Philippine Daily Inquirer articles from April 2002

Philippine Daily Inquirer archives from April 2002

Bail for ex-child star.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Agnes E. Donato A BAIL of P300,000 was recommended for the temporary liberty of former television soap child star Sugar Benedicto who was charged with car theft after allegedly trying to steal a businessman's vehicle in Quezon...

Balweg militia studying peace pact with NPA.
April 30, 2002... BAGUIO CITY-The militia of slain rebel priest Conrado Balweg is discussing a ceasefire, and a potential peace agreement with its erstwhile enemy, the New People's Army, according to the group's lawyer. The Cordillera People's Liberation...

A history of time and then some.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Bambi L.Harper (Continued from Saturday) 1755: Samuel Johnson issues the first English Dictionary, at last providing young children with a book they can look up dirty words in. 1758: New Jersey is chosen as the site of...

Beermen tackle Aces tonight.
April 30, 2002... Byline: June Navarro GAMES TODAY (Cuneta Astrodome) 6 p.m.-Purefoods vs Coca-Cola 8 p.m.-Alaska vs San Miguel AFTER overthrowing Talk N Text from its lofty perch, San Miguel Beer targets a similar task against Alaska when...

Erap film producer opts for drama instead of truth.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan TWO weeks ago, I overheard Msgr. Nico Bautista, who recently rejoined the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board after resigning during the Estrada administration, tell someone that the MTRCB...

Buhain: Carrion issue doesn't worry me.
April 30, 2002... CHAIR Eric Buhain of the Philippine Sports Commission said yesterday the oust-Cynthia Carrion movement initiated by the PSC board is "the least of my worries and should not turn off corporate sponsors." He said athletes training for the Busan...

Church told: Be humble.
April 30, 2002... Byline: A. Nocum THE ROMAN Catholic Church hierarchy should exercise "humility" in acknowledging that it does have problems with priests engaged in sexual abuse. The head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines noted...

P5.3M for Coo.
April 30, 2002... BOWLING legend Bong Coo is the biggest winner when President Arroyo starts handing out cash incentives to 356 retired athletes and coaches on May 16, garnering a whooping P5.3 million in rewards for her past achievements. This was...

Cop killed in shootout.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Agnes E. Donato A POLICE officer was killed while another was injured in a shootout with three suspected robbers under the Edsa-Quezon Avenue flyover yesterday morning. SPO1 Erwin Barredo, of the PNP Traffic Management Group,...

LJ happy with PBA's Rob Wainwright.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Dolly Anne Carvajal I BUMPED into LJ Moreno and her African American boyfriend Rob Wainwright in Boracay. Rob plays for Shell in the PBA. The lovey-dovey couple were unmindful of onlookers. I teased LJ: "So, your on-and-off...

Gloria's generals.
April 30, 2002... HAVING once been the country's highest-ranking successor-in-waiting, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo knows what it means to wait. Maybe that is why some of her appointments have been characterized, not so much by an economist's careful...

Ex-comic turns serious in Manila council.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Jerome Aning MANILA Councilor Luciano "Lou" Veloso, a former television and movie comedian, is expected to be grilled today by his peers in the city council after he accused some of them last week of discriminating against him...

Gordon eyes Spratlys as tourist destination.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Jerome Aning COULD the disputed Spratly island group, a possible regional flash point because of the many competing claims to it, become the country's next big tourist destination? Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon thinks so,...

GMA junks Erap quarry order.
April 30, 2002... CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga-President Macapagal-Arroyo revoked an order of former President Joseph Estrada that guided quarry operations in Central Luzon, effectively giving back the control of the multimillion-peso sand industry in...

Gloria rules out pay hike for workers.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Dona Pazzibugan WORKERS can't expect a wage increase from President Macapagal-Arroyo on Labor Day. The President said yesterday that a wage increase would not be part of her announcements on May 1 as Filipinos had the highest...

Hope held high for boy struck with rare virus.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Jhunnex Napallacan, PDI Visayas Bureau CEBU CITY-The 11-year-old scion of the prominent Larrazabal clan is showing signs of recovery after being reported clinically dead when a rare virus afflicted him and his 11 cousins. But...

