As part of The California Endowment’s 12-city School Success Express bus tour raising awareness about California’s historic new Fair School Funding law, parents and students in Los Angeles will hold a community forum on Monday to discuss the new law that will bring California schools more money, more local control and new priorities. The Fair School Funding law, also known as the Local Control Funding Formula, will increase funding over the next eight years to school districts throughout California, directing the greatest funding increases to districts serving large numbers of low-income students, English learners and foster youth. For example, Los Angeles Unified is projected to receive a 64.8% per-student funding increase as a result of the new law. If student enrollment holds steady, that would result in a district budget increase of close to $2.7 billion per year once the Fair School Funding law takes full effect in the 2020-2021 school year. “Fair School Funding is going to change LA schools,” said Angelica Solis, executive director of Alliance for a Better Community. “Now is the time for community members to raise their voices and tell LAUSD and other local districts what it is going to take for students to succeed. After years of budget cuts, we now have an amazing opportunity to partner with the district and make significant improvements Read More …

Delicious vegan cuisine from The Farm now at The Pen

General

Oct 302013

Delicious vegan cuisine from The Farm now at The Pen

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for — the pure enjoyment of food,” once claimed Anthony Bourdain, who recently joked that he sincerely considered divorcing his wife Ottavia when she decided to try veganism for one week. “We’ve never been so close to divorce.” She explains in her blog published in Fightland (http://fightland.vice.com/blog/ottavia-bourdain-goes-vegan), “I hope he’s kidding, but looking at him, I’m not so sure. After we get home he elaborates… “That was one of the worst meals in history. It tasted of hippie. It tasted of my last weed dealer’s apartment. I hate the world now. Please kill me.” I have to admit, while a little extreme, not too long ago I shared the same sentiments. Young, fresh, in my early 20s with all the hardheaded energy and invincibility of youth on my side, I once claimed that if the doctor said I’d have to go vegan or else I would die, I would choose death because a life without even cheese or butter is not a life worth living. With my 29th birthday right around the corner, a couple of years of hard work, stress, heavy eating and boozing adds up to having regular visits to the chiropractor, dizzy spells when I eat greasy food, joint aches and Nexium being my best friend. I’m finding myself retracting that previous statement. I’ve come to realize that no, I am not Superman. And no, I am not Read More …

Ayala Land keen on new business district in Pasay City

Economy

Oct 302013

Ayala Land keen on new business district in Pasay City

MANILA, Philippines – Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is keen on stamping a major footprint in Pasay City through the creation of a new business district. The real estate firm has expressed its intent to join the bidding for the reclamation of a 300-hectare lot in the southern city. “ALI’s proposal to reclaim the 300-hectare Manila Bay property in Pasay City may catapult the city as one of the country’s most modern business, residential, and recreational district,” the company said in a statement. “This project is important to the company as it presents an opportunity for us to have significant presence in the Manila Bay area, contribute to the growth and progress of the city of Pasay, and make the reclaimed area the country’s model of urban and sustainable development,” said ALI chief operating officer Bobby Dy. However, ALI’s plans will depend on detailed financial and technical studies that would take time to finish, Dy said. Last week, the firm confirmed its interest to submit a counter-proposal for the reclamation project. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp., through SM Land, earlier submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Pasay City government to reclaim the property in the next seven years for P54.5 billion. SM offered to fully finance the project including the costs of all necessary permits and clearances from government agencies as well as other expenses to comply with all government and legal requirements. “The reclamation is a local Read More …

Aboitiz Equity earnings drop 25% to P4.6 B

Economy

Oct 302013

Aboitiz Equity earnings drop 25% to P4.6 B

MANILA, Philippines – Lower selling prices of electricity and the revaluation of its dollar-denominated liabilities resulted in lower earnings for conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV). In a regulatory filing, AEV said its third quarter consolidated net income sank 25 percent to P4.6 billion from a year ago. AEV said it incurred a non-recurring loss of P119.7 million in the July to September period due to the revaluation of dollar-denominated liabilities and placements. But it was partly offset by the reversal of a previous impairment provision related to the sale of a stake in an associate, as well as AEV’s share in its power unit’s one-time gain from the redemption of shares. “Adjusting for these, AEV closed the quarter with a core net income of P4.7 billion, down 25 percent year-on-year,” the holding firm said. In the third quarter, the power business accounted for 80 percent of earnings, followed by banking at 12 percent, food at seven percent and real estate at one percent. For the nine-month period, AEV’s consolidated net income slipped eight percent to P16.6 billion from P18 billion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Power accounted for 71 percent of income, followed by the banking, food and property at 22 percent, six percent and one percent, respectively. “We remain pleased with the performance of our business units. Our challenge in the coming years is to deploy the cash flow we are generating into ventures that meet our hurdle rates,” said AEV president and CEO Read More …

US-based fund secures 5% stake in Metro Pacific

Economy

Oct 302013

US-based fund secures 5% stake in Metro Pacific

MANILA, Philippines – A Washington-based investment manager focusing on emerging markets has secured a minority stake in infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC). In a regulatory filing, MPIC said Cartica Management Llc has secured 5.02 percent or 1.306 billion shares of the company. The transaction is “an investment position taken in connection with Cartica’s ordinary course of business in investment management,” MPIC said. In the past two months, Cartica, which was founded in 2008, has been buying around 21 million to 141 million shares in MPIC. “Cartica is an emerging markets fund manager employing an active ownership strategy to achieve superior returns for investors,” the company said in its web site. Its recent acquisitions and private placements include Skyware Radio Systems GmbH, India’s TTK Prestige Ltd. and The Ratnakar Bank Ltd. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Cartica manages a series of fund vehicles all investing together in a concentrated, long-only portfolio of equity securities of publicly-traded companies,” the fund manager said. Cartica manages money for large US pensions like Calpers and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. “Cartica acquires significant stakes, usually representing two to five percent of the outstanding shares of a portfolio company,” it added. Its investment team previously worked together in the senior leadership of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp., which focuses on investing in emerging markets like the Philippines. For its part, MPIC is one of the top conglomerates in the Philippines focusing in the industrial sector. MPIC’s core Read More …

