BEST sees higher profits

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
BEST sees higher profits

MANILA, Philippines – Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), the solid waste management arm of listed mining firm Minerales Industrias Corp. (MIC), expects to double its profits this year. BEST said it would continue to expand its core business while increasing its exposure in the trash-to-energy conversion business. MIC sees BEST to breach the P100-million income mark this year compared to  P51 million in 2012 while revenues are seen to hit P380 million, up 80 percent from P212 million last year. Growth would be driven by new contracts; increased efficiency and integration of existing solid waste management projects; and expansion into energy recovery, said BEST chairperson and CEO Isabelita Paredes Mercado. “This is by far our biggest year in terms of growth with new contracts and improvements in our operations,” Mercado said, adding that solid waste management industry has good potentials in energy conversion. “Waste is now seen as a resource not only for recycling but also for generating alternative fuel and renewable energy,” Mercado said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last year, BEST partnered with La Farge and Pennies and Pounds to put up a highly mechanized materials recovery and composting plant in Payatas. It collects and sorts trash for conversion into alternative fuel for cement and other industrial factories. To date, BEST runs two engineered sanitary landfills in Payatas, Quezon City and Morong, Rizal, serving the waste output of Metro Manila and nearby provinces. BEST is also a shareholder in Metro Clark Waste Management Read More …

Two children aboard carjacked AUV in QC released in Manila

 News
Jul 062013
 
Two children aboard carjacked AUV in QC released in Manila

Two girls who were aboard an Asian utility vehicle that was carjacked by a group of armed men early Friday in Quezon City were released in Manila before dawn Saturday. Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group head Senior Superintendent Renato Gumban said the two were released at 2:30 a.m., radio dzBB’s Paulo Santos reported. Gumban cited information reaching him indicating the children were abandoned near a fast-food outlet at the corner of Taft Avenue and Quirino Avenue. No ransom was reportedly paid for their release. On Friday, armed men carjacked a green Mitsubishi Adventure AUV (ZGK-141) along Regalado Avenue in Quezon City. The driver, who managed to escape, said his vehicle was hit from behind by a white Montero-type sport-utility vehicle driven by the suspects. When he got down, three armed men from the Montero poked firearms at him and held him, but he managed to slip away and flee. The men then drove off with the green AUV, with the two girls still on board. — LBG, GMA News

PNoy distributes brand new pistols to PNP officers

 News
Jul 012013
 
PNoy distributes brand new pistols to PNP officers

President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday led the distribution of 22,603 pistols to Philippine National Police (PNP) officers as part of the government’s effort to arm each police officer in the country with a handgun.   Glock 17 9mm automatic pistol Aquino, himself a gun enthusiast, handed the brand-new Glock 17 Generation 4 pistols to some PNP officers in turnover ceremonies at the National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. According to the PNP, each pistol was bought for P16,569, much lower than its current retail price of P40,940. The PNP said the government was able to save P200 million for the handguns. According to the Glock website, the Glock 17 is the “world’s most popular pistol.” The unit specifically given to PNP officers has a reversible enlarged magazine catch and a dual recoil spring assembly, among other features. The pistols distributed by the President were part of the 74,879 handguns procured by the PNP as part of the P1-billion contract signed last September to fully fill up the handgun requirements of the police force. The handgun contract was signed last year after the PNP and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officials faced a Senate inquiry for a plan to procure allegedly overpriced assault rifles. The PNP eventually aborted the rifle deal.  — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News 

Tighter security, no guns in Batasang Pambansa after Benaldo incident

 News
Jul 012013
 
Tighter security, no guns in Batasang Pambansa after Benaldo incident

Guns will no longer be allowed, and security measures will be tightened inside the House of Representatives after former Cagayan de Oro first district Rep. Benjo Benaldo was found bleeding from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the South Lobby last week. Those entering the Batasan complex in Quezon City, including congressmen, must now undergo strict inspection, according to report on GMA News TV’s State of the Nation on Monday night.  Even congressmen and their security personnel will not be allowed to bring guns inside, the report said. “We have a standing policy na hindi naman talaga allowed ang guns in the House. In fact, may areas of surrendering,” Atty. Marilyn Barua-Yap, Sec. Gen., House of Representatives, said in the same report. Bodyguards are supposed to leave their guns with the Legislative Security Bureau, but the rule was not strictly implemented, according to Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, who suggested stricter regulations on carrying firearms inside the House of Representatives. “I suggest that we revisit our regulations on carrying firearms. Let us find out if regulations are lacking or the rules are not implemented,” Acop, a former police general, said on Friday. Representatives Benjie Agarao (Laguna), Noel Villanueva (Tarlac), and Sherwin Tugna (Civac party-list) agreed with Acop. “Its members are supposedly honorable men and women and it is incumbent upon them to act accordingly. If ever there are threats on the life of any member of Congress, it is the duty of law enforcement agencies of government to provide the Read More …

