Browse by section, topic or location
Manila, Philippines
NEWS & FEATURES    |    OPINION & ANALYSIS    |    SPECIAL REPORTS    |    LIFESTYLE    |    BLOGS    |    ARCHIVES    |    SEARCH PINOYPRESS    |    SUBSCRIBE
Current Events   |   Economy   |   Politics   |   Business & Finance   |   Human Rights   |   Technology   |   Entertainment   |   Food & Dining   |   Arts & Culture   |   Travel & Leisure

    More Flaws in P5-Billion Loan to Quedancor Bared

    By Yvonne T. Chua and Luz Rimban | VERA FILES
    (Conclusion)
    When Quedancor negotiated with the banks, it was already in the red because of its various failed lending programs.
    Second Part: Politicians Dip Hand Into Quedancor Funds
    First Part: Quedancor Swine Program Another Fertilizer Scam

    9/04/08 07:32 AM   Full Story
    Politicians Dip Hand Into Quedancor Funds

    By Yvonne T. Chua and Luz Rimban | VERA FILES
    (Second of three parts)
    The Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) does not only give out loans to the poor. It also “lends” money to “needy” politicians, congressmen included. Insiders say Quedancor is the one government corporation politicians know they can run to when they want cash — for political reasons or otherwise. The “loans” are known within Quedancor as “political accounts.”
    First Part: Quedancor Swine Program Another Fertilizer Scam

    9/02/08 11:41 AM   Full Story
    Quedancor Swine Program Another Fertilizer Scam

    By Diosa Labiste, Luz Rimban and Yvonne Chua | VERA FILES
    (First of three parts)
    Documents and interviews show that officials involved in questionable Quedancor transactions were the same ones implicated in the P728-million fertilizer scam: then Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo, who chaired Quedancor, and then Agriculture Undersecretary for finance and administration Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante who was at the time also a director of the Land Bank of the Philippines from which Quedancor obtained billions of pesos in loans.

    9/01/08 08:34 AM   Full Story
    Jun Lozada Reflects on His 2 Months of ‘Calvary’

    ZTE-NBN scandal whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada says he has paid the price for telling the Filipino people what they already know “and yet do not want to be told.”

    4/13/08 12:58 PM   Full Story
    Protest Set April 12 Vs Corruption, Economic Crisis

    Various anti-Arroyo groups will come together in protest once again, but this time, the focus will be the economy.
    Groups aligned with the United Opposition (UNO), the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Edsa 3 Coalition, Laban ng Masa, the Be not Afraid Movement and other Opposition forces will converge at Plaza Miranda in Manila at 4:00 pm [...]

    4/09/08 06:14 PM   Full Story
    Army Grounds General in Corruption Case, Begins Probe

    The Philippine Army has begun the pre-trial investigation on Major General Jose T. Barbieto on allegations of personnel and resource mismanagement. Following an order from the Ombudsman to suspend the general, he was previously relieved as the commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division effective March 6, 2008 to give way to a just and [...]

    3/31/08 03:49 PM   Full Story
    Conditionalities, Not Corruption, Biggest Problem with Aid

    At the ongoing Philippine Development Forum (PDF), foreign aid donors have rightly taken President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to task for corruption in her administration which, along with other factors such as poverty, could hinder economic development. But Philippine AidWatch, a national network of civil society groups that monitors foreign aid, stresses that policy conditionalities attached to [...]

    3/29/08 07:51 AM   Full Story
    Aid Donors Told: Stop Loaning Money to Arroyo

    Debt activists say that one way to prevent corruption in the Philippines is “to plug the funneling of funds from loans and aid which is the source of kickbacks.”

    3/27/08 07:56 AM   Full Story
    Corruption and Cynicism in the Philippines

    By STEVEN ROOD | The Asia Foundation | The politicization of anti-corruption activities in the Philippines has long been a problem. When charges are used as part of the struggle for political advantage, the public can become cynical, believing that all officials are alike and nothing will change.

