July 2014 – Page 34

Enrile brought anew to Makati eye facility for checkup

News

Jul 052014

Enrile brought anew to Makati eye facility for checkup

Enrile surrenders following Sandigan’s arrest order. Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile on Friday, July 4, arrives at Camp Crame in Quezon City shortly after the Sandiganbayan Third Division ordered his arrest in connection with the graft and plunder charges filed against him for allegedly pocketing kickbacks from his pork barrel. Roy Lozano A day after undergoing a procedure to prevent blindness, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was brought to a Makati City clinic anew on Sunday. Enrile was in a police convoy that headed for the Asian Eye Institute for a post-operative eye checkup, radio dzBB quoted GMA News’ Rida Reyes as saying. A photo on Twitter showed the convoy heading for Makati via EDSA. On Saturday, Eneile underwent a procedure to address macular degeneration, which could lead to blindness if not treated. The 90-year-old senator had been detained at the PNP General Hospital since Friday after surrendering there. He faces graft and plunder charges over the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

Malaysia asks PHL for help in tracking militants with Abu Sayyaf ties

News

Jul 052014

Malaysia asks PHL for help in tracking militants with Abu Sayyaf ties

Malaysia has asked the Philippines to help it track down at least five militants with ties to the Abu Sayyaf bandit group who are believed hiding in Mindanao. A report on Malaysia’s The Star Online on Sunday said the five militants are believed to have ties with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) as well. It cited intelligence sources who said the militants could be hiding out with the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo. It added they may be associated with the Daulah Islamiyah Asia Tenggara (South-East Asia Islamiyah Network), which has links to Isil. Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Saturday was quoted in the report as saying Malaysia was working closely with the Philippine government in the hunt for the militants. He said the Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division is now working with its Philippine counterparts. “We are coordinating our intelligence with the Philippines counter-terrorism unit and Interpol,” he told The Star Online. Ahmad Zahid said the Special Branch’s priority was to get the terrorists directly involved in recruiting and sending Malaysians to fight in Syria and Iraq. “Those carrying out kidnappings in Sabah are also in our radar. Security is also being tightened at all major entry points in the country to prevent terrorists or pirates from entering our borders,” he added. BIFF ties? The report also noted the five could also be enjoying protection from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Read More …

SEC warns public vs illegal coin traders

Economy

Jul 052014

SEC warns public vs illegal coin traders

MANILA, Philippines – The corporate regulator has warned the public against conducting business with companies trading gold and silver coins. “The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hereby advises the public against activities of corporations involving the circulation and selling of gold and silver coins that may not be sanctioned by the proper government authorities,” the agency said in a public notice. SEC has received reports of gold and silver coins trading in Cagayan de Oro and other parts of the country. Under the law, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has the sole power to issue currency in the Philippines. “No other person may put into circulation as currency any notes, documents or coins, gold or not, without its prior authority,” SEC said. In dealing with gold as commodity, the SEC reminded the public that gold produced by small-scale miners should only be sold to the BSP under the People’s Small Scale Mining Act. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Furthermore, treasure hunting activities that might involve gold and other precious metals can only be conducted with written authority from the National Museum, SEC said. “To avoid possible penalties and prosecution, it is best to abstain from dealing in gold and silver of spurious origin or those that are being traded through illicit channels,” SEC said. The corporate regulator said SEC-registered entities engaged in illegal dealings with gold and silver should be reported to the agency’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department. To date, there are roughly 800,000 Read More …

Focus is intentional

Economy

Jul 052014

These words caught me by surprise and brought me sudden burst of laughter. My face in the mirror isn’t wrinkled or drawn. My house isn’t dirty. The cobwebs are gone. My garden looks lovely, and so does my lawn. I think I might never, put my glasses back on. There are people who have lost their focus, not because they have not put on their glasses, but because they do not know how important focus is. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 They are easily bored; they feel like they want to try out new things immediately yet tire just as easily. Many of them work for a company for about two and a half years, and then they get bored and think they are wasting an entire lifetime because things are moving so slow. They jump from one job to another and they think that this is the best way to rise in their careers and get better pay. But in doing so, they did not focus on a particular skill, knowledge or an area of specialty and a few years later, just as when age caught up with them, they have not created a name for themselves in the industry, they have no skills that are marketable, all they have are regrets because they let their careers slip away. I have also met adults who could not focus. They could not hold their attention long, their eyes drift while I speak to them and their Read More …

