ENERGY Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada has enumerated a list of ongoing and unfinished initiatives that she hopes the next administration will continue.
May 102016
May 102016
REPOWER Energy Development Corp. has partnered with food and fishing conglomerate Frabelle and TSP Marine Group to embark on a 3-megawatt (MW) run-of-river mini-hydropower plant in Upper Labayat in Quezon province.
May 102016
Technology-savvy young farmers from the rural towns of Mindanao in Southern Philippines are making the most of their technology know-how by working on business processing outsourcing (BPO) jobs at night while tending to their lands in the day. Kristine Ohagan [via Interaksyon] Nilyn Baterna, of Kapatagan in Lanao del Norte, grew up in a farming family saddled by debts. Now, after putting up his own startup outsourcing company, Baterna has paid up the family loans, and even acquired additional farm plots and helped in-laws start a food stall business. “When I was young, our livelihood was farming. I learned how to farm, plow, plant, and to raise geese and pigs since I had to help my family because of our poverty,” Baterna recounted his life before becoming a digital entrepreneur. Baterna’s digital company now has 21 direct employees and 44 part-time workers servicing clients who hire them for data entry and online clerical work, web design, social media marketing, and search engine optimization. The BPO workers earn from P8,000 a month to as much as P100,000 per project for programming jobs. Another Kapatagan successful online worker is Kristine Ohagan, a young mother who previously made ends meet by peddling street foods. Now, Ohagan works at home on her computer which she managed to pay for within 6 months of taking several online jobs. “Nowadays, I can afford to eat good food and treat my family,” Baterna said, while recalling the time she couldn’t even afford to buy bread because of Read More …
May 092016
One of the words in the dictionary that many perhaps wish never existed because its corollary unpleasantness is worry simply defined as “thinking about problems or fears or showing concern because you think that something bad has happened or could happen.” Worry has attached itself to every imaginable situation possible, from unpaid taxes, children arguing, images of horror from terrorism and a host of others. The big “W” is a burden that we put too much weight on more often unnecessarily. The Americans and the Filipinos are undoubtedly worlds apart in many things, but the same worry has successfully ingrained itself into both cultures as members of the human race. What kinds of things make living worrisome for both? There are a lot of issues in modern America for the public that to worry about the most, according to a survey by Gallup poll. One of the biggest changes in American perspective of major problems has been the view of race relations in this country with 17 percent of the people surveyed saying that the subject on “race relations” is a great concern following sordid events that occurred and hugged the headline almost in daily frequency. Climate Change: Communities came together to help victims of a calamity in the Philippines put their lives back as “apparent victims of climate” changed personified by Typhoon Yolanda which let loose its fury in the Philippines. File photo shows the local executives of Tacloban in a fundraising event with a local Fil-Am organization for Read More …
May 092016
Ambassador Cuisia answers questions during the open forum moderated by retired US Ambassador Richard LeBaron. WASHINGTON, DC — “We look forward to the US continued engagement with Asia. Despite budgetary constraints and the pull of other global commitments, it is here in the Asia-Pacific where America must clearly advance its interests and priorities. As Asia is becoming more prosperous, security tensions must be addressed.” This was one of the key messages of Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. when he addressed a diverse audience on the first day of the Discover Diplomacy Weekend on Friday, 06 May, at the historic DACOR Bacon House in Washington, D.C. In a comprehensive keynote speech, Ambassador Cuisia underscored the vital contributions of Philippines-US alliance to regional stability and how the people are the alliance’s “best asset”. “Having witnessed first-hand how the relations have grown in the last five years, I would say the glue of the alliance has been the people and the greatest value proposition of the alliance is the ability to develop robust economic relations and the capacity to jointly address security challenges,” the envoy said. The Ambassador gave an overview of Philippines-US relations along people-to-people, economic, and defense and security lines of collaborative efforts. He cited the strong bond between the Filipino and American peoples as evidenced by the outpouring of US support to the Philippines in the aftermath of natural calamities. The Ambassador also outlined the goal of increasing the number of Filipino students pursuing higher education in Read More …
May 092016