Japan refuses to cooperate in Ogami case.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Clarissa S. Batino THE JAPANESE government refused to cooperate with the Philippines' Anti-Money Laundering Council in a case involving self-styled cult leader Genta Ogami. Sources said the Japanese government continued to...

Labor groups seek 'pro-poor government'.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Agnes E. Donato LEADERS of the militant labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and the pro-Erap People's Movement Against Poverty (PMAP) will link arms to show their unity as they call for a "pro-poor government" on...

La Salle outshines Kutitap.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Dennis U. Eroa PLAYMAKER Mike Cortez played wondrously as ICTSI-La Salle took the sparkle out of Kutitap, 82-75, yesterday in the PBL Chairman's Cup before a sizeable crowd at the Pasig Sports Center. The six-footer Cortez,...

Macapagal foes join forces.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Martin P. Marfil, Carlito Pablo and Donna S. Cueto THE REMOVAL from office of President Macapagal-Arroyo and the revocation of Joseph Estrada's "leave of absence" were among the points raised by political groups and personalities...

Gloria mad at adviser for spilling 2004 plans.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Carlito Pablo and Juliet L. Javellana AS EXPECTED, President Macapagal-Arroyo denied she would run in 2004 and reprimanded presidential adviser Norberto Gonzales for announcing that she would. "I called him on the telephone...

Mamburao residents rally vs blackouts.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI S. Luzon Bureau MAMBURAO, Occidental Mindoro-Residents of this capital town, which has been experiencing blackouts every month since 1974, staged a prayer rally last week to protest the persistent power failure...

MBA slates triple-bill in 2 venues.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Roy Luarca THE MBA goes to Mati, Davao Oriental for the first time when LBC Batangas tackles Professional Davao at 5 p.m. today in the 7,000-seat Davao Oriental Sports and Cultural Center (Dosco). Also slated in the 3-game...

Meralco hike excessive-DOE.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Ronnel W. Domingo THE MANILA Electric Co.'s proposed "unbundled" rates are "excessive and unjustifiable," according to an energy department study released yesterday. The study found that Meralco had apparently included in its...

Makati's top dealer falls.
April 30, 2002... TOMAS Magsano, believed to be the top marijuana dealer in Makati City, was arrested Sunday night in a buy-bust operation. Members of the Makati Police's drug enforcement unit arrested Magsano, 39, at his house in Barangay South Cembo,...

Balikbayan found dead.
April 30, 2002... DID balikbayan Raymond Mandigma, 25, kill himself? Mandigma, 25, an American citizen, was found dead yesterday in his room on Teresita corner Lardizabal streets in Sampaloc, Manila, by his father, Rodesendo, 62, said detective Edgardo...

Wayward car hits 8 commuters.
April 30, 2002... A KOREAN tourist lost control of the car he was driving and plowed into a group of commuters waiting for a ride on Edsa in Mandaluyong City early yesterday morning. Police identified six of the eight victims as Julie Renetre, Rodante...

CSSP Class of 2002.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Michael L. Tan NOTWITHSTANDING Ateneo, Harvard and Wharton, Trade Secretary Mar Roxas had never attended UP so we decided to award him with the university's sablay as a token of appreciation for being our guest speaker this year....

MMDA not ready to junk trash deal.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Alcuin Papa THE JANCOM garbage deal seems unlikely to die as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority announced yesterday that it is working out a solution to the problems hounding the garbage firm, including President...

'Do not panic,' FVR tells Gloria in Malacanang.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Dona Pazzibugan "DON'T panic." Former President Fidel V. Ramos showed up in Malacanang yesterday to offer both President Macapagal-Arroyo and increasingly vocal enemies calling for her ouster the same advice. "Do not...

Palace backs video board on Erap docu.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Carlito Pablo MALACANANG said yesterday the Videogram Regulatory Board "conducted itself consistently and professionally" when it stopped the airing of the pro-Joseph Estrada documentary "Ama ng Masa." Acting Press Secretary...

Pro-Erap leader ordered to refute rebellion charge.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Michael Lim Ubac and Jerome Aning THE JUSTICE department yesterday ordered the detained pro-Estrada leader, Ronald Lumbao, to refute the rebellion charges filed against him by the government in connection with the May 1st siege of...

Why your electric bill keeps going up.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Neal H. Cruz YOU must have noticed that your electric bill keeps going up. No matter how hard you try to reduce electric consumption, the next monthly bill is always higher than last months. If you look at your Meralco bill, even...

