US role in disastrous Philippine raid under scrutiny

 General
Mar 072015
 
US role in disastrous Philippine raid under scrutiny

A disastrous raid on alleged Islamic militants has ignited the worst political crisis yet for Philippine President Benigno Aquino — and questions about the extent of any US role in the operation are deepening his discomfort. Some Philippine lawmakers are asking whether the US military played a leading role in the operation in January, which ended with 44 police commandos dead in a field in the country’s Muslim-majority south. They point to reports that a US drone was overflying the area at the time, and said to be beaming back real-time images to US commanders as the fiasco unfolded. Senate president Franklin Drilon, a powerful member of Aquino’s ruling Liberal Party, is one of at least five senators to have raised questions about what the United States knew. “Did the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) know beforehand about this operation?” Drilon asked the head of the police commando unit Getulio Napenas, who lost his job over the affair, in one hearing. “Or any US armed forces personnel, did they know about this operation beforehand?” Under the terms of an anti-terrorism training deployment, the US is not permitted to engage in combat in the Philippines. A US government official told AFP that its troops helped evacuate casualties, but that the operation was “planned and executed by Philippine authorities”, and declined to comment further. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, meanwhile, declined to give a direct answer when asked about any US role, speaking only in generalities about American help to Read More …

Abu Sayyaf frees Malaysian cop

 General
Mar 072015
 
Abu Sayyaf frees Malaysian cop

Abu Sayyaf group. AFP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The military on Saturday said the extremist Abu Sayyaf has released a Malaysian policeman they kidnapped eight months ago from a Malaysian resort, because of the “relentless military operations” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Sulu and Basilan. Quoting civilian informants in Sulu, AFP spokesperson Col. Harold Cabunoc said that Zakia Aliep, a member of Malaysia’s marine police, was released at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. Aliep was taken to an unspecified place in Sabah, Malaysia, on a speedboat at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Cabunoc said. “The AFP firmly believes the bandits were forced to release the victim due to the relentless pursuit operations conducted by Joint Task Force Sulu led by Col. Allan Arrojado,” Cabunoc said. A military source said Malaysian intelligence authorities had confirmed to the AFP intelligence service the arrival of Aliep in that country. Aliep was taken by the Abu Sayyaf who ambushed several Malaysian marine police officers guarding the Mabul Water Bungalow Resort in Sabah on July 12, 2014. A policeman was killed during the firefight. A military intelligence report said the policeman was taken to an Abu Sayyaf jungle camp in Sulu’s Indanan township. The kidnapping was one of several staged in resorts in Sabah by the Abu Sayyaf to seize hostages for ransom. The Abu Sayyaf still holds a Dutch birdwatcher who was kidnapped in Tawi-Tawi three years ago. Cynthia D. Balana; AP Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or Read More …

Leadership by compassion

 General
Mar 072015
 
Leadership by compassion

Just recently, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) signed an agreement calling for the integration of toll collection systems of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX). We all know what happened. The agreement was unacted upon for years by the BCDA for some unknown reason. Then December 26, 2015 came and Senate President Franklin Drilon was among those who had to endure a nine-hour ride from Manila to Baguio City. Reason for the traffic primarily was the volume of people who wanted to try out the newly opened Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), the cold Baguio weather, the long weekend, and the drastic drop in fuel prices that made travelling by private vehicles affordable to more people. But adding to the woes of the Baguio-bound vacationers was the series of stops they had to make for each of the toll collection booths of NLEX, SCTEX, and TPLEX, with the lines going into the toll booths running as long as three kilometers. Senator Drilon was of course pissed and vowed to make sure it would never happen again. The agreement would later turn out to be no longer necessary because BCDA agreed to finally turn over SCTEX management and operation to MNTC after nobody showed up to challenge the latter’s offer. According to BCDA, MNTC’s improved commercial offer includes an upfront cash payment of P3.5 billion, a 50-50 sharing of gross toll revenues, among others. But the point of all Read More …

