SEC steps up campaign vs Emgoldex

 Economy
Mar 072015
 
SEC steps up campaign vs Emgoldex

MANILA, Philippines – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has intensified its campaign against Emgoldex Philippines, an alleged fraud entity that is not registered to operate in the country. “This commission has received information about the proliferation of bogus SEC public advisories concerning Emgoldex Philippines that bear the SEC logo or appear to have been issued by the commission or signed by any of its officials,” the country’s corporate regulator said in its recent public advisory. The SEC last month already issued a warning to the public against investing their money with Emgoldex Philippines which claims to offer huge returns for every investment. Despite the earlier notice, however, fake SEC public advisories from Emgoldex Philippines have continued to surface.  “Any public offering or solicitation of investment in the Philippines without the prior license or permit from the SEC is strictly prohibited by law and may be penalized by imprisonment and/or fine,” the corporate regulator said.  “There is no distinction whether the investment offering is made through the Internet or in a commercial or public place as long as the investment solicitation is indiscriminately offered to the public in general within this jurisdiction,” it said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The SEC reiterated that based on its existing records, Emgoldex is not a registered corporation or partnership in the Philippines. Thus, the agency said the entity is not licensed or authorized to solicit investments from the public in the country.  “With regard to the claim that Emgoldex Read More …

Queens, NY Pride group lauds Filipina CEO of community health center

 News
Mar 062015
 
Queens, NY Pride group lauds Filipina CEO of community health center

From left to right: Daniel Dromm, New York City Council Member; Therese R. Rodriguez, CEO of Apicha Community Health Center, receiving her award from Dr. Marjorie Hill, Chair of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council; Andrew Ronan and Alan Reiff, Co-Chairs of Queens Pride Committee. PHOTO BY QUEENS PRIDE COMMITTEE NEW YORK CITY — The Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee, which organizes the second largest Pride celebration in this city after Manhattan, honored Therese R. Rodriguez, the Filipina CEO of Apicha Community Health Center, for her contributions to the LGBTQ movement. The Queens Pride Committee also gave awards to Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council, and the Queens Community House, which provides thousands of Queens residents with programs and services, advocacy and community building, at its Winter Pride Dinner Dance held in Astoria World Manor in Astoria, Queens, on January 24. “Rodriguez is one of the most inspirational leaders in the LGBTQ movement in New York City,” said Dirk McCall, the director of external affairs for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. McCall also praised the organization Rodriguez leads, stating, “Apicha diligently works to serve members of our diverse community in a culturally competent way, ensuring their dignity and access to health care.” This latest recognition of Rodriguez and Apicha testifies to their success in overcoming incredible obstacles. About to close down Apicha in the mid-2000s, then known as Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), was on the verge of closing down after over a decade of Read More …

500K more Californians enroll for health coverage as US high court mulls Obamacare’s fate

 General
Mar 062015
 
500K more Californians enroll for health coverage as US high court mulls Obamacare’s fate

Pro-Obamacare rally in front of the US Supreme Court. DW PHOTO SACRAMENTO, California — Even as the US Supreme Court is reviewing legal text that potentially could derail the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, half a million more people signed up for health plans during the open-enrollment period ending February 22, Covered California announced March 5. A legal challenge to the Act that could erase tax credits used by millions of Americans to pay insurance premiums, leaving 34 states with unmanageable insurance markets, rising premiums and millions more people uninsured. The main argument advanced by the law’s opponents is that four words in the 906-page statute permit the use of tax credits only in states that set up their own health insurance exchanges. The Supreme Court appears divided on the issue. Nonetheless, in California, thousands more residents, mostly Latino and young, signed up for health coverage in the recent open enrollment period. Diverse mix This year’s mix of 495,073 enrollees is a more diverse and younger population whose choice in plans demonstrated that pricing is a big factor. “It is clear Latinos, African-Americans and young adults not only heard, but acted on Covered California’s increased advertising and person-to-person outreach,” Covered California Executive Director Peter V. Lee said. Nearly nine out of every 10 new enrollees qualified for some level of financial help for 2015. New enrollments of subsidy-eligible Latinos surged 6 percentage points — from 31 percent in 2014 to 37 percent of the overall subsidy-eligible enrollment in 2015. The Read More …

