Philippine Daily Inquirer articles from September 2010

Philippine Daily Inquirer archives from September 2010

Aquino visits blast victims, warns attackers.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Christine O. Avendano, DJ Yap and Marlon Ramos TOUCHED by a meeting with four hospitalized victims of Sundays grenade explosion yesterday, President Aquino called on their attackers to surrender or face the full force of the law. A...

New Army assault in Misamis: Protect watershed.
September 30, 2010... CAGAYAN DE ORO CITYThe Army has taken on a new task aside from keeping the country from being run over by communist and Moro separatist guerrillas and, this time, they wont need guns but a different set of weapons. On Sept. 25, soldiers took...

No Asiad accreditation for Lutz, Mercado?
September 30, 2010... Byline: June Navarro THE SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas yesterday expressed uncertainty on the accreditation of Sol Mercado and Chris Lutz for the Asian Games because the two were left off the initial list submitted to the Philippine Olympic...

Baguio top tourist draw, but lacking rooms.
September 30, 2010... BAGUIO CITYThe summer capital is among the top tourist drawers in the country but it still needs 2,000 hotel rooms to become the ideal host to bigger events that could rival Metro Manila and Cebu. Benedicto Alhambra, city tourism officer,...

Bare real score on Mindanao power, govt told.
September 30, 2010... CAGAYAN DE ORO CITYAdvocates for reforms in the power sector have asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to present a complete picture of Mindanaos electric supply amid continuing brownouts enforced by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines...

Barricade at Chino Roces Bridge near Palace removed.
September 30, 2010... Byline: DJ Yap THE BARRICADE of 20-foot container vans at the historic Don Chino Roces Bridge leading to Malacanang has gone down. The city government of Manila removed on Tuesday the fleet of container vans blocking the bridge that...

Bets paying for voters PhilHealth is OKDOH.
September 30, 2010... Byline: DJ Yap As far as the Department of Health (DOH) is concerned, its okay for candidates in next months barangay election to pay for the insurance premiums of potential voters during a nationwide enlistment activity of the Philippine...

Major, major: Death by plastic.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Ma. Ceres P. Doyo LIFE OR death, paper or plastic? Plastic plague, plastic horror, plastic scourge, plastic problem, plastic nightmare, plastic monster. The bad words connected with plastic are so numerous and the havoc it creates in...

Have we done enough?
September 30, 2010... Byline: Snehal Soneji HOW PREPARED are our communities a year after Ondoy? Oxfam, an international humanitarian organization, provided humanitarian response to 25,000 typhoon-affected families in Laguna and Rizal at the height of the...

Baguio dads wont decide on STL, seek public opinion.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon BAGUIO CITYThe city council on Monday threw the fate of nine applications to operate Small Town Lottery (STL) to a public consultation to determine the position of Baguio residents on gambling....

Did you know.
September 30, 2010... THE TERM jeproks, widely used in the late 1960s and 1970s, from the song Laki sa Layaw (Jeproks) is a reversed version of project. The term refers to the youth who come from the middle-to-low middle-income housing projects of the government...

RP removed from dirty money gray list.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Michelle V. Remo THE PHILIPPINES has been moved from the gray list to the white list of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) after it released new regulations relaxing the countrys bank secrecy laws in...

DOH to actively promote natural, artificial methods of family planning.
September 30, 2010... Byline: DJ Yap THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) yesterday said it would actively promote both natural and artificial methods of family planning, following President Aquinos remarks that he supported the use of contraceptives. Both will be...

Eagles shoot for clincher today.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Jasmine W. Payo DUPLICATING ITS Game 1 dominance isnt exactly what Ateneo has in mind when it chases a historic third straight championship today. Although focused on playing another solid defensive game, the Blue Eagles brace for...

Abra women use livelihood projects to stop violence.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon BANGUED, ABRAA group of women wants to lead efforts at keeping the peace in this province wracked by political violence, insurgency and crime. Members of the Kalipunan ng Liping Pilipina...

Mass production of genetically modified talong in RP looms.
September 30, 2010... KIDAPAWAN CITYField tests of what environmentalists described as frankentalong (genetically modified eggplants) have spread to a North Cotabato town that serves as the provinces main vegetable producer. The Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives...

