A MEASURE seeking to upgrade the Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) ability to fast-track import processing and install safeguards against smuggling has been signed into law by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III.
May 312016
May 312016
THE ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) will be limiting the capacity of prospective power generating plants in the country’s three main island groups to protect the electricity grid against a “single contingency event” and its possible cost to consumers during an outage.
May 312016
DEMAND for office space in the Philippines will remain robust, as technological advances allow more companies to outsource work, according to real estate consultancy Jones Lang Lasalle, Inc. (JLL).
May 312016
http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/ WASHINGTON, D.C. – Next generation Filipino-Americans aged 18 to 44 looking for excitement and adventure in the Philippines may now sign up for the “Now Philippines Tour” or simply, NOW Tour 2016, to be held on new dates 26 August – 3 September 2016 in Manila, Cebu, and Dumaguete. The NOW Tour 2016 is organized by The Travel Outlet, with the support and cooperation of the Philippine Embassy and Consulates General in the United States, the Department of Tourism, US-Philippines Society, and Philippines-based Resort 4 U. The organizers are also pleased to announce that the Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the official airline of choice for the NOW Tour 2016. PAL arranged a special package for interested participants of the tour, as indicated below: If you pay in full by June 10: http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/ From Los Angeles (LAX) – $2,545 From New York (JFK) – $2,845 If you don’t pay in full until July 1: From Los Angeles Full package Air/Land – $2,695/per person From New York Full Package Air/Land – US $2,995/per person The special package above is subject to inventory availability and has limited number of seats. Prices are good until 01 July 2016 andincludes international and Philippine domestic air and land package. For international and domestic air packages only, PAL has the following rates which includes 2 pieces of baggage free on ALL legs: West Coast Price of $900: LAX – Manila plus bonus Domestic Air Manila – Dumaguete and Cebu – Manila East Coast Price of $1,200: JFK – Manila plus bonus Domestic Air Manila Read More …
May 312016
Vice president-elect Leni Robredo leads a Holy Mass in commemoration of her late husband Sec. Jesse Robredo’s 58th birthday Friday at Eternal Gardens in Naga City, hours before Congress finished canvassing of votes for president and vice president. Robredo’s victory was affirmed when she garnered 14,418,817 votes, 263,473 votes ahead of closest rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who got 14,155,344.(MNS photo) MANILA, May 31 (Mabuhay) – Vice President-elect Leni Robredo is eyeing a transition meeting with outgoing Vice President Jejomar Binay a month before she formally assumes office, her spokesperson said Tuesday. “There has been no plans, but I know she would like to have transition meeting with the VP. I believe there will be no problem to have that meeting but it is not yet discussed,” Robredo’s spokesperson, Georgina Hernandez, said in a television interview. Binay ran and lost in the May presidential elections. Robredo, incumbent congresswoman of Camarines Sur, was officially proclaimed as the winning vice-presidential candidate by the National Board of Canvassers Monday afternoon. She is to formally assume her post on June 30. Robredo earlier shunned the idea of holding office at the Coconut Palace, which she said costs the government almost half a million a month for rent. Hernandez said spending P500,000 for rent is “not practical.” “She saw the cost of having to rent the Coconut Palace and it is about half a million, she says it is too much, she prefers to have satellite offices in provinces. She is pushing for rural development so Read More …
May 312016
Presidential candidate Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano arrive at the Makati Business Club forum on Wednesday. The recent survey conducted on April 16-20 shows Duterte gaining bigger lead over Sen. Grace Poe.Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News MANILA, May 31 (Mabuhay) – Malacañang on Tuesday said president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s preference for Cabinet members should be respected even if it does not include vice president-elect Leni Robredo. “Karapatan ni president-elect Duterte na piliin and mga bubuo ng kanyang Gabinete at igalang natin ang pasya niya, kabilang na hinggil kay VP-elect Robredo,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a text message to media. (It is president-elect Duterte’s right to choose who will compose his Cabinet and we should respect his decision, even that pertaining to VP-elect Robredo.) After the elections, the Robredo camp thanked Duterte for saying that he will give the Camarines Sur representative a Cabinet post if she wins. This was affirmed by Duterte’s running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano who said the tough-talking mayor has long been considering what position to give the winning vice presidential candidate. However, Duterte later gave conflicting statements. He once said that giving Robredo a Cabinet position “never entered his mind.” He said he needed to figure out his selection from within his own party first, adding that he did not even know her. Duterte said the earlier pronouncements did not refer to a job but an “opening of an opportunity.” For her part, Robredo said Duterte has no Read More …
May 312016
