9 Pinoys detained for fuel smuggle try off Sabah – report

 General
Dec 072014
 
9 Pinoys detained for fuel smuggle try off Sabah – report

March 24, 2014 – Able Seaman Januario Callos keeps watch on the starboard bridge-wing of HMAS Success during the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The supply ship will use visual lookouts and is equipped with radar and communications equipment to support a coordinated search with other assets within the area. With a displacement of 18 thousand tonnes and carrying a crew of 218, HMAS Success is one of the RAN’s largest vessels, capable of providing a valuable surface search, investigation and recovery capability to support the ADF air operations. Photo: LSIS James Whittle aboard HMAS Success/Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence MANILA (Mabuhay) – Nine Filipinos were detained in Sabah Thursday after they were caught in an alleged attempt to smuggle fuel, a Malaysian news site reported Friday. The nine were manning a cargo boat with fuel products when they were intercepted off the east coast of Sandakan, Malaysia’s The Star Online reported. The nine Filipinos were described as between 24 and 45 years old. They were taken back to Sandakan and detained for further investigation. At the time, the vessel was loaded with nine cooking gas cylinders and 17,300 liters of petrol. It was noticed by a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency patrol 10 a.m. MMEA District 17 enforcement head Maritime Captain A. Razak Abdul Rahman said the nine crewmembers had no travel documents. He also said they found no documents allowing the transport of the items. (MNS)

Leveraging Filipino talent: Going global without leaving home

 Economy
Dec 072014
 

IN DAYS when Makati was still a 9-to-5 city, taxis knew their best chance at a late-night passenger would be outside the SGV & Co. offices. Like moths drawn to the few lights burning on Ayala long after the working day was done, cabs would queue outside the Firm’s buildings assured of a steady stream of passengers who had put in extra hours at the office.

Is another global financial crisis coming?

 General
Dec 072014
 
Is another global financial crisis coming?

“Tinder” is defined as readily combustible material, like dry twigs, used to kindle fires. You will be surprised at who used the image to describe what the US central bank is sitting on. More on that later; it is best to start with the mess in Europe. The European countries are heavily in debt after the bailouts in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. The following are the ratios of their debt to gross domestic product (GDP) as of December 2013. (These are Eurostat data published in Bloomberg.) The larger the debt, the greater is the danger for default. For comparison, the ratio of the Philippines is 49 percent. Topping the list is Greece, whose debt is 175 percent of its GDP. That is, its debt is almost twice the size of its economy. Europe is vulnerable A nation’s debt increases every time it posts a budget deficit. Large and persistent budget deficits signal that the debt will remain swollen. The following are December 2013 European data on budget deficits as a ratio to GDP. For comparison, the latest ratio of the Philippines is a deficit of 1.9 percent of GDP. The largest deficits show up in Greece, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal and France. While the deficits shrank compared to the year before, the ratio of Greece actually rose, from 8.6 percent to the current 12.2 percent. Hence, the fiscal situation in Greece has worsened. Another indicator of trouble is the annual yield on bonds. Governments Read More …

Telus Philippines and Kythe Foundation team up to help children living with cancer

 General
Dec 072014
 
Telus Philippines and Kythe Foundation team up to help children living with cancer

Girlie Garcia-Lorenzo, Kythe Foundation’s executive director; Milette Belen, Telus International Philippines’ CSR and Community Board manager; Karen Rivera, Kythe Foundation’s partner relations manager; and Phoebe Carrera, Telus International Philippines’ CSR officer MANILA, Philippines – Every child has the right to learn, play and grow, even those confined to hospitals. Telus International Philippines (TIP) teamed up with the Kythe Foundation for a day of shared learning, playing and growing with children currently under the care of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City. A group of TIP team member volunteers were given the opportunity to interact with the kids in a safe and nurturing environment, where they got to know one another, played games together, and learned from each other, thanks to a P280,000 / CDN $7,110 donation to the Kythe Foundation from the TIP Community Board.  The Kythe Foundation, led by executive director Girlie Garcia-Lorenzo, holds events like this to give confined children a chance to have fun and celebrate, while at the same time shedding light on the issues of improving the quality of life of hospitalized children with cancer and other chronic illnesses. TIP supports Kythe’s commitment to understanding what children go through at hospitals and its mission to identify and respond to the needs of child-patients in holistic ways. The TIP Community Board is an instrumental part of the company’s “we give where we live” community investment strategy. TIP’s Community Board is comprised of distinguished community leaders and local Telus team members who have strong connections within the community, business and leadership expertise, and a great sense of compassion and willingness to make a Read More …

