Purisima named Finance Minister of the Year anew

 Economy
Feb 012014
 
Purisima named Finance Minister of the Year anew

MANILA, Philippines – Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has once again been recognized as Finance Minister of the Year for Asia-Pacific.   In recognition of his role in improving fiscal efficiency, instituting reforms against corruption, and elevating the Philippines in the eyes of international investors, the award from The Banker marks Purisima’s fourth straight year in receiving Finance Minister of the Year honors from different award giving bodies, a first in the history of the finance department and in the Philippines.  Purisima emphasized his fourth award naming him Finance Minister of the Year is a testament to President Aquino’s guiding principle that good governance is good economics. Purisima thanked the President for his leadership and commitment to accountability and transparency, as well as his colleagues in the cabinet and fellow members of the cabinet’s Economic Development Cluster. Working together, they have achieved the economic gains for which Purisima is being honored. The country’s economy recently posted a 7.2 percent growth in 2013. Since the start of the Aquino administration, the Philippines has maintained an average of 6.3 percent growth and remains to be one of the fastest-growing countries in Asia.  While the Philippines continues to improve its economic outlook with record-high GDP growth rates, investment grade ratings from major credit rating agencies, and strong macroeconomic fundamentals, Purisima stressed the current administration’s term is only half-done. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “Our goals for 2014 include improving the revenue to GDP through the ongoing reforms in the Bureau Read More …

Aquino meets with Head of Pontifical Council in Malacañang

 Entertainment
Jan 312014
 
Aquino meets with Head of Pontifical Council in Malacañang

President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes His Eminence Robert Cardinal Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, during the Courtesy Call at the Music Room of the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday (January 29, 2014). Also in photo is Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines His Excellency Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto. (Photo by Rolando Mailo / Malacañang Photo Bureau / PCOO) MANILA (Mabuhay) – President Benigno S. Aquino III received Cardinal Robert Sarah, the president of Pontifical Council Cor Unum, in a courtesy call in Malacañang on Wednesday. Accompanying Cardinal Sarah during the event were Rev. Msgr. Segundo Tejado Munoz, undersecretary for the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Rev. Msgr. Chibuike Onyeaghala, Deputy Head of Mission, apostolic nunciature in the Philippines, and Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines Giuseppe Pinto. President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes His Eminence Robert Cardinal Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, during the Courtesy Call at the Music Room of the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday (January 29, 2014). (Photo by Lauro Montellano, Jr. / Malacañang Photo Bureau) The Pontifical Council Cor Unum for Human and Christian Development is a part of the curia of the Catholic Church established by Pope Paul VI on July 15, 1971. It is based in the Palazzo San Callisto, Piazza San Callisto in Rome, Italy. The name of the pontifical council means “one heart”. Its mission is care of the Catholic Church for the needy, thereby encouraging human fellowship and manifested through the charity of Christ. The council carries out humanitarian relief Read More …

NO APOLOGIES: PHL stands firm in diplomatic row with Hong Kong

 Entertainment
Jan 312014
 
NO APOLOGIES: PHL stands firm in diplomatic row with Hong Kong

The Aquino administration described as “unfortunate” Hong Kong’s decision to scrap the visa-free arrangements for visiting Philippine diplomats and officials but reiterated that the Philippines will not apologize for the 2010 Manila hostage crisis that resulted in multiple deaths to Chinese tourists. “At the end of the day, we submit that the act of one individual should not be construed as the act of the entire nation,” President Benigno Aquino has said MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines insisted Thursday it would not apologize for a 2010 hostage crisis in which Hong Kong tourists died, saying its response to the tragedy had been generous and compassionate. The statement came after the Hong Kong government announced on Wednesday it would impose diplomatic sanctions against the Philippines because of its “unacceptable” failure to apologize. “The Philippine Government regrets the Hong Kong SAR Government’s implementation of sanctions against the Philippines,” foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement. However he said the Philippines “is not prepared to consider” an apology. Rather, the Philippines would reiterate its “deepest regret and condolences”, while providing more compensation to the survivors and the victims’ relatives. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Wednesday that the current visa-free arrangement for visiting Philippine diplomats and officials would be suspended from February 5. They are currently able to stay 14 days without a visa. Leung described the move as the “first phase of sanctions” and said the government may take more action if it thought it could be “effective” Read More …