BSP not inclined to tweak monetary policy – Guinigundo

 General
Mar 062015
 
BSP not inclined to tweak monetary policy – Guinigundo

MANILA, Philippines – The central bank is not inclined to tweak its monetary policy stance for now given subdued inflation and continued robust domestic growth, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)  Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said yesterday. “We don’t need to reduce the policy rate at this point because the economy is growing and inflation rate is within the target of two to three percent,” Guinigundo told reporters on the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic (APEC) forum in Tagaytay. “There is no compelling reason why we should change our monetary policy stance, it remains appropriate,” he added. Ample liquidity and strong domestic activity provide ample fiscal headroom for the central bank to retain the current benchmark interest rates despite a steep drop in the price of oil and China’s slowing economy. The monetary board will meet on March 26 to decide whether or not to retain existing interest rates. The central bank is committed to promote and maintain price stability and provide proactive leadership in bringing about a strong financial system conducive to a balanced and sustainable growth of the economy. During its last meeting on Feb.12, the monetary board left its key policy rate on hold at four percent for the overnight borrowing or reverse repurchase facility and six percent for the overnight lending or repurchase facility. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The interest rates on special deposit accounts were also kept steady.

Software firm iRipple sells assets

 Economy
Mar 062015
 
Software firm iRipple sells assets

MANILA, Philippines – Listed software solutions provider iRipple Inc. has completed its divestment after selling all its assets worth P24 million to management solutions firm Movmento Inc. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, iRipple said its board approved the sale of substantially all of its operating assets and assignment of liabilities to Movmento. The listed company said it sold for P23.75 million all its assets, including equipment, furniture and fixtures, motor vehicles to Movmento. It also assigned its rights in its trademarks, copyrights and investment in subsidiaries to the latter. “The company sold substantially all its assets to Movmento in preparation for a contemplated change in primary purpose of the company,” iRipple said. “This sale would render the corporation incapable of continuing the business or accomplishing the purposes for which it was incorporated. This is in line with the preparations for the contemplated change in primary purpose,” it added. iRipple’s board of directors approved the sale of all of its assets to a third-party in December last year in preparation for a planned change in primary purpose into a holding company. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 iRipple was incorporated on November 2000 to establish, operate, develop, manage and provide software solution projects and related businesses as well as to engage in trading of computer hardware and software products. The shell company is behind Barte Merchandise Management Solution (MMS), a locally developed software solution designed to support the entire merchandising operations of businesses engaged in Read More …

Delegates fine-tune Cebu Action Plan

 Economy
Mar 062015
 
Delegates fine-tune Cebu Action Plan

COME September, finance ministers from Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member-nations will be in Cebu for the three-day Finance Ministerial Meeting to firm up a road map that the Philippines is proposing to make the region more inclusive. Deputies from finance ministries and central banks of Apec nations met in Tagaytay recently to fine-tune the Cebu Action Plan, a plan to make Apec member-nations more financially integrated, transparent and resilient. The plan is anchored on four pillars: promoting financial integration, advocating financial transparency, enhancing financial resiliency, and supporting infrastructure development and financing. The plan will officially be launched during the Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Cebu. This year, the Philippines is hosting the Apec Summit and the country has chosen inclusivity as an agenda to make economic growth instrumental in reducing poverty, a report posted on the Apec 2015 Philippines website stated. “Financial interconnectivity of Apec member-economies and their close linkages in the global financial markets make the region exposed to the risk of a global market liquidity dry-up and other market volatilities. As such, Apec economies must also build buffers to protect it from these financial market disturbances,” Philippine Treasurer Roberto Tan was quoted as saying during the opening remarks of the deputies’ meeting. According to the website, efforts to boost inclusivity and economic resiliency are ongoing across the region, but delegates agreed that more needs to be done. For the Philippines, regulations that improve accessibility of credit to micro, small and medium enterprises, and increases in allocations for Read More …

Pacquiao more mindful of mistakes

 Entertainment
Mar 062015
 
Pacquiao more mindful of mistakes

Manny Pacquiao does his daily routine of exercises at Griffith Park in Los Angeles as the Filipino pugilist is in deep in training for the “fight of his life” against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Benny Uy Los Angeles, United States | AFP| – Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao has matured a lot since his six-round knockout loss to Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012. “He has learned a big lesson out of that. He became more cautious and has matured a lot as a fighter,” says Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez, a long-time associate and the assistant trainer for Pacquiao. Fernandez said Pacquiao was winning the fight and was about to finish off Marquez when he became hasty. “He is a fearless fighter inside the ring. In his desire to end the fight in a convincing fashion just to make the fans happy, he went for the kill in the dying seconds of the sixth round. And he paid dearly for it,” recalled Fernandez. Now, Fernandez says, Pacquiao has remained ferocious but is no longer a careless fighter. “His punches now are sharper and harder than before. We’ve been training together for years and I can say it based on actual experience,” said Fernandez, who suffered a cut on his mouth during the punch mitts session at the Fortune Gym on Tuesday. Several times during the punch mitts session, Fernandez was dazed due to non-stop pounding from the Pinoy Read More …

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