2007 July – PinoyPress — Philippines news, opinion, blogs.

Archive for July, 2007

Philippines: Tax breaks pushed for employers who hire ex-convicts

MANILA — Business firms that will employ former prisoners will
be entitled to tax deduction privileges under a
legislative proposal that aims to spare them from the
discriminatory hiring practices of employers.

7/03/07 12:38 PM Full Story

Philippines urged to rebid broadband project with Chinese firm

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the controversial national-broadband deal has become indefensible and not worth pursuing in view of revelations that its terms and conditions are grossly disadvantageous to the government and it was not subjected to public bidding in violation of Philippine laws.

7/03/07 12:35 PM Full Story

ADB in new program to combat HIV/AIDS in Philippines

The Department of Health’s National Epidemiology Center estimates there were approximately 11,200 people with HIV as of the end of 2005. However, as of April this year, the national registry showed that there were 2,818 people living with HIV, indicating that only one in five persons could be aware of his or her HIV status.

7/03/07 12:31 PM Full Story

‘Sexy Mom’ likes Paris Hilton. Here’s why.

7/03/07 12:28 PM Full Story

Philippines: Consultation set on controversial open-skies policy

MANILA — The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) will hold a forum titled “Save our Skies (SOS) or Open Skies: View from Both Sides” on July 5, 2:00-5:00 p.m. at the J.V. Del Rosario Room, AIM Conference Center.

7/02/07 11:18 PM Full Story

1,234 Filipinos repatriated from Middle East

833 Filipinos from Kuwait, 301 from Saudi Arabia and 100 from United Arab Emirates have returned to the Philippines after availing of amnesty programs in those countries, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

7/02/07 11:15 PM Full Story

Bolder action urged vs. credit card firms

7/02/07 06:50 PM Full Story

Whale sharks transforming sleepy town of Donsol

The Age: Once hunted for its soft white meat, known throughout Southeast Asia as “tofu shark,” the whale shark is now protected and has transformed this sleepy corner (Donsol, Sorsogon) into a major eco-tourism centre. (Photo by Agence France-Presse) Full Story Read the story

7/02/07 06:32 PM Full Story

ARMM elections should be held in advance — Pimentel

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) today proposed that the national elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) be held one week ahead of the national schedule. Pimentel said this is the most practical way to prevent fraud operators from manipulating the elections in the ARMM that would spell the fate of candidates in the presidential and senatorial contests.

7/02/07 02:37 PM Full Story

Changes in process of adopting Filipino children pushed

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) today filed a bill seeking to
institute reforms in the process of inter-agency
adoption of Filipino children to make it more
responsive to the changes in the concept of
international adoption.

7/02/07 02:34 PM Full Story

Philippines capable of moving forward — WB exec

By JOACHIM VON AMSBERG | World Bank

The policy agenda is clear. The benefits from policy reforms are clear. There are two possible scenarios for the next years. In the first scenario, the forces of Philippine society come together to implement reforms for sustained fiscal stability, higher investments and social inclusion. The alternative scenario is one where the current improved economic situation leads to complacency, and weak policy implementation.

7/02/07 02:06 PM Full Story

Marvel Comics kills, buries Captain America

7/02/07 01:40 PM Full Story

Pinoys who make it big in Hollywood

7/02/07 10:37 AM Full Story

Even though defense chief for only a month, Norberto Gonzales gives human-rights groups the creeps

People are going ape shit over this man’s appointment. He allegedly monkeys around with human rights and civil liberties. He also allegedly threw a monkey wrench to the peace process between the government and the Communists.

Philippine Daily Inquirer: The human rights group Karapatan is seeing a “sinister” plot in the appointment of Norberto Gonzales, even if he will serve as interim defense secretary for only about a month. “It (Gonzales’s appointment) appears cursory in the discussion about the recent Cabinet revamp, but it has a lot of implications,” Karapatan’s Marie Hilao-Enriquez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “His narrow-mindedness, his intolerance of other political beliefs is frightening. We should all be ready.”

7/02/07 10:16 AM Full Story

THE PERILS OF WITNESSES

It’s easy to ask people who have witnessed crimes, or who have anything to say about them, to come forward and identify themselves. It’s not so easy being the witness. Not in this cradle of democracy, it isn’t.

7/02/07 09:55 AM Full Story

Philippines: Comelec told to stop charade on Bedol

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.
(PDP-Laban) today called on the Commission on
Elections to stop hoodwinking the people and
pretending that it is running after Maguindanao
provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol in the
face of its blatant efforts to cover up his role in
the wholesale falsification of the senatorial results
in the province.

7/02/07 01:06 AM Full Story

Philippines pushes ‘education tourism’ program

MANILA — MalacaNang on Sunday expressed support for the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) initiative to position the Philippines as an alternative educational destination where neighboring countries could send their overflow student populations.

7/02/07 01:01 AM Full Story

‘I accuse the Army of kidnapping my son Jonas’

By EDITH T. BURGOS

Edith Burgos (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)

The conduct of Gen. Esperon tells me that the Army is hiding from me information of vital investigative value in the Jonas case. First, he refused to see me and my representatives despite the fact that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had arranged the meeting and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo encouraged me to see him. And then he turns down my request for a copy of the report of the Provost Marshal and the Inspector General. Gen. Esperon’s conduct or rather, misconduct, only reinforces my belief that the Army abducted Jonas and Gen. Esperon is covering up for the Army.

