PAL’s aircraft upgrade seen to further boost PHL tourism potential

 Entertainment
May 152014
 
PAL’s aircraft upgrade seen to further boost PHL tourism potential

“Today’s travelers and investors are focused on Asia because of its robust tourism potential and growing economy,” says Philippine Consul General Leo Herrera-LIm in last May 8’s presentation of Philippine Airlines’ new Boeing 777-300ER that now serves the Manila-US flights hosted by PAL Area Manager Marie Jemma Saranillo (center, right photo) and her staff in Los Angeles. LOS ANGELES − Following the recent aviation upgrade to Category 1 status the Philippines has received from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Philippines Airlines (PAL), the country’s flag carrier, added three new B777-300ERs to its fleet. PAL’s acquisition of the new B777s is part of the Philippine carrier’s modernization program aimed at improving the company’s financial and operational performance. In a product update event on Thursday, May 8, 2014 held at the Reef Restaurant in Long Beach, CA, Philippine Airlines-Los Angeles headed by Area Manager Marie Jemma Saranillo said that PAL will start using the more powerful Boeing 777 for its flights to the US. This development is a welcome boost to the Philippines growing tourism industry and is well received by tourists and tour operators. Travelers who generally prefer to take a direct flight to Manila from the United States will benefit from PAL’s fleet upgrade because the powerful B777s can fly 14,700 kilometers from Manila to the United States mainland and back nonstop without refueling. Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim, who graced the event, in his remarks said that from California alone there are a lot of potential travelers who Read More …

US helps boost PHL efforts to combat wildlife crime

 General
May 152014
 
US helps boost PHL efforts to combat wildlife crime

President Barack Obama, left, and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III participate in a bilateral meeting at Malacanang Palace in Manila, the Philippines, Monday, April 28, 2014. Obama said a 10-year agreement signed Monday to give the U.S. military greater access to Philippine bases will help promote regional security, improve armed forces training and shorten response times to humanitarian crises, including natural disasters. (MNS photo) WASHINGTON, D.C. − The Philippines would now be able to more effectively combat trafficking and other crimes against wildlife with the signing of a bilateral agreement with the United States, the Philippine Embassy said today. The agreement between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service will provide the Philippines with access to and use of the US National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Oregon, considered to be the only laboratory in the world that is dedicated to crimes against wildlife according to Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. “With this agreement, our law enforcement authorities in the Philippines can be expected to more effectively prosecute wildlife traffickers and other offenders,” Ambassador Cuisia said in welcoming the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. Ambassador Cuisia said the agreement will give more teeth to the ongoing efforts to curb wildlife trafficking in the Philippines as the results of the tests of wildlife samples and biota that would be submitted to the forensics lab will be considered admissible evidence in Philippine courts. Read More …

Finding the core of an ethics program

 Economy
May 142014
 

LAST Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day to honor that special person who is instrumental to our existence. Mothers have an extraordinary role to play in the scheme of creation. Not only do they serve as compasses directing our moral values, but more significantly, they are the cradle to the seed of life.

Judge says Pistorius to get psychiatrist test

 Economy
May 142014
 
Judge says Pistorius to get psychiatrist test

Oscar Pistorius, left, accompanied by an unidentified relative, walks towards the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, May 14, 2014. The chief prosecutor in the murder trial of Pistorius on Tuesday asked that the double-amputee runner be placed under psychiatric evaluation after an expert witness testified that he had an anxiety disorder. Pistorius is charged with murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentines Day in 2013. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) PRETORIA, South Africa — The judge overseeing the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius on Wednesday ordered the double-amputee athlete to undergo psychiatric tests, meaning that the trial proceedings will be delayed. The decision by Judge Thokozile Masipa followed a request for a psychiatric evaluation by the chief prosecutor, Gerrie Nel. The prosecutor had said he had no option but to ask for it after an expert witness for the defense testified that Pistorius had an anxiety disorder that may have influenced his judgment when he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Masipa said the court was “ill-equipped” to assess the diagnosis by Dr. Merryll Vorster, and should therefore send Pistorius for a period of evaluation. She said it was important to assess the Olympic runner’s state of mind because of questions raised by the prosecution that Pistorius might argue he was not criminally responsible because of his anxiety disorder. “The accused may not have raised the issue that he was not criminally responsible at the time of the incident in so many words, but evidence Read More …

