AEV secures top rating for P10-B bond

 Economy
Oct 212013
 
AEV secures top rating for P10-B bond

MANILA, Philippines – Cebu-based conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), one of the top power producers in the Philippines, has secured the highest credit rating for its planned P10-billion bond issuance. In a disclosure, the listed holding firm said local credit rater Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) assigned the PRS Aaa score on its long-term bonds. “Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of the highest quality with minimal credit risk. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong,” PhilRatings said. Late last month, AEV’s board of directors authorized the issuance of up to the P10 billion in retail bonds with tenors of seven and 10 years. AEV will offer P5 billion bonds maturing in 2020 and another P5 billion maturing in 2023. PhilRatings said the credit score reflects AEV’s strong financial performance with a high level of operating cash flow and sound capital structure with a conservative leverage position. Philratings said it also noted the “positive growth prospects for the company’s business portfolio and AEV’s highly-experienced and conservative management team.” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 AEV is one of the largest conglomerates in the country. It has investments in power (Aboitiz Power Corp.), banking (Union Bank of the Philippines), food manufacturing (Pilmico Foods Corp.) and property development (Aboitiz Land Inc.). “The company’s main core business, Aboitiz Power, is a leading power generation and distribution company in the Philippines,” PhilRatings said. As of end-September, Aboitiz Power had a total attributable capacity of Read More …

13 Vietnamese arrested in Philippines over sea turtles

 News
Oct 212013
 
13 Vietnamese arrested in Philippines over sea turtles

Agence France-Presse 3:47 pm | Monday, October 21st, 2013 Sea Turtle. AFP PHOTO PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines – Thirteen Vietnamese fishermen were arrested after being found in Philippine waters with a haul of protected sea turtles, police said Monday. The fishermen were caught on Friday off the western Philippine island of Palawan, in waters near the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) where authorities say foreign poaching of endangered or protected species has become a major problem. “Upon initial inspection, it was found out that the said foreign fishing vessel is loaded with undetermined (number of) pieces of dead sea turtles,” said Benigno Caabay, a station officer at the Palawan police provincial headquarters, quoting an official report. The 13 are being held at a police camp in Palawan while officers look into filing a case against them, Caabay added. Sea turtles are protected under Philippine law and catching them is punishable by at least 12 years in jail. In recent years, Philippine authorities have frequently caught foreigners, often Chinese, catching or buying sea turtles in the waters off Palawan. In November last year, in the same area where the Vietnamese were caught, the Philippine navy rescued more than 100 sea turtles from poachers. But the fishermen, whom authorities believed to be Chinese, escaped. Twelve Chinese fishermen were also arrested in April after their boat, which ran aground on a protected reef, was found to be carrying hundreds of dead pangolins, or scaly anteaters, another protected species. Their case is still pending Read More …

Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes present flamenco show

 Entertainment
Oct 202013
 
Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes present flamenco show

“Abriendo Caminos” is composed of different parties whose only common thread is an authentic taste of flamenco and the music played by live musicians. MANILA, Philippines – The Embassy of Spain in the Philippines and Instituto Cervantes de Manila, in collaboration with the One Meralco Foundation and Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, present “Abriendo Caminos” on Oct 24, 8 p.m., at the Meralco Theater, Ortigas Ave., Pasig City. Entrance is free. The flamenco show is directed and choreographed by dancer Ùrsula López. Moving between the different flamenco styles in the most orthodox ways, Ùrsula López, accompanied by her dancers and musicians, intends to convey feelings and emotions, giving the world an updated touch of flamenco with “Abriendo Caminos.” Ùrsula López was born in Córdoba. She entered the Andalusian Dance Company in 1996, and has been performing various shows around the world since. In 2007, she started the premiere of her first solo show, “Abriendo Caminos” at the Flamenco Festival of Jerez, with which she is still working. For information, call the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines at 817-6676, fax 817-4892 or e-mail emb.manila@maec.es.  

Senate commends Megan Young for winning Miss World title

 Entertainment
Oct 182013
 
Senate commends Megan Young for winning Miss World title

Newly crowned Miss World Megan Young of the Philippines, smiles after winning the Miss World contest, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – The Senate on Monday commended beauty queen and actress Megan Young for winning the Miss World 2013 title. Young attended the Senate session on Monday afternoon wearing a sparkling white terno and her blue crown to receive the commendation. In sponsoring Senate Resolution 272, Senator Grace Poe praised Young for showing Filipina simplicity to the world. “Tunay nga bilang isang Pilipina, ang pinakamaningning sa kanya [Young] ang pagiging simple ngunit nagmamarkang pagka-Pilipina,” Poe said during the session. After Poe’s speech, Young ascended the Senate rostrum to receive her commendation and to have a photo opportunity with senators. Last September 28, Young won the first ever Miss World crown for the Philippines, besting 126 candidates from all over the globe. (MNS)

