Stocks down on profit-taking

 General
Aug 152014
 
Stocks down on profit-taking

Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:30 am | Saturday, August 16th, 2014 Filipino traders at Philippine Stock Exchange, Makati. AP FILE PHOTO The local stock index Friday slumped for the first time in four days but stayed above the 7,000-mark amid a slew of profit-taking. The Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 52.49 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 7,008.51. Week-on-week, the index still advanced by 128.17 points, or 1.86 percent, due to the cumulative gains made in the last four days. All counters were in the red as the recent run-up to a 14-month-high drove many investors to trim and reassess their portfolios, dealers said. On Thursday, the index finished past the 7,000 mark for the first time this year as some large cap stocks like PLDT and Ayala Land Inc. benefited from increased weights in the closely tracked MSCI indices. Value turnover for the day amounted to P9 billion. Market breadth was negative, with 55 advancers against 120 decliners, while 49 stocks were unchanged. PLDT was unchanged after the MSCI-induced rally on Thursday, but it was still the most actively traded stock for the day. AGI fell by 3.35 percent after gaming arm Travellers’ first half profit attained only 38 percent of full-year market consensus. EDC (-2.28 percent), BPI (-2.58 percent) and Megaworld (-1.16 percent) also weighed down the index. Investors also pocketed gains from BDO, Metrobank, Bloomberry, SMIC, URC. Outside of index stocks, Puregold (-8.73 percent) and Cosco (-5.52 percent) were heavily battered due to disappointing second quarter results.  Read More …

AFP distances from Aquino term extension issue

 Entertainment
Aug 152014
 
AFP distances from Aquino term extension issue

President Benigno S. Aquino III congratulates Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang, Jr. after administering the oath in a ceremony at the Rizal Hall of the Malacañan Palace on Monday (August 11). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) assured on Thursday that it would remain “apolitical and nonpartisan” despite calls for President Benigno Aquino III’s term extension. “That’s something very political. We remain apolitical and nonpartisan,” said AFP Chief of Staff General Gregorio Catapang Jr. when asked by reporters during the turn-over ceremony of military riffles at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on the openness of Aquino to a second term. Catapang said the calls for Aquino to make another run for the presidency are a product of a “vibrant democracy.” “It’s just an opinion, a talk of the town,” he said. “These things are things that are products of a vibrant democracy and the political dynamics that is now happening in our country,” he added. The military chief said it would not interfere in the political landscape of the country. Earlier this month, a social media campaign called “One More Term: Re-Elect P-Noy for 2016” recently flooded pages on Facebook and Twitter, supposedly emanating from Aquino’s official Facebook account, which has more than 4 million followers. Also, some members of the Senate and House of Representatives supported the idea of Aquino’s term extension. However, for Aquino to make another run for the presidency after his term in Read More …

DND mulls pullout of PH peacekeepers in Liberia, Golan Heights

 News
Aug 152014
 
DND mulls pullout of PH peacekeepers in Liberia, Golan Heights

By INQUIRER.net |INQUIRER.net 7:17 pm | Friday, August 15th, 2014 UN Filipino peacekeepers FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–The Department of National Defense is considering the pullout of military personnel serving for the United Nations as peacekeepers in Golan Heights and Liberia due to the worsening conflict situation in the Middle East and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. “If they are not given proper equipment and tools for their protection, we should not continue the deployment. We cannot put our soldiers to risk,” Defense Secretary Voltare Gazmin told reporters in Filipino on Friday. A military assessment revealed that the deployment of peacekeepers to Liberia and Golan Heights has become hazardous. The Armed Forces of the Philippines deploys military personnel to Liberia, Golan Heights and Haiti as part of its commitment to help the United Nations.  There are 115 peacekeepers in Liberia, 332 peacekeepers in Golan Heights, and 157 in Haiti. Gazmin said that the recommendation to pull out Filipino peacekeepers does not cover the operations in Haiti. “We will not pull out all the contingents. It may only be done in areas that are risky because of health reasons and conflict,” he said. The recommendation will be upon the approval of President Benigno Aquino III. In Liberia, UN peacekeepers have been ordered to restrict their movements to avoid the Ebola virus, which has already killed over 1,000 people in West Africa. In 2013, 25 members of the 6th Philippine contingent to Golan Heights were seized in two separate incidents by Syrian Read More …

