PHL – Page 12 – Maniolas

PHL celebrates as caregiver wins Israel’s X Factor

Jan 152014

MANILA, January 15, 2014 (AFP) – Celebrations broke out in the Philippines Wednesday after a Filipina who has spent nearly half her life as a caregiver overseas won Israel’s first “X Factor” competition. Rose Fostanes, one of millions of Filipinos working abroad, won the television talent show late Tuesday with a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” that delighted fans in both countries. Local television, news websites, social media and even the president lavished praise on the unmarried, openly gay 47-year-old, who has worked abroad for more than two decades – including six years in Israel – to support her family. “We know the situation she was in and we are very proud that she has again given the Philippines pride in the showcase of her talent,” President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters Wednesday. “The Filipino has an innate advantage when it comes to the arts…It clearly shows that the excellence of the Filipino can be expressed anywhere, everywhere, when they are given the opportunity to show their talent.” Fostanes has been likened by fans to Susan Boyle, the middle-aged Scottish singer whose humble looks and shy demeanor belied a scintillating voice that captivated millions on the television talent show “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2009. Fostanes’ day job had been to care for an elderly employer in Tel Aviv. She is one of some 10 million Filipinos, about a tenth of the population, who have gone to work abroad to escape poverty and joblessness back home. Israel’s media Read More …

PHL economy to grow 7-7.5% in 2014 – Metrobank’s FMIC

Entertainment

Jan 092014

PHL economy to grow 7-7.5% in 2014 – Metrobank’s FMIC

Philippine Stocks Exchange (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Despite the natural calamities last year, higher spending by the government and private sectors to fund the reconstruction of damaged areas will sustain the growth momentum this year, First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banker of the Metrobank Group said Monday. While the Philippines suffered the devastation wreaked by storms and earthquakes, 2013 was a watershed for the Southeast Asian market economy which gained investment grade rating from the top global debt watchers, Francisco Sebastian, FMIC chairman told reporters in a briefing in Makati City. “The country has shown resilience, we are still the best performing economy in ASEAN with a 7.4 percent GDP growth in the first nine months of 2013, Sebastian said. “Our fundamentals remain intact and will be able to withstand volatilities in 2014, be it domestic or global,” he added. “In 2014, the country’s GDP is projected at 7 to 7.5 percent – buoyed by the same growth drivers that continue to fuel the economy plus the robust reconstruction and rehabilitation work in typhoon- and earthquake-stricken Visayas, which will further spur public and private spending,” Sebastian noted. The economy grew at 7.4 percent on average in the first three quarters of 2013, the fastest among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Inflation, remittances, exports Inflation, according to FMIC, will register at a manageable level between 3.8 percent and 4 percent in 2014. So far, inflation was 2.8 percent on average in the first 11 months of 2013 The Read More …

Remittances help boost PHL savings rate in 2012

Entertainment

Jan 092014

Remittances help boost PHL savings rate in 2012

An employee counts U.S. dollar bills before changing it to Philippine Pesos inside a money changer in Manila September 19, 2013. The Philippine central bank said remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have allowed households to save money, boosting the country’s savings rate.(MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have allowed households to save money, boosting the country’s savings rate, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Based on the BSP’s latest Flow of Funds report, domestic savings has expanded by 6.8 percent to P2.001 trillion in 2012, with households accounting for the bulk of that amount. “The economy’s savings momentum is sustained amid solid overall revenue performance of all sectors and the country’s sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” the BSP said. The FOF presents a summary of financial transactions among the different institutions of the economy, and between these institutions and the rest of the world. It identifies which institutions are net borrowers and net lenders for the year. Institutions are categorized into four, namely financial corporations, non-financial corporations, the general government, and households. The household sector remained the top saver in the economy for the fifth consecutive year, accumulating P928.9 billion in savings. “This was partly brought about by the steady stream of overseas Filipinos’ remittances,” the BSP said. The non-financial corporations sector has generated savings of P713.4 billion due to the broad-based growth in savings across sub-sectors. The general government sector, meanwhile, registered the highest growth in savings at 33.5 percent to P252.2 billion Read More …

