‘APEC hotties’ Trudeau and Nieto set Filipino hearts racing

 Entertainment
Nov 202015
 
‘APEC hotties’ Trudeau and Nieto set Filipino hearts racing

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gestures as he is welcomed by Philippine and Canadian officials shortly upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday. Trudeau joins other leaders in the 21st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Manila. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP |  – The dashing good looks of Canada’s prime minister and Mexico’s president have sparked the unlikely hashtag “#APEChottie” to go viral at a gathering of world leaders in the Philippines. For much of the last week, Manila’s social media has been filled with angry tirades at the huge traffic disruption caused by security measures for the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. But in the last day the mood has improved as Filipinos lose themselves in the dreamy eyes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Enrique Pena Nieto. Their arrival in the steamy Philippine capital has got tongues wagging and keyboards clicking, with both social and traditional aedia filled with compliments for the pair. For the diplomats, policy wonks and business leaders in Manila, US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are the only show in town. Not so for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which put the Mexican and Canadian leaders on its front page and asked readers: “Are you with Team Nieto or Team Trudeau?” Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto winks to the crowd after his arrival at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Tuesday. President Nieto will be attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting with 20 other leaders Read More …

PHL, South Korea seek greater bilateral cooperation

 Entertainment
Nov 202015
 
PHL, South Korea seek greater bilateral cooperation

President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye during the expanded bilateral meeting at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel on Wednesday (November 18, 2015), at the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. (MNS Photo) MANILA, Nov 19 (Mabuhay) – President Benigno S. Aquino III and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye expressed their willingness to boost their cooperation, during a bilateral meeting held on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit on Wednesday. According to Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr., the Philippines is keen to increase bilateral trade, encouraging South Korean companies to invest in shipbuilding, automotive manufacturing, food production, food processing and agribusiness, electronics, energy and renewable energy, finance and banking, infrastructure and public-private-partnership (PPP) projects, such as the development of the Puerto Princesa airport in Palawan. He said the Philippines thanked South Korea for supporting such projects as the Jalaur Multi-Purpose Project, Laguindingan Airport air navigation system and support facilities, and the Samar Pacific coastal road project that South Korea committed to support until 2018. “We are pleased with the robust logistics corporation between our two countries, as manifested by the Philippines’ acquisition of various defense material, most notably the FA-50 aircraft. We appreciate Korea’s donation of a patrol combat corvette, a landing craft utility, and 16 rubber boats to improve our military’s humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities,” Secretary Coloma quoted President Aquino as saying during the bilateral meeting, held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City. The Palace official Read More …

New Zealand’s gift: New Philippine Red Cross center

 News
Nov 202015
 
New Zealand’s gift: New Philippine Red Cross center

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Jovic Yee, November 21st, 2015 03:40 AM New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, left, is welcomed to the opening plenary session by Philippines President Benigno Aquino III at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. Pool Photo via AP Before leaving the country on Friday after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key made a quick stop in Mandaluyong City to inaugurate the P29-million logistics and multipurpose center of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), a project cofunded by his government. The center, built behind the PRC headquarters on Pinatubo Street, Barangay Barangka Ilaya, is one of eight facilities nationwide supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme. Apart from being a storage facility for relief goods, supplies and equipment for emergency response, the 2,200-square-meter building can also serve as a mini hospital that can accommodate at least 500 patients in mass-casualty events, according to PRC Chair Richard Gordon. In a speech, Key stressed that “preparation is key to saving lives” especially in a country like the Philippines that is vulnerable to natural disasters like typhoons and earthquakes. “It’s great that we are able to assist [PRC] in a very practical way.” Since July 2013, the partnership has also enabled PRC to retrofit its eight warehouses in the country, including those in Subic, Laoag and Cebu, to make the structures more quake-resistant. Key said his government, which extended aid totaling P159 million to PRC, would continue Read More …

Cebu Pacific apologizes for canceled flights

 News
Nov 202015
 
Cebu Pacific apologizes for canceled flights

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: Miguel Camus, November 21st, 2015 03:39 AM Cebu Pacific Air (CEB), the country’s biggest budget carrier, has issued an apology to passengers affected by flight cancellations due to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit held in Manila this week. The apology comes as some passengers took a more proactive stance in airing their complaints. On Thursday, lawyer Raymond Fortun threatened to sue the budget airline amid confusion on the status of his flight home from Vietnam, which was canceled. Fortun claimed he was not properly informed. READ: Lawyer Fortun threatens Cebu Pacific: See you in court “The e-mail message was automatically sent to all passengers with flights departing within 72 hours. This resulted in some passengers going to the airport, despite their flight being canceled,” Cebu Pacific said in an e-mailed statement. “CEB sincerely apologizes to passengers with canceled flights, who still received a system generated e-mail prompting them to check in online,” it added. Fortun said he incurred additional, unplanned expenses abroad, apart from schedule disruptions for him and his family. Cebu Pacific and flag carrier Philippine Airlines, meanwhile, lost over P1 billion in foregone revenue due to the Apec summit. PAL estimated gross revenue losses of about $18.7 million from the cancellation of about 700 flights this week, an announcement showed. Separately, Cebu Pacific estimated that forgone revenue during the period likely hit P400 million from the cancellation of over 800 flights. Latest Abu bandit slain; another captured ‘Like’ for sure: Facebook to Read More …