AFP vows to cooperate with review of Morong 43 case.
September 30, 2010... THE ARMED Forces of the Philippines (AFP) insisted that the 43 community health workers arrested in Morong, Rizal on Feb. 6 were suspected New Peoples Army (NPA) rebels, even as it said the military will cooperate with the justice departments...

Ampatuan lawyers grill star witness for 4 hours.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Philip C. Tubeza BY YOUR OWN testimony, you were clearly party to the conspiracy that you described. Isnt it true that you did more than the people you have shamelessly implicated? defense lawyer Gregorio Narvasa said as he sought to...

A fruitful trip.
September 30, 2010... LEADERS TRAVEL abroad sometimes to honor international commitments or to get a wider audience for their views on world affairs. More often, they visit other countries simply to affirm old friendships and strengthen existing relations or...

Firm charged for selling drugs online.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Nancy Carvajal THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday charged an online company and 11 of its employees before the Quezon City Prosecutors Office for the alleged unauthorized sale of medicine and regulated drugs,...

Hawks trip Olympians, near Naascu cage title.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Marc Anthony Reyes ROOKIE HOTSHOT Rhandelle Colina and big man Eugene Torres took matters in their own hands as University of Manila subdued STI, 78-73, yesterday and moved within a win of capturing the National Athletic Association...

No House vs SC crisis on Merci case.
September 30, 2010... Byline: TJ Burgonio IT MAY all be sound and fury signifying nothing but pyrotechnics. Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the former President at the heart of the firestorm surrounding the impeachment of Merceditas Gutierrez whom she appointed...

PBA executives pick 3 AFC contenders.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Beth Celis THE CHEF at the Manila Diamond Hotel where the PBA held its preseason press conference must have mixed a few drops of truth serum on the thick green pea soup served for lunch that Monday. As far back as I can remember,...

$1B investment is new moneyCoca-Cola.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Daxim L. Lucas THE LOCAL unit of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. yesterday clarified that the $1-billion investment its top brass promised to President Aquino during his recent US trip represents a fresh set of funds, and was on top of...

Jinggoy files bill to legalize jueteng.
September 30, 2010... WITH THE SENATE jueteng probe shifting to high gear, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has filed a bill legalizing jueteng which would give supervision of the numbers game to the casino monopoly, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor). Estrada...

Jueteng listers want equal time.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. CONGRESSMEN, governors and mayors who were identified as jueteng protectors in separate lists prepared by retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago are asking the Senate to give them a...

30 lawmakers want state schools budget restored.
September 30, 2010... SOME 30 lawmakers yesterday rallied behind students of the countrys State universities and colleges in pressing President Aquino to restore the P400-million cut in their proposed 2011 budget. The lawmakers signed a manifesto opposing the...

US-based Filipino lawyer helps youth finish studies.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Juan Escandor Jr., Naga City EARLY this year, lawyer Francis Papica settled a $1-million tort case in the United States for a Filipino client involved in a car accident. Papica, 42, is a specialist in tort litigation, which is...

Sierra Madre logging goes on unabated, says tribe.
September 30, 2010... LUCENA CITYA tribal leader in Sierra Madre in northern Quezon warned that more disasters were bound to happen if rampant illegal logging in the countrys last forest frontier was not stopped. There will be more Ondoys to come if the government...

RP workers to lose jobs in Afghanistan.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Jerome Aning MORE THAN 6,000 Filipino workers in Afghanistan face repatriation by the end of the year after the United States Central Command (Centcom) ordered the termination of all foreign workers whose domestic laws prohibit them...

LRT, TUP to set up lab for railway improvements.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Paolo G. Montecillo THE GOVERNMENT is eyeing the adoption of anti-overloading mechanisms and other new technologies to improve Light Rail Transit (LRT) operations and make the train lines cheaper and more efficient to run. In a...

Suspected hijacker arrested in Pasay.
September 30, 2010... A MAN was arrested at around 6 p.m. in Pasay City on Tuesday after he reportedly hijacked a van loaded with cigarettes owned by IDS Philippines. A report from the Southern Police District said the van being driven by Allan Aristorenas, 33, a...

No news blackout.
September 30, 2010... THE SOUTHERN Police District (SPD) director yesterday denied that he had ordered his men to deny media access to public documents such as police reports. I have no such directive, SPD head Chief Supt. Jose Arne de los Santos said in a dialogue...

247 flying voters exposed.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Tina G. Santos THE ELECTION Registration Board (ERB) of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has disqualified 247 voter applicants in Barangay San Lorenzo, Makati City, after they were discovered to be flying voters. Their...