Classes reopen in PHL typhoon zone

Entertainment

Jan 072014

Children hold plates on top of their heads against rainfall as they queue for free meals during Christmas celebrations at the town of Bislig, Tanauan in Leyte province, central Philippines December 24, 2013, a month after Typhoon Haiyan battered central Philippines. Super typhoon Haiyan reduced almost everything in its path to rubble when it swept ashore in the central Philippines on November 8, killing at least 6,069 people, leaving 1,779 missing and 4 million either homeless or with damaged homes. (MNS photo) TACLOBAN (AFP) – Schools reopened Monday in badly damaged central Philippine towns for the first time since one of the world’s strongest storms ever to hit land killed thousands two months ago. Crowding into makeshift classrooms built from tarpaulins and plywood, the children – many of them still traumatized – sat quietly as teachers tried to engage them in friendly banter. Mothers refused to leave the tents despite appeals from teachers to let the children slowly resume their daily routine, an AFP reporter said. “Only about 50 percent of our school’s nearly 1,000 pupils are back,” lamented principal Maria Evelyn Encina in the seaside village of San Roque near the central city of Tacloban, where giant tsunami-like waves triggered by Super Typhoon Haiyan wiped out entire neighborhoods. She said at least nine students had been among the dead, although the fate of many others and their families remained unknown. “They could be in evacuation centers or taken in by their relatives in the mass evacuation that followed,” Encina Read More …

HK renews black travel warning vs PHL

News

Dec 302013

Hong Kong on Monday renewed its black warning travel on the Philippines, citing the effects of super Typhoon Yolanda as well as the risk of possible terrorist attacks including on areas frequented by foreigners. In its Dec. 30 update, the Hong Kong Security Bureau said some foreign governments had noted the risk of “possible terrorist attacks.” “Some overseas administrations had noted the risk on possible terrorist attacks, including places frequented by foreigners, such as large shopping malls and convention centers,” it said. It also noted Yolanda’s effects, including “widespread damage. Food and water shortages, deteriorating hygienic conditions, electricity outages and poor communications” in affected areas. Hong Kong has not changed its black travel warning on the Philippines since Aug. 23, 2010, when a dismissed policeman took a busload of Hong Kong tourists hostage to demand his reinstatement. He and some of his hostages were killed in a botched rescue try. The black travel alert is the most serious in Hong Kong’s three-tier outbound travel alert system. The others include red (significant threat) and amber (signs of threat). The Philippines is one of only three countries to be assigned the black alert. The others are Egypt and Syria. — BM, GMA News

Don’t let PHL become a ‘forgotten crisis’: UN chief

Entertainment

Dec 262013

Don’t let PHL become a ‘forgotten crisis’: UN chief

President Benigno S. Aquino III bids farewell to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the Malacañan Palace Grounds after the courtesy call on Saturday (December 21, 2013). The UN Chief is also scheduled to visit communities that were devastated by super typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City, one of the areas hit hardest by the super typhoon when it made landfall in the Visayas and Southern Luzon last November 08, 2013. (MNS photo) MANILA (AFP) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on donor nations Sunday to ramp up aid to typhoon-battered Philippines as it grapples with a funding shortfall on the long road to recovery. “We must not allow this to be another forgotten crisis,” Ban told reporters a day after touring the storm-ravaged city of Tacloban. He said the UN had only achieved 30 percent of the $791 million in aid it had appealed for to boost relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan last month. “I am appealing (to) the donor community, to speed up, scale up their support,” Ban said, adding that he had met with the ambassadors of key donor countries in Manila on Sunday. He said he was deeply moved and inspired by his visit to Tacloban on Saturday, where despite the many challenges “people are working hard to recover”. Ban acknowledged some bottlenecks in relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the typhoon owing to logistical challenges in reaching remote central Philippine islands impacted by the typhoon. However, Read More …