SM Prime to bring in more upscale global brands

 Economy
Jan 282014
 
SM Prime to bring in more upscale global brands

MANILA, Philippines – SM Prime Holdings Inc. is completing its retail portfolio as it introduces upscale global brands in its existing shopping malls. The consolidated property group of the SM mall and banking conglomerate is investing P36 billion this year, mostly to expand its shopping malls that will include more upscale brands, company officials said. The Mega Fashion Hall at SM Megamall opened yesterday its doors, offering a premier shopping, dining and lifestyle destination. “This is a new concept we are really trying to introduce, its the aspirational side,” said SM Prime president Hans T. Sy. “The market really asks for it. The market really demands it so we’re just answering,” Steven Tan, vice-president for SM Supermalls’ Premier Division, told reporters. The 86,000-square meter new wing of SM Megamall is home to flagship stores of the world’s most popular fashion brands Uniqlo and Zara. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Many new global brands will likewise be opening their first store’s in the Philippines at the new wing, including Switzerland’s H&M, Denmark’s Vero Moda, Spain’s Pull & Bear and Uno de 50, LA-based Joe’s Jeans, London’s Savile Row and Burton, French shoe brand Nao de Brasil and US skincare label Philosophy. SM Prime chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim said the company is investing P36 billion this year to expand its presence in the country’s shopping mall and residential sector. Several shopping malls will have a separate area for high-end shops, Sy said. Tan said H&M is also Read More …

First Filipino-Canadian senator recounts rise through the ranks

 News
Jan 272014
 
First Filipino-Canadian senator recounts rise through the ranks

Loading the player… Senator Tobias Enverga Jr. MANILA, Philippines – Canada’s first senator of Filipino descent was once a struggling overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who left the Philippines seeking adventure. “I went to Canada for adventure, I took a chance,” Senator Tobias Enverga Jr. shared with INQUIRER.net in an interview January 24, while he was in the country leading a Filipino delegation of “winter escapees” from Canada. “I never realized I will be a Canadian Senator,” he told the 240-strong delegation, mostly composed of Canadians of Filipino descent, that toured Kalibo, Boracay, Roxas City, Iloilo City, and Guimaras from January 18 to 23 as part of the first “Winter Escapade” tour. Filipino roots Enverga was born to a middle-class family in Lucena City. He shared that there were two clans of Envergas in Lucena, one was mostly composed of politicians and the other was mostly educators. “I’m part of the educators,” he said. During college, he went to the Letran College in Manila where he graduated with a degree in Economics. He worked for less than a year in two banks in the country after he graduated. He met his wife there in the bank, Enverga recalled. He however said that he felt “tired” about being in the Philippines. “I got so tired about being here in the Philippines,” Enverga said. “When you are a young man you have so many things going on in your life.” It was then that he decided to go to Canada to stay with Read More …

Aquino welcomes winter ‘escapees’

 News
Jan 242014
 
Aquino welcomes winter ‘escapees’

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—They traded the bitterly cold winter for a relatively mild chilly weather. Two hundred forty Filipino-Canadians had plenty of sun, sand and sea during their six-day visit—from Jan. 18 to 23—to the islands of Panay and Guimaras, which, like the rest of the country, are experiencing a cold spell. President Benigno Aquino III on Friday welcomed to Malacañang the foreign “escapists”—the term used by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to refer to the Filipino-Canadian visitors who joined the first “Winter Escapade—It’s More Fun In The Philippines” tour, a program started by the Department of Tourism and Department of Foreign Affairs to attract balikbayans (Filipino migrants). “I didn’t expect that here in Malacañang, I would gladly welcome the ‘escapees,’” he said, adding in jest that when he talks of escapees, “most of the time I’m seated beside Secretary Leila de Lima of the Department of Justice, and we praise the apprehending [authority].” Donning swimming gears Ditching their layered winter garb, they donned their swimming gears and basked in the sun on the famous white sand and blue waters of Boracay Island in Aklan. They also joined street dancing for the Ati-Atihan festival in Kalibo, Aklan, and the Pintados festival in Passi City, Iloilo. The so-called journey of discovery also took the sun-starved visitors to Roxas City, Iloilo City and Guimaras province. The visitors said they could not get over their frenzied encounter with fire dancers and street dancers as well as school children Read More …