Aussie-funded project needs sex offenders’ registry in PH

 News
Nov 202015
 
Aussie-funded project needs sex offenders’ registry in PH

Philippine Daily Inquirer By: DJ Yap, November 21st, 2015 03:38 AM The creation of a registry of sex offenders known to have preyed on children will be one of the components of an Australia-funded project to combat child trafficking in the Philippines. Australia will request the Philippine Congress to enact a law creating such a registry as part of its P66-million program on child protection against sexual abuse and exploitation, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said on Tuesday. Bishop led the launch of the three-year project, which is seen to boost the Philippines’ capability to monitor the activities of foreign pedophiles, and at the same time warn communities that a sexual predator may be within their midst. “Child sexual abuse and exploitation is an aberrant crime. It is a serious social issue that is not confined to the Philippines. All countries are affected by this, including Australia,” Bishop said at the launch of the program in Makati. “The existence of these crimes has intensified by virtue of technology and social media,” she said, adding that the issue was compounded by the fact that some parents in impoverished communities were complicit. The officials who attended the event included Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman who both expressed their support for the Australian initiative. Bishop said the program will also ensure that Philippine authorities would have the training to deal with the serious criminal issue, aligned with other Australia initiatives on transnational crime, including human trafficking Read More …

How Swede it is: King Carl goes back to Tacloban

 General
Nov 202015
 
How Swede it is: King Carl goes back to Tacloban

Inquirer Visayas By: Joey Gabieta, November 21st, 2015 03:28 AM King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf (C) salutes as he visits the Boy Scout monument in Tacloban City on January 26, 2014. AFP TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—For the second time in two years, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will visit this city as part of his country’s commitment to the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan). King Gustaf was expected to arrive on Saturday for a seven-hour private visit as honorary chair of the World Scouting Foundation, said Chito Morante, director of the Philippine Boys Scouts (BSP) Leyte council. New marker The Swedish king, who first visited Tacloban on Jan. 26 last year, will unveil a marker at the new Boys Scout building of the Leyte council, a two-story P- million structure he was funding. The repair work was expected to be finished by February 2016. The old Boys Scout building located along M.H. del Pilar Street was destroyed during the onslaught of Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013. The king will hold a 30-minute press briefing with the local media upon arrival at Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport at 9 a.m., according to Alice Nicart, regional director of the Philippine Information Agency. He will also make a short visit to the shipwreck located in Anibong district that had been converted into a memorial park, Nicart added. At the airport, Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Palo town Mayor Remedios Petilla will meet King Gustaf who Read More …

Focus on inclusive growth appropriate, say economic managers

 General
Nov 202015
 
Focus on inclusive growth appropriate, say economic managers

MANILA, Philippines – Focus given by the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on inclusive growth is timely and bodes well with the Aquino administration’s economic agenda, economic managers said yesterday. “The focus on inclusivity is appropriate and necessary at this stage,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a text message. “For the Philippines, still confronted with poverty and the social conflicts it breeds, inclusivity has been priority from the very beginning of the Aquino administration,” he added. Putting the bulk of the budget for social investments, conditional cash transfers (CCT), universal health care and the bottom-up budgeting are some of the efforts to promote growth inclusivity, the budget chief said. Agreements made during the year-long APEC meetings in Manila concluded on Thursday also outlined the administration’s commitments, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a separate text message. He pointed to the Cebu Action Plan, an agreement by finance ministers in September that laid out a 10-year strategy on financial integration, budget transparency, financial resilience and infrastructure development. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Boracay Action Agenda toward assisting growth on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is also another effort. MSMEs account for more than 97 percent of firms in the country. “They set the foundation for the inclusive integration roadmap,” Purisima said, pertaining to the upcoming integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year. At the closing of the year-long APEC meetings, economic leaders, led by President Aquino, declared that making Read More …

Index soars as investors turn optimistic

 Economy
Nov 202015
 
Index soars as investors turn optimistic

MANILA, Philippines – Share prices climbed yesterday as risks from abroad have started to subside, analysts said. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged 107.43 points, or 1.57 percent, to end at 6,932.81, while the broader All Shares index gained 53.78 points, or 1.36 percent, to finish at 4,001.22. All other indexes closed in positive territory except for the mining and oil index which declined by 126.79 points. Value turnover stood at P5.975 billion and advancers edged out decliners 108 to 60 while 47 stocks were unchanged. Analysts said that the market has become less volatile as risks from abroad have started to subside. Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance Inc. said that as risks from overseas started to subside, investors returned to the market. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Investors were hungry for bargains today as risks from overseas started to calm investors. News about a better third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) further boosted trading. However, the pulse of the market remains cautious as shown by the thin value of stock transactions,” he said. In recent months, investors have been shying away from the market due to the lingering concerns on the slowing economy of China as well as the impending rate hike of the US Federal Reserve this December. The US Fed is widely believe to raise rates this December on improving economic indicators in the US.

Banks remain concentrated in urban areas

 Economy
Nov 202015
 
Banks remain concentrated in urban areas

MANILA, Philippines – Banking presence in the Philippines remained concentrated in highly urbanized and higher income areas particularly in the National Capital Region, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. The BSP reported the banking system’s landscape in the country is now leaner and attuned to market needs as the number of operating banks have declined to 638 as of end June from 664 in the same period last year. The figure is way below the peak of 996 operating banks in 1998 when the central bank started rationalizing the merger and consolidation incentives for banks. “Amid an evolving global financial landscape, banks were compelled to streamline their operations and seek alternative ways to grow their market. This strategy has led to the ongoing industry consolidation which contributed to a leaner operating network,” the BSP said. The banking industry is composed of 36 universal and commercial banks, 70 thrift banks as well as 532 rural and cooperative banks. These include 17 private banks, 20 foreign banks, three government banks, 66 standalone thrift banks as well as 532 rural and cooperative banks. “Despite further liberalization of foreign bank entry in the Philippines, domestic banks remain as key market players,” the BSP said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In terms of network, the industry had 10,528 branches, other offices and representative offices abroad in end June from 10,120 in end June last year. “This has led to a more inclusive financial system with more banking offices Read More …

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