Nation News

Arroyo resignation as Lakas head not due to 'kiss of death' tag - Palace

GMANews.TV - Saturday, November 7

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s reported plan to resign as head of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD is more of “passing the torch" than an admission of her political kiss of death, Malacañang insisted Saturday. More »

  • Arroyo exit from Lakas not due to 'kiss of death' - Palace

    GMANews.TV - Saturday, November 7

    President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s reported plan to resign as head of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD is more of “passing the torch" than an admission of her political kiss of death, Malacañang insisted Saturday.

  • Taguig cops to team up with guards against crime

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    The Taguig City police on Saturday began distributing leaflets to private security guards in order to make them better partners against robbers and other criminals.

    Senior Supt.

  • 324 pass chemical engineering exam

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Saturday that 324 out of 612 examinees passed the Chemical Engineer Licensure Examination given by the Board of Chemical Engineering in Manila and Cebu this month.

    The successful examinees who garnered the 10 highest ratings are.

  • Join AFP Reserve Command, Palace urges civilians

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    Malacañang on Saturday urged male civilians to enlist in the Reserve Command (RESCOM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to help the government fast-track humanitarian efforts in time of disasters.

    "We encourage the people, lalo na yung mga abled bodies, mga professionals, na magpa-enlist [in the Reserve Command] of the AFP para makatulong naman tayo lalo na sa mga nakikita nating disasters," Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.

    Remonde lamented that since the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) became a non-compulsory course in college, there are only a few who take up ROTC.

    "Kaunti lang [ang enlisted to the reserved command], lalo na nung tinanggal ang ROTC," he said.

    "Magpa-enlist sa reserve command, balang araw makakatulong tayo," Remonde urged.

    It will be recalled that due to the extensive damage brought by successive typhoons in late September and October, the international community had to send some of its own personnel to conduct humanitarian aid in the country as the government zeroed in on rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts in typhoon-stricken areas in Luzon.

    Among the roles of the Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM) include disaster rescue and relief and community service aside from conventional and unconventional warfare, anti-guerilla operations, combat support and service support, and training.

    The ROTC program in the Philippines began in 1912 and is designed to train for the purposes of leadership, development, problem solving, strategic planning and professional ethics.

  • Explain Meralco rate hike, Palace tells ERC

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    Malacañang on Saturday asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to explain the 25-centavo per kilowatt-hour (kWh) increase in the generation charge by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on its customers.

  • May elections much easier for the common person

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    Voting in the May 2010 automated elections will be much easier especially for persons with poor reading abilities, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Saturday.

    Comelec Chairman Jose A. R. Melo said voting will not only be made faster but much easier even for those who can't read and write because of their planned design for the ballot.

    "Hindi na kapareho noong araw na isusulat ang pangalan.

  • RP pilgrims bereft of hajj leaders

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    At least 125 Filipino pilgrims are bereft of hajj leaders (sheikhs) in Saudi Arabia and have sought the intercession of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order the lifting of the travel ban imposed on their five sheikhs by the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA).

    The affected pilgrims, mostly female and elderly who flew to Saudi Arabia as early as October 25, could not perform well the hajj-prescribed rituals and are feared of going astray amid millions of hajj goers from across the world converging in the holy lands for this year's pilgrimage, according to Lanao del Sur Rep.

  • Hillary coming to RP

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday she will travel to the Philippines next week to "show solidarity" with the storm-battered nation, just after her visits to Singapore and Berlin.

    Clinton also announced she will join President Barack Obama during his visit to China from November 15-18, her second trip as chief diplomat to the country the Obama administration recognizes as a key global player.

    In a flurry of travel announcements this week, Clinton and her aides announced her tour of Europe and Asia, one that comes on top of a tour of Pakistan and the Middle East that only ended on Wednesday.

    "I'll be going to the Philippines, to show solidarity with our friends in the Philippines who have been battered by typhoons and have just suffered so much over the last weeks," Clinton said in a speech in Washington.

    Typhoon Mirinae ("Santi" in the Philippines) swept over the main island Luzon Saturday, dumping heavy rain and bringing strong winds just weeks after Tropical Storm Ketsana (Ondoy) and Typhoon Parma (Pepeng) left about 1,100 dead and tens of thousands homeless.

    During her visit to Manila from November 12-13, "the secretary will hold consultations with senior Filipino officials, highlighting the US-Philippines treaty alliance," Clinton's spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

    Her trip starts with a stop in Berlin for official ceremonies on Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

  • Survivor recalls bombing experience in Afghanistan

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    CEBU CITY - Being one of the 19 survivors during the recent bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed another Filipino United Nations election volunteer Josie Esto, Remedios "Remie" Mondigo, UN Public Outreach electoral officer shares her third and worst experience as part of the UN's peace keeping mission.

    Mondigo in a press conference detailed that before their safe house (Bekhtar Guest House in Kabul's Shar-e-Now District) was attacked by the alleged Taliban gunmen, she was about to take a shower to prepare for work when suddenly she heard a huge explosion near their area at around 5.45 in the morning.

    "I was immediately disturbed by the explosion because it was so near while after the first explosion gun-fires followed, which made me even more nervous," she said.

