Guess which aspect of her marriage is very challenging for Bianca Gonzalez? She says, “Knowing how to do the grocery…”
Mar 012015
Mar 012015
popular James Yap gets confidence from missed shot, lifts Purefoods in OT Binay sneaking into Palace, says Bello Quiet love Up to 7,000 families in ARMM flee fighting of Army, BIFF — local officials $300-million revenues expected for Mayweather-Pacquiao bout Fighter-turned-witness worries gov’t, Moro panels Grief-stricken mother’s appeal: ‘Return my sons to me, dead or alive’ Purefoods loses huge lead, salvages win over San Miguel videos PBA: Ginebra’s LA Tenorio comfortable on the floor with Emman Monfort PBA: Agustin credits good defense, big men performance for win over Purefoods PBA: Warner’s maturity big thing for Globalport, says coach Gonzales Crime watchdog wants advisory body composed of bishops, inter-religious leaders Former Tarlac Governor calls Aquino to resign SAN FRANCISCO — One in three, that’s the proportion of California public school students who reported being bullied or harassed at school in the previous year, according to 2011-13 data just posted on kidsdata.org. School staff members recognize the issue, with 37 percent reporting in a related survey that bullying was a “moderate” or “severe” problem at their school. Race or national origin tops the list of cited reasons for bullying or harassment in all grades. Higher percentages of African American, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students reported incidents compared to students from other racial/ethnic backgrounds. Sexual orientation is the next most common reason cited, followed by gender, religion and disability.Bullying and harassment are associated with long-term negative outcomes for both the bullied and students who do the bullying. Even just witnessing bullying Read More …
Mar 012015
Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Hilario G. Davide Jr. addressing the attendees of the 20th Assembly of the Order of the Knights of Rizal February 20 in Vigan City. PHOTO BY MARIANO “ANONG”/ PINOY VIGAN CITY — “Don’t let the Mamasapano massacre get in the way of passing the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL),” said former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Hilario G. Davide, Jr., to the more than 500 attendees of the 20th biennial assembly of the Order of the Knights of Rizal (OKOR) at the convention hall of this city on February 19-22. A former OKOR Supreme Commander, Davide asked his fraternity brethren to go beyond the ceremonies and studying the works of the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, and challenged them to serve the Philippines using the ideals of Rizal as their guide. In an exclusive interview, after his speech on February 21, Davide, also a former ambassador to the United Nations, elaborated on his advocacy for the passage of the BBL. “Genuine peace in Mindanao can only come after justice is done. Congress should get the truth out of the investigations…but the process of passing the BBL should continue…the (OKOR) should play a role in realizing it,” emphasized Davide, who is a member of the fraternity’s Council of Elders. Good stewards In his speech before the assembly, Davide also told the Knights of Rizal to be good stewards of God’s creation following the appeal of Pope Francis during his visit in the Philippines Read More …
Mar 012015
Without a doubt, the Mamasapano tragedy must lead to a reexamination of the laws, rules, guidelines that are still being worked out as part of the peace agreement with the MILF. But those pushing for all-out war with the rebels keep missing a key point: All- out war doesn’t work. It never has. It never will. Ferdinand Marcos tried it 40 year ago, and the Moro movement simply grew stronger, forcing the dictator to sign a peace agreement that eventually fell apart. Believing that wiping out the MILF would be as easy as mowing down the bad guys in his movies, Erap gave it a shot during his disastrous administration. The military did take over Camp Abubakar and Erap and his allies, in a supreme example of political cluelessness, brought lechon and beer to the camp to celebrate. But 15 years later, the MILF is still there, looking even stronger. There’s another point the warmongers keep ignoring: The Moros are rebelling because their people have been bullied, abused, robbed and humiliated for decades. We keep forgetting that. The fact that key MILF leaders are talking peace suggests there’s a meaningful segment of the Moro movement that really wants to end the war. Are all of them for peace? Clearly not, for many reasons. Which is why the peace process is bound to be complicated going forward and both sides must proceed with caution, seeking ways to strengthen the hand of leaders, on both sides who genuinely want peace. But abandoning Read More …
Mar 012015
California Assembly Member Luis Alejo wants minority-owned businesses to get better access to the state’s energy spending. FILE PHOTO SACRAMENTO – A bill in the State Assembly would push California Energy Commission grantees and loan recipients to increase procurement from California small businesses and bring jobs and opportunities to underserved communities. The measure, Assembly Bill 865, introduced by Assembly Member Luis Alejo (Dem-Salinas), would require recipients of Energy Commission funding – which supports projects such as energy conservation and clean power – to report annually on their minority-, women-, LGBT- and disabled veteran-owned business procurement efforts. The bill is modeled on successful programs already covering the state’s utilities, telecommunications companies and insurers. “AB 865 will allow minority owned businesses to have increased opportunities for job growth and a fair chance to obtain contracts with major corporations,” stated Alejo. “To ensure accountability, the bill also requires the establishment of a Diversity Task Force. This task force will review and make recommendations about diversity in the energy industry and promote those actively engaging in diversity issues,” the Assembly member added. Greenlining Institute Environmental Equity Director Vien Truong lauded Alejo’s bill. “Entrepreneurship is key to the American dream, and diverse businesses deserve a fair shot at contracts with major corporations,” Truong said. “The Energy Commission invests much of California’s funds on clean energy and energy efficiency. This is the logical next step in the effort to make sure California’s climate change policies bring real benefits to underserved communities.” Truong noted that AB 865 Read More …
