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US firms keen to expand in PH
More investments, jobs ahead NEW YORK—The Philippines continues to strengthen business collaboration with investors and multinational corporations based in the United States. Speaking to 85 business executives in the Philippine Investment Forum on 31 August, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez highlighted the sound macroeconomic fundamentals of the country, aiming a 7% to 8% increase in GDP annually and reduce poverty from 21.6% in 2015 to 14% by 2022. The trade chief also shared the government’s focus on infrastructure development with USD 160 billion worth of projects to directly address investors’ concerns on power supply, affordable telecommunications, and efficient transport of goods and services. At the sidelines of the Forum, Sec. Lopez with DTI Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Atty. Rowel Barba met with different associations and business executives to seek opportunities for the manufacturing industries and to continue the government’s engagement with US business stakeholders. The trade chief had a roundtable meeting with the members American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) to discuss potential relocation and expansion of their manufacturing facilities in the Philippines. He also encouraged member companies, which include Tellas Limited (formerly Luenthai USA), Under Armour Inc., Michael Kors (USA) Inc., Ralph Lauren Corporation, Coach Inc., and the Ascena Retail Group Inc., (makers of Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Bryant, Dressbarn, and Catherines) to take advantage of the extended duty-free treatment to imports of travel goods (including luggage, handbags, backpacks, tote bags) under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program. Meanwhile, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in New York noted that AAFA members and the brands they carry have increased their presence... read moreASEAN Kiosks Launching
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ASIA PACIFIC GOVERNANCE CONFAB HIGHLIGHTS “BOHOL MODEL”
Bohol’s Open Governance model took center stage in this year’s ASIA PACIFIC LEADERS FORUM ON OPEN GOVERNMENT in Jakarta, Indonesia last December 14. The host country thru Indonesia’s Ministry of Planning invited Bohol Governor Edgar M. Chatto to speak on Sub National Open Governance and its impact to development taking the experience of Bohol province. Gov. Chatto’s name was among the list of nominated speakers evaluated by the organizing committee in Jakarta. His innovations in Open Government both in executive and legislative branches and the strong indorsement of the Philippine Government earned for him the slot to speak in the Forum attended by over 500 delegates from Asia Pacific countries. Also invited to speak in the Forum were DBM Secretary Ben Diokno, who spoke on Participatory Budgeting and COA Chairman Michael Aguinaldo who shared the Philippine experience in Transparency policies. The Philippine delegation was received warmly in Indonesia by Philippine Ambassador Maria Lumen B. Isleta and top officials of Liwayway Group of Companies owned by Amb. Carlos Chan, Richard Yu and Kyle Sy. The one day trip of Gov. Chatto to Indonesia was his shortest foreign travel so far fully sponsored by the Indonesian government at no expense to the province of Bohol including that of his wife Balilihan Mayor Pureza Veloso Chatto who accompanied...Google Releases Machine Learning Library ‘TensorFlow’ as Open Source
Google released its machine learning library called TensorFlow as open source software last week. The code may be downloaded from the website www.tensorflow.org. TensorFlow is the company’s artificial intelligence engine currently in use now on may of Google’s customer facing services like search, Gmail and Google Photos. TensorFlow is used to automate detection of patterns and enabling the services to present options to users that are relevant to their data or usage patterns. By releasing the source code to the open source community, Google hopes to accelerate development of machine learning or artificial intelligence as more developers and users can be involved in testing, experimenting and developing the machine learning library. Open source development has been instrumental in producing software technologies that are widely used on the Internet today. The Linux operating system, the most popular open source operating system is being used not only on desktops and servers but also on mobile devices. The Android operating system for mobile devices is based on Linux. 40% of websites around the world runs on the Apache HTTP server which is open source software. 25% of all websites run on the open source content management system WordPress. Such is the impact of open source software development and Google hopes similar progress will be done on TensorFlow by making it open...Local News/ Bohol Balita
Cong. Erico B. Aumentado Dies Due to Pneumonia