    Mondigo added that when she and other tenants of the said building learned about the attack, an officer urged them to go and hide in one of the safest places in the area, which is the private house located at the back portion of the vicinity.

    "We were there until 10 in the morning, calling our families to pray for us because the situation is really bad," she added.
    Mondigo also added that while she was in the private house Esto was calling her, as the latter was still inside her room located at the roof top side of the attacked guest house.

    "Josie was really calling for help because she's already experiencing suffocation and the fire is already eating the house," she disclosed.

    Esto 40, a native of New Washington, Aklan was an Electoral Outreach and Training Coordinator under the UN Volunteers Program and was a former school teacher who also worked as an electoral officer and civic education officer in the country before serving as a UN volunteer in Liberia, Timor-Leste, and Nepal.

    Moreover, after that bombing incident last October 28 that killed five of their co-workers including Josie, Remie said that she is still very willing to go back to Afghanistan to continue her duty since the country will have a parliamentary election next year.

    "The Afghans are hospitable and warm people so there was never a problem working with them although I am already expecting a worst election next year," she added.

  • Congress to fast-track budget OK

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    As Congress returns Monday, after a recess of almost one month, the House of Representatives faces a pile up of pressing legislation, but the approval of the P1.541-trillion national budget for 2010 remains a priority to help the country cope with the devastation wrought by successive calamities.

    Speaker Prospero Nograles said Saturday the House will hasten the third- reading approval of the proposed 2010 General Appropriations Act (GAA), reiterating his assurance that there would be no reenacted budget next year.

    "We cannot afford a reenacted budget.

  • Gibo rules out military offensive vs abductors

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City ---- The national government will not resort to an all-out military offensive against suspected rogue elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who have taken captive Irish priest Fr.

  • Arroyo to assure Hillary of clean 2010 polls during RP visit

    GMANews.TV - Saturday, November 7

    Malacañang welcomed Saturday a prospective lightning visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the country, saying it is further proof of robust relations between the Philippines and the United States.

  • DOH lifts lepto outbreak alerts as number of infected declines

    GMANews.TV - Saturday, November 7

    Citing a substantial decrease in the number of cases, the Department of Health (DOH) lifted Saturday leptospirosis alerts in areas hit by recent tropical cyclones.

  • Defections continue to hit ranks of administration party

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    Defections hit the Lakas-Kampi-CMD as the ruling party's top leadership failed to patch up controversies among leaders of the merged parties who were expected to slug it out in the 2010 elections.

    Pangasinan Rep.

  • Marikina ordered to clear river

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has urged the Marikina City government to clear the Nangka River of post-typhoon mud and debris, which is obstructing the free flow of the river.

    A report of the investigation conducted by the DENR-National Capital Region led by officer-in-charge Director Roberto Sheen said, "Nangka River is now impaired due to accumulated mud and construction debris which obstruct the free flow of water downstream."

    The team of experts from the DENR noted in its report that "no ongoing dumping was noted at the time of investigation, however, dumped mud with construction debris were noted along and within the Nangka River, particularly along the Barangay Nangka side in Marikina City."

    The report also noted that the river, which is usually 50 meters wide, has been reduced to only three meters passable with water due to the mud and construction debris.

  • Binay cites partnership for housing

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    United Opposition (UNO) president and Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay is urging the team up between government and the private sector for developing housing projects for the poor as a key to address the country's housing problem.

    Binay said the national government should consider adapting successful public-private partnerships, citing the success of the city government with Gawad Kalinga (GK) and the city's business community.

    "The partnership between Makati, GK and the city's business community is a partnership anchored on our desire to develop a new approach to resettlement.

  • Erap cites loyalty of friends

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    Former President Joseph Estrada said Saturday he will not stop anyone from the movies who will support other presidential candidates other than him because of loyalty to relatives of other aspirants citing that freedom to choose is the heart and soul of democracy, adding that "that is what friends are for, to stay with and behind each other in both the good and the bad times."

    "That's completely okay with me because such a gesture is a laudable character trait of loyalty as friends that should be admired and commended," said Estrada who is well-known for his loyalty to friends he has kept to this day since his days as a movie megastar.

    This was Estrada's reaction to a report that Ai-Ai de las Alas, his leading lady in his come-back movie "Ang Tanging Pamilya," said she may support Sen.

  • Santi death toll increases to 30

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    The death toll in the onslaught of typhoon "Santi" late last month rose to 30, with disaster officials, saying that there are still six others in the missing list who are not yet accounted so far.

    Based on Saturday's report from the National Disaster and Coordinating Council (NDCC), Laguna and Camarines Norte have the most number of fatalities with 11 each, all of them died due to drowning due to flashfloods spawned by heavy rains dumped by "Santi."

    Two dead were reported in Rizal province, the father and son who were swept away while crossing a creek and two others in Batangas who drowned when their car fell on the bridge that collapsed in Batangas City.

    One fatality each was reported in Muntinlupa City, Cavite, Quezon, and Catanduanes.

  • GMA receives words of encouragement

    Manila Bulletin - Saturday, November 7

    President Arroyo continues to receive words of encouragement from her allies in the House of Representatives to run either for vice-president or congresswoman.

    Quezon Rep.

1 2 3