The Manila Times back issues from February 2006:
'PORK REVOLT' LOOMS IN CONGRESS
Feb 06, 2006; ... SPEAKER Jose de Venecia may find himself in trouble once again as many congressmen, both from the opposition and the administration, have complained delays in the release of their Priority Development Assistance Fund, popularly known as pork barrel. Congressmen, particularly those who ...
BSP TO REVIEW RULES ON BAD ASSETS
Feb 06, 2006 ... THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has warned banks that Ropoa sold under joint ventures with real-estate firms won't be considered a reduction of lenders' bad assets in the absence of guidelines from the central bank. Ropoa, or real and other property owned or acquired, pertain to land or other ...
DISTORTED VALUES IS THE REAL TRAGEDY
Feb 06, 2006; ... THE real tragedy in the stampede in Pasig City on Saturday is that Filipinos suffer from a serious distortion of values, a psychiatrist said Sunday. Dr. Gilda Salangad, a psychiatrist of 23 years, blamed moral degradation for the Philsports (formerly Ultra) Arena stampede which killed ...
ERNANI CUENCO REMEMBERING THE MAN AND THE MUSIC
Feb 06, 2006 ... On February 24 and 25, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Little Theater will transform into a grand zarzuela production for the staging of Bato sa Buhangin. Named after the timeless composition of the late National Artist Ernani Cuenco, the pop zarzuela aims to pay tribute to the ...
BETTY FRIEDAN, PHILOSOPHER OF MODERN-DAY FEMINISM, DIES AT 85
Feb 06, 2006 ... WASHINGTON: Betty Friedan, whose manifesto The Feminine Mystique became a best seller in the 1960s and laid the groundwork for the modern feminist movement, died Saturday, her birthday. She was 85. Friedan died at her home of congestive heart failure, according to a cousin, Emily ...
FLORIDA-BASED IT FIRM TO INVEST IN RP
Feb 06, 2006 ... OFFICIALS of Harris Corp., an IT company based in Florida, USA, are in town to explore investment opportunities in the manufacturing sector. Trade Secretary Peter Favila reported last week that Harris Corp. has plans to establish a communications equipment manufacturing plant in the ...
CLASS SUIT READIED VERSUS PAF ON OV-10 PLANE CRASH
Feb 06, 2006 ... PAOMBONG, Bulacan: The municipal government of this town plans to file a class suit against the Philippine Air Force for payment of damages caused by the OV-10 crash in a fishpond here last month. The municipal government is asking for P10 million in damages while Luzviminda Isidro, ...
LETTER THE ULTRA FATAL STAMPEDE
Feb 06, 2006 ... THE tragic Ultra incident claimed over 75 lives, not to mention the many people injured-women, children, old folk who happened to be mostly poor. It is a good thing to hear that ABS-CBN has expressed its willingness to take care of the indemnity costs that this fatal stampede would entail. ...
NO UNIFIED PLAN TO HANDLE ULTRA CROWD
Feb 06, 2006; ... LACK of coordination among the producers of the game show Wowowee, the venue's security force and police may have been a factor in the stampede in Ultra on Sunday, a fact-finding committee said Sunday. The committee, headed by the Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus, held its first ...
DOJ RULES DOBLE'S DETENTION ILLEGAL
Feb 06, 2006; ... THE Department of Justice over the weekend ordered its prosecutors to push for the prosecution for serious illegal-detention charges against former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong, former PAOCTF member Lito Santiago, the actor Rez Cortez and Wilson Fenix for allegedly ...
PRIVATIZATION ISSUES LOWER ODA AVAILMENT
Feb 06, 2006; ... THE Philippines' failure to meet its targets for the sale of state-owned power plants cut down the government's availment of donor aid, the cheapest source of foreign borrowing meant to plug last year's budget deficit and reduce external debt.Data from the Department of Finance showed ...
EXECUTIVE MINUTES IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN 'THE HP WAY'
Feb 06, 2006; ... Holding a Bachelor's degree in Management and Industrial Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology and an MBA from the De La Salle Business School, Nilo S. Cruz has been leading HP Philippines since its merger with Compaq Computer in 2001, where he was the country manager for the latter ...
VIRTUAL BUSINESS THE VIRTUE OF BEING HONEST
Feb 06, 2006; ... RECEIVING his Management Man of the Year award last week, PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan had one thesis based on his First Pacific experience."Those who choose to conduct business in an ethical way will, in the long run, perform better than those who don't," he declared. ...