Marian Rivera, Dingdong Dantes announce plans to wed in December

 Entertainment
Aug 152014
 
Marian Rivera, Dingdong Dantes announce plans to wed in December

SHOWBIZ couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera announced Friday that they are getting married this December. In a press conference dubbed as “The Royal Announcement” on Friday, the couple said the wedding will take place at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City. Dantes said venue is special to them as they grew up attending masses in the said church. “We picked a place na meaning sa amin pareho. Doon ako lumaki sa place na yun, doon ako bininyagan and yan din yung simbahan na madalas namin puntahan together. It’s very beautiful inside. And gusto talaga namin sa Metro Manila lang,” he said. The couple also revealed that Rivera’s best friends, Roxanne Barcelo and Ana Feleo, will be her maids of honor while Danates’ younger brother, Angelo, will stand as his best man during the wedding. But when asked about their complete wedding entourage and other details of the event, Dingdong said they are yet to finalize it as they are still in the planning stage. Rivera added that she is still looking for her wedding couturier. “Wala pa talaga pero nag-research na ako kung sino pwedeng gumawa. Yung gown ko hindi ko pa talaga alam. Meron pa lang talaga ako nung sapatos, yun lang.” Meanwhile, the couple was asked on their immediate plans after the wedding. The couple said they do not know yet where they will take their honeymoon but both are certain they want to start a family soon. “Totoo talaga, gusto namin (na magka-baby na) Read More …

Sea level rising in PH, Australia due to human activity–study

 News
Aug 152014
 
Sea level rising in PH, Australia due to human activity–study

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/109433/sea-level-rising-in-ph-australia-due-to-human-activity-study To continue, please type the characters below: About this page Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. This page checks to see if it’s really you sending the requests, and not a robot. Why did this happen? This page appears when Google automatically detects requests coming from your computer network which appear to be in violation of the Terms of Service. The block will expire shortly after those requests stop. In the meantime, solving the above CAPTCHA will let you continue to use our services. This traffic may have been sent by malicious software, a browser plug-in, or a script that sends automated requests. If you share your network connection, ask your administrator for help — a different computer using the same IP address may be responsible. Learn more Sometimes you may be asked to solve the CAPTCHA if you are using advanced terms that robots are known to use, or sending requests very quickly. IP address: 50.116.61.109 Time: 2014-08-15T10:00:32Z URL: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/109433/sea-level-rising-in-ph-australia-due-to-human-activity-study

Philippines, rebels wrap up talks on draft Muslim self-rule law

 General
Aug 152014
 
Philippines, rebels wrap up talks on draft Muslim self-rule law

The Philippine government and the country’s largest Muslim rebel group said Friday they had wrapped up talks aimed at ensuring the terms of a landmark peace deal would be enacted into law. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the peace agreement in March, but it fell into serious question amid a row over a draft law to create a Muslim self-rule area in the south of the mainly Catholic nation. “After a series of productive meetings… we have concluded discussions on the various issues involving the draft Basic Bangsamoro Law,” President Benigno Aquino’s chief aide Paquito Ochoa and chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in a joint statement. The MILF has been fighting since the 1970s for an independent or autonomous homeland for the nation’s Muslim minority in a conflict which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The Aquino government and the MILF signed an accord in March that laid out a roadmap for final peace by the middle of 2016. The deal called for MILF control of a new southern autonomous region, and the rebels would lay down their arms. However the process ran into difficulties after a draft bill creating the autonomous region was submitted to Aquino for review in April by a joint commission of MILF and government representatives that drew up the document. The president’s legal team later ordered a series of changes that frustrated the MILF, which last month accused the government of trying to renege on the terms of the peace agreement. Read More …

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