Poor man’s rich man

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Poor man’s rich man

It looks like fish. It smells like fish. When unsold and unmarketable, it usually rots and goes to waste.  But not so in the fisherfolk community in Iligan, where excess catch of fish in season are collected for livelihood. It’s like chicken dung gathered by another community in Naawan, Misamis Oriental, and coconut husks collected from copra farms by a cooperative of former rebels who laid down their arms for life with society. Rotten fish, chicken dung, coconut husks – all biowastes that can be converted to organic fertilizers that communities can sell and make a living out of. For them, it is a way to resist poverty through their own productive work. But this is just half of the story. Someone helped these communities organize to gather lowly raw materials from their own vicinities. Someone supplies the secret ingredient and process to make fertilizers; someone teaches them how to manufacture. Finally, someone helps them sell their produce. Most of the proceeds stay with these folks and a part they remit to their technology provider, trainer, marketer and business partner. That “someone” is a social entrepreneur named Nanette and her enterprise is called Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits, Inc. (ECOWEB). Before she empowered communities, she used her education as an agriculture engineer to formulate an inoculant to produce organic fertilizers and pest repellants. I am reminded of the phrase born out of weariness: “so much work for so little.” Social entrepreneurs give this phrase a proud new meaning. They work Read More …

Exports surge seen in January

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Exports surge seen in January

MANILA, Philippines – Merchandise exports likely increased sharply in January from the same period last year due to a low base and the recovery in export markets, a foreign bank said in a report. “A low base is likely to support a sharp rebound in exports, but the sequential recovery is likely to be more modest,” UK-based investment bank Barclays said in a research note yesterday. The bank has forecast a 16.8-percent growth in outbound shipments in January, a reversal of the 3.2-percent contraction recorded in the same month in 2014. Moreover, this is an improvement from the 3.2-percent drop in merchandise exports in December last year. Official January exports data will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Tuesday, March 10. Last year, Philippine exports went up nine percent to $61.81 billion from $56.698 billion in 2013. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier said the growth rate reflected the resiliency in the country’s exports despite weaker activity in Japan, euro zone, and even in China. The continuing recovery in the US and expected better prospects in Japan should support Philippine exports this year, Balisacan said. Electronic products continued to make up the lion’s share of the Philippines’ outbound shipments last year at $25.88 billion or 42 percent of total value. Japan was the main destination for Philippine exports in 2014, accounting for 22.5 percent of total shipments. This was followed by the US at 14.1 percent, China at 13 Read More …

Gov’t, private sector draw blueprint for greener Mindanao

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Gov’t, private sector draw blueprint for greener Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines – Key players from the government and the private sector are drawing up a blueprint to make Mindanao a greener region. During a recent meeting of the Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee (MPMC) held at the National Power Corp. (Napocor), officials underscored the importance of advocating renewable energy (RE) as a prominent source of electricity for the island-region. Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said compared to the situation last year and the years before, the state of Mindanao power today had seen significant improvement. She said majority of the region did not have rotating blackouts as reported by the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives.  However, Antonino said the expected entry of more baseload capacities from coal-fired power plants totaling 2,000 megawatts until 2018 should be complemented by accelerated deployment of renewable energy projects such as hydro, biomass, geothermal, and solar, among others. Based on the monitoring of the One-Stop Facilitation and Monitoring of MPMC, there are 231 RE projects in the pipeline spread across Mindanao that could potentially generate at least 2,419 MW of sustainable power for the region between 2020 and 2025. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “A diversified mix of fossil and renewable energy sources is integral to our overall strategy of pursuing balanced and holistic economic growth in Mindanao,” said Romeo Montenegro, MinDA’s director for Investment Promotions and Public Affairs. He added that pursuing RE development is also aligned with the MinDA’s Mindanao 2020 Peace and Read More …

