Public fiscals laud SC for extending modified Judicial Affidavit Rule

 News
Jan 032014
 
Public fiscals laud SC for extending modified Judicial Affidavit Rule

A group of government prosecutors on Friday lauded the Supreme Court for dispaying “sensitivity” when it extended for another year the modified version of the Judicial Affidavit Rule (JAR). Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, head of the National Prosecution Service (NPS), told GMA News Online that he and other public prosecutors welcomed the recent resolution that extended the modified JAR until December 31 this year. “In behalf of the prosecutors, I welcome the SC’s resolution as a manifestation of the Court’s sensitivity to the concerns of the stakeholders of the justice system of which the prosecution is a vital component,” said Arellano. Under the JAR, parties are required to prepare judicial affidavits in place of the traditional and usually lengthy direct testimony in order to expedite the presentation of evidence. Judicial affidavits are sworn statements containing the witness’ testimony in question-and-answer form. Following the rule’s approval in 2012, the NPS complained that its prosecutors might not yet be ready to comply with the JAR as it would mean additional work for them on top of their already heavy workload. In response, the high court issued a modified JAR, in which public prosecutors are allowed to use sworn statements that had been used during preliminary investigation or inquest in place of new judicial affidavits. The modified version was only supposed to have been in effect until last December 31, 2013, until the high court extended it for the entire 2014. The NPS is under the Department of Justice. Asked if he thinks Read More …

Palace: No ‘magic wand’ to solve rising power costs

 News
Jan 032014
 
Palace: No ‘magic wand’ to solve rising power costs

There is no “magic wand” that could be waved to solve the problem on high power costs, a Malacañang official said Friday. “There’s something that can be done but within the bounds of the law,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte at a press briefing Friday. “So while you believe that the executive has so much power, perceived power, we are limited by what the law says.” Valte specifically cited Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, which she said prevents the government from being a power generator. “People keep asking ‘why don’t you build your own power plants?’ Because of the law that we have, we can’t. Government can’t do that. You can’t put money into that because it’s prohibited,” Valte said. “So we try to work within what is present to address these concerns and these issues. The President has already given instructions to the relevant agencies to see what we can do,” she added. But asked if President Benigno Aquino III will personally push for amendments to the law, Valte said they will still have to look at the proposed amendments.   “Perhaps it’s a matter of finding the right proposal that the President will throw his weight behind,” she said. “Which is why we’ve said that we welcome any initiatives to amend or at least to put forth amendments from our legislators to the EPIRA Law,” she added. The Palace likewise remained cool to the idea of convening the Legislative Read More …

PH embassy in Riyadh issued a record 72,028 passports in 2013

 News
Jan 022014
 
PH embassy in Riyadh issued a record 72,028 passports in 2013

By Matikas SantosINQUIRER.net 11:58 am | Friday, January 3rd, 2014 DFA Passports Processed in Riyadh MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has processed a record 72,028 passport applications for 2013, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Friday. “In 2013, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh processed 1,522 new passports for newly born infants; 64,298 renewals, and 6,208 replacement passports for lost passports,” DFA said. “Around 6,000 replacement passports of the 6,208 were issued during the correction period, particularly in May and June. These numbers do not include the passport applications processed by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah,” it said. The 2013 number of processed passports was at its highest over the past years. In 2007, 31,990 applications were received. According to records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), Saudi Arabia has the second largest population of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with 1,267,660 as of 2012.   The United States has the largest OFW population with 3,494,281 Filipinos The deployment of OFWs to Saudi Arabia has been on the rise over the past several years with 330,040 new hires and rehires in 2012. The most hires were domestic helpers with 11,582 and in the nursing profession with 8,513. In 2011, 204,088 OFWs were deployed to Saudi Arabia, 173,670 were deployed in 2010, 164,758 were deployed in 2009, and  153,675 were deployed in 2008. Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free Read More …