Ministry goes beyond womens issues.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Araceli Z. Lorayes, Contributor WOMENS Ministry, especially among poor and marginalized women, was supposed to be her assignment. But when Sr. Clars Dolencio, ICM, was assigned to the parish of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary de...

Miriam fumes, vows to air Chavits sabit.
September 30, 2010... AN INCENSED Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday challenged Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson to a televised debate after the latter filed graft charges against her following her privilege speech naming him as one of the top alleged jueteng...

Whats next for Noynoy in NY? A Mets game.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Jerry E. Esplanada THE US ENVOY to the Philippines has cited President Aquino for dining on New York Citys famous hotdogs during his recent trip to the US East Coast, something few heads of state might dare to do. Ambassador Harry...

Nightmare of last years floods haunts Asingan folk.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Johanna Morden, Inquirer Northern Luzon ASINGAN, PangasinanA riverside community here continues to have nightmares brought by memories of last years floods and images of another deluge looming because of ongoing quarrying in the Agno...

Pacquiao starts sparring today.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Ronnie Nathanielsz POUND-FOR-POUND king Manny Pacquiao begins his sparring sessions against Michael Medina today at the Coyesan Hotel gym in Baguio City. The 24-year-old Mexican super welterweight (22-2-2 with 19 KOs) is expected...

PAL deadlock: Only DOLE can avert strike.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Jerome Aning PHILIPPINE AIRLINES (PAL) has asked the labor department to take immediate steps to avert a strike at the flag carrier after a cabin crew union yesterday served notice that it would proceed with its planned work stoppage...

Patriots expect tough grind vs Filipino-reinforced rivals.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Jasmine W. Payo THE PHILIPPINE Patriots expect a tough grind in their back-to-back title bid as all five opposing teams tapped at least one Filipino player as import in the second season of the AirAsia Asean Basketball League. ...

POC eyes bigger gold harvest in Guangzhou.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Marc Anthony Reyes REFUSING TO make a forecast, Philippine Olympic Committee officials yesterday said the country will do better in the Guangzhou, China, Asian Games than it did four years ago, where the RP contingent went home with...

Postscript to irony.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Conrado de Quiros THE REPORT said there was only a handful left when P-Noy spoke at the United Nations, Barack Obama and other global luminaries having already appeared on stage before him. Im not altogether unhappy about it. P-Noys...

Public intellectuals.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Randy David WE MAY be familiar with what academics and professors do. They lecture, they do research, they advise students on their theses, and, we hope, they also publish. Somenot all are scholars in the sense that they commit their...

Behave like true men, Lito Puyat tells successors.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Recah Trinidad COACH NORMAN Black says hes not concerned about the woes of the FEU Tamaraws. We dont care what happened to FEU in Game 1, Black boomed, trying to put the previous game behind him. Black doesnt give a damn about...

Relocation protesters storm NHA.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Nancy Carvajal DISPLACED residents of North Triangle in Quezon City yesterday marched to City Hall and the National Housing Authority building yesterday morning to reiterate their opposition to efforts to relocate them. Senior...

RH bill solons urge P-Noy: Be steadfast.
September 30, 2010... Byline: TJ Burgonio PRESIDENT AQUINO should be steadfast in his position on giving couples the choice to use contraceptives in the face of strong Church opposition, members of the House of Representatives said yesterday. Its hard to give...

Sarangani road bombing suspect nabbed by police.
September 30, 2010... ALABEL, Sarangani ProvinceThe main suspect in the April 26 roadside bomb attack in Malapatan town, which barely missed Gov. Miguel Dominguez, has been arrested, police announced yesterday. Supt. Florendo Quidilla, provincial police chief,...

Strike 1: Ecija chief cop fired over jueteng.
September 30, 2010... CABANATUAN CITYA police chief of a Nueva Ecija town became the first casualty of the Philippine National Polices one-strike policy against jueteng. His relief also offered a glimpse into the close ties between the illegal numbers racket and...

Its a Sweep 16 for San Beda.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Cedelf P. Tupas NEEDING ITS strongest play of the season, San Beda stood up and delivered. Sudan Daniel and Garvo Lanete fired 23 points each as the Lions devoured San Sebastians defending champion Stags, 90-82, yesterday to...

