DOJ supports House proposal to create new political unit of government in NCR

 Entertainment
Sep 262014
 
DOJ supports House proposal to create new political unit of government in NCR

Flood victims are evacuated in rescue boats after their homes were swamped by heavy flooding in Marikina, Metro Manila September 19, 2014. Heavy rain in the Philippine capital, Manila, caused flooding in many areas on Friday, shutting schools, government offices and financial markets as a tropical storm made landfall to the north. Thousands of residents in low-lying areas were moved to higher ground, officials said, as flood waters rose quickly after the equivalent of half a month’s usual rain fell in six hours. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) threw its support on the proposal in the House of Representatives to create a special metropolitan political subdivision in the National Capital Region. House Bill No. 712, authored by Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, proposes the creation of the Metropolitan Manila Regional Administration (MMRA), a new political unit of government that has a supramunicipal council authority to enact ordinances and regulations for the welfare of NCR residents. “This department supports the passage of aforesaid bill into law… and manifests no constitutional or legal objection to the enactment of the aforesaid bill into law,” said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in a legal opinion. De Lima stressed that under Section 11, Article X (Local Government) of the 1987 Constitution, Congress is allowed to create special metropolitan political subdivisions, subject to a plebiscite as set forth in Section 10 of the same Article. De Lima clarified that component cities and municipalities under the MMRA will still retain their basic autonomy Read More …

De Lima: Ong’s dismissal highlights ‘restrictions’ in judiciary members’ social life

 Entertainment
Sep 262014
 
De Lima: Ong’s dismissal highlights ‘restrictions’ in judiciary members’ social life

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, poses questions to Janet Lim-Napoles, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind during the hearing on Thursday (Nov. 7, 2013) at the Senate building in Pasay City. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Following the dismissal of Sandiganbayan Justice Gregory Ong, members of the judiciary should be conscious of the “restrictions” in their social life, particularly in attending parties where the organizer is not their relatives, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Wednesday. “It really depends on the circumstances, but really, judges, members of the bench, should really, really be conscious of the restrictions sa social life nila,” De Lima said. Ong was spotted in at least two parties organized by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles when a case against her was pending before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division, which Ong headed. Napoles was eventually acquitted in the case, which involved the allegedly anomalous sale of 500 Kevlar helmets to the Philippine Marines in 1998. The Supreme Court dismissed Ong on Tuesday over his links with Napoles. The decision came with “forfeiture of all retirement benefits, except accrued leave benefits, if any, and with prejudice to reemployment in any branch, agency or instrumentality of the government including government-owned and controlled corporation. De Lima, who said Ong’s dismissal “should serve as a lesson” to members of the judiciary, particularly to those in high positions, believes the testimonies of pork barrel scam whistleblowers Benhur Luy and Marina Sula about Ong’s presence in Napoles-organized parties strengthened the case against him. De Read More …

Sandiganbayan affirms suspension orders vs. Revilla, Cambe

 Entertainment
Sep 262014
 
Sandiganbayan affirms suspension orders vs. Revilla, Cambe

Senator Bong Revilla, shown in photo on his way to be detained on plunder and graft charges, said his lawyer, Sal Panelo, only talked about the rats and roaches in his cell in jest. Revilla’s lawyer has said the senator’s family saw rats “as big as cats” inside the senator’s cell. (MNS photo) MANILA, Sept 25 (Mabuhay) – The Sandiganbayan First Division has upheld its decision to suspend Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and his former staff Richard Cambe for 90 days over the plunder and graft charges they are facing in connection with the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. In a 17-page resolution on Wednesday, the graft court junked the motion of reconsideration filed by Revilla’s camp, saying it found no basis to change its decision. In the same ruling, it also denied the senator’s prayer to suspend proceedings and upheld the existence of probable cause against him and Cambe. “In the present cases, the validity of the Informations against accused Revilla and Cambe has been established. (T)he Court, then and now, has pronounced that there is probable case to indict the accused-movants with plunder and violation of the anti-graft law,” the Sandiganbayan said. The anti-graft court ordered the suspension last August 4, as Revilla and Cambe face plunder and graft charges over the alleged pork barrel scam. Revilla, one of the three senators detained over the pork barrel scam, is accused of receiving P224.5 million in kickbacks from 2006 to 2010 from alleged mastermind, Janet Lim-Napoles. He surrendered Read More …

SM pulls ‘rape’ shirt after online outrage

 Entertainment
Sep 262014
 

MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines’ biggest mall operator said Tuesday it had withdrawn from its shelves a T-shirt that made fun of rape, following social media outrage. A photo of the dark blue T-shirt with the slogan: “It’s not rape. It’s a snuggle with a struggle”, was posted by writer Karen Kunawicz on her Facebook page on Monday and quickly went viral. SM Supermalls said in a statement the message on the T-shirt was “unacceptable”, and that it only found out about it through social media. “We have immediately pulled out all the T-shirts of the consignor that distributes them,” it said in a statement. “Appropriate action will be taken to ensure this does not happen again. Thank you for informing us.” SM Supermalls, owned by the Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy, operates 46 malls locally and has expanded to China. Kunawicz’s Facebook photo of the T-shirt, which was displayed in the teen boys’ section, was shared almost 3,000 times and liked by close to 1,000 people by Tuesday afternoon. “I’m angry not just with SM but with the group of idiots that envisioned and actually produced this,” one Facebook user said in a comment to Kunawicz’s post. “A big company has an even bigger social responsibility to control what goes through their stores,” another person on Facebook said in a separate comment. Twitter user @Photoworldmanila said: “If you are a woman, you will be disgusted with #SM.” SM Supermalls said it was investigating how the shirt got into its Read More …