China to reorganize military defense setup

 News
Jan 022014
 
China to reorganize military defense setup

In this Dec. 26, 2013 photo, Chinese People’s Liberation Army navy personnel salute in front of a new Type 052C guided missile destroyer Zhengzhou during its commission ceremony in Zhoushan, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. China is considering reorganizing its seven military regions into five to respond more swiftly to a crisis, the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported. AP PHOTO TOKYO—China is considering reorganizing its seven military regions into five to respond more swiftly to a crisis, the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The news comes amid rising tensions over Beijing’s territorial claims in the region, with China and Japan squaring off over a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Each of the new military regions will create a joint operations command that controls the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as a strategic missile unit, the daily said, citing senior Chinese military officials. The revamp would mark a shift from the current defense-oriented military that relies mainly on the Army to one that ensures more mobile and integrated management of the Army, Navy, Air Force and strategic missile units, Yomiuri said. “It is a proactive measure with eyes on counteracting the Japan-US alliance,” the daily quoted one of the officials as saying. Tokyo and Beijing are locked in a territorial row over the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus. The United States, while insisting it does not take sides on sovereignty disputes, has said the Read More …

What Went Before: Damage wrought by USS Guardian

 News
Jan 022014
 
What Went Before: Damage wrought by USS Guardian

Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:25 am | Friday, January 3rd, 2014 MANILA, Philippines-On Jan. 17 last year, the Avenger-class minehunter USS Guardian ran aground on the south atoll of the Tubbataha Reefs while sailing to Indonesia following a port call on Subic Bay. The grounding damaged 2,345 square meters of coral on the reefs, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) World Heritage Site in the middle of the Sulu Sea. After 10 weeks, the salvage operation was completed by a Singapore-based salvor company hired by the US Navy. The ship had to be dismantled piece by piece so it could be lifted without damaging the reef further. It was then decommissioned and stricken off the naval registry. In April 2013, the commanding officer of the Guardian, Lt. Cmdr. Mark Rice, the executive officer and navigator Lt. Daniel Tyler, the assistant navigator and the officer of the deck at the time of the grounding were relieved. In the same month, the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) said it would fine the United States not more than $1.4 million (about P60 million) for the damage to the Tubbataha Reefs. The report of the assessment team, composed of divers and researchers from the TMO and World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines, showed that the damaged area spanned 2,345.67 sqm, smaller than the initial estimate of 4,000 sq m, which would have pushed the fine to $5 million, or about P200 million. Under Republic Act No. 10067, or the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Act Read More …

US has not paid Tubbataha fine

 General
Jan 022014
 
US has not paid Tubbataha fine

MANILA, Philippines—Almost a year after an American warship ran aground on an atoll of the Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea, the US government has yet to pay the fine imposed by the Philippines for the damage to the environment. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Thursday that the fine amounted to P58.3 million, imposed after a determination of the damage caused by the grounding of the USS Guardian on the Tubbataha Reefs, a protected World Heritage Site. “According to Director Lim, nothing has been paid yet,” Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said in a text message to the Inquirer, referring to a statement from Theresa Mundita Lim, head of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (formerly the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau). Lim later confirmed the information in a separate text message to the Inquirer. No request A US official, however, said the Philippines had not formally requested settlement of the damage. “The United States has committed to processing any request by the Philippine government for damage expeditiously,” the official who is privy to the matter said on Thursday. “To my knowledge, a request has not yet been made.” Paje said it was up to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to make arrangements with the US government on the payment of the fine. “If it were up to the DENR, of course, we would insist that the penalty be imposed and that they pay in cash, regardless of whether it was the US or China or whoever. But Read More …

Sean as iconic, elusive photographer in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

 General
Jan 022014
 
Sean as iconic, elusive photographer in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

MANILA, Philippines – Ben Stiller’s reimagining of James Thurber’s original story is highly entertaining and inspiring, revolving around a man who loves to daydream, frequently retreating into an imaginary world in which he is the hero. A photo editor at LIFE Magazine in New York, he enjoys his job but longs for passion and excitement. As he was about to lose his job as the company shifts and downsizes, Mitty finds himself out of his office in no time. The final issue of the prestigious magazine will soon be on newsstands, but a worried MItty cannot find an important negative that has mysteriously gone missing. The picture was taken by the iconic and elusive photographer Sean O’Connell played by Sean Penn. Sean is the only one who knows where it is. But where is Sean? For all his fantasies of becoming a hero, Walter Mitty has his own very real hero: the famed LIFE photographer Sean O’Connell, an elusive adventurer who has become a kind of rock star of the photographic world, renowned for his relentless commitment to chasing a story no matter the cost. It seemed just the right match to cast Oscar®-winning actor and director Sean Penn in the role of the mysterious icon who beckons Walter Mitty into the big, wide open world. “Sean O’Connell is a guy who represents creative integrity and he had to have this amazing presence that the audience connects with instantly when Walter finally meets him. That’s why Sean Penn was really Read More …