BIG DEAL A TRAGEDY NOBODY WANTED
Feb 06, 2006; ... THE operation to retrieve the scores of dead and the hundreds of injured from the Wowowee stampede was not yet quite over Saturday morning when some quarters were already trying to extract political ammunition from the tragedy. Fastest on the draw were a couple of left-wing groups. ...
CULTURE VULTURE THE POWER OF THE MEDIA
Feb 06, 2006; ... Last Saturday, at around 7 a.m., 79 people died and more than 300 were injured in a stampede at the Ultra Stadium. Some of the people came from as far away as Bacoor and Cavite. Some had camped outside the venue since Wednesday to await the first anniversary of variety show Wowowee, where ...
DOLLAR STRENGTHENS ON BACK OF IMPROVED US JOB PICTURE
Feb 06, 2006 ... NEW YORK: The dollar strengthened against major currencies in New York Friday on the back of an improved US employment picture, traders said.At 2200 GMT, the euro bought $1.2024, compared to $1.2096 Thursday. The dollar meanwhile surged to 118.91 yen from 118.49 previously....
MEDICAL TOURISM EYED TO BOOST SERVICE SECTOR
Feb 06, 2006 ... THE government sets its sight on the medical tourism industry to further boost the services sector this year. Dennis Arroyo, director for national planning and policy of the National Economic and Development Industry, said the government is forecasting a 6.8-percent services sector ...
KNOWLEDGE IS LIFE YOUNG PHILANTHROPIST HIGHLIGHTS THE VALUE OF READING
Feb 06, 2006; ...The US-based Filipino lawyer Francis Padua Papica chose to give out books. By launching the Read to Live, Libro Ko Para Sa 'Yo program, he aims to give to the youth of Bicol, where he spent his elementary and high school years, the same opportunities he had as a student.Papika also ...
'NAIA IS SAFE FROM MISSILE ATTACKS'
Feb 18, 2006; ... AIRPORT General Manager Alfonso Cusi on Friday assured passengers that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is safe from potential missile attacks after the country's premier airport passed strict security audits of the United States and an international aviation agency.Cusi was ...
3 GOONS NABBED IN ABRA ARE BARANGAY EXECS
Feb 18, 2006 ... CAMP DANGWA, Benguet: Three barangay officials in La Paz, Abra, who are allegedly members of a private armed group (PAG) were arrested on February 15, the police reported Friday. The police also seized from the three barangay officials and their companion high-powered firearms and ...
ARROYO REPRIEVES 22 DEATH CONVICTS
Feb 18, 2006; ... BUCKING the clamor of groups who want the death penalty imposed, President Arroyo has reprieved a new batch of 22 convicts on death row who are set to be executed in February. On the President's orders on January 23, Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez wrote a memo to the Bureau of ...
DRILON AIMS FOR STANDARDS IN TRADE PACTS
Feb 18, 2006 ... SENATE President Franklin Drilon said he wants a certain standard to be followed when classifying agreements signed by the Philippines and other foreign bodies or countries for congressional ratification."There must be a standard to be followed for agreements to be submitted to the ...
FEARS THAT NO-POLL STILL ALIVE ALLAYED
Feb 18, 2006; ... House leaders allayed the fears of their allies that a provision scrapping next year's election has been inserted in the new draft to amend the Constitution. The majority leader, Rep. Prospero Nograles of the First District in Davao City, advised some Liberal Party congressmen who are ...
GMA NETWORK UPS CAPITAL STOCK FOR IPO
Feb 18, 2006; ... IN preparation for its initial public offering, broadcasting firm GMA Network Inc. has increased its authorized capital stock. The increase in capital stock to P5 billion from P2 billion has been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. GMA Network said the net ...
INFO TECH NEEDS TO BE INTRODUCED TO FARMERS, FISHERMEN
Feb 18, 2006 ... IN a bid to modernize agriculture in the country, an information technology-enhancement project has been launched to reach small farmers and fishermen in remote areas. The project kicked off Friday at the Convention Center, Bureau of Soils and Management in Diliman, Quezon City, to ...
JUNK 3G BID OF BAYANTEL, NTC TOLD
Feb 18, 2006 ... Leading information and communications technology provider Multimedia Telephony Inc. has asked the National Telecommunications Commission to junk the bid of Lopez-controlled Bayan Telecommunications Inc. to operate 3G (third generation) mobile-phone service.Multimedia said BayanTel, ...
