THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) collected more year on year in February, but its three-month streak of performing above target was broken, which it blamed on a seasonal slump in imports as a result of Chinese New Year.
Mar 272017
Jan 312014
Even while in hospital detention, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo got to celebrate Chinese New Year with an afternoon of tikoy (glutinous rice cake) and pancit shared with several Roman Catholic nuns. In a phone interview, Arroyo’s legal spokesman, lawyer Raul Lambino, said 12 nuns from Bulacan visited the detained former President at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) on Friday afternoon. Arroyo and the nuns talked about her “faith” and “pro-life stance” while eating Chinese delicacies, Lambino said. “Alam niyo namang Assumptionista rin si former President. Laking kumbento kaya maraming napag-usapan. Napagkwentuhan ang kanyang student life,” Lambino, who was present during the nuns’ visit, said over the phone. The nuns prayed for Arroyo’s well-being and immediate recovery before leaving the hospital, he added. The nuns were not the first religious workers to visit Arroyo this week. Last Sunday, five Catholic bishops also paid visit to the former President. Last week, former First Lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos also spent time with Arroyo at the VMMC. Earlier this month, Arroyo was also visited by former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Fidel V. Ramos, fuelling talks that they are forming an alliance in preparation for the 2016 national polls. Asked if Arroyo will host more high-profile personalities from her hospital suite in the coming weeks, Lambino said, “Medyo ganoon,” but refused to elaborate. Arroyo, incumbent congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district, is currently detaine while facing the plunder case. She also has a pending poll sabotage case before a Pasay court, Read More …
Feb 102013
Chinese New Year. Seng Guan (信願寺) temple in Manila’s Chinatown district on Sunday was crowded with people mostly wearing red, hoping for good luck and happiness in the Year of the Snake. Klein Sze/ Ang Pahayagang Plaridel The celebration of the Chinese New Year should be a reminder to the peoples of the Philippines and China of their brotherhood amid their seeming differences, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Sunday. In his Chinese New Year message, Binay said the kinship of the Filipinos and Chinese span millennia, and Sunday’s occasion reminds them they can work together harmoniously. “New Year celebrations such as this remind us that China and the Philippines have more similarities than differences, more brotherhood than anything else,” he said in his message posted on his Facebook account. The Philippines and China had been engaged in a territorial dispute over parts of the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). Last January, the Philippines handed a note verbale to Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing to notify China of its decision to elevate its complaint to an Arbitral Tribunal. The Arbitral Tribunal is an option provided for by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). China’s nine-dash line overlaps with the territories of its Asian neighbors like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. But Binay also pointed out several Filipino customs sprout from Chinese roots. He also said the age-old values of hard work, respect for elders, and sense of duty to our country “are common threads Read More …