Bayan sets series of street protests for PNoy's SONA

 News
Jun 292014
 
Bayan sets series of street protests for PNoy's SONA

Activist groups have scheduled a series of protest actions in the run-up to President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address on July 28. On Sunday, activist groups with Bagong Alyansang Makabayan announced they will hold Aquino accountable for his alleged negligence in running the nation, GMA News’ Steve Dailisan reported on “Balitanghali.” One activist wore a mask of Aquino and posed for a mock mug shot, for supposed criminal charges for failing to keep the prices of basic goods and fuel low, for a slow and selective probe of the P10-billion pork barrel scam, and for the negligence of victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Aquino is to deliver his SONA before a joint session of Congress at the House of Representatives complex in Quezon City on July 28. Farmers picket Aquino house Earlier Sunday, a farmers’ group picketed Aquino’s private residence in Quezon City and burned him in efficy. The farmers carrying placards denouncing Aquino as being pro-landlord marched to Aquino’s Times Street house before noon, radio dzBB’s Manny Vargas reported. Anti-riot police from the Metro Manila police office were deployed to the area and barred the activists from getting near the house . The protesters held their program at the corner of Times and West 4th streets in Quezon City instead. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News

No sacred cows in ‘pork’ probe but evidence needed, Palace stresses

 General
Jun 292014
 
No sacred cows in ‘pork’ probe but evidence needed, Palace stresses

Administration allies will still have to face the music if there is evidence linking them to the P10-billion pork barrel scam, a Palace official said Sunday. In a radio interview over government-run dzRB, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, whose names have been linked to the scam, will not be spared if evidence is found against them. “Kailangan lang pong lumabas ‘yung mismong kongkretong impormasyon at mismong ebidensya. Handa naman po ang ating dalawang kalihim na harapin ‘yang mga akusasyon na ‘yan,” he said. Detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, said to be the mastermind of the scam, has alleged it was Abad who taught her how to create non-government organizations. Lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations were allegedly funneled to Napoles’ NGOs for non-existent projects. Abad has denied the accusation and has said he has never dealt with Napoles. Alcala has likewise denied dealing with the businesswoman, now detained at Fort Sto. Domingo in San Pedro, Laguna. Coloma stressed there will be so-called sacred cows in the investigation into the PDAF scam. “Wala naman po dahil nga batay lang sa ebidensya, batay lang po sa kongkretong impormasyon na nakakalap. Wala naman pong pinipuwera (itsapwera), wala din pong pinag-iinitan. Kung saan po tatama ‘yung hataw ng batas, ika nga, dahil sa ipinapakita ng kongkretong ebidensya, ‘yon po ang magiging gabay sa gagawin ng ating mga awtoridad,” he said. The Aquino administration has been criticized by activist groups and by Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who Read More …

Security alert in Philippines over terror threat

 News
Jun 282014
 
Security alert in Philippines over terror threat

The Philippines stepped up security at key installations and all public areas in parts of the country’s volatile south Sunday following a terror threat, police said. The national police said they had received reliable information on a “possible terrorist threat” on the southern island of Mindanao, particularly in Davao, the country’s third largest city with a population of more than two million. All police forces were alerted “to beef up security operations against possible infiltration of suspected members of said reported threat groups”, the national police said in a statement. It did not mention the nature of the possible attack, nor identify any group, although parts of Mindanao are plagued by Al-Qaeda-linked Muslim militants as well as communist guerrillas waging a decades long insurgency. The police said security forces would conduct checkpoints and patrols and also carry out inspections at transport terminals, commercial centres and vital installations. The threat alert came as minority Muslims in the mostly Catholic nation began celebrating the holy fasting month of Ramadan. It also came just over two weeks after police captured Khair Mundos, one of the country’s most wanted Islamic militants from the Abu Sayyaf group who was also on the US government’s terror watch list. Mundos is a key leader and fund raiser for the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for the country’s worst terrorist attacks, including a 2004 bombing of a ferry in Manila Bay that left more than 100 dead. The Philippine military said it was also hunting Abdel Basit Usman, Read More …