7/01/07 01:26 PM Full Story

LATEST STORIES FROM DAVAOTODAY.COM

Duterte-Nograles tiff over park prelude to 2010?

Urban poor group hits Arroyo on housing mega-sale

Military operations in ComVal is linked to mining – environmental alliance

San Isidro town govt to penalize cacao felling

Boston villagers recount tales of military abuses

STORIES BY CARLOS H. CONDE

40 die as Philippine ferry capsizes

Asia, too, feels the pain

As the MOA Unravels, What Now?

Peace process fraught with peril for Arroyo

Islamic separatists kill 28 in Philippines rampage

THE NEWS IN PICTURES

Spawn. This photo, taken by photojournalist Sonny Espiritu, won the Best Single Photo award in the recent annual PopDev Awards. The photo was first published by the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project with this caption: "An urban poor woman feeds her youngest child while washing clothes for a living and looking after other children. Modern contraception advocates say having fewer children would help fight poverty and hunger, but the predominent Catholic Church says there is no link between poverty and population, of which the Philippines has now almost 90 million."

End The Violence. Members of the women's group Gabriela make known their sentiments about violence against women. They commemorated yesterday, Nov. 25, the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. (Photo courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)

Anti-GMA Protest in LA. Members of GABNet, the progressive Filipino women's group in the United States, outside the LAX Sheraton in Los Angeles last week to protest the persecution and killing of political activists in the Philippines. The protest was timed for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stopover en route to Peru for the Apec summit. (Photo courtesy of Ninotchka Rosca/GABNet)

Tagaytay on a Sunday. Kite-flying has become a favorite activity at the Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. On an overcast but generally pleasant afternoon last Sunday, dozens of kites colored the skies, complementing the view of Taal Volcano in the background. (Photo by Ayi Muallam)

Downed. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front released Friday this photo of some of its members playing with what the group claimed was an unmanned spy plane that crashed earlier this month. The front said the alleged drone was a property of the US military. More details here.

Hunger Amid War. This child refugee is one of the thousands affected by the war in Mindanao. The situation in North Cotabato and Maguindanao has deteriorated since renewed fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke out in Aleosan and Midsayap, North Cotabato last Aug. 8, according to groups that held last month the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission in North Cotabato and Maguindanao. (Photo courtesy of Kalinaw Mindanao/arkibongbayan.org)

Another Bayan Muna Leader Killed. Danny Qualbar, an officer of the Compostela Farmers' Association and coordinator of Bayan Muna was on his way to Compostela town Thursday afternoon to buy fish for his family when assassins in motorcycles shot him. Qualbar was the second Bayan Muna member killed this year in Compostela Valley. Top photo shows Qualbar’s eldest child grieving his death. (Photo by Jonald Mahinay/davaotoday.com)

Stairway to Heaven. Found in the middle of the forest, the cascading waters of Aliwagwag waterfalls in Cateel, Davao Oriental, looks like a descending stairway. No wonder it is considered one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Mindanao. (Photo by Grace S. Uddin / davaotoday.com)

Stop Militarizing Communities! Members of farmer's group Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao Region held a rally October 8 in front of the headquarters of the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Panacan, Davao City. The group called for the pullout of troops conducting massive military operations in Tamayong in Davao City, Talaingod in Davao del Norte, Monkayo in Compostela Valley and in the towns of Baganga, Cateel, Boston in Davao Oriental and Lingig Surigao Del Sur. (Photo by Jonald Mahinay/davaotoday.com)

Land and Peace Concert. Students from Tribung Bayanga National High School perform before the crowd at Gaston Park in Cagayan De Oro City on October 23 night during the Yuta ug Kalinaw Concert. The two-hour concert was part of the Integrity of Creation Solidarity week that kicked-off last October 19. The week-long activity was a gathering of mining affected communities and support groups to discuss the issues affecting their communities. (Photo by AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Full Capacity. Normally, passenger vans are allowed to carry 14 people. But this one is apparently beyond its carrying limit as it negotiates the zigzag road in Sulop, Davao del Sur, a known accident- and landslide-prone area. (Photo by Keith Bacongco / AKP Images)

The Child as Vigilante. A 10-year-old boy carries a firearm and joins members of the Ilaga, an infamous anti-Moro militia, in its camp in Aleosan, North Cotabato. The child's father leads the dreaded vigilante group in the area. (Photo by Romy Elusfa/Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Under Repair. A "Skylab," the most common mode of transportation in the Agusan provinces and elsewhere in Mindanao, undergoes a repair at a shop in Butuan City. The motorcycle is fitted with wooden "wings" on both sides -- hence the moniker -- and is capable of carrying up to eight passengers. (Photo by Keith Bacongco / AKP Images)

Free At Last. Pastor Berlin Guerrero of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, shown above with wife Mylene, was released after 15 months in police detention. He had been abducted and went missing for days before the police came out to say that he was arrested on a murder charge, which his family and colleagues said had been fabricated. A court ordered him released on Sept. 11. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)