Philippine Daily Inquirer articles from January 2002

Philippine Daily Inquirer archives from January 2002

Nothing wrong with bonds bonanza-Palace.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Carlito Pablo and Cynthia D. Balana MALACANANG is standing by a non-government organization chaired by the sister of Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, which reportedly made a P1.4 billion profit from a government bond...

Cagayan lacks priests.
January 31, 2002... TUGUEGARAO CITY-Rich or poor, Cagayano parents should encourage their sons to enter priesthood due to the lack of priests in Cagayan, church officials said. They said the 49 parishes in the five vicariates in the province had only 73...

American killed in Pampanga ambush.
January 31, 2002... CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga-An American was killed while a Dutch and several Filipino motor bikers from Angeles City were wounded on Wednesday when they were ambushed by armed men at the foothills of Mt. Pinatubo in Porac, Pampanga, police said....

Charisma and charism.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Ma. Ceres P. Doyo "CHARISMA" is an oft-repeated word these days because it is "what Gloria hasn't." Charisma, observers wish, to go with a good intellect that her perennially befuddled, besotted ousted predecessor sorely lacked....

Chinese-Filipino trader killed.
January 31, 2002... CHINESE-FILIPINO businessman David Sy-Lato was killed in an ambush yesterday afternoon in Binondo, Manila. Sy-Lato, 35, president of the Manila Downtown Shooters Association, was killed when three gunmen opened fire on him as he was...

Coast Guard searches for boat off Sulu.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Philip C. Tubeza MEMBERS of the Coast Guard are looking for 24 missing persons, including five children, after a motor launch was reported lost off Sulu four days ago. Coast Guard and Air Force teams are searching for the...

De Ocampo gets P10.8M.
January 31, 2002... Byline: June Navarro YANCY De Ocampo, this year's top overall rookie pick, has formalized his entry in the PBA after the 6-foot-9 slotman signed a three-year deal to the tune of P10.8 million with Federal Express. De Ocampo stands to...

Diarrhea, not cholera, killed mental patients.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Blanche S. Rivera and Nelson Flores DIARRHEA, not cholera, caused the death of four patients and infection of 67 others at the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City. The NCMH admitted only yesterday that there...

Mom comes to the rescue of son cheated by starlet wife.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Dolly Anne Carvajal WHEN a marriage ends a he-said, she-said combat ensues. But you'll never really know whose version is more accurate. It takes an insider to pinpoint what really went wrong. Trite as it may sound, it takes...

A figurehead at DFA.
January 31, 2002... TENSIONS have charged the relationship between Vice President Teofisto Guingona, the secretary of foreign affairs, and former Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo, since the beginning of the Macapagal presidency over inputs in and influence over...

Explosives pose storage problem for GenSan police.
January 31, 2002... GENERAL SANTOS CITY-Police authorities are in a dilemma over where to keep a cache of explosives they recovered from a house in Barangay Labangal here more than a week ago. Ordnance experts said the explosives, weighing more than a ton,...

Fire hits Mandaue market; P100M lost.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Jhunnex Napallacan, PDI Visayas Bureau CEBU CITY--Property worth over P100 million were destroyed yesterday in a two-hour fire that hit the Mandaue City public market, a building of St. Joseph Academy and a portion of the St....

Garbage recycling center inaugurated in Pangasinan.
January 31, 2002... CALASIAO, Pangasinan--This town is the first among province's 44 towns to solve the growing garbage disposal problem through the establishment of the Calasiao Ecological Center where garbage are segregated and processed. The...

GMA leads seaweed culture launch in Batangas.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau and Joel B. Escovilla, PDI Mindanao Bureau CALATAGAN, Batangas-President Macapagal-Arroyo on Sunday led the launching of seaweed culture in the coastal village of Punta Baluarte, Hacienda...

Protestant group slams Balikatan.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Vincent Cabreza and Desiree Caluza BAGUIO CITY-In direct contrast to the stand of the Catholic bishops, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) has denounced the RP-US Balikatan 02-1 and demanded that President...

Bush jab at RP as terrorist haven alarms Filipino leaders.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Norman Bordadora and Juliet L. Javellana A FORMER president, two Cabinet officials, several legislators and a Moro fighter expressed alarm at US President George W. Bush's declaration that the Philippines was one of 12 countries...

