Phoenix Petroleum issues add’l P1.5 B STCPs

 Economy
Dec 072014
 
Phoenix Petroleum issues add’l P1.5 B STCPs

MANILA, Philippines – Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., an independent oil company, is issuing P1.5 billion worth of short-term commercial papers after earlier issuing P2 billion also in short-term papers. Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings), the local debt watcher, assigned an Issue Credit Rating of PRS 2 (minus) to Phoenix’ latest issuance. “The total STCP amount rated by PhilRatings in relation to Phoenix Petroleum is now at P3.5 billion, having rated an earlier STCP issue amounting to P2 billion,” Philratings said. According to Philratings, obligations rated PRS 2 exhibit above average capability for payment of both interest and principal. “This is normally evidenced by many characteristics of a PRS 1 rating but to a lesser degree. Earning trends and coverage ratios, while sound, will be more subject to variations. Capitalization characteristics, while still appropriate, may be more affected by external conditions,” Philratings said. The local debt watcher attributed the rating to the oil company’s ability to generate revenues among other factors. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Phoenix Petroleum’s business operations are able to generate substantial revenues, with profitability expected to improve going forward with its adequate liquidity and financial flexibility, and competent and experienced management team,” Philratings said. The local credit rating agency also said that Phoenix’ network expansion would likely strengthen its position in the market. Phoenix Petroleum is an independent oil company with a market share of four percent as of the first half of 2014. As of Sept. 30, the company has a total Read More …

Malaysia’s MTD Group to put up N. Ecija gov’t center

 Economy
Dec 072014
 
Malaysia’s MTD Group to put up N. Ecija gov’t center

PALAYAN CITY, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – A giant Malaysian conglomerate which bankrolled the construction of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and the Calabarzon Regional Government Center (CRGC) has tied up with the Nueva Ecija provincial government to establish a P1.5-billion, world-class new government center and business hub in this provincial capital in what is considered as the single, biggest Capitol project under the Umali administration. The mega-project, dubbed the Palayan City Business Hub (PCBH), was unveiled during ground-breaking ceremonies at a 3.4-hectare site in Barangay Singalat at the back of the newly refurbished city hall. Gov. Aurelio Umali, who conceptualized the mega-project, said it is a joint venture between MTD Philippines, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Alloy MTD, and the provincial government under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. The province was the first local government unit (LGU) to enact a PPP Code. Umali led the ground-breaking rites for the project along with Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas, Dato Azmil Khalid, chief executive officer of Alloy MTD Group of Malaysia and head of the Malaysia-Philippines Business Council (MPBC) and MTD Philippines president Isaac David. The project site was donated to the provincial government by the city government under Cuevas.  The mega-project is labor-intensive and would generate a whopping 13,000 jobs, 10,000 of which in call centers alone, with the rest to come from the operations of the various commercial establishments, the hotel and the government offices. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Alloy MTD, based in Malaysia, is a Read More …

Writing and the crusade against corruption

 General
Dec 072014
 
Writing and the crusade against corruption

MANILA, Philippines – It seems to me very apt that you have chosen to make Apolinario Mabini the inspiration for this year’s conference. I still remember a story about him that I heard from my history teacher at UP, the distinguished historian Teodoro Agoncillo. Agoncillo recounted how the president of the then budding Philippine Republic, Emilio Aguinaldo, referred to his newfound adviser, Apo Mabini, the question of granting agricultural lands in Pampanga to a long-time ally and general of the revolutionary army. Mabini, taken aback, protested, “What will the people say if we who are in power abuse it for our own benefit?” It is interesting that this moral issue already had to be confronted even as the nation was still being born. Even more interesting is that a Filipino leader of that period had unhesitatingly produced the correct response to that moral and ethical question. The land-seeking general was not given the land he coveted. Sadly, though, that is only part of that story. Shortly afterward, despite vigorous opposition from the morally scrupulous Mabini, the moneyed and propertied class in the Malolos Congress — who Agoncillo picturesquely described in an essay as “men who conjugated the verb ‘to serve’ to mean ‘to grasp’” — managed to effectively capture government by giving themselves strong discretionary powers over public funds and the allocation of public resources. The consequences of Mabini’s lost battle clearly hounds us today. Tremendous discretionary power over public funds, public resources, and public policies is vested in those Read More …