Vested interests

Economy

Jul 052014

He better be kidding. Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya could not be serious when he announced that his department has chosen Sangley Point in Cavite City to host the new international airport and replace the existing one. We know that Abaya used to be congressman of the district that includes Cavite City. It’s too obvious that politics played in a huge role in choosing the site for the new airport. According to Abaya, the DOTC will adopt the recommendation of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to build Manila’s next international gateway in Cavite. The JICA guys must be up on their feet when they saw the announcement. After all, they did not recommend Sangley. According to JICA sources, the agency is actually more inclined to support whatever moves the San Miguel Corporation group will make as far as building a new airport is concerned. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 When it chose Sangley, DOTC in effect rejected a proposal from SMC to build a $10-billion airport on reclaimed land at Manila Bay. Abaya said that DOTC’s planning department requested SMC for a full and proper presentation of their proposal but their two requests were either turned down or ignored. Earlier, businessman Ramon Ang personally presented SMC’s plan to construct a modern airport along Manila Bay in a meeting with President Aquino last May. SMC’s proposed four-runway hub was designed to either complement or replace the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Ang’s intention Read More …

Volume of seized fake goods up

Economy

Jul 052014

MANILA, Philippines – Counterfeit goods confiscated by the government jumped 215 percent in terms of value in the January to May period compared to a year ago, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said. IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said the value of fake items seized reached P6.845 billion as of end-May, way above the P2.173 billion in the comparable period a year ago. He said the the increase was due to “concerted and joint operations of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and BOC (Bureau of Customs).” He noted that the joint operations of the two agencies involved the confiscation of P4.145 billion worth of goods for the five-month period. The IPOPHL is upbeat that the value of seized counterfeit items will continue to increase in the coming months. “The operations will continue at present levels,” Blancaflor said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He also said more joint operations are expected to be undertaken. Apart from the NBI and BOC, other agencies of the National Committee on IP Rights which can visit business establishments with IP violations and seize counterfeit items are the Philippine National Police, Optical Media Board and Food and Drug Administration. Last year, the IPOPHL’s haul of counterfeit goods were valued at P7.76 billion. Blancaflor said earlier the IPOPHL is hopeful this year’s total can match 2011’s all-time high which reached P8.3 billion. He also said the IPOPHL plans to implement programs aimed at increasing the public’s awareness as well Read More …

Long-term interest rates seen slowing down

Economy

Jul 052014

Long-term interest rates seen slowing down

MANILA, Philippines – First Metro Investments Corp. (FMIC) said it sees interest rates on longer-dated government securities slowing down a bit in the third quarter with the softening of US Treasuries yields. During its mid-year investors briefing Thursday, FMIC senior vice president Reynaldo B. Montalbo Jr. said the movement of interest rates would be marginal especially with a possible slowing of US economic growth. The yield on the three-month debt paper will stay modest at 0.9 to 1.1 percent while the interest rate on five-year Treasury bills will range from 3.35 percent to 3.65 percent. The 10-year bills are seen to fetch a rate of 4.05 percent to 4.25 percent while the interest rate on 20-and 25-year bills are seen to range at 5 to 5.5 percent to 5.7 to 5.9 percent. Policy rates, liquidity, inflation and foreign exchange are the factors that continue to affect the short-end yield of the curve. The long-end of the curve, on the other hand is affected by US and EU recovery, liquidity and the government’s borrowing program. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite the lower-than-expected GDP growth for the first quarter of 5.7 percent, yields fell across all tenors. GDP growth slowed due to the delayed effects of Super Typhoon Yolanda to agriculture and weakness in manufacturing output. Government spending also slid from 10 percent to two percent. Montalbo said the government is expected to resume issuing longer tenor bonds as yields have stabilized. With more issues, secondary trading Read More …