Globe brings LTE-TDD, LTE-FDD to VisMin

 Economy
Sep 262014
 
Globe brings LTE-TDD, LTE-FDD to VisMin

Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu and Alcatel Lucent Shanghai Bell COO Andrew Butterworth lead a ceremonial switch of first LTE-TDD site in Lahug, Cebu City. MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom is gearing up to expand its mobile ultra-broadband infrastructure in Visayas and Mindanao with the activation of its LTE-TDD and LTE-FDD services in the region. After signing a deal with France-based Alcatel-Lucent on September 17, the telecom is set to upgrade its wireless network infrastructure from WiMax to Long-Term Evolution Time-Division Duplex (LTE-TDD) and Frequency-Division Long-Term Evolution (LTE-FDD) ultra broadband access technologies. Globe President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Cu said the rollout is part of the telecom’s continuing adoption of more advanced technologies for better connectivity, higher network capacity and faster transmission speeds to address the increasing demand for fast and reliable broadband service. “The activation of less than a week after we signed the partnership indicates the aggressive way we are going out to roll out LTE technologies moving forward onto the next year to further enhance mobile browsing experience of our customers,” Cu said. He added that the project is particularly important for people in the Visayas, who are still recovering from the onslaught of typhoon Yolanda last year. The project also supports the government’s efforts to expand the reach of broadband Internet services. “This project not only highlights how our LTE-TDD technology is expanding, but also continues the strong momentum of mobile ultra-broadband access in the Asia-Pacific region. As a key provider of Read More …

Peso declines midday Friday

 Economy
Sep 262014
 
Peso declines midday Friday

MANILA, Philippines – The peso declined against the dollar midday Friday, settling at 44.843 from the previous day’s 44.77. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $607.8 million in the morning, higher than the $435.1 million posted the same period on Thursday. The peso opened Friday at 44.74.

Sandigan allows Enrile to extend stay at PNP hospital

 News
Sep 252014
 
Sandigan allows Enrile to extend stay at PNP hospital

(Updated 12:47 p.m.) The Sandiganbayan Third Division on Friday granted the motion of suspended Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile to remain under hospital arrest. In a 16-page resolution issuedFriday, the justices of the Third Division unanimously granted Enrile’s motion for hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital pending the resolution of his motion for bail. “Premises considered, accused Juan Ponce Enrile’s Motion for Detention at the PNP General Hospital pending the resolution of his motion for bail is granted… until he is determined by the doctors to be physically fit for detention at the proper Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility or until further orders from the court,” the resolution said as read by Third Division clerk of court Dennis Pulma. Pulma said the court has also allowed Enrile to seek medical services or to be confined to other medical facilities outside the PNP general hospital “first, in case of emergency or necessity and second, if the required procedure is not accessible to Enrile inside the PNP.” The resolution said all the medical expenses would have to be shouldered by Enrile.Enrile is facing plunder and graft charges in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam. On July 15, the Sandiganbayan allowed Enrile, 90, to continue his temporary stay at the PNP General Hospital for another 30 days so that doctors may examine him more thoroughly. Doctors who examined Enrile at the Philippine General Hospital had recommended that he be allowed hospital arrest since he Read More …

Smart offers free Internet access to prepaid subscribers

 Economy
Sep 252014
 
Smart offers free Internet access to prepaid subscribers

MANILA, Philippines – All prepaid subscribers of Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Sun Cellular can now enjoy free mobile Internet access, Philippine Long Distance Company Chair Manuel Pangilinan announced on Friday. By texting FREE to 9999, the three network’s prepaid users can access the Internet and use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, stream music, access search engines, send and receive emails and shop online, among others. However, dowloading, streaming and watching videos (YouTube, Vimeo) and using VOIP apps (FaceTime, Skype, Viber), messaging apps (WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Viber) and file-sharing sites are not covered by the promo. Smart said an active subscriber that has an available airtime balance of at least P1 or is subscribed to any load bucket/promo can avail of the offer, which will run until November 30 this year. Smart added that the promo has an inital 30-megabyte cap per day per subscriber, and is subject to the promo terms and fair use policy. “Internet access is a powerful stimulant to growth, and to improving the lives of people,” Pangilinan said.

Papal visit logo reflects solidarity with victims of recent PHL calamities

 News
Sep 252014
 
Papal visit logo reflects solidarity with victims of recent PHL calamities

Pope Francis giving the Philippines a merciful and compassionate embrace is the theme of the official logo of the Holy Father’s upcoming visit to the country in January. The logo features arms around a yellow circle representing the Philippines, the Papal Visit’s official website PapalVisit.ph said. “The current Pope is well known for expressing his love and care for people by spontaneously hugging and kissing them. The red and blue circles or arms therefore symbolize the Pope’s Merciful and Compassionate Embrace, and by extension, Christ’s loving embrace. The Pope now comes to the Philippines to embrace us with his arms of love,” it said. But it added the logo’s blue, red and yellow colors symbolize the Philippines and the Filipino people. These are also the colors of the Philippine flag.  More importantly, the PapalVisit.ph site said the Pope’s visit is “in solidarity with the victims of recent calamities.” It also said the blue and red circles appear like ripples coming from the Cross in the inner circle. “We pray that the Papal visit will indeed create ripples of compassion and mercy throughout the Filipino nation and beyond January 2015,” it said. Pope Francis is due to visit the Philippines Jan. 15 to 19, and is expected to visit areas hit by recent calamities, including those devastated by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Other symbols The innermost circle in the logo resembles the Philippines as a pearl – a nod to one of the country’s nicknames as the Pearl of the Orient Seas, Read More …

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