CloudFone partners with Globe, MediaTek

Economy

Oct 302013

MANILA, Philippines – CloudFone, an innovative mobile phone maker, together with Globe and MediaTek, is launching another innovative yet inexpensive smartphone. The CloudFone Excite 501d raises the bar for smartphone design. Its body is crafted using a combination of sleek aluminum and premium plastic to form soft and curved edges for an excellent feel. Having a large 5.0 inch screen, the combination of metal and plastic provides the phone the look of a premium phone without sacrificing the feel of the phone on ones hand. “Most five-inch screen phones will be too big to handle but for the Excite 501d, We went to great lengths in making sure that the metal we used in our design will not affect how the phone handles by keeping it light, as well as, keeping the edges curved so that it fits easily in your pocket or handbag. We made sure that the phone’s design is gorgeous enough for users to show of to their friends and everyone else around them.” said Celine Lopez, head of marketing for CloudFone. The phone is equipped with a powerful dual core processor from MediaTek, and an auto focus 8-megapixel camera with flash that take sharp and clear images. “The high quality camera used by the Excite 501d will ensure that users will not miss capturing important moments that they can share with friends and loved ones” according to Nino Mendoza, head of sales for CloudFone. The CloudFone Excite 501d is available in all CloudFone kiosks and dealers Read More …

Kate Torralba’s Long Overdue album

General

Oct 302013

MANILA, Philippines – Fashion designer Kate Torralba (photo) ventures into the recording industry as she releases her first full-length studio album titled Long Overdue. The CD contains 11 original tracks that Kate composed herself, including its carrier single Pictures. All songs were produced by Kate in collaboration with Malek Lopez. Other tracks of Long Overdue include Monkey Song (Nokiesque), Northfleet, Video, Anywhere With You, Drunk On Your Love, Kung Mali Ako, Seminar, Get Me, Under My Stairs and Pictures (Cinematic Version). The album also features the works of noted producers and arrangers such as Todd Hunter, Mikey Amistoso, Jazz Nicolas, Diego Mapa, Dennis Chan and Mike Villegas. Kate was part of the pioneering batch of the annual Elements Songwriting Camp and she describes music as her very first love being a classically-trained musician even before she entered the world of fashion. Kate’s CD will be launched in her native Cebu via a long-overdue grand homecoming on Nov. 8 at SM Cebu Northwing (6 p.m.). Part of the proceeds of her CD sales will be donated to the earthquake victims in Cebu. Long Overdue will also be launched in Singapore (Nov. 5), Craft Bar & Grill, The Fort (Nov. 16), Saguijo Bar (Nov. 20) and Live Vibe Café (Nov. 22). Long Overdue will also be released in Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. Long Overdue is distributed by MCA Universal.

Central Bank says coins are decreasing

General

Oct 302013

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)-Davao regional director Demetrio E. Casipong called on the public to use coins of smaller denominations in order to increase circulation and lower down production cost. He said the number of small value coins such as .5, .10, .25 and .50 centavos in circulation is depleting yearly since people tend not to use them in buying commodities. “Our small denomination coins are depleting yearly since the public tend not to use them,” Casipong told reporters in an interview after the culmination of the 24th National Statistics Month at the BSP seminar hall on October 29, 2013. This has forced the Central Bank to produce more to address the increasing demand of the growing population. Casipong said that each person in the country holds an average of 180 pieces of coins (includes P1, P5, and P10), and when multiplied to the population of more than 90 million, there are around 20 billion of them in circulation. “Based on those estimated figures alone around 50 percent or less of the small denomination coins go back into circulation.” he said. He did not divulge as to how much the circulation has dropped or how much the coin production cost has increased. Casipong said what triggered the low circulation is that the public see them only with little value. “People will either leave their change in their homes in jars or piggy banks or some of them would just give them to the beggars,” he said. “A bag of new Read More …

Comelec moves to disqualify barangay officials who ran for a fourth term

News

Oct 302013

Comelec moves to disqualify barangay officials who ran for a fourth term

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started filing petitions to disqualify barangay officials who sought a fourth term in the October 28 elections. Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said the Comelec Law Department filed the petitions against barangay bets who had finished their third consecutive term but still ran in Monday’s polls. Both the law on barangay elections and the Local Government Code set a three-term limit for village officials. The Comelec filed the petitions before the proclamation date,giving the commission motu proprio (“on its own initiative”) mandate on the case. That means it can disqualify the candidates even without a complaint from rival bets, Brillantes said. “Meron nang finile na petitions against those listed by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for disqualification. Motu proprio on our part. Ang Law Department ang pinag-file namin,” Brillantes said on Wednesday. The DILG earlier submitted a list of third-termer officials to the Comelec. Brillantes said the poll body will conduct hearings with the parties and will also check the records of the candidates to see if they ran for a fourth term. “We took the initiative and took judicial notice of the fact that this is the record sent to us by DILG… We’re now going to check on the record. ‘Pag nakita namin three-termer ‘yan based on our record, then we will disqualify them,” Brillantes said. The Comelec, however, will not suspend the proclamation of supposed three-termer candidates in case they won in Monday’s polls, Brillantes said. The poll Read More …

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