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Archive for July, 2006

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No outdoor events for GMA

Posted by Michille on 31st July 2006

No outdoor events for GMA – The Manila Times!

ALL outdoor events in the President’s schedules for the week have been canceled to allow her full recovery from the flu, Malacañang said Sunday.

Mrs. Arroyo was discharged Saturday from the Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where she was confined for two days.

The President has asked Vice President Noli de Castro to represent her at the opening of the 15th Makro chain of retail stores in Mandaluyong City and at the “megaregions” meeting with provincial executives and Cabinet officials.

“Other outdoor activities of the President for the rest of the week are expected to be similarly canceled in keeping with her doctors’ orders to take a complete rest—the ‘best medicine’ for those convalescing from influenza,” a Palace announcement said.

On Saturday Presidential Management Staff Chief Arthur Yap said the President’s schedule would be limited to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and any schedules in the evening would only be “light.”

While the President takes it light, the statement said, “Members of the Cabinet have been instructed to take up the slack left by the President’s lighter workload, particularly on the implementation of administration programs and projects related to the megaregions.”

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Davao taxis now use LPG as fuel

Posted by Michille on 31st July 2006

Davao taxis now use LPG as fuel – Sun.Star Davao!

SEVERAL taxicab companies in Davao City have switched to use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel for their cabs, according to a survey conducted by this writer over the weekend.

Among those that have partly or fully use LPG for their cabs are Krizia company operated by Ryan Sia, Holiday taxi owned by the Bangayans, Maligaya owned by the Tans, and Alyyah run by a Muslim businessman.

Krizia has converted 40 of its 58 units to LPG, while 60 of Holiday’s more than 400 units are now fueled with LPG. On the other hand, all 50 units of Alyyah are now LPG-fueled, while Maligaya, has begun with only its Toyota units.

Most of those who have switched to LPG are also maintaining their own LPG stations.

Economical

“It’s really economical,” testified Alyyah’s 52-year-old cabbie Nonoy Antonio, who has been driving taxi for 32 years.

“For 23 liters, I spent only P720, instead of P1,200,” marveled Antonio, who said that the fuel was enough for 14 hours of driving.

The driver said that the price of LPG per liter was P11 to P13 lower than gasoline.

Costly conversion

Most operators are convinced about the economic benefits of switching to LPG but they are reportedly turned off by the cost involved in the conversion.

Companies like Petronas reportedly charge P30,000 for the conversion and the gadgets involved.

Drivers transferring

As a result of the savings involved in fuel expense, several cab drivers are reportedly applying with taxi companies, which have switched to LPG.

 

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OFWs fear Filipino casualties in southern Lebanon

Posted by Michille on 31st July 2006

OFWs fear Filipino casualties in southern Lebanon – INQ7.net!

By Nikko Dizon
Inquirer
Last updated 01:46am (Mla time) 07/31/2006

Published on page A1 of the July 31, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THEY ARE home and happy to be alive but fearful of what might have happened to other Filipinos they had left behind.

Philippine government officials insisted they had no reports of any casualties among the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) trapped in Lebanon but several workers in the 13th batch who returned yesterday said their worst fear was that others might not have made it to safety.

One returnee said Hezbollah militants apparently were preventing officials from going into the bombarded areas in Lebanon to look for casualties, and that no one had actually dug into the rubble to retrieve bodies.

John Paul Natividad, 33, told the Inquirer that he thought some Filipinos might “have been killed, especially in Saida where there are a lot of Filipino domestic workers.”

But Natividad couldn’t say for sure.

“It’s difficult to confirm if there were Filipino casualties,” he said. “Saida is now like a ghost town. If there are Filipino officials who’d go there to check, the Hezbollah militants would stop them.”

Natividad was among 80 Filipinos, including a 6-year-old boy, who arrived on Qatar Airways Flight 646.

Natividad worked as a chef in a Japanese restaurant in Beirut and served as an assistant to Filipino priest Fr. Agustin Advincula at the Church of the Miraculous Medal, a relocation center in Beirut. He also assisted special envoy Roy Cimatu when the latter flew into Lebanon.

Genalyn Buquing, 24, said she knew of two other Filipino domestic helpers who were left behind in Al Hosh Tyre in southern Lebanon.

“They sought refuge in the same building where I worked but they couldn’t leave. Hindi lahat ng Pilipino nakaalis ng southern Lebanon (Not all Filipinos were able to leave),” said Buquing, who worked as a domestic helper in Lebanon for a year and five months.