Lawyer says SC case fit to unmask Korina.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Alcuin Papa THE DISBARMENT case filed by Korina Sanchez against Melanio "Batas" Mauricio, lawyer of Sanchez's former maid Bernadita Inocencio, may work against the popular ABS-CBN news reader. This was the contention of...

Marinduque victims also demand justice.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Delfin T. Mallari Jr., PDI Southern Luzon Bureau BOAC, Marinduque-Monsignor Senen Malapad, head of the Catholic Church here, yesterday said it was not enough that President Macapagal-Arroyo seek compensation for victims of the...

In touch.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Michael L. Tan "DO you have the INQUIRER yet?" my father hollers from his room. "Just a minute, I'll get it," I assure him. I'm sure similar scenes occur in thousands of Filipino households each day. The difference though is...

A miscarriage of justice that will make you cry.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Neal H. Cruz THE OMBUDSMAN, the prosecutor for the people, deliberately manipulating a case so that the State will lose its case against a criminal syndicate who stole billions of pesos in taxes? Shocking and revolting-if it is...

15 NSAs snub POC meet; Dayrit wants talks.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Marc Anthony Reyes FIFTEEN national sports associations boycotted yesterday's Philippine Olympic Committee general assembly to show their discontent over Celso Dayrit's leadership style even as the POC chief vowed to reach out to...

2 more party-list groups make it.
January 31, 2002... Byline: M. Ubac THE SUPREME Court yesterday removed all legal obstacles for the proclamation of two more party-list groups as winners in the elections in May last year. The high court ordered the Commission on Elections to...

PR donors media shy; Palace zaps info czar.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Carlito Pablo THE INTERNATIONAL public relations firm hired by Malacanang has been contracted since last year. And it was paid for by businessmen who prefer to remain anonymous "at this time." But even as the Macapagal...

Prosecutor orders probe of 'bribe try'.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Jhunnex Napallacan, PDI Visayas Bureau CEBU CITY-Central Visayas State Prosecutor Hernando Masangkay has ordered an investigation into an alleged attempt by two lawyers to bribe a city prosecutor handling a drug case involving...

Remembering.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Conrado de Quiros SOMEONE had a very interesting comment after viewing "Memories of a Forgotten War" at the UP Film Center. "Memories," which I wrote about some weeks ago, is a documentary on the Philippine-American War at the...

'Laway at koneksyon?'.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Rina Jimenez-David PERHAPS one of the most telling swipes taken at Code-NGO is that it made P1.4 billion in profit on the PEACe Bonds without spending a centavo. Or as Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta, who paired with her "balato twin"...

Rocha, Villaroman DHL-NGAP leaders.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Jong Arcano THE BATTLE of champions at Canlubang North is fast shaping up to be a grand show of the comebacking aces. As a broken putter derailed the leadership bid of the defending champion who paid dearly for an outburst,...

6,072 logs seized.
January 31, 2002... LUCENA CITY-The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon recovered 6,072 pieces of alleged illegally cut logs in northern Quezon late last year. The forest products, measuring a total of at least 39,086 board feet, were...

3 Huk leaders charged.
January 31, 2002... CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga-Three alleged leaders of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan of the old Communist Party of the Philippines were charged with extortion before a Pampanga court on Monday. Police said Rodolfo Calino, Enrique Cayanan and...

Marijuana seller convicted.
January 31, 2002... BAGUIO CITY-A woman was sentenced to 40 years in prison for selling 20 marijuana bricks in a buy-bust operation in March 2000. Judge Ruben Ayson of the regional trial court here also fined Victoria Collantes, of La Trinidad, Benguet, P500,000...

Man kills grandma.
January 31, 2002... BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya-A 98-year-old woman was killed by her allegedly drug-crazed grandson in Barangay Casat here on Monday. Police said Ricarda Valdez died from blows in the head allegedly inflicted by her grandson, Villamor Dacquel, 32,...

'Sarung Bangui' fest.
January 31, 2002... STO. DOMINGO, Albay--This town will hold its first "Sarung Bangui" festival in May, but unlike other Bicol festivals, it will highlight musical activities, according to Mayor Herbie Aguas. The festival will also pay tribute to Potenciano...

Guns, ammo recovered.
January 31, 2002... CAMP NAKAR, Lucena City-Army soldiers recovered several firearms from an abandoned communist rebel camp in Sitio Naitan, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, the military's Southern Luzon Command said. Maj. Gerard Velez, Solcom spokesperson, said...

