November 2016 – Page 8

Pre-Hispanic PH traditions to be ‘revived’ at Chicago museum

News

Nov 222016

Pre-Hispanic PH traditions to be ‘revived’ at Chicago museum

Philippine tattoo expert Lane Wilcken demonstrates the ancient art that almost was lost during Spanish and American colonial regimes. FIELD MUSEUM CHICAGO—The nearly lost arts of Philippine traditional tattoos and script writing will be resurrected at the “Pamanang Pinoy” event on Saturday, Dec.3, at this city’s Field Museum, coupled with another free adobo tasting sponsored by the museum’s “Friends of Co-Curation.” Lane Wilcken of San Francisco and Kristian Kabuay of Las Vegas will lecture and do hands-on demonstrations for these pre-Hispanic traditions that were almost banished during the 300 years of Spanish colonization followed by 48 years of American occupation of the Philippines. A Question & Answer will follow both presentations. Friends of the Field Museum Co-Curation will also bring back their popular sampling of pork and chicken adobo made from the recipes in the booklet, “Co-Curating Adobo,” which was originally launched in October. Steamed rice will also be available free. Copies of the booklet are available for sale –in time for the holiday gift-giving. A new batch of adobo chefs will be present to sign copies of the booklet. Additional copies are available online: http//friendsofcocuration.com/. The Field Museum has been working in partnership with the local Filipino American community in a series of cultural events these past years in curating some 10,000 Philippine cultural items in its collection. Co-Curating Adobo is available for sale in time for the holiday gift shopping. FIELD MUSEUM The collaboration has opened an opportunity especially to younger members of the community to volunteer and Read More …

Fil-Canadian marching band plays on at 36

News

Nov 222016

Fil-Canadian marching band plays on at 36

WATCH: Philippine Heritage Band Homecoming INQUIRER/Marisa Roque TORONTO, Ontario–For its 36th anniversary, the Philippine Heritage Band trumpeted an invite to past and present members to grace the band’s “homecoming.” And those who could–barring geographical distance or death–came in droves. On the evening of Oct. 15, dozens of PHB alumni trooped to the Holiday Inn Select on Dixon Road in Toronto to enjoy the dinner-dance, a PHB mini-concert, and a nonstop nostalgia fest. Among the dignitaries at the event were Philippine Consul General Rosalita Prospero; Michael DiBiase, deputy mayor of the City of Vaughan; Sandra Yeung Racco, councillor Ward 4, City of Vaughan; and Alan Shefman, councillor Ward 5, City of Vaughan. Kenneth Villaseñor claims PHB brought him out of his shell. INQUIRER/Marisa Roque Founder and Executive Director Oscar Fariñas welcomed the guests, gave a history of the organization, and segued to introduce Major Sixto “Cap” Gimena, guest conductor for the mini-concert and a PHB alumnus (1994).A retired major from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and a graduate of the University of the East’s School of Music and Arts, “Cap” is a well known commanding officer of the Philippine military bands. He became commanding officer of the General Headquarters Band in Quezon City, the Presidential Security Group Band in Malacanang, and the 5th Infantry Division Band in Tarlac. His last tenure was as commanding officer of the Philippine Military Academy Band in Baguio City. After his retirement, he emigrated to Canada in 1994 with his family and joined PHB Read More …

London’s Romulo Café named ‘Most Loved Restaurant’

News

Nov 222016

London’s Romulo Café named ‘Most Loved Restaurant’

Dinner-time patrons at the award-winning Romulo Cafe in London. WEBSITE LONDON – Filipino-owned and operated Romulo Café was named the “Most Loved Restaurant in Kensington” at the third annual Time Out Love London Awards held on Thursday, Nov. 14 at The Bloomsbury Ballroom here. Romulo Café has provided a showcase for fine Filipino cuisine in London, serving “archly presented heirloom Filipino recipes lovingly preserved by scions of the late General Carlos P. Romulo, the Philippines’ longest serving foreign secretary,” and his wife Virginia Llamas. The 70-seater Filipino restaurant, which opened its doors only eight months ago in Kensington High Street, edged out competition from other, more established haunts in the neighbourhood, carrying off an award for London’s best restaurants, shops, bars and cultural venues as voted by the public. Owned and operated by former senior banker Rowena Romulo and co-director Chris Joseph, Romulo Café garnered the most votes among nine short-listed restaurants in Kensington, a district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, hub of many of the capital’s iconic museums, embassies and the new Design Museum. Among the other restaurant winners were Coya for Mayfair; Dishoom for Covent Garden and The Strand, and The Ivy Chelsea Garden for Chelsea. The award is a testament to Romulo Café’s popularity among UK-based Filipinos and local residents of Kensington, where it stays open seven days a week including holidays. Among its regular customers are diplomats from the Philippine Embassy, businessmen and professionals including bankers, teachers, nurses, families with children, students, visiting Read More …