    3/22/08 01:38 PM   Full Story
    American Tourist Complains of Theft at Philippine Airport

    I am from New York city and a tourist. I’ve been in the Philippines for more than a month and I have enjoyed visiting wonderful sights in exotic places in northern Mindanao, like Camiguin Island. I wish to thank the friendly and kind people of the Philippines for the warm welcome they gave me throughout [...]

    3/17/08 03:04 PM   Full Story
    Pimentel Debunks Palace Claim that Senate Mishandled ZTE Probe

    Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr.
    (PDP-Laban) today said the piles of testimonial and
    documentary evidence on the anomalous national
    broadband network-ZTE project that have surfaced in
    the series of Senate hearings belie Malacañang’s claim
    that the Senate has mishandled the inquiry on the
    case.
    Pimentel advised Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye not to
    play deaf and blind to such ample evidence in [...]

    3/17/08 02:30 PM   Full Story
    Arroyo Resignation: Options and Scenarios

    NEWS ANALYSIS The “critical mass” that can lead to the resignation of President Arroyo can only rise from the diverse groups and personalities agreeing who or what will replace the widely discredited president.

    3/07/08 02:33 PM   Full Story
    Philippines’s Problems With Aid Go Beyond Lack of Transparency, Accountability

    Ibon said that anomalous infrastructure projects, such as the national broadband network (NBN) funded by Chinese loans and is now under Senate inquiry, is an example of how the country’s foreign aid system is easily subverted by political influence-peddling.

    3/05/08 04:41 PM   Full Story
    Former Top Officials to Arroyo: Government Should Serve the Truth

    “We are former senior government officials who have served the government in the administrations of Presidents Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo. Today we see how the institutions of government are being manipulated, weakened, and corrupted.”

    3/05/08 07:52 AM   Full Story
    Philippines: Arroyo Urged to Lift Gag Order on Neri

    Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel,
    Jr. (PDP-Laban) today dared President Gloria
    Macapagal-Arroyo to stop preventing Secretary Romulo
    Neri from testifying anew at the Senate inquiry into
    the national broadband controversy and heed the call
    of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
    for transparency to curb graft in government.
    Pimentel said Neri’s continued refusal to return to
    the Senate to complete [...]

    3/03/08 02:58 PM   Full Story
    Thousands Demand Arroyo Resignation

    Two former presidents – Corazon Aquino, who led the first People Power in 1986, and Joseph Estrada, who was ousted in the second People Power in 2001 – joined priests, nuns, farmers, activists and students in a march in Makati City.

    2/29/08 07:02 PM   Full Story
    Anti-Arroyo Protests Today Touted as ‘Biggest Yet’

    Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) today expressed confidence that the Makati mobilization will send a very strong message to Malacañang and other institutions of the government that the Filipino people seriously and urgently demand for truth, justice, and meaningful changes in the leadership and system of governance amid the latest political crisis that has been rocking the Arroyo regime.

    2/29/08 09:58 AM   Full Story
    Bayan Calls CBCP Statement ‘Absurd’

    Says it will not derail the people’s growing struggle to make Arroyo accountable for her lies and crimes
    Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) described today as “absurd” and “misleading” the call of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to “take the lead in combating corruption”.
    The multisectoral alliance said that while it [...]

    2/28/08 08:14 AM   Full Story
THE NEWS IN PICTURES

End The War. Members of the youth group Anakbayan denounce the war being waged by the government in Mindanao against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (Photo: arkibongbayan.org)

Where Are They? Relatives, friends and colleagues of victims of enforced disappearances commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared with lighted lanterns and photographs at the Plaza Miranda and in Mendiola on Aug. 30. (Photo: arkibongbayan.org)

Free at Last. The so-called Tagaytay 5 -- Aris Sarmiento, Axel Pinpin, Riel Custodio, Michael Masayes and Rico Ybañez -- shown here inside their prison cell during their incarceration, were freed yesterday. “The dismissal of trumped-up charges and release of Tagaytay 5 is a victory for human rights,” said Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan's public information officer. (Photo: freetagaytay5.net)

Displaced. Residents of North Cotabato have been the ones badly affected by the military offensives launched against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "As the government continues to indiscriminately drop bombs on Moro and Christian villages in Aleosan and Pikit, more and more civilians are displaced," said Kawagib, a Moro human-rights group.(Photo: Suara Bangsamoro/arkibongbayan.org)