Gov’t rolls out first LGU-based PPP project

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
Gov’t rolls out first LGU-based PPP project

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration has rolled out the country’s first Public Private Partnership (PPP) project initiated by a local government unit (LGU) via the P400 million Tanauan City public market redevelopment project. The Tanauan City government, through Pre-qualification Bids and Awards Committee chairman Herminigildo Trinidad Jr., said foreign and local companies may bid for the PPP project under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law. Trinidad said the winning bidder would finance the construction of a four-story commercial building with a floor area of 26,000 square meters, comprising of ground and second floor for commercial spaces as well as the third and fourth floor for parking and terminal. He added that the project also covers the construction of a wet and dry market building with a minimum floor area of 10,000 square meters. Interested companies have until April 13 to submit their letters of intent and prequalification documents. The LGU would adopt a two-stage bidding process, including the pre-qualification and shortlisting process, as well as the actual bid proposal submission and opening. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It would conduct a pre-bid conference on April 27, paving the way for the submission of bids on June 4. The project was given the green light by the National Economic and Development Authority – Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) last January. PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao said the first LGU-PPP project would entice other LGUs in the country to pursue more infrastructure projects in partnership with the private sector. Read More …

Quotes on ‘starry heavens’ and the ‘moral law within’

 General
Mar 072015
 
Quotes on ‘starry heavens’ and the ‘moral law within’

“The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey,” Franklin Covey Free Press, 2012. Those who have been students and mentors, or leaders and practitioners of management might have heard of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” authored by world-renowned Stephen R. Covey. Launched in 1989, the book of the same title has since included the “8th Habit.” I began thinking of Covey, as I read the book featured in this issue’s Executive Read—and I recalled vintage “Coveyisms” like: “Begin with the end in mind.” Or, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood ….” Still another, “Sharpen the saw.” And the 8th habit? Read on. “The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey” is a collection of aphorisms and sayings of the renowned leadership coach and mentor. Expectedly, some are truly brilliant, and other quotes are simply restatements of familiar principles. It is a book, though, that makes it easy for busy executives to pick favorite “thoughts” for any occasion. The Covey Family calls the book “crystallized wisdom,” as the editors cite the “power of enduring principles.” Viewed as a tribute too to Covey, who passed away a few years back, the book articulates “his passion … to articulate and teach the unchanging, immutable and ageless truths of life.” Speaking of overstating the obvious, this is it. And yet, we must forgive the authors, simply because they have given us “on a silver platter gems of thoughts that guide us … not to waste our life in mediocrity but Read More …

MNTC taps Maybank for payment solutions

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
MNTC taps Maybank for payment solutions

MANILA, Philippines – Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), the tollways arm of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), has tapped Maybank Philippines Inc. to streamline check preparation and releasing transactions. Rodrigo Franco, president and chief executive officer of MNTC, said the check cutting service would make it more convenient for the company to settle its account with its supplies. MNTC operates the 87-kilometer North Luzon expressway (NLEX) and has recently bagged the concession for the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway (SCTEX) from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). “The deal will enable MNTC to focus more on operating and maintaining the NLEX rather than doing the cutting and releasing of checks. It will also give more convenience to our suppliers due to Maybank’s accessible locations,” Franco said. For his part, Maybank president and chief executive officer Herminio Famatigan Jr. said MNTC could use selected Maybank branches or all branches nationwide to release check payments under the check cutting services agreement. “Through Maybank’s payment solution, the Check Cutting Service, MNTC will enjoy the convenience of outsourcing the preparation and releasing of their regular check payments to suppliers,” Famatigan said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Maybank’s check cutting service is an outsourcing solution for corporate customers that handle the preparation and nationwide disbursement of voluminous check payments to their suppliers and payees. The outsourcing solution automates clients the check and voucher preparation and enhances the client’s productivity while maintaining security, control and confidentiality of their financial transactions. This Read More …

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