Market up 94 pts, posts best start since 2009

 Economy
Jan 022014
 
Market up 94 pts, posts best start since 2009

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rallied 94.43 points to 5,984.26, marking its best start since 2009. It was also the highest closing for the main index since ending at 6,008.94 on Dec. 9, 2013. “We played catch up with the regional markets because for a few days we were on holiday,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc. Financial markets just opened yesterday following the New Year holidays. Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp., said yesterday’s run-up beat the 1.2-percent gain on the first trading day of 2013, 0.6 percent in 2012 and 0.3 percent in 2011. It is the best start for the main index since rallying 5.4 percent in the first trading day of 2009. The broader all shares index gained 1.23 percent or 44.51 points to 3,658.83. “Market breadth stayed widely positive the entire day, the bears  hardly  making a dent on the bull’s lead,” Calaycay said. Local shares bucked the downtrend in Asia, weighed down by the slower-than-expected manufacturing numbers out of world’s second largest economy China in December. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Locally, all counters were in the green, paced by property firms that rallied 2.29 percent or 50.53 points to 2,255.98. However, turnover remained thin as most investors were still on holiday mode, del Castillo said. The value of shares traded declined to P3.81 billion from P6.38 billion on Dec. 27, the final trading day for 2013. Read More …

Two and a half years!

 Economy
Jan 022014
 
Two and a half years!

That’s right… P-Noy only has two and a half years left in his term. But in practical terms, he has less time than that. He only has this year and the first half of 2015 to get any thing worthwhile done… one and a half years to go. Election fever will afflict the country starting the second half of next year and through the first half of 2016. Based on past experience, nothing much for the good of the country gets done during an election year. P-Noy started off his term on a very high note. There was hope that finally the country’s economy has a good chance to become a tiger like its neighbors in Asean. And things started well as P-Noy was seen as the exact opposite of the immediate past president, Gloria Arroyo on that long festering problem of corruption. P-Noy’s credibility in the good governance arena was enough to gain the confidence of the foreign economic and political analysts. Even if the Daang Matuwid battle cry has not produced palpable results beyond the Presidential pronouncements, folks were ready to take P-Noy at his word. Indeed, we found ourselves among those considered as a most promising emerging economy in no time. It was as if everyone had always recognized the outstanding economic potential of the Philippines and it was only the sheer corruption of its governing politicians that is holding us back. We got successive credit rating upgrades. Foreign investors looking for alternatives to the developed world’s equity markets Read More …

US embassy releases its list of 2014 holidays

 News
Jan 022014
 
US embassy releases its list of 2014 holidays

By Bong LozadaINQUIRER.net 10:20 pm | Thursday, January 2nd, 2014 MANILA, Philippines—The United States Embassy has released its own list of holidays for 2014, dates that would inform the public that the embassy is closed for the day, following the release of the Philippine Government’s release earlier. The 19-holiday list contains events in the Philippines and also important holidays from the US. Only two dates are joint holidays for Philippines and US: New Year’s Day and Christmas. From the list, eight are exclusively American holidays and these are Martin Luther King Jr. day (January 20), US President’s day (February 17), US Memorial day (May 26), US Independence day (July 4), Columbus day (October 13), US Veterans day (November 11) and Thanksgiving (November 27). The embassy also lists the Muslim event of Eid-ul-Fitr as one of its holidays, though the date hass yet to be announced. Heroism Day (April 9), Maundy Thursday (April 17), Good Friday (April 18), Labor Day (May 1), Philippine Independence Day (June 12), Ninoy Aquino Day (August 21), Rizal Day (December 30) and the last day of the year are the exclusive Filipino holidays on the embassy’s list.   Related story Philippine holidays for 2014 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: 2014 , Global Nation , Holidays Read More …

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