This week marks the opening of EY’s (previously Ernst & Young) latest global delivery network (GDN) location, our first in the Philippines. It’s the ninth such center we have established as part of our GDN, and will now be our fifth location, following India, China, Argentina and Poland.
Jon Lucas: “…naisip ko bakit hindi ko i-try na sa music mag-focus sa rap, kanta?”
Judy and Ryan enjoy the best out of two continents at the same time.
Andrea: Road Trip is a 100-page photo book depicting the sexy actress in a playful romp in various places.
On- and off-screen partners added sparkle to the 9th Star Magic Ball.
Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Maricar B. Brizuela, September 13th, 2015 08:59 PM INQUIRER FILE PHOTO With the re-implementation of the truck ban along all Metro Manila roads starting Tuesday, the local government of Parañaque announced that the city would expand its truck ban to ban cargo trucks from the city’s major streets from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. In a statement on Sunday, Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez announced that the move was also in anticipation of the Manila leg of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and to address the “worsening traffic congestion in Metro Manila.” Olivarez added that the expansion would involve changes in the previous city ordinance that regulated trucks inside the city but “only along secondary roads.” Under the expanded truck ban, trucks will be prohibited from using Sucat Road, the East and West Service Roads of the South Luzon Expressway, Ninoy Aquino Avenue, Airport Road, and Quirino Avenue, according to the city government. “The ban will be in effect from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a window from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays,” Olivarez said. He claimed that the expanded truck ban would prevent APEC summit delegates from getting stuck in traffic jams. Covered by the ban are 10-wheeler cargo trucks, trailer trucks, transit mixers and heavy vehicles transporting sand and other heavy materials. He, however, said that six-wheeler trucks would be exempted from the ban. “[This will] allow logistics and cargo Read More …
Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Tarra Quismundo, September 13th, 2015 04:57 AM ‘WE HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN,’ veterans of the Korean War lament during their 41st annual convention, but the Elpidio Quirino Foundation remembers to honor their heroism. With the President’s grandchildren Cory Quirino and Ruby Gonzalez-Meyer (extreme left) are veterans Arnulfo Bañez, Miguel Villamor, Crispin Paciente Sr., Augusto Flores and Ernesto Venturina. JILSON SECKLER TIU The year is 1952. Just seven years after the end of a war that devastated their homeland, another wave of Filipino soldiers arrive in the shores of the Korean Peninsula, heeding the call to support the defense of democracy. In unfamiliar terrain, in the bitter cold, the Filipinos—mostly just in their 20s—hang on to their helmets and rifles amid the onslaught of enemy forces. It is the first overseas war the Philippines fought, a war largely forgotten today. “Of course, when we arrived, we saw the people scared, hungry, with tattered clothes,” said 86-year-old retired Col. Ernesto Venturina. Venturina was part of the 19th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (Peftok), the country’s contingent which began deployment two years earlier (1950) to support United Nations forces repel communist forces in the divided Korean Peninsula. “We were in the front lines. The sight of both our people and the enemy, it was sad to see that,” said Venturina, who deployed at 22, the youngest first sergeant among the entire UN forces at the time. The memory is as vivid for retired General Read More …
Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Margie Quimpo-Espino, September 13th, 2015 03:15 AM She barely knew him but she was in love and allowed her heart to guide her. Rosines “Ines” Agustin-Herve was a hotel and restaurant management graduate from the University of the Philippines Diliman when she was asked by her sister to help set up a Japanese restaurant in New Caledonia. New Caledonia is a French territory situated 3,283 kilometers from Australia. It just so happened that a group from the French Navy was under a short contract in the place and it just so happened that Olivier was going to the restaurant. Ines admits it was love at first sight and the whirlwind romance was enough for the then 20-something to follow her heart and go with the French gentleman to France. Destiny “Everything happened so quickly. In less than a year, I went to France to live with Olivier. I really let my heart decide for my destiny. It was a great risk because it was the first time I was leaving my family to be with a man I barely knew, in a place I have never been before. I only knew three French words. Maybe it is a bit of luck but most of all it’s my destiny to be with this “great man!” We got married a year later. It was a civil marriage because we had to do it fast for my visa. I admit, it was complicated—the fact that being a foreigner, marrying Read More …
Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Ma.Fatima Cruz, September 13th, 2015 03:10 AM Wilbert Balbuena, one of Tesda and Cemex’s mason scholars says, “I learned the importance of getting along with people, planning my life, as well as entrepreneurship skills…” The market for skilled workers abroad is still large and is waiting to be filled, but in the face of increasing competitiveness in the global arena, Filipinos need to continue setting themselves apart with a reputation for excellence and strict work ethics. The story of 28-year-old Saudi worker Wilbert Balbuena is one of a personal drive to excel, coupled with finding the right opportunities for doing so. Commitment Born in Dumaguete province, Balbuena didn’t finish high school due to hardships, followed by the separation of his parents. However, he pursued his dreams of a better life by going to Manila where he found livelihood as a construction worker. His commitment to his chosen job and his perseverance eventually led him to the rank of lead mason for a construction company in Taguig City. Balbuena would often go the extra mile for his employer, and these efforts eventually caught the attention of his team’s project engineer who nominated him for further education and skills training. Training program He was one of the four masons required by their project engineer to attend the “Experto Ako” masonry skills training program organized by cement manufacturer Cemex Philippines in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). Read More …
INQUIRER.net By: Nestor Corrales, September 12th, 2015 03:36 PM A human rights group has urged the United Nations (UN) to probe the recent killings of lumad and the displacement of thousands of indigenous peoples in Mindanao. “We want international bodies to know what is happening in Mindanao—that the Lumad, in defense of their land, are being killed and forced to leave their communities,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement Saturday. In a letter addressed to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Karapatan has asked for an investigation on the killings and the evacuation of almost 3,000 lumad in Surigao del Sur. “We are asking the UN HRC to investigate and recommend actions to the Philippine Government on these issues,” Palabay said. READ: Aiza Seguerra reminds Filipinos to turn focus on lumad killings Karapatan told the UNHRC about the recent killing of lumad leaders Dionel Campos and Datu Juvello Sinzo and Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (Alcadev) school director Emerito Samarca. On September 1, the Magahat-Bagani paramilitary forces under the 36th and 75th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army gunned down Campos in front of the whole community in Diatago, Lianga, Surigao del Sur. Karapatan said that Sinzo was separated from the crowd and was “was tortured by hitting his arms and legs with wooden stick before he was shot” while Samarca was found dead inside the classroom of Alcadev “with an ear-to-ear slit on the throat and gunshot wounds in the chest.” “The 36th Infantry Battalion (IB), 74th IB Read More …