by magnolia_eic | Feb 23, 2010 | Headlines, National News
Manila, Philippines — Government will be at loss if it lets go of Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, administration standard bearer Gilbert Teodoro said, Tuesday. The secretary is currently under fire for distributing condoms on Valentine’s Day.
Teodoro has consistently named Cabral as one of the those officials he would retain in his Cabinet, if he wins the election in May.
Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles has called for Cabral’s resignation over the distribution of condoms by the DoH last Valentine’s Day as part of its campaign against AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). The bishop called it an immoral act.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 23, 2010 | Headlines, National News
Zamboanga City — Wounded marines say they had been chasing for a day and night the Abu Sayyaf bandits, however they only learned after the one-hour clash that they hit jackpot.
After the gun battle on Sunday morning, bodies of the six men they had killed were identified. One was Albader Parad, the “ruthless leader” of a bandit group linked to a worldwide terror network.
The gun battle however, has claimed the life of one marine, and wounded two others.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 19, 2010 | Election 2010, National News
THE International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday said that it was preparing for an explosion in election-related violence in the Philippines as the country gears up for the 2010 national polls.
The ICRC is working to identify dozens of “hot spots” where violence is feared ahead of the May 10 elections for a new president and thousands of lower positions.
Of particular concern is the southern island of Mindanao, where 57 people were killed in November in the country’s worst election-related violence. Elsewhere, at least seven others have been killed in vote-related violence.
Jean-Daniel Tauxe, country head of the Geneva-based ICRC said the Red Cross ‘first responders’ as well as key emergency supplies, including blood, will be deployed in places where there the ‘presence of armed elements’ could trigger violence.
Police have also said they were racing against time to crack down on some 100 private armies known to be in control of politicians across the country and to account for over a million unlicensed firearms in circulation. (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 19, 2010 | Business, Headlines, National News
THE Philippine Embassy in Spain reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs an illegal recruitment operation that is currently being perpetrated by a syndicate using Spain as a destination for Filipino workers.
The embassy named the company allegedly recruiting Filipino workers under this scheme as Previsto Ferrocariel Guiscoanagin, with address at Calle Placentinos 18B, 32005, Barcelona, Spain.
The syndicate is using the email address espanolconsulate@europe.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to communicate with Filipino workers and lead them to believe that this is the email address of the Philippine Embassy in Madrid.
The Philippine Consulate-General in Barcelona has verified that there is no such address in Barcelona. There is a Calle de los Placentinos in the province of Salamanca, while the zip code 32005 corresponds to the province of Ourense, not Catalonia.
The public is advised to be wary of job offers from this company and to first check the veracity of any job offer and company with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the country concerned, the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), or the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 19, 2010 | Election 2010, National News
SPARE the schools from the dirty politics of elections.
This as the Department of Education (DepEd) has banned posting and distribution of campaign materials in public schools during the election period.
On this, DepEd has reminded politicians of Order No. 10, or the “Clean Schools, Clean Elections” program, which runs from election campaign until results of the May national and local elections are released.
DepEd through Secretary Jesli Lapuz has noted that even before February 9 start of election campaigns, posters and stickers have been posted on school walls and gates all over the country.
Earlier, the Commission on Elections issued Resolution No. 8758, Section 29 of which said “the posting of campaign materials in public places outside of the designated common poster areas such as streets, bridges, public structures or buildings, trees, electric posts or wires, schools, shrines, main thoroughfares and the like is prohibited.”
by magnolia_eic | Feb 19, 2010 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that the issue with the telecommunications companies regarding the setting up of data centers has been resolved.
Comelec adviser Renato Garcia said that the Philippine Long Distance Company (PLDT) and Globe Telecoms have agreed to create two data centers for the May 10 national and local elections.
He added that they are now talking with the companies on the installation of the facilities, adding that no contract has been signed yet.
The data banks will not be located in the companies’ main data buildings. For security reasons, Garcia did not disclose where the data centers will be located. He explained that it is the data banks that will have the copies of the election tallies. Globe and PLDT has refused to allow the use of their facilities in Metro Manila, for fear of technical and security attacks on their system. (PIA-Bohol)