CONGRESS PROCLAIMS NEW VICE PRESIDENT: Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. raise the hands of Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Leni Robredo, proclaiming her as the country’s duly elected Vice President, Monday, May 30, 2016. Robredo is joined by her children, Jessica Marie, Janine Patricia, and Jillian Therese. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Congress on Monday afternoon proclaimed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte and Camarines Sur Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo as the next president and vice president of the country, respectively. The proclamation came after Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, finished the canvassing of votes with Duterte officially winning the presidential elections with 16,601,997, and Robredo, the vice presidential polls with 14,418,817. Duterte was a mile ahead of his closest pursuer, administration candidate Mar Roxas, who had more than nine million votes. Vice President-elect Leni Robredo greets supporters at a thanksgiving mass at St. Peters Church in Quezon City. Robredo and President-elect Rodrigo Duterte were proclaimed winners of the 2016 national election by the joint session of Congress at the House of Representatives on Monday. (MNS photo) Robredo, meanwhile, won the vice presidency in a tight race as she led second placer Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. by only more than 260,000 votes. Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. made the proclamation at 4:10 p.m., close to an hour after the joint session started. The motion for the proclamation of Duterte and Robredo was made by Senate Read More …
May 312016
Peace talks loom Dante Jimenez, founding president of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (left) said to be one of the members of Duterte’s “inner circle’ greets President-elect in a recent meeting in the Philippines. Jimenez said Duterte will wipe out crime in the country in a meeting with journalists and community leaders in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of former Welfare Officer Don Duerro MANILA (Mabuhay) – Presumptive president-elect Rodrigo Duterte will pursue holding dialogues with rebel groups, including the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Duterte disclosed that he spent three hours talking to Fidel Agcaoili, National Democratic Front (NDF) spokesman, on Wednesday evening in Davao City. The NDF is the political arm of the Communist group. “We agreed on the framework on how to proceed with the peace talks,” he said. “And maybe in God’s good time, I told Fidel that, merong panahon dadating sa atin that we will stop talking about being left and being right,” he added. The Davao strongman has expressed his willingness to work with the Communists that he announced that he will appoint members of their group to government posts, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). He also looks forward to the re-starting the peace process in Mindanao. “And also we will stop talking about the Moro, the Christians, and the lumads and simply call ourselves Mindanaoan,” said Duterte, adding that he plans to go to Read More …
May 312016
Dakak (photo courtesy of www.dakakresort.com) DAPITAN CITY, Zamboanga del Norte (PNA) – This city has now become one of the destinations for Asian divers looking for pristine and equally breathtaking underwater sanctuaries with the aggressive marketing and promotion strategies of the city government under the stewardship of Mayor Rosalina Jalosjos. Apple Marie Agolong, city tourism officer, on Wednesday told the Philippines News Agency that this is evidenced by the influx of local and foreign tourists visiting this city to explore the exquisiteness of its sub-aquatic resources. Agolong said that more than 100 diving enthusiasts and underwater photographers from China and Hongkong have come to this city on the first quarter of this year to discover for themselves the unexploited underwater beauty and reserves of the place. Agolong disclosed this significantly advances this city’s opportunity in terms of promoting its tourism industry that consequently benefits its people. Moreover, Agolong said this scenario puts forward the interest of the city government in improving and making active its economic activities which locals can eventually take advantage of for increased income and improved living condition. “Yet, the question of sustainability remains a challenge which by supplanting various strategic endeavors has gradually been responded appropriately. This brings into view the concept of public-private partnership that the city forged with the private sectors with the underlying principle of having to deliver a service without having to actually undertake the investment,” Agolong said. She said it is on the aspect of marketing capability that this city has Read More …
May 312016
House security guard the entrance of the Batasang Pambansa on Monday. The Joint Public Session of Congress on Canvassing commenced on Tuesday to publicly count votes submitted and certified by the Board of Canvassers for the presidential and vice presidential races.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc decided to defer action on the request of Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that his team’s IT “experts and programmers” be allowed to audit the servers used in the May 9 elections. Poll chief Andres Bautista told reporters on Wednesday that the decision was unanimous for several reasons, including the fact that canvassing of votes for president and vice president is already starting at Congress. “Meron ring agam-agam dahil nagsimula na ang pag-canvass ng ating Kongreso, the Senate and the House of Representatives, at alam rin naman natin na ang kapangyarihang magproklama ng presidente at bise presidente ay ibinibigay ng Saligang Batas sa Kongreso. So ano ang magiging epekto kung hahayaan nating magkaroon ng audit na ganito na ginagawa ng isang kandidato?” Bautista asked. Marcos asked the poll body last week for the system audit due to doubts that sprung from the “introduction of a new script” to the transparency server, which reflected partial and unofficial results. The senator’s camp claimed that the script change was suspicious because his lead of about one million votes from administration bet Leni Robredo “began to erode” after the tweak. Comelec and Smartmatic confirmed that a change was made to the script Read More …