One year later.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Conrado de Quiros THE FIRST anniversary of the "rebellion of the poor," a.k.a. "Edsa III," is a good time to look at what President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has done over the past year. The good news is that she has done...

Why young people kill.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Rina Jimenez-David WHEN Robert Steinhaeuser entered the Johann Gutenberg School in Erfurt, Germany, and started blasting away with a revolver, he could not have known that he was setting off a political crisis that may yet...

Rewards await witnesses against Erap, says lawyer.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Volt Contreras "REWARDS" await Equitable-PCIBank officials who testify against ousted President Joseph Estrada, his lawyers said yesterday at the resumption of their client's plunder trial. Prospero Crescini, one of Estrada's...

Proof delivered P2-M ransom for Arlyn-military.
April 30, 2002... Byline: TJ Burgonio and Rocky Nazareno MONEY changed hands for the release from captivity of broadcast journalist Arlyn de la Cruz, with no less than a professor of the University of the Philippines delivering the P2 million in ransom, a...

Patrol boat for Batanes.
April 30, 2002... BASCO, Batanes-Environment officials here acquired a P1.9-million patrol boat to help stop smugglers, poachers and those involved in illegal fishing in this northernmost province. George Reyes, protected area superintendent of the Department...

GMA down, rivals up in latest Pulse Asia survey.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Carlito Pablo ARE Filipinos starting to trust the political opposition more than President Macapagal-Arroyo? A nationwide survey conducted by Pulse Asia from March 22 to April 10 found that Ms Macapagal's net trust rating...

Communist extortionists.
April 30, 2002... BALANGA CITY-A top police official here has asked residents to report to authorities the extortion activities of communist rebels who have been victimizing fishpond owners in the province. Senior Supt. Sahiron Salim, Bataan police director,...

Gang leader killed.
April 30, 2002... TABACO CITY-Police said they have busted the notorious Alama gang when its latest victim, who was seriously wounded, shot dead the group's leader last week in Barangay Mariroc, this city. A police report identified the slain gang leader as...

Unruly ex-mayor.
April 30, 2002... DUMAGUETE CITY--The former mayor of La Libertad, Negros Oriental town was "invited" by police to stay for the night at the police headquarters for unruly drunken behavior on Saturday night. Napoleon Camero was made to stay at the police...

Vice mayor's plight.
April 30, 2002... SANTA FE, Nueva Vizcaya-Despite his being cleared by a tribal court of the charge of raping a 21-year-old Kalanguya woman, residents are calling for the resignation and prosecution of Vice Mayor Donior Tidang. "While we respect the culture of...

Swindling gang busted.
April 30, 2002... LEGAZPI CITY-Police have warned the public against members of swindling syndicates here. The warning was made after operatives of the Daraga Police Office arrested five members of a "Budol-Budol" gang who tried to victimize a music store....

Not enough guards.
April 30, 2002... LEGAZPI CITY-The Department of Environment and Natural Resources claimed it has only 126 forest rangers assigned to guard 541,189 hectares of forestlands in the Bicol Region. "This means a ratio of one forest ranger patrolling at least 4,300...

Solon says high power rates block progress in Negros.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Alex V. Pal, PDI Visayas Bureau DUMAGUETE CITY-Negros Oriental Rep. Herminio G. Teves is pushing for reforms in the electric power industry to eliminate the one-grid, one-rate policy of the National Power Corporation. He told...

Rookie jitters.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Al S. Mendoza I LOST my first fight with a dorado. No alibis. I lost fair and square. A dorado is tough. Found mostly in the Pacific Ocean, dorado is one of the costliest fish in Hawaii. In the United States, it's a premium...

Tax on text: Nani joins public outcry.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Michael Lim Ubac JUSTICE Secretary Hernando Perez yesterday joined the opposition to the proposed tax on text messages, which, he said, would curtail freedom of speech. Perez said the proposed tax measure was uncalled for....

Framed up by anti-narcotics cop (Part II).
April 30, 2002... Byline: Ramon Tulfo TRISTAN John Ngo and his billiard friends were taken to the Narcotics Group (Narcgroup) office at the Quezon City police station at the corner of Kamuning Street and Edsa, at 3 a.m. Saturday. Their captors did not...