DOE signs up 141 firms for ILP

 General
Dec 072014
 
DOE signs up 141 firms for ILP

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) has so far enlisted 593 megawatts of capacity for the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) although this remains below the 1,000-MW target capacity needed to prevent blackouts in the summer of 2015. The DOE continues to appeal to big power users to offer their capacity for next summer. “It will be highly appreciated if companies can express commitments to ILP on or before Dec. 31, 2014,” the DOE said in an advisory issued over the weekend. As of Dec. 5, 141 companies had signed up for the program, according to the DOE advisory. These include 105 retail electricity suppliers or RES with total capacity of 402 MW and 36 Meralco customers with total capacity of 191 MW, bringing their combined capacity to 593 MW. Retail electricity suppliers are entities authorized by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to sell, broker, market or aggregate electricity to the contestable market which consists of a group of end-users that have an average peak demand of one megawatt (1 MW) for 12 months. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Under the ILP scheme, big power users will be asked to run their own generators when supply is short in the summer months, instead of getting their power from the Luzon grid. In exchange, they will be compensated for their fuel costs. The electricity that would not be taken from the grid would be available to households and other users, sparing them from rotating blackouts. The Read More …

Mfg output likely slowed in Oct

 Economy
Dec 072014
 
Mfg output likely slowed in Oct

MANILA, Philippines – Manufacturing output likely expanded by a slower five percent in October, Moody’s Analytics said, as the sector continues to reflect the cooling economy. “Industrial production has slowed in recent months, mirroring the broader economy’s cooling. Fixed investment from both the public and private sectors has weakened through 2014, partly as a result of the slowdown in government approval of new infrastructure projects,” Moody’s Analytics said in a research note. “Solid export demand and continued remittances from overseas should lift production in the coming months,” the firm added. Official October manufacturing data will be released on Wednesday. Latest data showed factory output, as measured by the volume of production index, eased further to 3.2 percent in September from 6.6 percent in August and 8.1 percent in July. This was due to the decrease in the production of wood and wood products, furniture and fixtures, transport equipment, footwear and wearing apparel, tobacco products, and electrical machinery, among others. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Increases in the production of printing, beverages, fabricated metal products, leather products, petroleum products, and machinery except electrical products lifted factory output during the period. Meanwhile, the value of production index only went up 3.8 percent in September, also a deceleration from 5.2 percent in August and 6.4 percent in July. Data showed this was amid a decline in wood and wood products, miscellaneous manufactures, footwear and wearing apparel, transport equipment, and basic metals, among others.

Shell eyes alternative depot

 Economy
Dec 072014
 
Shell eyes alternative depot

MANILA, Philippines – Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. is eyeing Batangas as the site for an alternative depot following the decision of the Supreme Court ordering the relocation of the Pandacan oil terminal. “Right now, we have to review our options,” said Shell vice president for communications Ramon del Rosario. He said that using Shell’s facilities in Batangas is an option for the oil giant. “Batangas is an option,” he said. At the same time, he stressed that nothing is final yet as Shell has yet to receive a copy of the Supreme Court’s decision. As to whether the move to relocate to another depot would affect local pump prices, Del Rosario said prices would depend on market forces. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Probably, there’s an increase in distribution cost but the (pump) prices would depend on market forces,” he said. The Supreme Court has recently ordered the relocation of the Pandacan oil depot. Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil refiner and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. are currently using the Pandacan oil depot. Chevron, owner of the Caltex brand, also used the facility but moved out of the depot last in June. Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said it would be up to the oil firms to appeal the High Court’s decision but the order does not come as a surprise as the Pandacan terminal has long been surrounded by controversies amid complaints from nearby residents and environmentalists. “It will be up to them to appeal Read More …

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