PNoy mulls oversight body on PHL compliance with global anti-corruption treaty

News

Dec 192013

PNoy mulls oversight body on PHL compliance with global anti-corruption treaty

In one of the biggest gatherings of government heads in the country, President Benigno Aquino III said he is considering setting up an oversight committee that will monitor the country’s compliance with international anti-corruption efforts. Aquino made the announcement during the first State Conference on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Implementation and Review on Thursday. UNCAC is an international anti-corruption treaty ratified, accepted, approved and acceded by 168 countries, including the Philippines. Since signing the convention in 2003, the Philippines has crafted a five-year 21-point Anti-Corruption Action Plan. “I was listening earlier to the [idea of] setting up of an oversight committee on our compliance, and if they [officials] are willing to again have additional duties, in addition to IAAGCC [Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council], I am more than willing to endorse that idea,” Aquino said. “Hopefully you will never tire of accepting more assignments than what you originally thought you would receive,” he added. Efforts against corruption During Thursday’s event, Aquino trumpeted the accomplishments of his administration in the fight against corruption. “Go anywhere in the country and you will have seen the changes of what we can do now versus what we couldn’t even imagine just a few years ago, and this is just the beginning. As the song by Michel Legrand said, ‘Watch what happens’,” he said. He specifically cited the filing of cases “against a former president who is now under hospital arrest;” the removal from office of “a Chief Justice who chose to lie Read More …

US sending $25M in new typhoon aid to Philippines

News

Dec 172013

US sending $25M in new typhoon aid to Philippines

US committed to helping PHL in security – Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions during a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario after their bilateral meeting in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 17. Kerry, in the country for a two-day visit, said the US is committed to helping the Philippines address its most pressing security challenges. Danny Pata TACLOBAN — The United States is providing nearly $25 million in additional humanitarian aid to help the Philippines deal with the enormous devastation and deaths wrought by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday after touring the worst-hit region. Kerry flew to central Tacloban City, where he was overwhelmed by the vast landscape of wrecked villages that he saw. He visited a food-distribution center run by USAID and government welfare officers, talked with officials and consoled survivors. “This is a devastation unlike anything that I have ever seen at this scale,” Kerry said at a temporary USAID headquarters in Tacloban. “It is really quite stunning,” he said. “It looks like a war zone and to many people it is.” The new food aid, shelter materials, water and other supplies he announced for typhoon-lashed families bring the total US assistance package to $86 million to one of its closest Asian allies. One of the most ferocious typhoons to hit on record, Yolanda left more than 6,000 people dead and nearly 1,800 others missing. It damaged or swept away more than 1.1 million Read More …

Kerry arrives in Tacloban, media kept away

News

Dec 172013

Kerry arrives in Tacloban, media kept away

US committed to helping PHL in security – Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions during a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario after their bilateral meeting in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 17. Kerry, in the country for a two-day visit, said the US is committed to helping the Philippines address its most pressing security challenges. Danny Pata US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived before noon in Tacloban City, one of the areas hit hardest by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last month. Security was tight at the Tacloban City airport as Kerry and his aides alighted from the plane, radio dzBB reported. Media representatives were kept at a distance and could not follow Kerry and his party, the report said. Kerry and his party proceeded to the Department of Social Welfare and Development hub in Tacloban after arrival, state-run Philippine Information Agency reported. The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said Kerry will oversee Washington’s ongoing relief efforts in Tacloban in the Visayas. Kerry will also meet the victims of Yolanda as well as those involved in the relief effort, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said. Kerry arrived in the Philippines Tuesday and met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. He also paid a courtesy call on President Benigno Aquino III in Malacañang. —KG, GMA News

Cemeteries showcase close PHL-US ties – Kerry

News

Dec 172013

Cemeteries showcase close PHL-US ties – Kerry

US committed to helping PHL in security – Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions during a joint press conference with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario after their bilateral meeting in Pasay City on Tuesday, December 17. Kerry, in the country for a two-day visit, said the US is committed to helping the Philippines address its most pressing security challenges. Danny Pata US Secretary of State John Kerry laid a wreath Tuesday at a cemetery for US and Filipino war dead, and said it symbolized the countries’ close ties. Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, said he was “honored” to lay the wreath at the American Cemetery in a Manila suburb, which contains the remains of over 16,600 Americans and 570 Filipinos who died fighting the Japanese during World War II. “That is the largest cemetery in which Americans are buried from World War II. It is a remarkable place and it is a humbling tribute to the links between us in our struggle for freedom,” he said during a two-day visit to the Philippines. Kerry also cited a newly signed agreement under which the two countries will cooperate to upgrade and maintain a run-down veterans’ cemetery at the former US Clark airbase north of the capital. Under the agreement, the United States will provide five million dollars to rehabilitate the Clark Veterans’ Cemetery, which holds the remains of about 8,600 Filipinos and Americans who died fighting under the US flag from the turn of the century to Read More …

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