PH ranks 6-7 on disaster readiness; could do better

 News
Jun 282014
 
PH ranks 6-7 on disaster readiness; could do better

BANGKOK—On a scale of 1 to 10—with 10 being the highest—the Philippines ranks “somewhere between 6 and 7” as far its level of preparedness for natural disasters is concerned. The assessment was made by Margareta Wahlstrom, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for disaster risk reduction, who pointed out the Southeast Asian nation is “very capable” of reducing its vulnerability, as well as responding to calamities. “On the local government units’ level of preparedness, it’s good. You have outstanding LGUs like (the provinces of) Albay and Cebu. Certainly, they’re between 6 and 7. On the national level, we can also raise it to 6 or 7,” she said. However, Wahlstrom, also head of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), asserted that “the Philippines’ aspiration should be higher.” “It should be an 8 or 9, given that your country has experienced many disasters. Both the national and local levels need to get to 8 or 9,” she told the Inquirer. Tacloban, face of disaster  Interviewed during the just-concluded 6th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR), which the UNISDR and the Thai government cohosted from June 23 to 26, Wahlstrom noted that “after Indonesia and Japan, which were hit by earthquakes and tsunamis, Tacloban City (which was devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in November) is now the face of disaster in the region.” “There’s the curiosity and interest from other countries and institutions in the region as to why it was different. Some say it was the impression that so many (over 6,000) people died despite an early Read More …

‘Miracle of Kamaishi’: It can happen here for ‘Yolanda’ kids

 News
Jun 282014
 
‘Miracle of Kamaishi’: It can happen here for ‘Yolanda’ kids

‘PRECIOUS TO US’ Teacher Miyoko Hirano and 14-year-old students Fuka Sato (center) andYukina Kikuchi of Japan show to visiting Southeast Asian journalists “precious” thank-you letterssent by the Filipino pupils to whom they donated school supplies after Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” DJ YAP KAMAISHI CITY—Fuka Sato was only 11 when she and some 3,000 other schoolchildren escaped the tsunami that engulfed this small industrial town three years ago in what became known throughout Japan as the “Miracle of Kamaishi.” But Sato, now a middle-school student at Kamaishi East Junior High, knows that their dramatic escape from the March 3, 2011, disaster—aided by teachers and years of earthquake drills—was not incredible at all. She believes that the same “miracle” can happen regularly, even in other places. “We need only to share our experience so other children will know what to do,” said 14-year-old Sato. Which was why when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) brought devastating storm surges into the coasts of central Philippines last November, the schoolchildren of Kamaishi wanted to reach out that instant. “They were watching the news and they were reminded of their own experience. Immediately, they wanted to help,” their teacher, Miyoko Hirano, told visiting Southeast Asian journalists, including the Inquirer. The reporters from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines were on a fellowship organized by the Foreign Press Center Japan, which took them on an 11-day tour around the coast of northeastern Japan and the greater Tokyo area to survey the progress of Japan’s massive rehabilitation effort after the Read More …

Setting off with blind faith

 News
Jun 282014
 
Setting off with blind faith

Illustrations by Steph Bravo HONG KONG—This is a true story about my friend Digoy and my encounter with Masha, a Russian lady.  If written like a play, it would go thus: Characters: Digoy (not his real nickname), from Butuan, 41 years old; Masha, from Moscow. She could be about 55. I am a longtime Pinay resident of Hong Kong (old enough to avail of the territory’s senior privileges). Locale: Hong Kong, 2014. Intro: Globalization for many Filipinos means leaving the motherland to seek fortunes abroad. Most head for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, the US, the UK, even danger spots like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya. Domestic helpers are much in demand so Pinoys easily land jobs as housemaids, nannies and caregivers for greying populations around the globe.  Pinoy men are popular as seafarers and construction workers. Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, groups of prosperous Russians have been chasing the sun around Asia and the Caribbean. They can be found at Philippine seaside resorts.  Some end up in Hong Kong to shop and hit the Macau casinos. Digoy’s dilemma Digoy has lived in Hong Kong for almost two decades, signed up by a British employer who also hired his wife, Maris, as a fulltime cook and nanny. An expert jack-of-all trades, he freelances as carpenter, plumber, electrician, and much-in-demand lipat-bahay man (house mover).  His three children are looked after by his parents in Butuan with funds he and Maris remit.  But over the years he has felt Read More …