Swedish king in PHL for Boy Scouts jamboree

 News
Jan 242014
 
Swedish king in PHL for Boy Scouts jamboree

PNoy welcomes Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. President Benigno Aquino III welcomes King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden during a courtesy call in Malacañang on Friday, January 24. This is the first visit of a Swedish monarch and head of state to the Philippines. Gustaf will visit Yolanda-hit Tacloban City on January 25. Gil Nartea Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf arrived in the Philippines on Friday and will be here until Jan. 26 for boy scouting events and activities. He was welcomed by President Benigno Aquino III at Malacañan on Friday and by Vice President Jejomar Binay at the Coconut Palace afterwards. Gustaf will be the guest of honor at the Invitational Peace Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), which more than 7,000 young scouts are expected to attend Saturday. The event, which will be held in Makiling, Laguna, is meant to mark the Boy Scouts’ centenary year. He will be accompanied by Binay, national president of the BSP.  Binay will also accompany Gustaf to Tacloban on Sunday to check the BSP’s as well as Sweden’s various projects in the typhoon-affected areas. Gustaf, who became a scout at 10, has been a lifelong supporter of the Scouting movement. He accepted the role of honorary chairman of the World Scout Foundation (WSF) in 1977 and has since been leading the WSF in raising funds to support scouting projects worldwide. WSF supports the Boy Scouts of the Philippines’ “Ticket to Life” project for children living in difficult circumstances The Read More …

BSP charter changes ‘critical’ for financial stability

 Economy
Jan 232014
 
BSP charter changes ‘critical’ for financial stability

MANILA, Philippines – Amendments to the central bank charter that would give the institution additional powers of surveillance over banks and its sister companies is “critical” for financial stability, the International Monetary Fund said. “That’s critical… that’s a very important aspect and most countries have that actually,” IMF resident representative Shanaka Jayanath Peiris told reporters. “The lesson from the global crisis was that there should be a regulator with powers to ensure financial stability, to cover and avoid regulatory gaps, and to be able to look at institutions including financial and non-financial entities,” he continued. Peiris was commenting on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ proposed amendments to the New Central Bank Act of 1993 aimed at strengthening the institution’s monetary and financial stability mandates. The said amendment is deemed important in order to trace where bank loans go to or if these funds are being granted as fresh loans by the borrower. This will help the BSP assess the risks faced by the banks if the end-borrower does not pay the firm that originally received the loan from the bank. “From the global crisis, we learned that not knowing was the problem but also you need the power to act as well,” Peiris said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “So first you need to enhance the monitoring which also partly being done but you also have to have the legal mandate for it if you need to act in the future,” he added. The global financial Read More …

Chinese ships leave Paracel Islands after landing drills

 News
Jan 232014
 
Chinese ships leave Paracel Islands after landing drills

By Matikas SantosINQUIRER.net 6:26 pm | Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 MANILA, Philippines – A fleet of three Chinese ships, one of which has an “advanced weapons system,” has completed patrols and landing exercises in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea Wednesday, Chinese state media reported. “The three-ship flotilla, consisting of amphibious landing craft Changbaishan and destroyers Wuhan and Haikou, left from a military port in south China’s Hainan Province on Monday,” Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. “The flotilla undertook a ‘three-dimensional’ patrol of several islets, using surface vessels, hovercraft and shipboard helicopters. Marines with the flotilla conducted a 20-minute landing training on Wednesday,” it said. The ship Changbaishan was described as China’s largest landing ship and has an “advanced weapon system.” The fleet also has three helicopters and one company of Marines onboard, the report said. Disputed islands Paracel Islands is a group of island in the South China Sea that is the subject of a dispute between China and Vietnam. China calls it Xisha Islands while Vietnam calls it Hoang Sa Islands. In 1974, a military engagement between Chinese and Vietnamese troops left at least 50 from the Vietnamese side and 18 from the Chinese side dead. One Vietnamese ship was sunk while a total of seven ships were damaged. China won the battle and have controlled and occupied Paracel Islands ever since. Sansha city was established July 2012 to administer over the The islands are covered under the recently implemented fisheries regulations of Hainan province that Read More …

Palace assures assistance to OFWs allegedly abused in Malaysia

 News
Jan 232014
 
Palace assures assistance to OFWs allegedly abused in Malaysia

By Nestor CorralesINQUIRER.net 5:01 pm | Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Thursday assured the public it will call the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to check the alleged abuses committed against Filipinos in Malaysia. This was after a Palace reporter recounted the experience of his brother being maltreated by Malaysian authorities in line with the nationwide crackdown on illegal migrants. “We will call the priority attention of the DFA on this. We need to get the particulars because if we will just present about the general situation, we would not be able to trace this,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said Thursday in a press briefing. Coloma said the government could not tolerate violation of basic human rights committed against Filipino citizens. He, however, pointed out the Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to receive reports from the Philippine embassy in Malaysia on the said incident reports. He cited they need details of the incident reports of maltreatment before filing any case against Malaysian authorities. “These allegations are serious that is why we need to have enough evidence of the maltreatment and violence to our citizens,” he said. He assured the public especially our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) in Malaysia the government is doing the necessary steps to give justice to the maltreated OFWs. He said our government is respecting the rights of foreigners in our country so he expects that other countries should do the same. A nationwide Read More …

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