Fil-Ams support protests vs. Marcos sneak burial in PH

News

Nov 222016

Fil-Ams support protests vs. Marcos sneak burial in PH

San Francisco Bay Area Filipino Americans stage a die-in to express their anger in a rally against the Marcos burial of remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum SAN FRANCISCO – Filipino Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area may be literally tens of thousands of miles away from their Motherland, but they keep abreast of the happenings there, such as the secretive burial of the remains of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the National Heroes Cemetery. Like the throngs that went out in protest in Metro Manila and several cities in the Philippines, they held a protest rally of their own in front of the Philippine Consulate here. As in the past rallies, speakers took turns in lambasting the Marcoses for the and even President Duterte for making the Libingan ng mga Bayani burial happen. They carried placards, sang the protest song Bayan Ko and staged a die-in to show their indignation at the “connivance” between the Marcoses and Duterte. Martial Law victim Susan Araneta admitted that she felt anger when she heard of the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. “Nevertheless, I think this is not surprising because this is the way Marcos had operated in the past. I remember when I was in prison, there would be a complete blackout inside the prison camp because the soldiers that were killed in Mindanao were being brought in by helicopters. It has been very symbolic that the helicopter bringing Marcos remains to Libingan ng Read More …

Et tu, Duterte?

News

Nov 222016

Pres. Duterte and friend Bongbong Marcos. INQUIRER FILE NEW YORK CITY — They came like thieves in the night, furtive, uneasy, like vampires not wishing to be seen in the clear light of day, burying the corpse of the unlamented Ferdinand Marcos. But perhaps it was the wax model that was laid to rest. Persistent rumor has long held that what was on view in the family mausoleum up north was a replica, showing a man who seemed to have died in good health and in his forties, not a man who passed away in his early seventies with a body and appearance ravaged by disease. The thought did cross my mind, wax model or not, that the piercing rays of the sun would have melted this being who for so long sucked the life out of the nation. The burial was an act rife with irony. It didn’t bury the past, it resurrected it. It hasn’t healed any wounds but deepened them. The Marcos family and their ever-loyal band of followers have said that this was necessary to erase the divisions that have afflicted the nation. And yet it is so obviously having the opposite effect, putting salt rather than salve on the wounds, and in effect reviving—perhaps resurrecting is a more apt term—memories of state-sanctioned violence and the indignities suffered by the nation when the Marcos regime was in power. Rather than a step forward into a brighter future, the stealthy burial—approved by a Supreme Court that Read More …

Stockholders OK MNTC-TMC merger

Economy

Nov 222016

MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) has secured stockholders’ approval for its proposed merger with Tollways Management Corp. (TMC), as well as the change of name of the company to North Luzon Expressways Corp. or NLEX Corp. “MNTC stockholders owning at least 2/3 of MNTC’s outstanding capital stock confirmed and ratified the proposed merger between MNTC and TMC, with MNTC as the surviving corporation,” MNTC said in a filing. The approval was obtained during the annual general meeting of MNTC’s stockholders on Nov. 17. Last month, MNTC’s board of directors approved the merger which company president and CEO Rodrigo Franco said earlier, is expected to be completed by March of next year. Through the merger, he said the company would have streamlined processes and better ability to finance and undertake projects. During the same meeting, stockholders owning at least 2/3 of the company’s outstanding capital stock also approved the proposed amendment to the MNTC-TMC merger whereby the option to redeem the MNTC preferred shares shall be exercisable at any time after one year from the effective merger date or such shorter period as may be determined by the board of directors. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Aside from shareholder approval, the merger would need the green light of regulators such as the Philippine Competition Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). MNTC said the stockholders likewise approved the proposed change in the corporate name of the company Read More …