Solicitor General: Drug case belatedly filed should still keep suspect jailed

 News
Jun 272013
 
Solicitor General: Drug case belatedly filed should still keep suspect jailed

The Office of the Solicitor General has insisted that a drug suspect who has been incarcerated for the past five years without formal charges, until recently, should remain behind bars. In a petition filed with the Supreme Court, the OSG, which represents the government in cases, asked that a recent Court of Appeals ruling ordering the release of Joan Urbina be reversed. Urbina and her boyfriend Ben Bryan Chua were arrested in December 2007 for alleged use of illegal drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia, in violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. In January 2008, the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the drug complaints against Chua for lack of evidence, while those against Urbina remained and were forwarded to the Department of Justice for automatic review. She was locked up at the Philippine Custodial Center in Camp Crame. It took the DOJ five years to finally file a formal complaint at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court just last May 9. In its ruling, the CA granted Urbina’s petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus and struck down the drug case filed against Urbina for being lodged way too late. “The Information filed before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 227 is hereby declared null and void for having been filed way beyond the period prescribed under pertinent rules of the Department of Justice,” the CA said in its 18-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Noel Tijam. In its petition with the Read More …

A WALKING TOUR OF ESCOLTA

 News
Jun 242013
 
A WALKING TOUR OF ESCOLTA

From the early 1900s to the 1960s, Escolta was the country’s premier shopping mecca. With the emergence of the commercial and business districts of Makati and Quezon City, the prestige of Escolta gradually faded. READ FULL STORY  

PHL sends clear message to tusk dealers: We're not open for business

 News
Jun 202013
 
PHL sends clear message to tusk dealers: We're not open for business

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) spearheaded the crushing of over five tons of elephant tusks Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City in a strong message to local and international tusk dealers. Laid out in the center’s parking lot, the tusks were broken down using a backhoe. After this, a steamroller flattened what remained of the tusks estimated to be worth P40 million. The shattered remains of the tusks will then be taken to the Bureau of Animal Inudstry where a cremation process will ensure the total destruction of the tusks. —KG, GMA News

130 inmates so far freed on 'Judgment Day'

 News
Jun 182013
 
130 inmates so far freed on 'Judgment Day'

(Updated 3:06 p.m.) At least 130 inmates were freed on Tuesday after trial courts simultaneously heard and decided on cases in five cities with the most inmate population, including Manila and Quezon City. Court Administrator Midas Marquez, who led the event dubbed as “Judgment Day” at the Manila City Jail, said the event aimed to decongest court dockets and prison cells by acting on pending cases, especially minor ones. “It’s not really about iyong nature ng kaso but more on ano na ang nangyari sa kaso. Gaano katagal na ‘yung kaso. Iyon ang tinitignan natin,” he told reporters. “Halimbawa minor offense siya. Limang beses nang nai-set pero ‘di sumisipot mga private complainants. Baka puwedeng provisional dismissal ng case muna iyon,” he added. Apart from Manila, simultaneous hearings were also conducted in four other highly prisoner-populated cities like Quezon City, Cebu City, Davao City, and Angeles City in Pampanga. The hearings were ongoing as of posting time Marquez. As of 2 p.m., Marquez said a total of 115 cases were heard in Manila, with 75 detainees ending up being ordered released. In Angeles City, 68 cases were heard, 55 of which arrived at a decision, resulting in the release of 43 inmates. In Cebu City, 12 inmates were freed. “Some hearings still on going, particularly in Quezon City and Davao City,” Marquez said. At the Manila City Jail, home to more than 3,000 inmates, some 30 Manila judges conducted simultaneous hearings inside the facility’s basketball court. The hearings also aimed to Read More …

DENR to crush, not burn seized elephant tusks

 News
Jun 162013
 
DENR to crush, not burn seized elephant tusks

Following an outcry from environmental groups, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is scrapping its plan on June 21 to burn some five tons of seized elephant tusks. Instead, DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said they will merely crush the tusks at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City, radio dzBB’s Allan Gatus reported. The report said the DENR initially planned to douse kerosene on the tusks then burn them, to deter people from engaging in tradingtusks. Last week, environmental groups opposed the DENR’s plan to burn some five tons of seized elephant tusks on June 21, saying it may violate the law and send a wrong message to the public. “(B)urning the confiscated tusks goes against the prohibition against the open burning of municipal solid waste enshrined in two of our major environmental laws: R.A. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and R.A. 8749, the Clean Air Act,” the groups said in a letter to Paje and Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau director Theresa Lim. Citing a DENR news release, the groups said authorities are to burn the confiscated elephant tusks at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center (NAPWC) in Quezon City. The DENR, in a news release last June 9, had quoted Paje as saying the tusks “will be crushed by a road roller and burned in the presence of foreign experts and anti-ivory trade advocates on June 21 at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City.”  A government official Read More …

Palace: Aquino’s speechwriters still working on SONA outline

 News
Jun 082013
 
Palace: Aquino’s speechwriters still working on SONA outline

President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address for 2013 is still in its early stages, with speechwriters still working on the outline as of Saturday, Malacañang said. On state-run dzRB radio, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) and Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras are collating data from concerned agencies. “Between now and SONA, apart from the daily briefings (and) the daily work the president will be engaging, there will be opportunities to meet with speechwriters, Cabinet members and the Cabinet Secretary to discuss the SONA,” he said. He added the PMS is responsible for tracking the promises Aquino had made when he assumed office in 2010. It will assess “what we delivered and what we still need to deliver,” he added. Citing updates from communications undersecretary Manuel Quezon III, he said this year’s SONA has undergone at least two outline revisions. “Wala pa ang talumpati (We have not started work on the speech itself),” he said. On July 22, Aquino is to deliver his SONA before members of the 16th Congress at the Batasan complex in Quezon City. The Official Gazette website said the SONA is a “constitutional obligation,” and stems from Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution. Under that provision, the president “shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session,” it said. “Moreover, Article VI, Section 15 prescribes that the Congress ‘shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session,’” it added. Read More …

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