By Ayee Macaraig Presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte holds a national flag during a motorcade as he campaigns in Malabon, Thursday. The frontrunner has a double-digit lead based on election surveys released recently with only 10 days left before election day.(MNS photo) Manila, Philippines | AFP | Monday 5/9/2016 – Anti-establishment firebrand Rodrigo Duterte stormed to a huge win in the Philippine presidential elections, according to poll monitor data released Tuesday, after an incendiary campaign dominated by his profanity-laced vows to kill criminals. Duterte, the longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, hypnotized millions with his vows of brutal but quick solutions to the nation’s twin plagues of crime and poverty, which many believed had worsened despite strong economic growth in recent years. And after a record turnout of voters in Monday’s elections, Duterte scored a commanding victory, according to data released by the PPCRV, a Catholic Church-run poll monitor accredited by the government to tally the votes. A few hours later, Duterte told AFP on Tuesday he would “accept the mandate of the people”, as polling data showed he had won the Philippine presidential election. “It’s with humility, extreme humility, that I accept this, the mandate of the people,” Duterte said in the southern city of Davao, which he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades. With 89 percent of the vote counted early on Tuesday morning, Duterte had an insurmountable lead of 5.92 million votes over his nearest rival, administration candidate Mar Roxas, according to Read More …
May 092016
Presumptive president-elect offers hand to presidential rivals Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Vice President Jejomar Binay on signing the peace covenant for the May 9 elections at the Manila Cathedral. (PNA photos by Avito C. Dalan) DAVAO CITY, May 9 (PNA) – Presidential aspirant Mayor Rodrigo Duterte offered a hand of reconciliation to his presidential opponents and other candidates and “let us begin the national healing now.” In his talk with members of the press at the Duterte-Cayetano Media Center, Duterte called out to presidential aspirants Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Grace Poe, former Interior secretary Mar Roxas and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago including Senator Antonio Trillanes, who have filed plunder charges against him, to begin the healing, saying, “the black propaganda and false accusations are just clearly part of the days’ work in an election.” Duterte is offering his hand to the four of his presidential opponents especially the past few days have been virulent for all of them. He said all of them have been ruffled terribly and hurt by the black propaganda including the “whole kitchen sink to his direction. United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) presidential bet Vice-President Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay (left), with son and dismissed Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay, cast their vote at the San Antonio National High School in Makati City, on Monday. There are 54.4-million registered voters and 1.38-million local absentee voters abroad.(MNS photo) “Let us forget and start the healing. Let us be friends. Let us forget the travails of the Read More …
May 092016
By Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan Nuns vote MANILA, May 9 (PNA) – Despite some recorded incidents of glitches in vote counting machines (VCMs), the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Monday’s polls in the metropolis has been “generally peaceful.” NCRPO Chief Police Director Joel Pagdilao told the Philippines News Agency that the people were able to go to polling centers and were able to cast their votes, noting that such incidents are “very isolated in nature” and did not hamper the conduct of the election process. “In Metro Manila so far the election also generally peaceful and there still full alert status,” Pagdilao said in a phone interview. He said that as of 5:00 p.m. Monday, a total of 71 persons were arrested due to liquor ban and expected to be lifted before midnight. President Benigno S. Aquino III leads the 52 million Filipino registered voters in casting the vote for the 2016 elections at precinct 175-A at the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Elementary School in Barangay San Miguel, Tarlac City on Monday (May 09). (MNS photo) For her part, Southern Police District (SPD) spokesperson Jenny Tecson said that an election supervisor in Pasay City reported that a vote counting machine failed to issue vote receipts in one polling precinct in Park Avenue Cuneta Elementary School. She said the Board of Election Inspectors recommended to the local Commission on Elections to have it replaced. In Las Pinas City, another defective machine was reported in Pamplona Tres around 1:00 p.m. Read More …
May 092016
Senator Grace Poe ,actor, Fernando Poe Jr., presidential candidate ,Manila North Cemetery , FPJ, Santa Lucia Elementary School , presidential campaign, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, MANILA, May 9 (Mabuhay) – Senator Grace Poe went to the tomb of her late father, actor Fernando Poe Jr., before casting her vote in San Juan. The presidential candidate stopped by the Manila North Cemetery to pay her respects to the elder Poe, more popularly known as FPJ, before heading to Santa Lucia Elementary School to vote. At the cemetery, the senator said she makes it a point to visit her father’s tomb whenever there is an important occasion in her life. After casting her vote, Poe admitted she was emotional at the conclusion of her presidential campaign. “Talagang isang madamdamin itong araw na ito sapagkat natapos na rin ang ating dapat gawin para sa kampanya. Naging maayos ang aking pakikitungo sa abot ng aking makakaya dito sa eleksyon na ito. At para sa akin inaalay ko ito sa Diyos, sa aking ama at sa ating mga kababayan,” she said. The senator said she is dedicating her presidential bid to her father because his popularity enabled voters to become familiar with her. “Hindi naman ako makikilala ng ating mga kababayan kung hindi dahil sa kanya (FPJ) kaya nga hinahandog ko rin ito sa kanya,” she said. The late actor ran for president in the 2004 elections but lost to then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. His camp alleged that he was cheated of victory in the presidential Read More …
May 092016
THE PHILIPPINES will become increasingly dependent on Southeast Asian countries for imported goods amid the region’s economic integration, the Department of Finance (DoF) chief economist said.