by magnolia_eic | Feb 19, 2010 | Headlines, National News
The remains of a Filipina worker who died in the magnitude-7 quake in Haiti last January 12 will arrive in the Philippines Friday morning (Manila time), according to the Philippine Embassy in Cuba.
Philippine Vice-Consul to Cuba Jason Anasarias said the remains of Mary Grace Fabian were shipped to Manila from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Tuesday after clearing all Dominican documentary requirements.
Fabian’s remains were pulled out of the collapsed Carribean Supermarket at 11 a.m. of February 7 in Haiti, or midnight of Feb. 7 in Manila.
She was positively identified by Mr. Lowel Lalican, the husband of Geraldine Lalican, another OFW still trapped under the rubble of the supermarket. Ms. Fabian, an employee of the Carribbean Supermarket, was identified through her uniform, hair and necklace.
Upon the instructions of her sister Rosalyn Fabian, who is based in Haiti, the remains of Mary Grace Fabian was initially interred at the National Cemetary in Port-au-Prince. But her family in the Philippines requested the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to have her remains repatriated.
The DFA coordinated with Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Fabian’s family so her remains can be brought home to her family soonest. (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 18, 2010 | Headlines, National News
Manila, Philippines — Farmlands, reservoirs and waterways in the country are already drying up due to the intense heat brought by the El Nino phenomenon. Farmers are keeping a closer watch over their fields so whatever available water is used wisely.
Huge clumps of light-brown soil have appeared in the corn fields of Cagayan Valley and Pangasinan, while rice paddies have turned barren in Isabela, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur, Negros, Davao del Sur and other provinces.
Some farmers have stopped planting to cut losses.
Isabela, Cagayan and other provinces, as well as in the corn-producing town of Sto. Tomas in Pangasinan and Cauayan City and Ilagan town in Isabela, have been placed under states of calamity to allow local governments to use public funds to help the distressed farmers.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 17, 2010 | Headlines, National News
Manila, Philippines — Road rage suspect Jason Ivler pleaded “not guilty” during his arraignment before Judge Alexander Balut of the Quezon City regional trial court Branch 76.
Ivler, dressed in a white barong and a pair of black pants, lay in a hospital stretcher with both wrists cuffed to its frame during the proceedings.
He was surrounded by five NBI agents and accompanied by his mother, Marlene Aguilar and stepfather, Stephen Pollard.
The judge ordered that Ivler be returned to the hospital for full recovery before he can be transferred to the Quezon City Jail.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 17, 2010 | Announcements, Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, National News
Manila, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has affixed her signature Tuesday, to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 (ESCA), or Republic Act No. 994. This is a law that would benefit some five million elderly Filipinos in the form of discounts on certain goods and services.
“The President has signed the bill,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Charito Planas. The official copy of the measure arrived in Malacanang on Monday night.
The law allows senior citzens to avail themselves of the full 20-percent discount they are supposed to enjoy. The discount was reduced to 8 percent with the imposition of the 12-percent value-added tax on certain goods and services in 2005.
Click here for full article from Inquirer.net
by magnolia_eic | Feb 17, 2010 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
It is still too early to discuss whether President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be fielded as the administration’s bet for Speaker of the House of Representatives, should she win as congresswoman for Pampanga’s second district.
This was what a Malacañang spokesperson said on Monday, amid claims of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD members that Mrs. Arroyo would be their bet for the top House post.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Charito Planas in an interview over dzXL radio said it
is just speculation at this point. The bottom line is that the Speaker’s post is a result of an election to determine who will be the Speaker. Planas added that it was too early to tell if the President would also be part of the House majority or minority bloc.
On Monday, a report from the Philippine Star quoted Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano as saying that Lakas-Kampi would likely have the numbers to install Mrs. Arroyo as House Speaker. (PIA-Bohol)
by magnolia_eic | Feb 17, 2010 | Headlines, National News, World
THE Department of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Philippine embassy in Belgium to check if there were Filipinos hurt when two commuter trains collided head-on during the morning rush hour in Brussels Monday.
“The DFA has asked its embassy in Brussels to make inquiries and send a report as soon as possible,” said DFA Spokesperson Eduardo Malaya.
Online reports from Brussels said that at least 20 people were killed when the trains crashed into each other just before 8:30 am (Monday), at Hal, southwest of the capital. (PIA-Bohol)