Tankers, fire trucks ready to deliver water.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Nina Calleja LOCAL officials in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon and Valenzuela have placed their water tankers and fire trucks on standby so that these could be used to deliver water to areas affected by the temporary shutdown of...

Thailand grab Putra Cup lead as RP golfers falter.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Musong R. Castillo THE PHILIPPINES sputtered on the second day of Putra Cup action yesterday, blowing a six-shot lead to yield top spot to defending champion Thailand by a stroke at the demanding Royal Selangor Golf Club in Kuala...

Threats force govt execs to liquidate.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Leila B. Salaverria MORE THAN half of the P2.4 billion in cash advances made by nine government agencies have been liquidated after the Office of the Ombudsman warned that it would withhold the salaries of personnel tasked with this...

All population statistics wrong, except mine.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Rigoberto Tiglao THAT WAS what the economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas was saying in effect when he claimed, in an article in the Manila Bulletin last Sept. 19, that Philippine population statistics are being doctored. He had it reprinted...

P-Noy needs support for family planning.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Ramon Tulfo NOY BUCKS Church, backs birth controlbanner headline of the Inquirer Tuesday. Its time the government puts its foot down in dealing with the Catholic Church. The Church has been interfering too much in the affairs of...

Women in the streets as traffic enforcers: 100 TCTs.
September 30, 2010... KIDAPAWAN CITYWomen traffic enforcers here issued traffic citation tickets (TCTs) to more than 100 violators in the first hours of their duty on Sept. 24 as deputized agents of the Land Transportation Office (LTO). The LTO deployed women...

Ideology is gone.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Felise Vida P. Solano DEAR MARE, I was listening to a lecture on the recruitment process of the New Peoples Army (NPA) in Bulacan State University when something hit me: I was about to lose you. My bosses in the Office of the...

Zubiri bares unusual agri fund release.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Christian V. Esguerra SENATORS yesterday uncovered what one of them described as an unusual fund release similar to the P728-million fertilizer fund scam in the 2004 elections, but this time the amount involved billions of pesos. ...

ADB raises $232.2M to fund renewable energy projects.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Amy R. Remo THE ASIAN Development Bank has raised $232.2 million from the sale of Clean Energy Bonds to support its renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Asia Pacific. The healthy sale of the Clean Energy Bonds shows a...

ALI puts up REIT company.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Doris C. Dumlao LOCAL PROPERTY giant Ayala Land Inc. is setting up a P1.2-billion real estate investment trust (REIT) company to manage some of its earning assets and raise funds through an initial public offering. In a disclosure...

Boom shell.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Conrado Banal III WITH A GDP growth rate of 7.9 percent in the first six months this year, according to bankers, the Philippine economy is officially having a boom. But just how meaningful that bombshell of an economic growth rate...

British Gas selling stake in RP power plants.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Doris C. Dumlao UK-BASED BRITISH Gas Group has forged a $400-million deal to sell its 40-percent stake in the Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo power plants to Korea Electric Power Corp. The BG Group yesterday announced it had signed a...

Asean 5 seen to post robust gains in 2010.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Michelle V. Remo SOME OF Southeast Asias top economies will not only recover from the ill effects of last years financial crisis but may even post strong gains, topping most expectations, according to Standard & Poors. In its...

RP still has room for more foreign capital inflows.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Michelle V. Remo METROBANK SAID the Philippines could accommodate much more foreign capital inflows without harming the economy, shrugging off concerns over a rising peso and potential asset price bubbles. In its latest commentary...

Meralco consumers may see drop in power bills.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Amy R. Remo CONSUMERS OF power distributor Manila Electric Co. may expect their power bills to further decline in October. The cost of electricity that Meralco sources from independent power producers (IPPs) continued to drop, the...

Corporate governance for GOCCs in the offing?
September 30, 2010... Byline: Francis Ed Lim MY MAIDEN article in this columnBrouhaha on GOCC perksraised public policy issues on the matter. Should we put in place and implement an honest-to-goodness corporate governance system for our government-owned and...

RP seeks to ratchet up trade relations with US.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Abigail L. Ho AFTER PRESIDENT Aquino successfully secured more than $2 billion in fresh investments from American firms, the Department of Trade and Industry had set out to further strengthen the countrys trade and investment ties...

Shares closed lower.
September 30, 2010... LOCAL STOCKS yesterday closed lower as investors pocketed gains from rallies of the previous days. The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 12.78 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 4,111.05. All counters succumbed to...