Franco Consolacion and the victory of Filipino accountants in California

 News
Jun 282014
 
Franco Consolacion and the victory of Filipino accountants in California

FRANCO CONSOLACION SAN FRANCISCO—Franco Consolacion was always a dreamer. He immigrated to the United States with his family after martial law was declared in the Philippines in September 1972. He had been a successful Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a “topnotcher” in the accountancy exams, and was teaching accounting at the University of the East. In his new country, Franco secured a job as a senior accountant of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and earned enough to buy a home in Pinole, a bedroom community outside the city. But Franco dreamed of being a CPA in California and knew he either had to pass the accountancy exams or obtain a “waiver” from the California Board of Accountancy, which was granted to a qualified applicant that was “a holder of a valid and unrevoked certificate as a Certified Public Accountant issued in a foreign country.” Franco quickly learned that the waiver applications of every Philippine- trained and certified CPA had all been denied. What incensed Franco most was the knowledge that foreign applicants from British Commonwealth countries were regularly granted waivers, and these foreign applicants were invariably white. Franco led a renewed effort to secure waivers for Filipino CPAs by mobilizing the Bay Area Filipino community to rally to their cause as a civil rights issue. He lobbied to get a law passed that would prohibit discrimination by the Board of Accountancy on the basis of national origin. But his 1977 legislative effort failed because of the forceful opposition Read More …

OFWs struggle to see their dying parents

 News
Jun 282014
 
OFWs struggle to see their dying parents

Bantay OCW By Susan KPhilippine Daily Inquirer 12:01 am | Sunday, June 29th, 2014 His dying father’s wish was to see his son one last time. His son, JU, had signed a two-year contract to work in Dubai and was barely on his first year.  Coming home would mean he would not be able to finish his contract, which he had worked hard to get. Dilemmas like this face many overseas workers. JU was informed of his father’s wish that he come home. But frankly, he was conflicted and asked for the advice of Bantay OCW. JU said he didn’t even have the money to come home because he had already sent all his money to cover the medicines of his father. Besides, his own wife and children were depending on his overseas work to guarantee them a better future. We advised JU to come home. Whatever happens, he shouldn’t take it too hard.  Even if his father dies before he gets home, his conscience won’t snare him because he was on his way home. He should do whatever it takes to be home as soon as possible. Recently, we received a text message from JU. He was back in the Philippines and yes, he was there when his father took his last breath.  He told us he was able to spend a week with his father. His father passed away last week. He also told us he has freely accepted all that has happened and he was grateful that Read More …

Solid reputation

 General
Jun 282014
 
Solid reputation

Security Bank Corporation has launched a public offer of its Basel III Tier 2 notes amounting to P10 billion. Tier 2 notes are investment instruments that offer returns higher than most other instruments in the market. The notes have a term of 10 years, (with an issuer’s call option after five years) and may be purchased in minimum denominations of P500,000 and in increments of P100,000. The interest on the notes will be paid quarterly. Security Bank is issuing the notes to further support the continuing growth of the bank’s financial assets. And scanning the bank’s performance over the past few years, these notes are, as they say, a sure investment bet After all, Security Bank is the only one among the country’s largest banks to register higher profits in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year, Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Prior to 2013, from 2007 to 2012, it ranked first in return on shareholders’ equity, return on assets, return on shareholders’ equity, cost to income ratio, asset quality having the lowest non-performing loans ratio, and also leads in terms of NPL reserve cover ratio. In the last two years, the bank invested in the expansion of its branch network and retail banking business to drive future revenues. Underlining its value to the Philippine market, Security Bank is an independent bank with core franchises in corporate and investment banking, commercial and retail banking, and financial markets, with a solid niche Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries