January 2015 – Page 49

Beauty Box: La Prairie combats skin aging with ice crystals

Jan 062015

Ice for your eyes: La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Eye Cream and La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Emulsion freeze time. The product: La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Eye Cream and La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Emulsion What they do: La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Eye Cream fights the first signs of aging around the eye area. It nurtures the eye area to vitality, improves smoothness and hydration, brightens dark circles and fortifies against the forces of time and the elements. It is soft and smooth in texture, and a gentle but effective eye care regimen. It is formulated with youth-preserving Swiss Ice Crystal Complex, which is a complete defense against harmful elements. La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Emulsion is a featherweight, lavishly hydrating moisturizer formulated with a lighter texture and a new level of potency. Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Emulsion is for those who prefer moisture during the day or at night. It is a wonderul choice for use in humid climates and delivers potently age-defying skincare around the clock. Where to get them: La Prairie is available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source. * * * Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: L’Oreal Revitalift’s new overnight cream The product: L’Oreal Paris Revitalift Laser X3 Night Cream-Mask What it is: The Revitalift Laser X3 Night Cream-Mask is formulated with ingredients that stimulate skin fiber synthesis to improve skin density and help reduce facial lines. It has an exfoliating agent that promotes Read More …

Phl stocks buck regional downtrend

General

Jan 062015

MANILA, Philippines – The local benchmark index stood its ground yesterday, extending its winning streak despite slumping markets abroad, analysts said. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) improved 0.02 percent or 1.11 points to finish at 7,277.74, erasing losses made earlier in the trading day. The All Shares index likewise ended positively, climbing 0.07 percent or 3.02 points at 4,285.74. “A surge of buyers in the afternoon session allowed the index to close in the green for the second straight session,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp. Calaycay, however, said investors’ bullishness at the start of the year has been completely sapped following political uncertainty in Greece and problems in the crude market. “Whatever traces of optimism that lined Monday’s trades were rubbed out by after-trades and overnight developments,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Asian shares were down while all three indexes in Wall Street also ended in the negative territory led by the Dow which lost 1.86 percent or 331.34 points. Locally, counters were mixed at three apiece. Counters which finished on the green were led by the holding firms which gained 0.90 percent or 57.76 points while the services firms dropped 1.25 percent or 26.47 points. Value turnover picked up late in the session and more than tripled the morning’s total to P10.43 billion. “Philippine shares appears to have showed up its Asian neighbors and global peers once more. It climbed out of an early –52.2 points hole Read More …

Phl economy seen to remain strong this year

Economy

Jan 062015

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine economy is expected to remain strong this year despite external challenges as global growth continues to be uneven, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said yesterday. “2015 will likely bring continued economic challenges for the Philippines. Nonetheless, the country appears to be well-placed to deal with these tests,” Tetangco said at a breakfast forum hosted by the Tuesday Club at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Accoriding to Tetangco, the domestic economy will have to cope with uneven global growth prospects as the US recovers while the euro area and Japan continue to struggle. China’s growth slowdown has also tempered prospects in emerging markets, adding to a more challenging economic global backdrop. Tetangco added. “The Philippines’ underlying story of resilience has remained intact throughout a challenging 2014. Despite some moderation owing to slower agricultural production and lower public spending, economic growth remained robust, supported by a broadening production base and solid domestic demand,” Tetangco said. Tetangco said inflation remained manageable last year, while the peso continued to be supported by strong inflows of remittances from Filipinos abroad, receipts from the business process outsourcing industry, and the current account surplus. “These developments give us confidence that the Philippine economy will remain on firm footing in 2015,” Tetangco said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “In raising the country’s credit rating to one notch above the minimum investment-grade rating, Moody’s [Investors Service] cited the government’s ongoing efforts to reduce debt, improve fiscal management, and Read More …

’China surpasses US GDP, is now no. 1 in world economy’

Economy

Jan 062015

As we commence 2015, China’s GDP (gross domestic product), the measure of an economy’s total output in equivalent purchasing power, was valued at $17.6 trillion, surpassing that of the United States, which was at $17.4 trillion. These are very large numbers. (Philippine GDP is below $1 trillion, around $700 billion). In previous years, China’s numbers have outstripped the US: in terms of electricity generation; in total industrial output; and in international trade volume. ‘The economic power game.’ These measures of output by country are often used as indicators of economic clout. The size of big, dominating economies is often used to indicate changing economic power relationships among them. Total output is not the whole or even the best measure. Output, tempered by population size, is more meaningful. But big countries growing at spectacular rates and conquering mass poverty, as China had done, have no comparison in current or past economic experience. This is truly awesome as an accomplishment. China’s one-child policy over the last four decades meant that the country’s natural population growth rate was at a negative replacement rate: it takes two parents to produce a child. Even if there is slippage in this plan, China’s population has stood relatively still during this period. Over the same period, China expanded at the breakneck speed of 10 percent per year. That expansion of economic production has that its rate of growth was also the gain per head of population! Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Hence, China’s Read More …

PLDT, Rocket Internet form JV for mobile payment service

General

Jan 062015

PLDT, Rocket Internet form JV for mobile payment service

MANILA, Philippines – Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Berlin-based Rocket Internet AG has established a global joint venture for mobile-first payment services in emerging markets. PLDT informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the 50-50 joint venture transaction that combines key existing payment assets from both PLDT and Smart e-Money Inc. as well as Rocket Internet would be closed in the first quarter of the year. PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said the company would contribute the intellectual property, platforms and business operations of its market leading mobile-first payment platform Smart e-Money. “PLDT continues to build on its strategy to become a driving force in the digital economy, and with Rocket, we have a partner who understands the DNA of the global Internet market more than any other company. We look forward to continuing the long-term success story of Smart Money and optimizing the synergies between e-commerce and innovative mobile-first payment solutions,” Nazareno said. Smart e-Money is a pioneer in mobile banking and mobile wallet services handling approximately 3.4 billion euro worth of transactions in 2013. It has over five million active customers and 300,000 trade accounts. For his part, Rocket Internet founder and chief executive officer Oliver Samwer said Rocket Internet would contribute its participations in Paymill Holding GmbH and Payleven Holding GmbH. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 These are two of the leading payment platforms for high growth, small-and-medium-sized e-commerce businesses across Europe. “This Joint Venture is Read More …

Fare hike before rehab?

Economy

Jan 062015

I would normally support raising the MRT fare up to the level of EDSA bus fares. Reducing the subsidy for MRT riders would be fair for taxpayers in other parts of the country who get no benefit but share the cost of running the commuter line. But given the inability of DOTC to provide adequate service or even guarantee passenger safety, raising the fare now is like showing a dirty finger to the riders. As someone in one of my e-groups puts it, it is like increasing the price of an old piece of moldy bread because you know the consumer has little choice. Transport expert Rene Santiago captures the situation well: “Train supply has dwindled. On MRT-3, from 22 trains to 16. On LRT-1, from 104 to 95. On LRT-2, from 16 to 12. Nearly all ticket vending machines at stations are broken down. “Visible results: overcrowded trains and long queues at stations. Hongkong MTR audit report on MRT-3 are alarming – especially about track conditions. Track replacements on Line 1 also delayed. How can we justify a fare increase against this backdrop?” If I were confident that raising the fares now would guarantee better service, I would probably overlook the decrepit situation of the MRT system and focus on the prospect of a much improved one within a reasonable time. But DOTC cannot even guarantee that improvement would happen within the foreseeable future. Indeed, I do not have confidence DOTC knows what it is doing. Sec. Jun Abaya Read More …

Aboitiz, 42 firms to address power shortage

Economy

Jan 062015

Aboitiz, 42 firms to address power shortage

MANILA, Philippines – AboitizPower Corp., the power generation company of the Aboitiz Group has partnered with some 42 local and multinational companies to help address the impending power shortage, expected in the summer of 2015, through the Interruptible Load Program or ILP. Under the ILP scheme, big power users would 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 would 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 42 companies are customers of AboitizPower who have volunteered to temporarily isolate themselves from the electricity grid when power demand is high so that the electricity could be re-directed to other areas. The company said yesterday that as of December 2014, 42 contestable customers of AboitizPower’s Retail Electricity Supply (RES) companies have committed to the program with a total of 102 megawatts de-loading capacity. Some of these companies are big multinational and industrial firms such as Procter and Gamble Philippines, Wyeth Philippines, Jollibee Foods Corp., Samsung Electro Mechanics Philippines Corp., Amkor Technology Phils., Asia Brewery Inc., Monde Nissin Corp., among others. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Visayan Electric Co. (Veco), Subic Enerzone and Lima Enerzone – all distribution utilities of AboitizPower, similar to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), meanwhile, are pouring in an additional 75 MW of de-loading capacity Read More …

Miriam Santiago still has most number of bills and resolutions filed

News

Jan 062015

Miriam Santiago still has most number of bills and resolutions filed

Despite her failure to attend most of the Senate sessions and hearings due to her battle with lung cancer, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago was able to file the most number of bills and resolutions among her colleagues. Santiago has filed a total of 1,007 bills and resolutions, as of December 17, the last session day of Congress in 2014. She was followed by Sens. Jinggoy Estrada with 604 bills and resolutions; Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with 307; Sen. Lito Lapid with 219; and Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito with 217. Estrada is facing plunder charges in connection with the pork barrel scam and detained at PNP Custodial Center since June 2014. Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Ramon Revilla Jr. are also facing plunder raps and are likewise detained in Camp Crame. Amid the absence of some of its members, the Senate, since the 16th Congress convened in July 2013, was able to approve 44 proposed measures of national importance – of which 17 were signed into law in 2014 and four in 2013. In July 2014, Santiago announced that she has stage IV lung cancer. Through the help of oral chemotherapy or targeted treatment, she said in October that 90 percent of her cancer cells have already been killed as she expressed optimism to attend the Senate session. Even while on leave from the Senate, Santiago attended carefully chosen hearings of the Senate foreign relations committee and Commission on Appointments which she both heads such as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement Read More …

Trillanes: Agencies probing VP Binay for graft in housing projects

News

Jan 062015

Trillanes: Agencies probing VP Binay for graft in housing projects

Government agencies are investigating Vice President Jejomar Binay of unduly making money from the government’s housing projects, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has said. “Ang impormasyon diyan ay yung mga mass housing projects ay binibigay niya sa mga favored contractors na nang arrangements with Pag-IBIG,” Trillanes said on GMA News’ “24 Oras” on Tuesday. “Bagong anumalya ito,” he added. Trillanes accused Binay, the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, of getting a huge share from the profits of Pag-IBIG’s housing contractors. “Pag komisyon, you get the percentage which is less than half. Pero pag partnership, or at worse, kung dummy lang, you get th bulk of the profits,” Trillanes said. Trillanes initiated the Senate investigation on alleged graft committed by Binay when he was mayor of Makati. The Vice President has denied the allegations. The HUDCC oversees the government’s housing agencies including Pag-IBIG, or the Home Development Mutual Fund that offers more affordable housing loans to its members. Joey Salgado, one of the Vice President’s spokespersons, said Trillanes was lying. “Senator Trillanes admitted that there are no documents to back up his latest allegation. He could not even identify the government agencies conducting the alleged investigation if there is such an investigation,” Salgado said. “Then again, we do not expect fairness, candor and veracity from the senator. His agenda is to sway the public’s perception with innuendoes and outright falsehoods,” he added. Lawyer Darlene Marie Berberabe, the president and Chief Executive Officer of Pag-IBIG, said as much against Read More …

Fil-Am celebrity hair artist gives free cuts to homeless

News

Jan 062015

Fil-Am celebrity hair artist gives free cuts to homeless

Mark Bustos [via Another Fashion Interpreter] During his Sundays off from an upscale New York salon, Filipino-American Mark Bustos puts together his own portable salon and scouts the neighbourhood for homeless men and women who will let him do a nice thing or two for them, for free. “I want to do something nice for you today,” is Bustos’ opening line when he approaches his target “customers” which he says is the same way he would speak to a best friend who desperately needs help. That something nice is a free haircut from an expert stylist who over the past two years has used his talent to help the less fortunate take the first step to a change their lives. When a homeless person agrees to this stranger’s proposal, the hair artist sits him or her down right there on the sidewalk, the street corner, or the park and immediately works on giving them a new cleaner look. Bustos says he purposely does it in public to inspire people walking by to empathize with the less fortunate and show them it is all right to look at and say hello to the people living on the streets. When his offer is declined, Bustos doesn’t stop there; he gives them a care package with basic necessities. He then goes on searching for the next homeless client. Bustos treats his homeless clients as he would his more glamorous paying clientele which includes musician Norah Jones, designer Philip Lim, and NASCAR driver Jeff Read More …

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