SkyCable sees 15% profit growth in 10.(Financial report)
September 30, 2010... ABS-CBN Broadcasting unit SkyCable expects to post double-digit growth in profit this year due to the continued expansion of its subscriber base and the stronger peso results against lower dollar-based expenses. The growth of its broadband...

SMIC sets coupon rate for 7-year bonds at 5.2%.
September 30, 2010... TYCOON HENRY Sys SM Investments Corp. has set the minimum coupon rate for up to $500 million worth of seven-year new offshore bonds offered in exchange for its older debt paper at 5.2 percent per year. The final coupon rate will be determined...

Whats the best-tasting paella for you?
September 30, 2010... Byline: Micky Fenix MY PAELLERA, two of them, are hardly used even if the whole family loves to order paella when we eat in Spanish restaurants. The paella pans both hang near my stove, wiped with cooking oil every now and then to prevent...

After bouquet comes FruiQuetfruit bouquet.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Reggie Aspiras THERE IS a new way of expressing your feelings with fruits and flowers, a combination that never goes out of style. Its playfully called FruiQuet, a fruit bouquet made of real fruits that are cut, carved, nicely...

Healthy cafe and an old favorite.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Restos at a glance THERES SO much talk about healthy eating. Practically every chef, in big and small eateries, has come up with more nutritious and green menus. There is one small cafe which offers not only healthy food but items for...

The real (friendly?) battle of the chefs.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Jennifer Pena, Contributor THE IDEA was like literally playing with fire but the challenge of being able to pull it off was irresistible. Would I be able to convince eight celebrity chefs to work in the same kitchen for one night? ...

One more week before the storm.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Lea Salonga WE HAVE but six days before the big Les Miz anniversary concert at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday, Oct. 3. Its a Monday as I write this. Last week was sedate and, quite honestly, uneventful. Monday involved a music...

TV5 happy as the third player.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Marinel R. Cruz THE GAP between rival TV networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7 became smaller, not because one performed better or one lagged behind, but because of a third player. This was the observation of Roberto V. Barreiro, executive...

Spot-on depiction of family life today.
September 30, 2010... Byline: Nestor U. Torre WERE grateful to the recent 62nd Emmy Awards show for a number of reasons, including the timely reminder that were missing out on some of the best TV programs produced abroad that sadly arent shown here, either on live...

6 in rape of volunteer nurse held.
September 29, 2010... COTABATO CITYPolice on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of at least six suspects in Saturdays gang rape of a 21-year-old nurse in South Upi, Maguindanao. Senior Supt. Marcelo Pintac, Maguindanao police director, said all six suspects would be...

Macapagal at 100.
September 29, 2010... Byline: Ambeth R. Ocampo PRESIDENT AQUINO declared a special non-working holiday yesterday in the province of Pampanga to commemorate the centennial of the birth of Diosdado Macapagal (1910-1997). Textbook history has assigned him a number as...

Bacolod execs suspend execution of stray dogs.
September 29, 2010... Byline: Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas BACOLOD CITYCity officials suspended the execution of stray dogs following complaints posted in the Internet and sent through text messages. Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Monday directed the Office of...

Beefed-up RP booters ready for Suzuki Cup.
September 29, 2010... Byline: Cedelf P. Tupas WITH A better-prepared and more cohesive unit, the national football team expressed confidence yesterday of a strong showing in the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Championship Qualifying Tournament set from Oct. 22 to 29 in...

Aquino brings home the bacon: $2.4B.
September 29, 2010... Byline: Christine O. Avendano PRESIDENT Aquino yesterday said $1 billion of the $2.4 billion in new investments that would be poured into the country as a result of his just-concluded trip to the United States would come from Atlanta-based...

Cager faces charges for attacking fan in basketball game.
September 29, 2010... Byline: Julie M. Aurelio A PLAYER of the Philippine Basketball Association was charged in a Quezon City court for allegedly pouncing on an irate fan during a basketball game last year. Assistant City Prosecutor Ben de la Cruz, in a...

Pinoy U-18 cagers blast Iraq, face Taiwan next.
September 29, 2010... THE HEROICS of Kiefer Ravena, the little kid with the big heart, helped the Philippines stave off a tough challenge by Iraq, 68-59, Monday to enter the quarterfinals of the Fiba Asia U18 championship in Sanaa, Yemen. The Filipinos finished the...