Phl eyed as ASEAN design hub

 Economy
Oct 182013
 
Phl eyed as ASEAN design hub

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will try to position the Philippines as a hub for design and craftsmanship in preparation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 as it launched DeXign Global, a business platform to introduce trends and innovations for home and fashion yesterday. DTI’s Bureau of Export Trade Promotion director Senen Perlada told reporters at the opening of DeXign Global at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, the event is being held to prepare the Philippines and position the country as a design hub in the region given the upcoming AEC. “We are bringing them (designers from overseas) here to see what we have. This (design) is where we really have our edge,” he said. Rosario Virginia Gaetos, executive director of the DTI’s export marketing arm Center for International Trade and Expositions and Mission (CITEM) told reporters that as the AEC would be established in two years time, the government recognizes that the local design community has to prepare and look at how it can promote its products to the 600 million potential customers in the region. The AEC is expected to lead to free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor as well as flow of capital in the region. Gaetos said that for the country to be able to promote its strength in design, it is important for local designers to be updated with trends and innovations in home and fashion products overseas. Business Read More …

JICA urges PH to review building code, ensure stronger structures

 News
Oct 172013
 
JICA urges PH to review building code, ensure stronger structures

By Allan A. NawalInquirer Mindanao 9:10 am | Friday, October 18th, 2013 INQUIRER FILE PHOTO DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The Philippine government must take “urgent steps to protect public infrastructure from natural disasters,” the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said. In a statement sent out on Wednesday following the devastating Bohol earthquake, JICA had quoted a recent speech by Tatsuo Narafu, its senior advisor on architectural mitigation for disaster, in urging the Philippine government to take steps toward a more resilient infrastructure. Narafu, speaking before a recent forum on infrastructure safety and resiliency—which was sponsored by the World Bank—said among the steps needed to be taken to improve the resiliency of public infrastructure and facilities to protect it from natural disasters would be a review of the national building code. He said resilient infrastructure could actually contribute to saving lives. Narafu said similar actions were taken by the Japanese government following the massive devastation caused by 1995 “Great” Hanshin Awaji earthquake, during which, more than 5,000 people were killed and nearly 35,000 others  were injured. Of the more than 100,000 structures destroyed by the tremor, 38,321 completely collapsed, including a large portion of the Hansin Expressway, which links Kobe and Osaka. Narafu said more stringent measures were taken by the Japanese government following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that killed 15,883 people. During that earthquake, more than 400,000 structures across 20 prefectures were damaged. “We recommend a review of the building codes in the Philippines as well as enhancing the capacity Read More …

DEVOTEES WEEP AS QUAKE DAMAGES CHURCH TREASURES

 News
Oct 152013
 
DEVOTEES WEEP AS QUAKE DAMAGES CHURCH TREASURES

CEBU CITY — Devotees wept after a deadly earthquake on Oct. 15 rocked the birthplace of Catholicism in the Philippines, badly damaging the country’s oldest church and leaving other historic places of worship in ruins. (In photo is the limestone bell tower of the Philippines’ oldest church, Cebu’s Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, in ruins.) Ten churches, some of which have crucial links to the earliest moments of the Spanish colonial and Catholic conquest in the 1500s, were damaged as the 7.2-magnitude quake struck the central islands of Cebu and Bohol. “It is like part of the body of our country has been destroyed,” Michael Charleston “Xiao” Chua, a history lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, told Agence France-Presse. He said the damage was particularly painful because the Philippines had already lost so many of its cultural treasures to war, typhoons, earthquakes and poverty-driven neglect. In Cebu, shocked devotees said prayers as they gathered in front of the Basilica Minore de Santo Niño (Basilica of the Child Jesus), the oldest church in the Philippines and home to one of the country’s most important religious icons. The limestone bell tower of the church, the latest version of which was built in 1735, was destroyed in the quake. “I wanted to seek sanctuary here but it turns out the church was damaged,” Fraulein Muntag, 32, a mother of two, told AFP as she wept and prayed the rosary at the site. Muntag was among 100 people who had gathered amid Read More …

Noli Me Tangere in Manhattan

 News
Oct 142013
 
Noli Me Tangere in Manhattan

NEW YORK—Last year, Noli Me Tangere, the opera, was staged in Chicago. I heard about it and wanted to see it but couldn’t and wished that it would be staged here as well. Fortunately like-minded New York-based Filipinos had the same idea. And so it was that over a recent weekend this month, the Foundation for Filipino Artists, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, presented it at the Kaye Playhouse that is part of Hunter College (where I teach, coincidentally). The foundation, headed by its founder Aida Bartolome, partnered with a committee to raise funds, whose chair was Loida Nicolas Lewis. As the latter pointed out in a speech welcoming the audience to the last performance, New York hadto have its own production. In 1888, it was the culmination of his transcontinental train journey begun in San Francisco. He stayed for three days before boarding a passenger ship to Liverpool. A scene of the party at Don Santiago’s Binondo home, welcoming Ibarra back. Photo/Project Fury13 Working to stage this opera was a creative team made up of gifted veteran professionals, from the artistic director and composer/conductor Michael Dadap and dancer/choreographer Kristin Jackson, from set and costume designer Jerry Sibal to the singers, all of whom have had considerable experience and success in regional venues in the US and in Europe. Sal Malaki, for instance, singing the role of Ibarra, is with the Los Angeles Opera; Antoni Mendezona (Maria Clara) has sung to critical acclaim in New York; and Andrew Fernando Read More …

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