LUZON, CHINA-TAIWAN TIES SOUGHT
Feb 18, 2006; ... THE National Economic and Development Authority will seek to establish a stronger tie between Northern Luzon and China-Taiwan to boost the economic development of the region. Romulo Neri, NEDA director general, listed these two development projects among his priorities on day one of his ...
NEDA'S PLAN FOR GOVT DOWNSIZING DELAYED
Feb 18, 2006 ... "COMPLICATIONS" prevented the National Economic and Development Authority from submitting its rationalization plan for evaluation by the Department of Budget and Management on Friday. Nestro Mijares, NEDA deputy director general for Central Support Office, cited two reasons for the ...
POLICE ON HIGH ALERT AS PMA HOLDS REUNION
Feb 18, 2006; ... The police in Metro Manila went on heightened alert Friday not to preempt a coup attempt but to deter crime. The alert was called as police and military officials who are alumni of the Philippine Military Academy went to Baguio City for their annual reunion this weekend. The ...
PUREFOODS SEEKING REVIEW OF PBA PLAYER AWARDS VOTE
Feb 18, 2006; ... PUREFOODS board governor Rene Pardo is pushing for a review of the process of selecting awardees in the Philippine Basketball Association. Pardo made this proposal after the Chunkee Giants' star player, Kerby Ramundo, lost the Best Player of the Conference award to Red Bull's Enrico ...
SHARES ADVANCE ON GLOBE TELECOM
Feb 18, 2006 ... Philippine shares advanced Friday on gains made by select blue chips led by Globe Telecom. The benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 25.74 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,102.16. Globe provided the biggest boost to the index, with a gain of 7.8 percent to close ...
TRUCK SLAMS INTO QC HOUSE; 6 HURT
Feb 18, 2006; ... SIX people were injured, including a 10-month-old girl and three other children, when a truck that lost control crashed into a sari-sari store in Quezon City on Friday afternoon.Injured were Mary Jane Santos, 26, her daughters Janna Victoria and Jackilyn, 5, niece Sarah Alvarez, 12, ...
'GIVE LOCAL EMPLOYEES PAY HIKES'
Feb 18, 2006; ... SEN. Ralph Recto said on Friday that the proposed P1,000 across-the-board monthly-pay increase for national government workers should also cover local government employees. Recto said this could be done by including a provision in the supplemental bill authorizing local governments to ...
'PESO STRENGTH CAN BE SUSTAINED'
Feb 18, 2006 ... INVESTMENT bank Union Bank of Switzerland expects peso to sustain its strength in 2006 on the back of remittances by overseas Filipino workers and capital flows. The UBS representatives recently visited Manila and reviewed the country's fiscal and macroeconomic positions. In ...
ABALOS NOT BOTHERED BY IMPEACHMENT RAPS
Feb 18, 2006; ... CHAIRMAN Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections on Friday said that he is not bothered by the impeachment complaint filed by the lawyer Oliver Lozano over the controversial P1.3-billion computerized election program. "It's his prerogative and right as a citizen to file an ...
BSP MAY REVISE ITS POSITION ON EXPORT TARGET FOR 2006
Feb 18, 2006; ... EXPECTING more investments would come in with the seeming success of the government in checking the budget deficit, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is likely to adjust its projection of Philippine export target this year."More export-related investments are expected to come in with ...
DRILON JUNKS PALACE APPEAL
Feb 18, 2006; ... SENATE President Franklin Drilon said on Friday that the Senate would not agree with Malacanang's appeal to exercise restraint in the conduct of its public hearings as a condition for lifting Executive Order 464. Drilon said that even if some senators might "abuse or humiliate" some ...
'MAYORS TO BLAME FOR FAILURE OF ECOLOGY LAW'
Feb 18, 2006; ... MULTIMILLION garbage contracts local government officials have entered into have resulted in the failure to carry out Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, an environmental group said Friday. Odette Alcantara, a convener of Mother Earth Philippines, said that the 17 cities and ...
FOOD FIT FOR LOVERS DO APHRODISIACS REALLY WORK?
Feb 18, 2006 ...Answer: They can very well put you in the mood for love! But while the US Food and Drug Administration maintain that the reputed sexual effects of so-called aphrodisiacs are based in folklore, and not fact, there really is no harm in trying them out, especially for lovers. ...
GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS KILL 9 IN TWO ENCOUNTERS IN LEYTE
Feb 18, 2006 ... The 19th and 43rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army based in Leyte said that they have killed nine suspected NPA combatants in two separate encounters in the province this month.In a belated report, the 19th Infantry Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, said that in the ...
200 FAMILIES WILL VACATE CHED LOT
Feb 18, 2006 ... MORE than 200 families squatting in an 8,000-square-meter land owned by the Commission on Higher Education have agreed to voluntarily dismantle their shanties and leave the area in exchange for financial assistance amounting to as much as P25,000 for each family.Lily Milla of the CHED ...
AIN'T COMPLAININ' VALENTINE MUSINGS OF A NONCONFORMIST
Feb 18, 2006; ... Perhaps many of us are still into post-Valentine celebrations this weekend; especially people like me who avoided the crowds on Tuesday. When my children were young, I used to head straight home on Valentine's evening for a regular dinner, followed by a short ceremonial speech and gift ...
KEPCO, OTHERS BUY SALCON POWER SHARES
Feb 18, 2006 ... Independent power producer Kepco Philippines Holdings Inc. (Kephilco), Jad Holdings Inc. and Intrepid Holdings Inc. purchased common shares of Salcon Power Corp. through a block sale at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).The three firms purchased a total of 716.4 million common ...
IPR WATCHDOG TELLS RP TO TIGHTEN BORDER CONTROL
Feb 18, 2006 ... THE United States Trade Representative has instructed the Philippines to tighten border controls and monitoring as well as forge bilateral agreements with other countries to keep intellectual property piracy in check.The USTR's recommendation is in connection with the removal of the ...
DEFENSOR CONFIRMS PLAN TO OVERTHROW GOVERNMENT
Feb 18, 2006; ... PRESIDENTIAL Chief of Staff Mike Defensor on Friday confirmed the existence of "Oplan Hackle," a plot allegedly being hatched by junior officers and soldiers involved in the failed Oakwood mutiny to overthrow President Arroyo this weekend. In a radio interview, Defensor disclosed that ...
FARMERS IN NEGROS WANT SDOS REVOKED
Feb 18, 2006 ... BACOLOD City: Inspired by the revocation of the stock-distribution option (SDO) of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, farmer-beneficiaries in six haciendas in Negros Occidental on Friday filed their own petitions calling for the cancellation of a similar scheme being implemented in their landholdings ....
P100,000 'RANSOM' ASKED FOR 'SPY PLANE'
Feb 18, 2006; ... ZAMBOANGA CITY: Muslim villagers are demanding P100,000 as "ransom" for a crashed pilotless "spy plane" used in US military exercises in Jolo.The remote-controlled drone allegedly crashed February 10 in the mountain near Marang in Indanan, a known lair of the Moro National Liberation ...
FIRST PACIFIC RETAINS PLDT CONTROL
Feb 06, 2006 ... THE entry of Japan's leading mobile-phone service provider in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. is unlikely to affect the controlling position held by Hong Kong-listed First Pacific Co. Ltd. in the Philippines' top telecommunications company, a PLDT official told reporters last ...
LAWMAKER WANTS ANTIQUE OIL SPILL TO BE INVESTIGATED
Feb 06, 2006; ... LIBERAL Party Rep. Florencio Miraflores of Aklan on Sunday demanded a congressional inquiry into the oil spill in Antique, saying that it may destroy Boracay, one of the country's known tourist spots. Miraflores said he would file a resolution in the House of Representatives to ...
PHILIPPINE SHARES SEEN TO BOUNCE BACK THIS WEEK
Feb 06, 2006 ... PHILIPPINE share prices are seen to bounce back this week as investors take positions on stocks that are expected to announce healthy 2005 profits, analysts said Friday. "The positive bias will still be there," said Oliver Plana of Asiasec Equities. "Probably we will be driven ...
UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT IN WATERCOLOR
Feb 06, 2006 ... It is widely observed that a painter, no matter what genre he started in most often end up with abstraction or a nonrepresentational medium. This happened to seasoned artist Fred Ramirez. "It is something natural. I just felt it inside me," Ramirez says, explaining how his works for the ...
METRO PACIFIC BUYING STAKE OF FRENCH FIRM IN NLEX
Feb 06, 2006; ... METRO Pacific Corp., the Philippine unit of Hong- Kong-listed conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., will buy half of a French firm's shares in Manila North Tollways Corp., operator of the North Luzon Expressway, a source told The Manila Times. An official of Groupe Egis said the purchase ...