In One Roof. Villagers who fled their homes after the clashes last week between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the south brought every human life with them, including their farm animals. They now live under one roof at an evacuation center in Pikit, North Cotabato. (Photo: Bong Sarmiento / Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Emergency. A scene from "Ambulancia," a short film that tells of a painful twist in an ambulance driver's belief that a dying patient can be saved by running over stray animals on the streets. The award-winning film will be screened at the so-called "Woodstock of short films" in Germany. Richard Legaspi directed the film and it stars Alan Paule and Nor Domingo. (Contributed photo)

Sendoff. The Philippine Army dispatched today, Aug. 10, the 68th Infantry Battalion to Maguindanao. This battalion, together with the 46th Infantry Battalion from Samar, will augment the troops in Central Mindanao for the security operations that will be conducted to ensure peaceful elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao tomorrow. (Photo: Philippine Army)

Killings Denounced. Mindanao journalists gathered in General Santos City on Friday to denounce the recent attacks on their colleagues. On Monday, Dennis Cuesta, a Radio Mindanao Network commentator in General Santos, was shot and is fighting for his life. On Thursday, another RMN broadcaster, Martin Roxas of Capiz City, was shot dead. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

If This Wall Could Talk. With the pleasant scenery as a backdrop (and a constant reminder, perhaps, of a life they could have had), this poor family try to survive by actually living by the sidewalk outside the Chinese school in Davao City. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Undaunted. Activists from Anakbayan scuffle with the police as the Chevrolet Suburban carrying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo passes by the junction before the newly built Bankerohan bridge in Davao City last week. The president was in the city for the declaration of the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi parties. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Freedom Denied. Lex Adonis, a former broadcaster of Bombo Radyo in Davao City, inside the Davao Penal Colony, where he was jailed after House Speaker Prospero Nograles sued him for libel over a story involving the Davao congressman's alleged sexual relations with a woman other than his wife. Despite a court order, Adonis remains in jail. (File photo by davaotoday.com)

Tribute to Ka Bel. Activists, artists, friends and supporters troop to the Philippine Independent Church on Taft Avenue Monday night to honor AnakPawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, who died last week. Beltran will be buried in Bulacan today, after a ceremony honoring him at the House of Representatives, where he served for several terms as party-list congressman. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/pinoypress.net)

Rare Sight. Moro women students of a madrasah play volleyball during a break in barangay Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, last week. While Filipina Moros are considered relatively open in their lifestyle compared to Muslim women in other countries, scenes like this are not very common in Moro areas in Mindanao. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)

Ka Bel's Fight. An activist mourns the death of AnakPawis Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran, who died Tuesday. Ka Bel's remains lie in state at the IFI Cathedral in Manila. His colleagues, family and friends have lined up a series of tributes. Click here for the schedules, as well as statements and poems honoring Ka Bel. (Photo by courtesy of arkibongbayan)
TOP STORIES
More Civilian Suffering Feared in Mindanao
Presence of US Troops in Mindanao Faces Probe
Looking Forward in Mindanao
Arroyo Dissolves Gov’t Peace Panel
Major US Gov’t Report Concludes Tobacco’s Media Promotion Leads to Smoking
Manila’s Censorship Law Rears Its Ugly Head
The New Settlers: Mindanao Muslims Head North
Waiting Game for North Cotabato Refugees
Lanao del Norte Atrocities Exposed MILF’s Weakness
The MOA, the Cha-Cha, and the US Ambassador
OTHER STORIES
Green Group Denounces ANZ for OceanaGold Denial
Growth of Software Development Outsourcing to Drive Related Industries
Record 6,533 to Take Philippine Bar Exams
NGOs Urge Transparency in IRR Crafting of Cheaper Medicines Law
US Anti-Tobacco Group Hails Philip Morris’s Withdrawal from Eraserheads Concert

News & Journalism - Top Blogs Philippines

SPECIAL COVERAGE

TAGS




Back to Main Page | About PinoyPress | Contact Us | Advertise | Archives | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Credits
Copyright © 2008 PinoyPress | Manila, Philippines