Sustaining high growth, domestic push factors and external headwinds

Economy

Nov 222016

Sustaining high growth, domestic push factors and external headwinds

A year-on-year growth rate of 7.1 percent for the third quarter of 2016 assures the Philippine economy is on a high growth path. This, however, is happening during a time when adverse short term developments are enveloping the economy. The question then is whether the high growth rates targeted in the near future are still in play. Though the external climate is getting more complex for the world as well as for the Philippine economy, there are strong domestic factors that continue to favor sustaining a high growth rate in the next few years. Changing macro picture? Recently, the stock market has been battered badly by net fund outflows from portfolio investors. The last close of the PSE index was just under 7,000 (actually, 6,979 on Nov. 21) from its peak of 8,127 (sometime in August). Such net investment fund outflows have contributed to the drop in the value of the peso. The peso has now depreciated to a level almost close to P49.95 to the dollar (Nov. 21), representing a 7.8-percent decline from P46.32 to the dollar in Aug. 21. These are large fluctuations. Stock market values get influenced by short term factors more easily. In similar ways, exchange rates can be influenced heavily by short term factors and are susceptible to speculative influences. Of course, the movements of the stock market are only an indicator of investor sentiment and does not represent the real economy. The main driver for the fluctuations in capital market values is the long Read More …

Outside her expertise

Economy

Nov 222016

Why on earth would a public official, whose office has nothing to do with health whatsoever, head a Philippine delegation to an international conference that deals with public health issues? The Philippines is one of the 180 parties to a treaty called the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). So it was only proper that the country send an official delegation to attend the Seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the WHO FCTC which was held in Delhi, India from Nov. 7-12. The COP is the governing body of the WHO FCTC and is comprised of all parties to the Convention. It regularly reviews the implementation of the Convention and makes the decisions necessary to promote its effective implementation. And who was the head of the Philippine delegation? No less than Civil Service Commission (CSC) chair Alicia dela Rosa-Bala. She may have extensive experience in social work, having been undersecretary of the Social Welfare and Development department and took social work studies both as undergraduate and graduate degrees, but to support an outright ban on electronic cigarettes or vape devices in the Philippines as an official country position? Two local e-cigarette consumer groups criticized Bala for supporting a proposal presented at the COP7 that would allow an outright ban of electronic cigarettes or vape devices in the Philippines without prior consultation with the local vaping community. Vapers Philippines spokesperson Mark Erana said that according to fellow vapers in Europe, Bala as head Read More …

Construction retail prices rise for 8th straight month in Oct

Economy

Nov 222016

Construction retail prices rise for 8th straight month in Oct

MANILA, Philippines – Retail prices of construction materials in Metro Manila rose for the eighth straight month in October, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported yesterday. The Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) rose 2.3 percent in October – the fastest pace this year – from two percent the previous month and a reversal of the 1.4 percent contraction in October 2015. PSA said the uptrend was primarily due to the 11.4 percent growth in miscellaneous construction materials. Higher markups were also seen in the indices of electrical materials, painting materials and related compounds, and tinsmithry materials. The annual uptick in the masonry material index, however, decelerated to 2.9 percent while flat growth was seen in the indices of carpentry materials and plumbing materials at 1.6 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. Retail prices have been on the downtrend since October last year until February this year before picking up pace in March. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Month-on-month, the CMRPI in Metro Manila rose 0.1 percent in October compared to negative 0.1 percent the previous month. An increment of 0.3 percent was observed in miscellaneous construction materials index. In addition, from negative rates recorded last month, the indices of carpentry materials rose 0.1 percent and painting materials and related compounds, 0.2 percent. The index for electrical materials also went up 0.2 percent. The increase, however, in plumbing materials index slowed to 0.1 percent, while those for the indices of masonry Read More …

DMCI gets income tax break for Palawan power facility

Economy

Nov 222016

DMCI gets income tax break for Palawan power facility

MANILA, Philippines – Off-grid energy producer DMCI Power Corp. (DPC) has gained tax breaks for its P620-million power facility which will provide 10 megawatts (MW) of supply in Palawan by year-end. The Board of Investments (BOI) recently granted DPC a six-year income tax holiday for its 2×4.95-MW bunker-fired power plant in Aborlan, Palawan, the company said in a statement. “This incentive will effectively lower DPC’s true cost of generation charge, in the end benefitting the electricity consumers of Palawan,” said DPC president Nestor Dadivas said. The tax holiday will be applied once the Aborlan facility begins its commercial operations or six years from December 2016, whichever is earlier. DPC is investing around P620 million to build the facility which will contribute nearly 10 MW of electricity to the Palawan grid. “Construction of the Aborlan plant is proceeding as scheduled. We expect it to go online by year-end,” added Dadivas. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Aborlan is a first-class municipality located 69 kilometers south of Puerto Princesa City, with an estimated population of over 32,000. Power projects in missionary areas qualify for pioneer status under the BOI’s 2014 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). DPC’s entitlement to the tax incentive was determined based on its project’s ability to contribute to the economy’s development as measured by its net value added, new jobs generated, multiplier effect and measured capacity. Apart from Palawan, the company also provides power to Masbate, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro and Sultan Kudarat through supply contracts with electric Read More …

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