Ogie hosts Let’s Ask Pilipinas

Entertainment

Jul 052014

MANILA, Philippines – Ogie Alcasid will be the new host for the latest season of TV5’s Let’s Ask Pililipinas. He will replace Aga Muhlach who hosted the previous seasons of the said show. Let’s Ask Pilipinas offers exciting changes this month as the interactive daily game show takes on a morning timeslot, with new segments. As it opens its third season, Ogie is expected to inject his comedic flair and natural wit into the daily game show. “I’m happy and excited that I’m doing this show, Let’s Ask Pilipinas is a blessing and at my age mamimili pa ba ako? The show is a great opportunity for me to be doing something new for TV5,” said Ogie, who comes fresh from the success of the recently-concluded primetime comedy show Confessions of a Torpe. The mechanics still remain the same. Four contestants get to participate in the comfort of their homes via video conference. While contestants try to guess the correct answers to the questions, the corresponding prize money increases with each question in every round. There are three rounds and at the end of each round, the contestant with the lowest cash total is eliminated from the game. In the final round, the last remaining contestant can wager all or part of their winnings on the final question of the day. A player who chooses to wager all of their money can win up to P300,000. Let’s Ask Pilipinas is adding the new segment called Let’s Ask Barangay which is Read More …

Philippine church leader to bishops: listen more, condemn less

News

Jul 052014

Philippine church leader to bishops: listen more, condemn less

The leader of the Philippines’ Catholic Church, which routinely denounces abortion and contraception, called for the clergy on Saturday to listen more and condemn less, in the latest sign of a liberal shift in the powerful institution. Church leaders exert vast influence in the conservative Philippines, Asia’s bastion of Catholicism and the only state apart from Vatican that still outlaws both divorce and terminations. But with many modern Filipino Catholics embracing attitudes that were once considered taboo or frowned upon, and the more conciliatory tone of the Vatican under Pope Francis, there are signs that the Philippine church is softening its stance. Speaking at an annual assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, where he is president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas said a change of tone would be a fitting welcome for the pope, who is expected to visit the Philippines next year. “Perhaps we can reconsider our approach to solving the problems of family and life by listening more to the wounded and the grieving broken homes rather than condemning divorce and abortion and contraception at every opportunity,” Villegas said. “Perhaps we can reach out to more people by stretching our minds and lowering our fences and listening… without being judgemental or punitive.” In 2012 President Benigno Aquino signed a law requiring government health centres to hand out free condoms and birth control pills, in a major defeat for the church, which fought a 15-year campaign against any form of family planning laws. The law took effect this Read More …

Janice de Belen: Enough to be 'civil' with ex-husband's wife

General

Jul 052014

Janice de Belen: Enough to be 'civil' with ex-husband's wife

Janice de Belen echoes Priscilla Mierelles’ statement that they shouldn’t be “best friends.”- Photo by Jonathan Velasco, reposted in Janice de Belen’s Instagram account MANILA, Philippines — Janice de Belen agrees with Priscilla Mierelles that they don’t have to be friends. Priscilla is the wife of Janice’s ex-husband and actor John Estrada. Janice and John were married in 1992, separated in 2001, and their marriage was annulled in 2004. “Medyo weird [kung] ako ang maging best friend ng ex [ni John]. I don’t aspire to be her friend or best friend. Baka may situation na may comment na hindi ko gusto e. I respect her as my husband’s ex-wife and the mom of his kids,” the second wife said, as cited by Yahoo! OMG. In an interview with Umagang Kay Ganda on Friday, Janice agreed with Priscilla’s statement on their relationship. “Hindi naman siguro requirement na maging mag-best friends kami, ‘di ba? As log as we are civil at maayos kaming dalawa, walang problema ‘yon,” Janice said. The Kapamilya actress, meanwhile, gives full support to her eldest daughter Inah but refuses to manage her as she enters the world of show business under Star Magic. She stars in the Wansapanatym episode “Witch-A-Makulit.” Entertainment ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Kapag ‘yong parent ang nagma-manage doon sa anak niya, masyadong maraming conflict ‘yan, e,” she replied when asked why she didn’t manage the career of her daughter. Janice said she instead coaches her daughter on the significance of finding her Read More …

Older Entries Newer Entries