US won't establish bases here-Angara.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Cynthia D. Balana THE UNITED States is not likely to seek a permanent basing agreement with the Philippines because the country has lost its strategic importance to America as a permanent base site. Sen. Edgardo Angara made...

Focus on Asian filmakers.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Nestor U. Torre WITH many Asian film people now "going Hollywood" with alacrity, it's heartening to see that one of the region's most acclaimed directors, Chinese cinema's Zhang Yimou, has made up his mind to continue to work at...

Bourse okays IPO of property firm.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Doris C. Dumlao THE PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange has approved the initial public offering of property firm Jolliville Holdings Corp., the fifth company to debut at the local bourse this year. A PSE circular issued yesterday said...

Miseducation.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Bernadette R. Jarapa SHE was 7 and was feeling bored inside her classroom. She wasn't listening. Her teacher approached and pointed her two fingers at her eyes and snarled, "Tutusukin ko ang mata mo dyan!" It was the last...

BSP shelves plan to cut single borrowers' limit.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Clarissa S. Batino THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas has junked an earlier plan to reduce the single borrower's limit on banks to 15 percent from 25 percent to avoid adding constraints to banking industry's lending activities. ...

'City garden' sits on vast expanse of open space.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Tessa R. Salazar HOW does it feel to live inside a condominium tower neatly planned by interior designers and erected inside a "garden city" that devotes 60 percent of its vast tract of land by the bay to open space? Would...

Court urged to stop implementation of SEC order.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Doris C. Dumlao VETERAN stockbroker Robert Coyiuto Jr. has asked the Court of Appeals to stop the Philippine Stock Exchange from executing the Securities and Exchange Commission's order exempting dormant mining firm Itogon-Suyoc...

DBP seeks easing of loan ceiling.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Elena R. Torrijos THE STATE-OWNED Development Bank of the Philippines will ask the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to ease up on the single borrower's limit so that the bank could continue lending to financial institutions with a...

Banks' deposits in BSP rising.
April 30, 2002... INDICATING a lack of investment opportunities, the banks' deposits in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continued to increase despite the low interest rates the central bank was paying. BSP data showed that as of the week ending April 26,...

Group urges use of new shipping service.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Abigail L. Ho THE COALITION for Shipping and Ports Modernization has urged the Department of Transportation and Communications to pass an administrative order promoting the use of the roll on-roll off (Roro) service in domestic...

Japanese car firms buck new tax scheme.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. THE CHAMBER of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) is urging the government to stick to an engine-based tax system, keep the tax preference on Asian utility vehicles, and plug the...

Pagcor, DOE sign loan facility guidelines.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Ronnel W. Domingo THE DEPARTMENT of Energy and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. will sign today the guidelines for a P300-million loan fund to help small investors put up oil/gasoline refilling stations. Energy...

RP still lags in competitiveness race.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. THE PHILIPPINES remained 40th among the 49 countries ranked in the latest World Competitiveness Survey-made by the Institute for Management Development with Asian Institute of Management-Policy Center as...

Retail sector projects healthy signals in 2002.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Charles E. Buban IF there's one area of the property sector that does move and perform above the average, it's the retail sector. According to the Colliers Jardine Philippines report, the sector continues to outperform the others...

Selling souvenirs makes good business, fulfills mission too.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Tina Arceo-Dumlao WHEN the 20-year-old Jay Aldeguer graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University, he and a friend went on a backpacking trip to Europe and started collecting shirts as souvenirs of all the places they visited....

Treasury bill rates continue to slide.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Clarissa S. Batino THE BENCHMARK 91-day treasury bill rate again fell to a record low after the government decided to reject "unreasonable" bids from banks and keep its borrowing rates at low levels. For the 14th straight...

Hormones can rule over one's state of mind.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Cory Quirino ARE there similarities between love and madness? Popular expressions like "I'm crazy over you" or "I'm madly in love with you" may not be so far removed from the truth after all. Neuroscientists are presently...

Fast-acting serums for skin rejuvenation.
April 30, 2002... IT'S called the Rolls Royce of skin care. Reports say it is the top-selling brand for skin care at Rustan's. During the one-day skin care workshop at a five-star hotel, the people manning the counters were able to generate sales of P500,000....