Mar 012015
MANILA, Philippines–The group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan remains unconvinced with the transportation department’s “win-win” plan to pursue two elevated railway common stations in Quezon City to resolve a legal row with Henry Sy’s SM Group. Pangilinan, chair of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp., had suggested instead that the government build a single large station that would benefit rival property developers in the area. Although no formal proposal has been made yet by the government, Metro Pacific said it believed building two common stations, which aim to link the busy Metro Rail Transit Line 3, Light Rail Transit Line 1 and eventually MRT7, located hundreds of meters apart was an “inefficient” exercise. Metro Pacific, whose infrastructure portfolio spans tollroads, power generation, water supply and hospitals, has no property interests in the area. But it would be affected by the station’s location as it had won, with partner Ayala Corp., a P65-billion contract last year to operate LRT1 and extend the line to Cavite province. Moreover, it recently revived an unsolicited proposal to assume operations of MRT3, which is suffering from congestion and operational glitches. Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. Lim said last week that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has yet to approach them with a solid proposal on the two common station configuration, although he confirmed they were aware of these discussions. “We heard that there are two stations, which we think is not very efficient. There should be one station for all three lines,” Lim Read More …
Mar 012015
REGULATORS have further extended the temporary price ceiling for the power traded at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) as they buy more time to work on permanent measures to shield consumers from price volatility.
Mar 012015
Jilin Provincial Art Troupe’s tours consist of different presentations from Chinese excerpts of stories and dramas, adapted through dances, traditional music, opera performance and other art forms. MANILA, Philippines – Jilin Provincial Art Troupe, a multi-arts group hailing from north eastern China, will perform in various venues across the archipelago for the Chinese Spring Festival in the Philippines until March 9 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Philippines-China Diplomatic Relations. The troupe’s performances are made possible through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Department of Foreign Affairs, City Government of Batangas, National Parks Development Committee, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc. and The Theatre at Solaire. The Luzon leg of the performances will be staged today, 4 p.m., at the Batangas City Convention Center; March 4, Wednesday, 8 p.m., at the CCP Main Theater; and on March 5, Thursday, 8 p.m., at The Theatre at Solaire Resort and Casino. In the Visayas region, troupe will perform on Saturday, March 7, 7 p.m., at the White Gold Club, Cebu City and in Davao on March 9, Monday, 7 p.m., at the SMX Convention Center, Lanang Davao City. Jilin Provincial Art Troupe is composed of selected best performers from all across Jilin Province. Its programs represent the highest level of Jilin stage art. The group has been in the spotlight of the Spring Festival Gala Read More …
Mar 012015
MANILA, Philippines – Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is suggesting that a station be constructed in the middle of SM North EDSA and Trinoma Mall to end the impasse on the proposed Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) common station. MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in an interview with reporters that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) should consider putting a common station in the middle of the two malls. “That is what we suggested. There could be one exit to Trinoma and one exit to SM,” Pangilinan said. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya has been pushing for the construction of a second common station in front of SM North EDSA that would interconnect LRT-1 and the proposed P63-billion MRT-7 of Universal LRT Corp. (ULC) owned by San Miguel Holdings Corp. of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC). The DOTC has earlier picked Trinoma Mall of conglomerate Ayala Corp. as the site of the P1.4-billion common station to house MRT-3 along EDSA and LRT-1 from Taft Ave. The transfer of the proposed common station to the Trinoma Mall instead of SM Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 City North EDSA is still pending with the Supreme Court. SM Prime has obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court preventing the DOTC from transferring the location of the common train station in front of Trinoma Mall instead of SM City North EDSA based on an agreement in 2009 MPIC Read More …
Mar 012015
MANILA, Philippines – Smart Communications Inc., the wireless arm of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has extended its Free Internet promo by two more weeks. In its Twitter account @SMARTCares, Smart announced that the Free Internet promo has been extended until March 15 after expiring yesterday. However, the extension only covers prepaid subscribers of Smart and Talk N’ Text, while subscribers of Sun Cellular would no longer be covered by Internet promo. “The Free Internet is available until March 15 for Smart prepaid and Talk N’ Text subscribers only,” Smart said in its Twitter account. This is the fourth time that the promo has been extended. The promo was launched last Sept. 26, covering postpaid subscribers and was supposed to expire last Nov. 30. However, the promo was expanded last Oct. 2 to cover all 69 million Smart, Talk ‘N’ Text and Sun Cellular subscribers nationwide and the deadline was extended to Jan. 5 and then to Feb. 5. The deadline was extended further to Feb. 28 and now to March 15. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last Feb. 5, Smart and Sun Cellular executive vice president and head of the wireless consumer business Charles Lim announced that the Free Internet promo had been extended and expanded to include video streaming. “We are excited to expand the Smart Free Internet promo to include video streaming, since we all know how much Filipinos enjoy watching videos online. This is still part of the formula Read More …