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66% of unliquidated cash from old transactions: COA

Posted by Michille on 31st July 2006

66% of unliquidated cash from old transactions: COA – Sun.Star Cebu!

AMONG 184 individuals, Cebu City Hall’s former resident ombudsman has the biggest unliquidated cash advances of P1.7 million, state auditors noted.

Romeo Cordova, Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s consultant before his appointment as in-house graft investigator, has since left City Hall and is working in a local university.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said P5.7 million or 66 percent of the P8.69 million in unliquidated cash advances represent balances that remained unaccounted for, after many years.

In 2003, Cordova had his March salary withheld for failing to liquidate the cash advances, taken from the mayor’s intelligence fund and reportedly used for intelligence operations.

He received the amount through a disbursement voucher dated Dec. 5, 2001.

Interviewed that year, Cordova said he already forwarded his liquidation papers to COA Manila because he was told that liquidation for intelligence funds should be submitted there.

“Humana man na (That has been dealt with). I’m so worried that it’s not yet settled because it’s not my fault,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

The accounting office earlier said that despite notices and demands, Cordova failed to submit documents needed to drop him from the list of accountable persons.

COA, in its 2004 annual audit report, identified Cordova among those who did not liquidate their cash advances. He is still in the list in COA’s 2005 annual audit report, a copy of which reached City Hall last week.

It told City Hall to impose sanctions, such as deducting from the employees’ salary the unliquidated cash advances.

COA has an agreement with the Civil Service Office and Office of the Ombudsman for both offices to assist in filing charges.

Not one official, however, has been charged yet.

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Cop, nurse caught in tight ‘embrace’

Posted by Michille on 31st July 2006

Cop, nurse caught in tight ‘embrace’ – Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro!

BUTUAN CITY — The National Police Commission (Napolcom) regional office called on a teenage rape victim to file her complaint against an Agusan del Norte police officer.

Caraga regional Napolcom director Mamerto Amadeo said this amid reports that yet another police officer was figured in a compromising situation with a married nurse.

The police officer and nurse, whose identities are being withheld due to the sensitive nature of their case, were caught with their privates clamped on each other and thus unable to withdraw.

Amadeo said it is expected for law enforcers to uphold the law by being models of integrity, discipline, and service to the community.

“Or if one cannot follow it, one must resign because how can community people obey an adulterer or a criminal cop?” he said.

But Amadeo said the aggrieved parties must report to him personally at his office, as he will evaluate the complaints against the two police officers for administrative sanctions.

“There is what we say as due process but as long it is a case of moral turpitude and proven guilty, there is no reason for the policemen to stay any minute longer at the PNP,” Amadeo said.

The police officer and the nurse were covered with blankets as they were carried inside an ambulance and brought to a local hospital for treatment.

Medical personnel explained the case was called in medical terms as “Vaginanimus” or simply contraction of the vaginal muscles due to tension or nervousness that makes it tighten the organ.

Medical authorities said they administered therapeutic muscle relaxant to the two and after a few minutes they managed to withdraw.

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Creation of more local price coordinating councils pushed

Posted by Michille on 31st July 2006

Creation of more local price coordinating councils pushed – Sun.Star Baguio!

LOCAL government units (LGUs) in the region are being encouraged to come up with their Local Price Coordinating Councils (LPCCs) to further improve working relationships with agencies responsible for price monitoring.

Jaime Olmos, assistant director of the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (BTRCP) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the creation of LPCCs could help LGUs ensure the protection of consumers against unreasonable price increases.

Olmos was one of the speakers during the forum on LPCCs held at the Venus Parkview Hotel last Friday. The forum was organized by the DTI in Cordillera in coordination with other government agencies tasked to monitor the prices of basic and prime commodities.

Localities with established LPCCs could recommend to the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) or to the implementing agencies retail prices or price ceilings of basic or prime commodities in their respective areas.

The council is also responsible for conducting analyses on causes of price fluctuations in the locality and can recommend corrective measures on undue price increases and supply shortage.

The DTI regional office is pushing for the establishments of more LPCCs in the region, especially in areas that are considered as commercial sites.

Trade Assistant Regional Director Marites Damian said there are only eight existing LPCCs in the region. The towns of Itogon, La Trinidad, and Baguio City are among the localities that created their respective LPCCs.

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