Solcom civic action.
January 31, 2002... LUCENA CITY-The military's Southern Luzon Command last year conducted a total of 6,644 military civic actions, mostly medical missions, benefiting at least 244,034 persons and 65,841 families. Maj. Gerard Velez, Solcom spokesperson, said the...

Improved cargo service.
January 31, 2002... DUMAGUETE CITY-Businessmen will appreciate an improved cargo handling facility at the city port more than a new ferry terminal that is being pushed by the Philippine Ports Authority despite strong objections from various groups. Benjamin...

GMA, Reyes not singing same song on US troops.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Tony Bergonia OTTAWA-President Macapagal-Arroyo said here her decision to allow the entry of US troops into Mindanao had nothing to do with efforts to rescue an American couple seized by Abu Sayyaf bandits nearly a year ago. ...

A knockout for mankind.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Al S. Mendoza "WE don't want you to be an animal in the ring." That was the most scathing remark yet hurled against Mike Tyson since his release from prison in 1995. It came yet from a woman-Amy Ayoub, one of four Nevada...

Drop Jalosjos from House roster.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan TAMA na naman, members of the House of Representatives. Speaker Jose de Venecia and Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II have opined that Zamboanga Rep. Romeo Jalosjos may already be dropped from the rolls...

PR firm in GMA trip justified.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Ramon Tulfo CRITICS of President Macapagal-Arroyo can't seem to leave her alone even when she's doing the right thing. Take, for example, her use of an international public relations firm to publicize her visits to Britain,...

Pinky Marquez's 'Secret Passion'.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Nestor U. Torre PINKY Marquez has had a successful career in entertainment and the performing arts that is impressive for its remarkable variety. As a singer, she has one of the best voices around, and her singing has enabled...

War games on today but rules still unsigned.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Juliet L. Javellana THE RP-US Balikatan 02-1 formally opens today in Zamboanga City even if the terms of reference (TOR) governing the conduct of the controversial military exercise have not yet been signed. Members of the...

Beautiful but deadly.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Sheryl Jo Urdaneta LAST night, it rained hard again. It was raining so hard that I thought the roof would shatter to pieces. There were also thunder and lightning. It seemed as if the sky was burning with liquid fire. The...

Intelligent, 'connected' cars.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Aida Sevilla-Mendoza WHEN I was riding in my brother's 2001 Mercedes-Benz E320 in New York last August, he told me that if his car is stolen, it can be tracked down easily via the Global Positioning System. If he forgets his key...

Massage in the battle.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Conrado R. Banal III THEY'RE over now-Gloriaetta's days as a laundry woman. Remember that message in the bottle? That song of derision no longer applies: "Gloria, Gloriang labandera?" Today, in business, at least in some big...

Creditors OK rehab plan of East Asia Capital.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Doris C. Dumlao MORE than two-thirds of East Asia Capital Corp.'s creditors have approved the cash-strapped investment house's rehabilitation plan that will address the company's debts worth P1 billion and call for the infusion...

A short drive draws lasting impressions.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Tessa R. Salazar NOT a sprinter, but a marathoner. That was my first impression of BMW's latest sports car (with an M Badge at that), the BMW 318iA M-Sport, when I got hold of its reins. I managed to hold on to the steering...

FRAport sees Naia III as springboard to Asia.
January 31, 2002... THE FRAPORT AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide is hoping the $450-million Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal III will be its launch pad to bagging other airport development projects in Asia. FRAport executive vice president...

Accord No. 1 again; Toyota unveils F1 car.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Al Mendoza I HAVE to raise my glass once more to Honda. Reason? The Honda Accord was the best-selling car in America in 2001, according to a review of auto industry sales figures released recently. With sales of 414,718, the...

German firm Oks $149-M PLDT loan.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Abigail L. Ho TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. has signed a $149-million loan agreement with KfW (Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau) of Germany to partly refinance its maturing obligations from this...

Globe 2001 profit up 187% to P4.3B.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Abigail L. Ho AYALA-OWNED Globe Telecom Inc. posted a net income of P4.3 billion in 2001, or a growth of 187 percent from previous year's profit of P1.5 billion. The net profit already includes net revenues of subsidiary...

Kirin report out next week.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. TRADE Secretary Manuel Roxas II said yesterday that his review committee would complete next week an interim agreement that would ensure that the government would continue to have a say in the operations of...

Leisure bike for the young ones.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Charles E. Buban CALL it hybrid but this latest bike from Honda Philippines is among its most versatile two-wheelers ever launched. The first and only one of its kind in the country today, the Honda XRM is a cross between a family...

Malaysia backs National Steel rehab.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. PENGARUSAN Danaharta Nasional Bhd. has agreed in principle to back up the Department of Trade and Industry's proposal for a debt-to-equity conversion of National Steel Corp.'s obligations to Philippine and...

RP moves a step closer to exiting dirty money list.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Elena Torrijos and Rocky Nazareno THE ANTI-MONEY Laundering Council is seen hurdling the first step in convincing the world's money laundering watchdog to remove the Philippines from its list of non-complying countries. In a...

Small Japanese delights at the Big Dome.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Doreen G. Fernandez FEW may remember that Cubao once had an excellent Japanese restaurant called Matsuzaka House, more or less where the New Frontier Theater once was. Today there is a new one: Sachi, at the Araneta Coliseum...

Everything you've always wanted to know about catering.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Doreen G. Fernandez Creative Catering and Entertaining By Lisa J. Alvendia Anvil Publishing Inc., 2001, 338 pages THIS may well be the heaviest book of last season. It is not only the hard cover and the heavy coated...

Easy sushi: The secret is in the rice.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Vangie Baga-Reyes ONE of the advantages of making Japanese sushi is you don't need too many kitchen tools. You will only need a very sharp knife, a bamboo mat which is used to roll sushi and, most important, a pair of clean hands...

Reopened to bowl you over.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Alex Y. Vergara Filipinos used to think that Japanese food is raw and expensive. But more and more Filipinos, especially those who have worked in Japan, know Yoshinoya. "Our food is clean, tasty and, best of all,...

So Nippon-nice they named it twice.
January 31, 2002... Byline: Cathy Babao Guballa BACK in 1985, the original concept by trendsetter Virgie Ramos for Tokyo Tokyo was a shop within a shop that could keep Dads occupied while Moms and daughters checked out the latest Sanrio items at Gift Gate....

The other Erap (or is it the FPJ homecoming?).
January 30, 2002... Byline: Al S. Mendoza LAST weekend, I was with the king of Philippine movies, Fernando Poe Jr. FPJ to his fans. Ronnie to many others. Manedyer to his buddies, such as poet Erwin Castillo and columnist nonpareil Recah Trinidad. Erap to...

Dating archeological finds.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Ambeth R. Ocampo LAST Monday the Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines sponsored a lecture by Peter Y.K. Lam, director of the Art Gallery at the Chinese University of Hongkong, on "The Historical background and Dating...

Benny Tan's nightmare ends; not guilty.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Volt Contreras A 15-YEAR-OLD nightmare came to an end for a former ambassador to the Vatican yesterday, when the Sandiganbayan found Bienvenido Tan to have "acted in good faith" when he entered into a compromise agreement with...

It's true what they were saying about RP's Prince of Pool.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Recah Trinidad IT was not as smooth, as silken as an Efren "Bata" Reyes masterpiece. Yes, there were bits of magic. But, on the whole, miscues, bad breaks helped decide the race-to-13 championship. No matter, the weekend...

Ecija capitol moved.
January 30, 2002... CABANATUAN CITY-After more than 37 years, the seat of the provincial government of Nueva Ecija will be transferred to the capital city of Palayan. The transfer will take place today and will coincide with the inauguration of the new...

Elizalde, Dayrit urged to resign.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Manolo R. Inigo THE UNSINKABLE Julian Malonso, outspoken former president of the Philippine Olympic Committee and staunch defender of the Olympic movement, is asking International Olympic Committee representative to the...

Old habits never die.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Belinda A. Aquino HONOLULU-We thought we've effectively ended the US-Philippine "special relations" since the early 1990s when the Senate said No to extending the Military Bases Agreement. The US presence had gone on far too long...

Death times 7 for child rapist.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Agnes E. Donato A QUEZON City court on Monday handed down seven death sentences to a man who was found guilty of raping his daughter four years ago. Judge Monina Zenarosa of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 76 found the...

In the context of new realities.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Amando Doronilla THE ISSUES have now been joined following the opinion of Justice Secretary Hernando Perez that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is authorized to give the go-ahead for the joint RP-US military exercises...

Gloria duns Canadian mining firm.
January 30, 2002... OTTAWA-The Macapagal administration has taken to the doorstep of a Canadian firm here the quest for compensation of the people of a Philippine province whose livelihood were all but wiped out by a mining disaster in 1996. President...

6 men found dead in Ecija towns.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Anselmo Roque CABANATUAN CITY-The bodies of six men, believed to be victims of summary executions, have been recovered in four towns in Nueva Ecija from Thursday to Sunday last week, police said. In Sta. Rosa town, two...

Three is enough.
January 30, 2002... TO GET the infernal traffic in the metropolis moving a little bit faster, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Land Transportation Office have agreed to impose stiffer sanctions on traffic violators. Under the new policy, the LTO...

An evening with a renaissance man.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Fred Samantela VERY few places are worth enduring more than two hours of car travel. But recently, we endured just that to go to Pandi town in Bulacan to meet old friends. Pandi can be reached only through Bocaue and...

Preempted by the US 6th Army.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Francisco G. Cedula THE ADVANCE elements of the 1st Cavalry Division (6th Army under Gen. Walter Krueger) spearheaded by tanks, crashed simultaneously into the gates of the UST Concentration Camp in Espana and in the Old Bilibid...

Hit-and-run accident kills Unicef scholar.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Agnes E. Donato FIVE-YEAR-OLD Rizza Emilio was hit and killed by a pick-up near her home in Quezon City last Thursday. Rizza was a scholar of the United Nations Children Fund (Unicef). Her father Eugenio said the last time...

Cop probed on links to Pentagon.
January 30, 2002... GENERAL SANTOS CITY-Another police officer will be investigated for his links to the Pentagon kidnap group. Senior Supt. Bartolome Baluyot, police chief for Central Mindanao, said Supt. Willie Dangane, chief of the...

Ifugao gov hits transfer of rice terraces' supervision.
January 30, 2002... BANAUE, Ifugao-Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. has criticized the decision of President Macapagal-Arroyo to transfer the supervision of the preservation and development of the centuries-old Ifugao rice terraces from the Department of Agriculture to...

Foreign media find Basilan no Kabul.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Julie S. Alipala ZAMBOANGA CITY-Foreign journalists lured by the idea of covering a war zone have admitted to the INQUIRER that they were misinformed about the arrival of US troops in Mindanao. Armed Forces spokesperson Brig....

Moreno got it dead wrong, says Desierto.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Michael Lim Ubac OMBUDSMAN Aniano Desierto turned the tables on arch-critic Rep. Oscar Moreno Monday night, when he rebutted all six of Moreno's sensational allegations and said neither the oil firms nor the Chingkoe couple...

Literacy.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Henry Liao ENTERTAINERS Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Lil' Bow Wow will be in the City of Brotherly Love for an NBA-sponsored hour-long television special "Read To Achieve Celebration" on NBA All-Star Saturday, Feb. 9 (Feb. 10,...

Clearing confusion on some health questions.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Neal H. Cruz IS coconut cooking oil rich or poor in cholesterol? Does ampalaya thin blood? Does garlic lower blood pressure? Is it advisable to take herbal medicines? Does avocado have a high cholesterol content?...

NPA warns American troops they are targets.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Delfin T. Mallari Jr. Gerald G. Lacuarta and Agnes E. Donato THE NEW PEOPLE'S Army yesterday warned that it would target American soldiers if they go to its territory. "Should these so-called US military experts wander into...

Ople dissatisfied with probe.
January 30, 2002... HAGONOY, Bulacan-Sen. Blas Ople expressed dissatisfaction with the slow progress of police investigation into the murder of his son-in-law last Jan. 23 in Legazpi City. Ople said a week after the murder of his son-in-law, businessman...

Payumo dares solon: Probe Gordon, too.
January 30, 2002... SUBIC Bay Metropolitan Authority Chair Felicito Payumo challenged Akbayan Party-list Rep. Loreta Ann Rosales on Monday to investigate an alleged P853.5 million disallowed expenditure of his predecessor Richard Gordon. Payumo dared...

Ybanez stars as Shark nips Welcoat.
January 30, 2002... Byline: Dennis U. Eroa SMALL but terrible Warren Ybanez delivered the telling blows as defending champion Shark Energy Drink stunned highly favored Welcoat Paints, 80-79, in overtime at the start of the PBL Challenge Cup best-of-seven...