Dreams and realities

 General
Dec 072014
 
Dreams and realities

Every now and then, we are beset by memories of an era gone by, when movie stars were not merely people with contracts beholden to a particular network, but individuals who were appreciated for their talent, yet never pampered and had to follow rules of proper behavior on the set. Those years are gone, and TV stars are now judged by the number of teleseryes they appear in, the hours they spend on the set without complaint and the ratings their project received from the expectant public. Lolita Rodriguez (Dolores Clark in real life) was an actress from Urdaneta, Pangasinan, who entered the movies at age 18. We met Lolita only at the height of her career when she was discovered by the country’s most well-known and controversial directors Lino Brocka and Celso Ad Castillo. Both were her directors in a series of films like Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang by Lino, and Paradise Inn by Celso. Tinimbang is easily Brocka’s best film released in 1974, which told of Lolita as Kuala, an insane woman, and Mario O’Hara as Bertong Ketong, the leper, with supporting roles from Eddie Garcia, Christopher de Leon, Hilda Koronel and Laurice Guillen. The film features life in a rural area, the dominance of the elite, the hypocrisy of sinners, as well as both the unfaithfulness and unconditional love for others. As in other Filipino movies, women are portrayed as helpless and weak, yet at the same time wielding some sort of power over men, like Hilda Read More …

Davao Region registers P11.2B new investments

 General
Dec 072014
 
Davao Region registers P11.2B new investments

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Davao reported that Davao Region registered a total of P11.19 billion in new investments from January to September this year Based on the data gathered by the agency from the Board of Investments (BOI), these investments are mostly into real estate, cooling systems, manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture. The bulk of these investments came from the two big ticket projects in transportation with a combined investment of P8.4 billion, the DTI said. One is the P5.72 billion seaport and container yard of the Hijo International Port Services Inc. (HIPSI) in Tagum City, Davao del Norte that has a capacity of 858 ground slots of containerized cargo and 450,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year. The other is the P2.65 billion Davao International Container Terminal (DICT) of the San Vicente Terminal and Brokerage Services Inc. in Panabo City that has a capacity of 400,000 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU) per year. The second largest bulk of investments are in real estate with a combined investment of P1.24 billion. The company with the largest real estate investment is 8990 Housing Development with three projects at P901.38 million. The company’s investment are the P521.73 million 1,341 units expansion of Deca Homes Resort Residences Phase 9 in Tugbok, Davao City; P234.65 million 544 unit Deca Homes Indangan Phase 1 in Buhangin, Davao City; and the P145 million 207 unit expansion of Deca Homes Resort Residences Phase 12 in Tugbok, Davao City. Other real estate investments in the region are the Read More …

China slams PH over South China Sea case

 News
Dec 072014
 
China slams PH over South China Sea case

popular Wishlist: Maria Isabel Lopez, Actress Typhoon ‘Ruby: Families open homes to neighbors Taxi driver shoots woman in face in Pasig holdup India wins Miss Supranational 2014, PH bet reaches top 20 BIR files P39-M tax evasion rap vs Tiu’s brother, sister-in-law 15-feet storm surges may hit Samar, says Project NOAH Typhoon ‘Ruby’: ‘Please don’t, dear God’ is survivor’s prayer Sony employees receive threatening email – report videos Behind the scene with BTS The ‘maria clara’ reborn in ‘Face-Off’ Ruby batters Sorsogon Sorsogon implements forced evacuation amid storm surge Brandon Vera KOs foe in One FC and PH debut Map showing the disputed Paracel and Spratly islands in the South China Sea. AFP BEIJING — China has again rejected an attempt by the Philippines to challenge its territorial claims over the South China Sea through international arbitration, releasing a lengthy paper a week before a deadline for China to respond to the case. China prefers to settle its disputes with discussions with the countries directly involved. But the Philippines has filed a case with an international tribunal. China’s paper argues that territorial sovereignty is beyond the scope of the tribunal and that China and the Philippines have previously agreed to settle the dispute through negotiations. The Philippines filed the case in January 2013. The tribunal has invited China to respond by December 15. RELATED STORIESUNCLOS explained: Why China’s claims in South China Sea are invalid South China Sea: A decades-long source of tension Tags: China Foreign affairs Global Nation International Read More …