PRESIDENT TO FOCUS ON ADDRESSING POVERTY
Feb 06, 2006 ... PRESIDENT Arroyo has committed to end poverty in the aftermath of the stampede at the Philsports Arena (formerly Ultra) in Pasig City on Saturday where many of the victims came from poor neighborhoods in Metro Manila.In a statement released by Malacanang Sunday, the President said ...
US PLEDGES MORE ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION IN MINDANAO
Feb 06, 2006 ... MAGUINDANAO: A senior US government official has pledged more assistance to help train Filipino teachers and students in various skills and scholarship programs in the South.Dr. Thomas Kral, chief education officer of the United States Agency for International Development, inspected ...
MALAYSIAN MILITARY OFFICIAL HAILS GOVT, MILF PEACE EFFORTS
Feb 18, 2006; ... Sees peace pact signing this year ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Malaysian Armed Forces chief of staff, Vice Adm. Dato Mat Rabi bin Abu Samah, hailed the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for their efforts in putting an end to more than three decades of strife in Mindanao ....
FOREIGN TEAMS MAKE SPLASH AS INTER-CLUB STARTS
Feb 18, 2006; ... DAVAO CITY: Two foreign teams from the United States-Maharlika and Mabuhay-started out hot despite wet conditions Friday and grabbed early leads in the Sportswriters and Friendship divisions, respectively, after the first round of the 19th Philippines Airlines Seniors Inter-Club here. ...
CHINA'S SINOLINES EXPANDS TO SERVICE THE PHILIPPINES
Feb 18, 2006; ... SINOTRANS Container Lines Co. Ltd. (Sinolines), China's third-largest international shipping line, has started to serve Manila using the port of International Container Terminal Services Inc.'s flagship, the Manila International Container Terminal.In a statement, ITCSI said Sinolines' ...
PSALM SETS NEW BIDDING DATE
Feb 18, 2006; ... THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. disclosed that it will be able to bid out three generation assets of the National Power Corp. by June this year. In the announcement Friday, PSALM Vice President for Asset Management and Electricity Trading Group Froilan Tampinco ...
REGION 6 TOPS IN RAPE CASES IN RP
Feb 18, 2006 ... BACOLOD CITY: Western Visayas surpassed all other regions in the country, including the highly urbanized National Capital Region, in sex-related incidents, particularly rape. Records from the Women and Children's Concern Desk (WCCD) of the police show that 2,918 rape cases were recorded ...
JINGGOY: NO DEAL WITH PALACE
Feb 18, 2006 ... Deposed President Joseph Estrada will not strike a deal with Malacanang on his provisional release from detention, his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, said Friday. On Thursday, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu, Mike Velarde of El ...
LAWMAKERS WELCOME RETURN OF MISUARI AS MNLF CHIEF
Feb 18, 2006; ... Lawmakers welcomed the election of former rebel leader Nur Misuari as the new chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), stressing that this only proves that Misuari still enjoys the respect and confidence of the people in Mindanao. At the same time, congressmen, in ...
SM GROUP , GEORGE YANG GROUP LEASE LAND IN ORTIGAS DEVELOPMENT
Feb 18, 2006; ... Mall giant SM Group and MC Home Depot of the George Yang Group are leasing nine hectares in the Ortigas & Company Limited Partnership-owned Frontera Verde development in Pasig City. The lease, which is good for 10 years, is renewable at the end of the term based on the mutual ...
US FLAYS UN ON GUANTÁNAMO
Feb 18, 2006 ... WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday angrily rejected calls by UN human-rights monitors to close the Guantánamo "war on terror" detention camp, calling their report "a discredit" to the world body.But United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that "sooner or later" the ...
MUD BURIES LEYTE TOWN
Feb 18, 2006; ... Hundreds feared dead, thousands left homeless Hundreds of people were feared dead after earth, loosened by days of continuous rain, slid down a mountain and engulfed a town in Southern Leyte on Friday. Fourteen bodies were recovered before rescue operations were halted as night ...
PCCI TO PROBE 168 MALLS
Feb 18, 2006 ... ACTING on a petition from Metro Manila mall owners and retailers late last year, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it would investigate whether smuggling is indeed at the heart of the operations of 168 Mall in Divisoria, Manila.Donald Dee, president of the PCCI, ...