Vested Interests

 Economy
May 142014
 
Vested Interests

As I discussed last time, money has a price, and this price is called interest. When you borrow money from a bank, a micro-financing institution or an informal money lender, you have to pay interest. However, interest rates and interest computations vary. It is thus important for any borrower to gain an understanding of the mechanics of interest. First of all, interest rates vary. Interest rates (for loans) can go from as low as 4% per year, to as high as 200% or even more, if you borrow from loan sharks. For instance, some informal money lenders lend a person Php10,000 on Sunday, and collect Php2,000 every day after from Monday until Saturday. The loan is then renewed the following Sunday. The minimum implied interest rate of this arrangement is 20% per week. Interest rates vary depending on the nature of the loan, the length of time involved to repay the loan, the risk involved, the amount, the co-maker, the policy of the institution or person, and if any collateral is involved. It is often best to clearly delineate between needs and wants, and avoid spending beyond your means to minimize the chances of unwanted debt. Moreover, financial planning is needed to allow you to be able to apply for cheaper loans from expected expenses, such as tuition payments. In corporate finance, interest is computed based on an interest or coupon rate (in the case of bonds) and is paid at agreed-upon dates, usually on a quarterly or semiannual basis. Read More …

Peso improves midday Wednesday

 Economy
May 132014
 
Peso improves midday Wednesday

MANILA, Philippines – The peso strengthened against the dollar midday Wednesday, settling at 43.68 from the previous day’s 43.815. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $499.7 million in the morning, higher than the $493.4 million posted the same period on Tuesday. The peso opened Wednesday at 43.75.

Factories torched in anti-China protest in Vietnam

 News
May 132014
 
Factories torched in anti-China protest in Vietnam

Vietnamese protesters carry a banner with a Vietnamese slogan reading, “China must respect and execute the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.” AP FILE PHOTO HANOI, Vietnam—Anti-China mobs torched up to 15 foreign-owned factories and trashed many more in southern Vietnam as anger over the recent deployment by China of an oil rig in disputed Southeast Asian waters span dangerously out of control, officials and state media said Wednesday. The unrest at industrial parks established to attract foreign investors was the most serious outbreak of public disorder in the tightly controlled country in years. It points to the dangers for the government as it manages public anger at China and also protests itself against the Chinese deployment in a part of the South China Sea it claims as its own. The unrest late Tuesday at a Singapore-run industrial park and others nearby followed protests by up to 20,000 workers at the complexes in Binh Duong province. Smaller groups attacked factories they believed were Chinese-run, but some were Taiwanese or South Korean, VnExpress website quoted Tran Van Nam, the deputy head of the province’s people’s committee, as saying. On Wednesday morning, groups of men on motorbikes remained on the streets and all the factories in the area were closed, said one park manager, who declined to give his name because of sensitivities of the developments. Riot police had been deployed. Another said many foreign-owned factories were putting banners on the gates of the factories saying “We Read More …

Manila says China reclaiming land in disputed sea

 News
May 132014
 
Manila says China reclaiming land in disputed sea

12:29 pm | Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 DFA Secretary Albert Del Rosario (center). BONG LOZADA/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has protested China’s efforts to reclaim land in a disputed reef in the South China Sea that can be used to build any facility, including an airstrip or an offshore military base in the increasingly volatile region, the country’s top diplomat and other officials said Wednesday. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told The Associated Press that the Philippines lodged the protest against China last month after surveillance aircraft confirmed, and took pictures of the reclamation and dredging being done by Chinese vessels at the Johnson Reef (Mabini Reef) in the Spratly Islands, which Manila says violates a regional non-aggression pact. China has replied to the Philippine protest by saying that the reef belonged to it, he said. Del Rosario said it’s not clear what China would build on the reef, which Manila claims as part of its western province of Palawan, but one possibility is an airstrip. Another official says China can also build an off-shore military base. “We’re not exactly sure what [their intentions there are],” Del Rosario said. Another senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the issue, said China’s reclamation was first detected by air force planes six months ago. When the Philippine government deployed aircraft to help search for a missing Malaysian jetliner in March, the planes also spotted the continuing reclamation on the Read More …

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