Swiss hostage now in Manila after escaping Abu Sayyaf kidnappers

 News
Dec 072014
 
Swiss hostage now in Manila after escaping Abu Sayyaf kidnappers

popular Wishlist: Maria Isabel Lopez, Actress Typhoon ‘Ruby: Families open homes to neighbors Taxi driver shoots woman in face in Pasig holdup India wins Miss Supranational 2014, PH bet reaches top 20 BIR files P39-M tax evasion rap vs Tiu’s brother, sister-in-law 15-feet storm surges may hit Samar, says Project NOAH Typhoon ‘Ruby’: ‘Please don’t, dear God’ is survivor’s prayer Sony employees receive threatening email – report videos Behind the scene with BTS The ‘maria clara’ reborn in ‘Face-Off’ Ruby batters Sorsogon Sorsogon implements forced evacuation amid storm surge Brandon Vera KOs foe in One FC and PH debut MANILA, Philippines — After his daring escape from the captivity of Muslim militants in Mindanao on Saturday, Swiss victim Lorenzo Vinciguera is now in Manila, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said. Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, AFP Public Affairs Office Chief, said Vinciguera arrived in a “safe location” in Manila after getting travel clearance from military doctors in Sulu. Vinciguera, a 49-year-old photographer, overpowered Abu Sayyaf commander Juhuri Ussin and hacked the militant in the face with a machete which led to his escape. Cabunoc said Vinciguera arrived at Villamor Airbase at 6:20 pm Saturday where Swiss ambassador to the Philippines Ivo Sieber and General Gregorio Pio Catapang, AFP Chief, met him. At around 6:30 pm Swiss officials brought Vinciguera to an undisclosed hospital in the Philippine capital for further treatment. “The Swiss embassy has expressed its gratitude for the Philippine government especially to the AFP Units in Sulu,” Cabunoc said. Read More …

Palace thanks int’l community for Ruby aid

 News
Dec 062014
 
Palace thanks int’l community for Ruby aid

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–Malacañang on Sunday extended its gratitude to members of the international community that have already pledged aid and emergency assistance to typhoon-battered Philippines. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte in a radio interview relayed Malacañang’s gratefulness to various states and institutions pledging to help the country. “Marami na po sila. Nagpapasalamat po tayo sa ating mga kapitbahay at sa ating mga kaibigan dahil marami na po sa kanilang nag-express ng kanilang readiness and willingness to help,” Valte said.(There are already a lot of them. We would like to thank our neighbors and our friends because many of them have already expressed their readiness and willingness to help.) Valte also mentioned the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) as among those that have guaranteed to provide emergency aid in the wake of Typhoon Ruby. On the countries who have pledged assistance even before the storm slammed the central Philippines, “I think America and Australia, through their respective ambassadors, have already expressed their willingness and their readiness to help,” Valte said. When asked about who would handle the donations received from the international community, the presidential spokesperson said that it depended on which agency is granted the donation. “Depende po ‘yan kung kaninong ahensya ibinibigay. But, siyempre, mayroon ho diyang mga chosen third party charity organizations din po nila. Depende ho, again, depende ho kung kanino ibibigay,” Valte said.(It depends on which agency the donation is given, but of course Read More …

11 countries pledge aid as Ruby batters PH

 News
Dec 062014
 
11 countries pledge aid as Ruby batters PH

A Filipino man leans on a wall as strong winds brought by Typhoon Hagupit slam Legazpi, Albay province, eastern Philippines on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014. Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines’ east coast late Saturday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety, still haunted by the massive death and destruction wrought by a monster storm last year. AP/Aaron Favila MANILA, Philippines–As Typhoon Ruby (international name Hagupit) lashes the Philippines, 11 countries have already pledged to provide emergency assistance, military chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang said. In a press briefing Sunday, Catapang said the United States, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Brunei, China, Malaysia and Thailand pledged to help the country in its relief and rehabilitation efforts. “These countries have signified their pledge to assist us,” Catapang said in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council headquarters inside Camp Aguinaldo. He added that a team from the Philippine Air Force are in Borongan Airport to assess the situation in the area while Catarman Airport would be used as a temporary hub for C-130 planes to land. The C-130 planes would stay in Catarman for the immediate distribution of relief goods in Eastern Visayas, where Ruby was first felt. As of 10 a.m., Ruby was located at 20 kilometers east of Cataingan, Masbate and packing maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour and gusts of 170 kph. Ruby made its first landfall in Dolores, Samar on Saturday evening Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries