Philippine Daily Inquirer articles from March 2009, page 7

Philippine Daily Inquirer archives from March 2009

Alleged billion-peso shabu smuggler, others hunted.
March 24, 2009... AGENCIES INVOLVED IN THE illegal drugs campaign have formed Task Force AA to track down businessman Anthony Ang and other suspects tagged in a multibillion-peso drug haul at the Subic free port last year. The Philippine Drug Enforcement...

Battle of GMs up in Dapitan today; So favored.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Roy Luarca DAPITAN CITYDEFENDING CHAMpion Wesley So tries to keep his clean slate against veteran GM Buenaventura Bong Villamayor at the start of the Phoenix Petroleum-Dapitan City Battle of Grandmasters today at the Dapitan City...

Blair as major catalyst for Northern Irelands peace.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan THE HISTORY OF NORTHERN IRELAND IS A long string of stunning successes as well as of most bitter and violent setbacks in over 40 decades. But to my mind, the most significant lesson for us and other...

Blair: The battle is for Islam.
March 24, 2009... Byline: John Nery TO THE WORLDS MOST prominent Roman Catholic convert, lasting peace in the Middle East depends on reconciliation, not between Jew and Muslim, but within Islam. Sometimes people dont like me to say this, British...

From Blue Eagle to Green Archer.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Volt Contreras BRITAINS FORMER PRIME MINISter Tony Blair yesterday won over audiences in Manila sharing what he described to be the primary lessons he had applied in international peace-building and in prodding societies to...

Cardinal sees good, bad sides in Panlilio bid.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Dona Z. Pazzibugan and Tonette Orejas WITHOUT RAISING ANY OBJECTION to the idea, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said yesterday that a Catholic priest like Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio running for president in 2010 would...

Controversial Jolo general goes on leave.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Jocelyn R. Uy MAJ. GEN. JUANCHO SABBAN, THE battle-scarred Marine commander pursuing Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in the 2-month-old hostage crisis on Jolo island, is going on a two-week furlough in the United States and Colombia. ...

Crazy legislation puzzles DENR chief.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Julie M. Aurelio ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY LITO ATIENZA yesterday vowed to block moves which would let the Big 3 oil firms continue operating the Pandacan oil depot in Manila after city councilors proposed to amend the citys zoning...

Dacer-Corbito case: Murder? Where are bodies?
March 24, 2009... Byline: Norman Bordadora THE SUPPOSED SKELETAL REMAINS of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, which were presented as evidence of their murder, didnt come from human remains, a defense lawyer of one of the policemen...

Davao drivers strike against new LTO fines.
March 24, 2009... DAVAO CITYOPERATORS and drivers of public utility vehicles stopped plying their routes on Thursday to protest what they called exorbitant fines imposed by the Department of Transportation and Communications. The DOTC order took them by...

Did you know.
March 24, 2009... NEARLY 22,000 Metro Manila residents had respiratory tuberculosis in 2002. About half of them (more than 10,000) were aged 15 to 49. Cyril L. Bonabente, Inquirer Research

DOJ orders drug raps filed vs Alabang Boys.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Norman Bordadora JUSTICE SECRETARY RAUL GONZALEZ has instructed the prosecutors of Muntinlupa and Quezon City to file drug charges against the Alabang BoysRichard Brodett, Jorge Joseph and Joseph Tecson. Gonzalez issued the...

Failure of trapos.
March 24, 2009... HOW MANY DIVISIONS HAS THE POPE? JOSEF Stalin asked in 1935 when French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval suggested that the Soviet Union encourage Catholicism in order to propitiate the Pope. Similarly, people who doubt the electability of...

Fewer Pinoys hungry, latest survey shows.
March 24, 2009... HUNGER AMONG FILIPINO families has eased, with the number of households saying they had been hungry the past three months dropping from a record-high 4.3 million in December to 2.9 million in February, a recent Social Weather Stations survey...

RP leads in signing green laws, lags in enforcing them.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Julie M. Aurelio WHILE THE PHILIPPines acts fast when it comes to signing international laws to protect the environment, the measures are seldom enforced, greenie activists said yesterday. This years celebration of Earth Day...

Her Britannic Majestys loyal texter.
March 24, 2009... Byline: John Nery TURNS OUT FORMER BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair is just another textmate. He even speaks the language. At a leadership forum yesterday, the winningest Labor party leader in British history took a moment to tell a...

Illam sustains bid to sweep SEA Youth tourney.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Cedelf P. Tupas THREE TEAMS FROM DEFENDING overall champion International Little League of Manila held fort in their respective divisions after beating their foreign rivals on Day 2 of the Southeast Asian Youth Baseball and...

Paradoxes promises.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Juan L. Mercado [GOVERNMENT] GOES ON IN STRANGE paradox: decided only to be undecided; resolved to be irresolute; adamant for drift; solid for fluidity; powerful for impotence. Thats how Winston Churchill, in November of 1936,...

Kiko says hes interested in No. 2 post.
March 24, 2009... CANDON CITYSEN. FRANCIS PANGILInan said yesterday that he was interested in running for vice president in the 2010 national elections. I am seriously considering to run for vice president, said Pangilinan, who was a guest at the opening...

La Loma police implement color-coding for tricycles.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Julie M. Aurelio THE LA LOMA POLICE HAVE come up with a unique way of dealing with colorum tricycle drivers in the area. Under a memorandum of agreement signed between the police and the owners of the 425 three-wheeler...

Govt gives livelihood trainings for laid-off workers.
March 24, 2009... ROSARIO, CaviteTHE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has implemented the One-stop Workers Assistance Center, which seeks to help retrenched workers look for other jobs or alternative sources of income, according to Tereso Panga,...

Maker of popular peanut butter shut down.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Dona Pazzibugan THE MAKER OF YUMMY SWEET and Creamy Peanut Butter Spread was closed down yesterday after another one of its products, Ludys Sweet and Creamy Peanut Butter, tested positive for salmonella, a bacteria that could...

Manila cops criticize MPD memo on uniform.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Jeannette I. Andrade MEMBERS OF THE MANILA Police District have criticized what they described as attempts by officials to militarize their ranks by requiring them to wear camouflage uniforms during official inspections. The...

Media group hits RPs poor record on slays.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Nikko Dizon A NEW YORK-BASED MEDIA WATCHdog yesterday condemned the Arroyo administrations poor record in solving the cases of Filipino journalists who were killed in the line of duty. The Philippines, with its exceptionally...

3 workers saved from factory fire.
March 24, 2009... THREE people, including a 17-year-old girl, almost died when a fire hit the factory where they worked in Quezon City on Sunday night. Watchmen from Barangay Del Monte were able to rescue the three who claimed that their employer had locked...

QC opens air-conditioned taxpayers lounge.
March 24, 2009... TAXPAYERS in Quezon City can now sip free coffee while paying their dues to the city government at the citys newly opened taxpayers lounge at city hall. Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. presided over yesterdays inauguration with City Treasurer...

Fire hits school in Pasay City.
March 24, 2009... A FIRE hit a school near the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City yesterday. Maj. Junito Maslang, chief of the Pasay Fire Department, said the blaze that razed the two-story Philippine State College of Aeronautics on Manlumas Street began at 5:30...

Teen runs amuck, stabs 8.
March 24, 2009... Byline: DJ Yap JONATHAN TIPLADO SEEMED like any ordinary youth in conflict with the law when authorities brought him to the Pasig City police headquarters as a suspect in a stabbing incident at around 4 a.m. yesterday. But when a...

Navotas City govt to build dike to reduce flooding.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Beverly T. Natividad THE NAVOTAS CITY GOVERNMENT WILL build a four-kilometer long coastal dike to further reduce the decades-old problem of flooding in the area. Engr. Rufino Serrano, head of the Navotas City Planning and...

Tony Blair, essentially.
March 24, 2009... Byline: John Nery HERES WHAT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT the dramatic turn in the Nicole case: why educated Filipinos think living in the United States is not an option for a Filipina raped by an American. That was the clear assumption...

Militant survives slay attempt.
March 24, 2009... A LEADER of a militant peoples organization was shot Monday morning in Sta Rosa City, police said. Sta. Rosa City police chief Supt. Rodney Ramirez said in a phone interview that Sabina Ariola, 51, was shot while onboard an Isuzu elf...

Ex-soldier killed.
March 24, 2009... SUSPECTED New Peoples Army rebels gunned down a retired Army soldier in Mulanay, Quezon Saturday evening, a police report said. Greg Alcantara, 33, was a former commissioned officer of the Armys 74th Infantry Battalion based in the Bondoc...

Guard shot dead.
March 24, 2009... A JAIL guard who was on her way home was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on board a motorcycle with unknown license plate in Barangay San Jose Sico here at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Batangas City police chief Supt. Manuel Abu said Mary...

Soldier slain.
March 24, 2009... AN ARMY sergeant was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding men late Saturday in this city. Sgt. Dante Billones, 43, a resident of Pontevedra town in Capiz, was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician at the Capiz Emmanuel...

Smith detention follows VFA.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas ILOILO CITYCONVICTED RAPIST LANCE CPL. Daniel Smith will remain at the United States Embassy until the Supreme Court decides with finality on the issue of his detention, US Ambassador Kristie...

Olympic body accused of partiality.
March 24, 2009... Byline: June Navarro ACCUSING THE PHILIPPINE OLYMPIC Committee of partiality, disgruntled sports officials plan to question what they think is undue intervention by the POC on the leadership problems hounding some of the national sports...

Ombudsman names most-corrupt agencies.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Edson C. Tandoc Jr. THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSman yesterday tagged the five most graft-prone agencies in the government. In a statement, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez named the agencies most vulnerable to graft and corruption...

Opera at the Burnham Lake for cost-conscious visitors.
March 24, 2009... BAGUIO CITYTHE ECOnomic crisis has been a concern for the discerning traveler, so Baguios new attraction for cost-conscious tourists is a Burnham Lake that offers snippets of Broadway shows. Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. was impressed by...

Pacman: ABS-CBN broke embargo.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Bayani San Diego, Entertainment and Jasmine W. Payo, Sports MANNY PACQUIAO, A MASTER in the boxing ring, has stepped into a different kind of frayone that has placed him right in the middle of a fierce rivalry between the countrys...

Pagasa tips on surviving summer heat.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Nikko Dizon TEMPERATURES ARE PREDICTED TO rise until May, according to the weather bureau. Weather forecaster Robert Saul of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) gave these...

Pols told: Spare traffic signs from political ads.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Kristine L. Alave LORD, DELIVER US FROM POlitical ads posted at road intersections, on street signs or next to traffic lights. With the elections barely a year and a month away, Public Works Undersecretary Rafael Yabut has...

Panlilio for president.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Conrado de Quiros HARVEY KEH HAD SOME VERY INTERESTing things to say in a contribution to the Inquirer last weekend. He has been doing the rounds of Luzon of late, and wonders why Ed Panlilio, Grace Padaca and Jesse Robredo...

Sorry, Manny Pacquiao cant go home again.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Recah Trinidad THE BIGGEST TRAGEDY FOR US poor Pinoys was how Manny Pacquiao, our Great Brown Hope, suffered his biggest defeat last week. Pacquiao did not fall inside the boxing ring. No, he was never cut and bloodied....

Obamas voice.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Rina Jimenez-David AS I MADE MY WAY BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES, traveling from Virginia to Los Angeles, with side-trips to Las Vegas and San Diego, I traveled with the voice of US President Barack Obama in my head. Or at least, it...

Salud: Theres evident fraud.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Recah Trinidad ABS-CBN COULD BE LIABLE FOR FRAUD in Manny Pacquiaos failed bid to switch channels in the coverage of his big fight on May 2 against Ricky Hatton, a respected lawyer-sportsman said yesterday. There was evident...

Gordon meddling as Red Cross official.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Ramon Tulfo THE SITUATION IN Sulu where theres a standoff in the negotiations for the release of kidnapped workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) shows a failure of leadership on the national level. ...

Worst is yet to come, says Salceda of economy.
March 24, 2009... LEGAZPI CITYONE OF PRESident Macapagal-Arroyos top economic advisers said the Philippine economy actually created 586,000 new jobs despite the global recession, but urged the government to launch a new stimulus plan because the worst is yet...

Living in a cage.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Benralph Sanchez Yu EVER SINCE I WAS A KID, I HAVE BEEN ASKING WHY some birds are caged while others enjoy the freedom to fly anywhere they want. I am 17 now, and no one has given me an answer. I have always been independent...

Aussie firm farms out SC 54 interest.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Abigail L. Ho AUSTRALIAN FIRM Kariki Energy Ltd. is farming out a 17-percent stake in the inboard portion of Service Contract 54 in offshore northwest Palawan. SC 54 is a joint venture between Kariki and another Australian...

What a blight idea!
March 24, 2009... Byline: Conrado R. Banal III THE NATIONAL PRINTING OFFICE, OR NPO, which is under the Office of the Press Secretary, must be awash in cash. In just the past quarter, NPO already farmed out some P400 million worth of contracts to...

Banks to receive tax payments on stocks.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Michelle V. Remo THE BANGKO SENTRAL NG Pilipinas has issued a circular directing accredited agent banks (AABs) to receive documentary stamp tax payments involving traded stocks starting March 20 until June 30, 2009. AABs are...

Investors swamp treasury bill auction.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Ronnel W. Domingo INVESTORS SWAMPED YESTERDAYS AUCTION OF TREASURY bills as the governments offers were oversubscribed by at least twice across all tenors amid expectations of continued cuts in the policy rates of the Bangko...

Crisis cuts RCBC net profit by 33% to P2.15B in 2008.
March 24, 2009... EARNINGS OF RIZAL COMmercal Banking Corp. (RCBC) dropped sharply last year as it joined the ranks of local financial institutions hurt by the global economic slowdown. In a statement, RCBC said that its consolidated net income fell 33...

DOE sees need for $8.5B in RE investments.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Abigail L. Ho FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO meet its goal of having 4,500 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity in the next 10 years, the sector will need some $8.5 billion in fresh investments. According to Mario Marasigan,...

Exporters seek VAT exemption on local sales.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Abigail L. Ho FACED WITH DWINDLING DEMAND FROM abroad, exporters are pushing for the signing of an executive order that will suspend for a year the collection of value-added tax (VAT) on products that they will sell locally. ...

FCDUs want asset cover arrangement kept.
March 24, 2009... THE BANGKO SENTRAL NG Pilipinas is considering maintaining the leeway given to foreign-currency deposit units (FCDUs) of banks in relation to their compliance with the 100-percent asset cover rule. Under the rule, all foreign...

$3.92B in foreign debt prepaid last year.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Michelle V. Remo SOME $3.92 BILLION IN FOREIGN currency-denominated obligations of the private sector and the government were prepaid last year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. This was slightly lower than the...

Govt may have to intervene to resolve Pujada mine row.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Riza T. Olchondra GLOBAL MINING GIANT BHP Billiton and its local partner Asiaticus Management Corp. may have about a month to resolve their standoff on the Pujada nickel mining project before the government steps in, according to...

Govt housing finance unit may sell more bonds.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Daxim L. Lucas NATIONAL HOME MORTGAGE AND FInance Corp. may borrow another P2 billion from the local debt market this year, following its successful launch of a five-year debt paper. NHMFC president Joseph Peter Sison said...

Manila Mining renews Caraga mineral permits.
March 24, 2009... MANILA MINING CORP HAS obtained certification to explore and develop six gold properties within the province of Surigao del Norte. In a disclosure citing a certification from the Caraga office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Manila...

Metrobank to slash costs by 5%, invest P1.27B in IT.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Daxim L. Lucas STUNG BY THE GLOBAL RECESsion that began in 2008, the countrys second-largest bank unveiled a new strategy that would make it focus on reining in costs and mitigating risks as it hunkers down for a tougher year...

Govt to seek more mining investments.
March 24, 2009... MINING OFFICIALS LED BY Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza will attend this years Asia Mining Congress in Singapore to promote mining opportunities in the Philippines. Mines and Geosciences Bureau chief Horace Ramos said Philippine...

RP seen on the right track with stimulus plan.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Ronnel W. Domingo THE PHILIPPINES APPEARS TO be on the right track, following its decision to spend more on infrastructure to stimulate the economy rather than focusing on tax breaks and basic services, according to a unit of...

About to tell your wife shes fat? Dont.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Mitch Felipe, Contributor THERE ARE MANY THINGS MEN should consider before making a comment about their partners weight or body image problems. As one guy who dreads the ire of his wife said, You must heed your survival instinct....

Dont stash cash under the bed, buy art instead.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Jake Ramirez, Contributor WHEN THE MARKET IS down, buy. This is the maxim of those who have lots of cash. And if the late Yves Saint Laurents art collection auction is any indication, the record-high prices set by the designer and...

Sardine, mackerel, tuna good for brain and heart.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Cory Quirino ALTHOUGH WE CANnot stop time and the toll it takes on our bodies, we can slow down the sagging and wrinkling. Dr. Nicholas Perricone in The Perricone Prescription shares valuable tips. Only one food is considered...

Do you easily run out of breath when exercising? You may be anemic.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Anne A. Jambora EVER WONDERED WHY, DESPITE SEVERAL years of exercising to stay on top of your game, you easily run out of breath compared to the gym newbie next to you? Or for no apparent reason, you suddenly get dizzy. Your skin...

Have your own me day.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Lia Bernardo ONCE IN A WHILE, I indulge in a me day. This is when I turn off my cell phone, and have the afternoon to just relax and pamper myself. I do this to celebrate an accomplishment or to release stress. It doesnt matter...

Out-of-body experience during sleep happens to many people.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Jaime T. Licauco SEVERAL TIMES AFTER falling asleep, I could see everyone in the room, but I couldnt move, speak or scream. I have difficulty breathing. My husband told me after waking up fully from this experience that I was...

Sunshine vitamin blocks degenerative disease.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Jaymee T. Gamil BEFORE YOU SLATHER ON sunblock, think again. Numerous researches have concluded that Vitamin D, the hormone produced by our skin when exposed to sunlight, can reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like...

Hale and hearty.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Pocholo Concepcion RICO BLANCO IS ON THE phone, wanting to speak to Champ Lui Pio, whos discussing changes in his band. Champ waves to an assistant to ask Rico to call back in a while. Three years after Hale broke into the...

Jed salutes OPM.
March 24, 2009... JED MADELA, THE PINOY WHO BESTED 3,000 contestants from 52 countries to win the grand prize at the World Championships of the Performing Arts (WCOPA) in 2005, has a new album outSongs Rediscovered 2: The Ultimate OPM Playlist (Universal...

Triumphant talkers, self-effacing jesters.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Oliver M. Pulumbarit, Contributor NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT TALK SHOWS have plenty to discuss and laugh about. Poking fun at celebrities inanities and a livelier-than-usual political scene, American gab-meisters have an easy time...

No room for jealousy.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Dolly Anne Carvajal MARIEL RODRIGUEZ LAUGHS OFF RUmors that she is inconsolable now that her BF is in Paris shooting a movie with KC Concepcion and Piolo Pascual. The luksa issue has been blown out of proportion, she says. Im...

Search on for next Kim, Sam.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Bayani San Diego Jr. THEY CAME; THEY SAW; THEY ALL want to be the next Bea Saw. Or Sam Milby. Or Kim Chiu. Thousands of wannabes believe they have what it takes to be the next star via the ABS-CBN reality show, Pinoy Big...

Stars as newsmakers.
March 24, 2009... Byline: Nestor U. Torre AFTER ALMOST A DECADE of relative inactivity, Michael Jackson has revved up his career in a big way by announcing plans to perform in not one, not 10, but 50 concerts in London. More impressively, tickets for...

LGUs score bills exempting telecoms from local taxes.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Philip C. Tubeza LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) across the country are up in arms over moves in Congress that would exempt telecommunication service providers from paying local franchise taxes that run up to millions of pesos, a...

GMA to seek Blair help on Mindanao.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Christian V. Esguerra and Jerome Aning PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL-ARROYO IS SET TO meet with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair over lunch today to formally broach the idea of the foreign leader helping the Philippine government...

ABS-CBN lets Pacquiao go.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Jasmine W. Payo BACKING DOWN FROM THREATS OF A courtroom brawl, ABS-CBN said yesterday it will not stand in the way of Filipino ring superstar Manny Pacquiaos renewing his ties with Solar Sports. Pacquiao approached ABS-CBN...

Accuser says bribe charge vs Puno of public interest.
March 23, 2009... THE PETITIONER IN A SUPREME COURT case, who accused Chief Justice Reynato Puno of taking a bribe on the basis of an anonymous e-mail, yesterday defended his action saying the report involved public interest. Louis Biraogo, a petitioner...

Alaminos revelry lures investors.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon ALAMINOS CITYLILTING band music woke up residents here at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, which signaled the start of a five-day fiesta celebration. Tourists and locals swarmed to the citys...

Archers first to train at NTC Luisita venue.
March 23, 2009... Byline: June Navarro THE ARCHERS WILL BE THE FIRST athletes to test the viability of the proposed National Training Center which the Philippine Olympic Committee plans to build in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. POC president Jose Peping...

Athletics good for 7-10 golds.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Anthony Reyes AT LEAST SEVEN GOLDS AND as many as 10 will be the target of the national track and field team in the Laos Southeast Asian Games in December. Based on the progress of their training, national coaches Sean...

The redistricting game.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J. THERE IS ON THE INTERNET AN ONLINE GAME called The Redistricting Game. It plays around with the apportionment of representative districts. The introduction to the game says: It is not easy to make the...