Common questions asked about astral travel.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Jaime T. Licauco This is a continuation of the column on astral projection or out-of-body experience, which came out on April 16. CAN you get lost in coming back to your physical body? No such thing. You will always...

Old-timer becomes newest kid on the health and beauty block.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Rowena C. Burgos FEW things stir the soul like a skin-care regimen that gives you a sensuous all-over glow; arresting makeup in sun-kissed hues; touchable, fuss-free hair; and a fragrance that captures summer's breeziness in a...

Out of the dark and into the light.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Cathy Babao Guballa FRECKLES, age spots, uneven skin tone are the bane of every woman. Although perceptions of what makes a woman beautiful vary from culture to culture in Asia, the trend that binds most women is the desire for...

Don't let the sun catch you without skin protection.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Alex Y. Vergara HOW your skin looks today depends on how exposed it has been to the sun during the first 20 years of your life. Put another way, 85 percent of what you see today in the mirror is the result of photoaging. The more...

How to stop other people from saying negative things about your body.
April 30, 2002... Byline: Tina Juan LAST week, while at the beauty parlor, one of the beauticians told me that I had gained weight. Her exact words were, "Ma'am, parang tumaba ka." Then just two days later, in another beauty parlor, the beautician there...

Abalos laughs off talk of bribe from Jancom.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Christian V. Esguerra WHEN garbage czar Benjamin Abalos Sr. flew to Hong Kong from April 24 to 26 while controversy hounded the Jancom contract, he was hounded in turn by speculations that he went there to deposit in a Hong Kong...

AFP probes raps linking soldiers to Arlyn kidnap.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Julie S. Alipala, PDI Mindanao Bureau and Carlito Pablo ZAMBOANGA CITY-The military has started investigating the charges of freed kidnapped journalist Arlyn de la Cruz that some of her captors are active members of the Armed...

Aide confirms GMA running in '04.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Carlito Pablo SUPPORTERS of President Macapagal-Arroyo are putting up the political machinery to "consolidate support" for her in the present and to serve as the vehicle for her election bid in 2004. The guy on top of this...

Balikatan flights suspended after crash of PAF helicopter.
April 29, 2002... CLARK SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE-All training flights of the Philippine Air Force for the Balikatan exercises in Luzon have been suspended following the crash of one of its MG520 attack helicopter here on Friday. All the PAF's 20 aircraft...

An ugly duckling many people now want to marry.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Recah Trinidad ONE of the imposing concrete monuments standing watch at the street corners of Marikina City supposedly looks like former US President Bill Clinton. That was one complaint we've heard about the magically...

We have to believe in ourselves-Roxas.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan AT THE 7TH Investors' Award Night sponsored last Thursday evening by the Philippine Export Zone Authority (Peza), led by its director general, Lilia B. de Lima, I had a good chat with the guest of honor,...

Body goes after fake land titles.
April 29, 2002... THE ENVIRONMENT department has created a special committee to go after "fakers" of land titles and clean up the system of titling alienable and disposable public lands being eyed for distribution to the homeless. "Oplan Fake/Illegal...

Biting into 'Buffy'.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Oliver Pulumbarit, Contributor ONE of the best shows on TV, this mid-season replacement has grown into an archetype for other fantasy dramas to emulate. The critics noticed it first. Then the fans followed suit. The first...

Statistical champs.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Henry Liao A PAIR of players won the NBA statistical championships each this season. They are Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Detroit's Ben Wallace. Despite missing 22 games with an assortment of injuries, including the...

Ex-child star in carnap try.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Nelson F. Flores POLICE arrested a former child star on television in the 1980s after she reportedly tried to steal the car of a businessman in Quezon City yesterday. Vanessa Sugar Benedicto, 25, of Cainta, Rizal, formerly of...

No need for DYS-Juico.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Manolo R. Inigo MY RECENT piece entitled "Sports Agency" (PDI , April 24) has elicited these comments from former Philippine Sports Commission chair Philip Ella Juico who said that rather than create a new department (Department...

Tessie O is anti-GMO.
April 29, 2002... Byline: Dean Jorge Bocobo SEN. Tessie Aquino-Oreta, may yet emerge as this year's pin-up poster girl of the anti-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) movement in the Philippines. The Dancing Queen is about to transmogrify into the...