Congressman Erico B. Aumentado died Tuesday night at 8:37pm after a bout with pneumonia. Aumentado, who also served as governor of Bohol for three terms before serving as Representative of the 2nd district of Bohol, was rushed to St. Luke’s Medical Center last December 9 from Bohol and was admitted at the Coronary Care Unit. Aumentado was 72. The House of Representatives will hold necrological rites for Aumentado on December 27. He was chairman of the House ethics committee and is a member of the minority of various committees including Agriculture and Food, Public Works and Highways and Good Government and Public Accountability. On Facebook, various groups of Boholanos expressed their condolences to Aumentado’s family and appreciation for his public service. He was instrumental in completing the circumferencial road of Bohol which significantly improved travel around Bohol. He was also popular for his campaign slogan “Basta Aumentado, karsada...Bohol Rep. Aumentado dies at 72
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Dec. 26 (PIA)–Bohol Representative Erico Aumentado passed away on Christmas Day, December 25, at 8:37 p.m. at St. Luke’s Medical Center -Global City. He died from complications related to pneumonia. He was 72 years old. His remains lie in state at the Funeraria Paz Araneta, Quezon City today. Tomorrow, Thursday, the House of Representatives will hold a necrological service. His body will be brought to his home province of Bohol thereafter. Interment schedule in Bohol still to be finalized. Aumentado is the chairman of the House committee on ethics and privileges. He is also a member of the following committees: Agriculture and food; Appropriations; Basic education and culture; Constitutional amendments; Good government and public accountability; Local government; Public works and highways; Suffrage and electoral reforms; Tourism; Transportation; and Ways and Means. According to his profile posted at the House website, Aumentado sponsored 96 measures and co-authored 274 bills. Before being elected as Bohol’s second district representative, Aumentado was the governor of the province. He was also an officer of the League of Provinces of the Philippines. Aumentado was born on May 18, 1940 in Ubay, Bohol. He graduated with Bachelor of Laws at the University of Bohol. He was supposed to run for reelection in the May 2013 elections....Coloma urges PIOs to view geohazard maps on PIA website especially during typhoons
CEBU CITY, December 10 (PIA)–Secretary Sonny Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) urged public information officers (PIOs) to access the website of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) where the geohazard maps containing areas highly vulnerable to landslides and flooding per region to province are found. By accessing the ‘geohazard maps,’ Coloma said the PIOs can significantly help in educating the people especially those living in danger zones what to do in case of imminent typhoons. “In the upper right corner of the website is written ‘geohazard maps,’ which you can just click wherein you can also choose which region down to province you want to check on regarding the susceptibility of flooding and landslides,” Coloma said. The PCOO chief, who was guest of honor during the Information Officers’ Year-end Conference and Awards 2012, showed before the more than 100 PIOs of various government agencies from Region 6 how to access the geohazard maps at the PIA website. Coloma expressed sadness over the death toll of typhoon Pablo which was pegged at 647 as of this posting. Compostela Valley had the most number of deaths currently reported at 316 excluding those that are still missing. “Compostela Valley is an accident waiting to happen as based on the geohazard map alone, it is a very critical area with high susceptibility of landslides,” bared Coloma. The geohazard maps are color-coded to determine the susceptibility of an area to landslides or flooding. Red color refers to high susceptibility of which Compostela Valley was categorized, while green color refers to moderate susceptibility to landslides and yellow as low susceptibility to landslides. Last...Air Passenger Bill of Rights, epektibo na sa Disyembre 21
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Dec. 11 (PIA)–Gilagdaan na kagahapon nilang Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya ug Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Gregory L. Domingo ang DOTC-DTI Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 1, Series of 2012 o mas gi-ila sa Air Passenger Bill of Rights. Gi-aprubahan ang maong kamanduan human ang tulo ka public hearings nga gipahigayon sa duha ka ahensya. Gitambungan kini sa mga tinugyanan sa pipila ka stakeholders sama sa airline companies, consumer groups ug ubang concerned citizens. Kauban usab sa public consultations ang pipila ka government units, sama sa Department of Tourism (DOT) ug mga opisina sa ubang senador ug congressman. Epektibo ang joint order sa Disyembre 21 human ang 10 ka adlaw nga pagpatik niini sa publiko sa mga pahayagan ang kamanduan. Ubos sa maong kamanduan, obligado na ang mga airline company nga hatagan og compensation ug amenities ang mga pasahero sama sa refreshments o meals, hotel accomodations ug transportasyon paingon ug pagbiya sa tugpahanan. Sakop usab niini ang pakig-alayon sa oras sa kanselasyon ug delays. Apil usab sa JAO ang: right to be provided with accurate information; right to receive full value of the service purchased; ug right to compensation in cases of delay, cancellation, and delayed, lost or damaged baggage. Ubos sa Air Passenger Bill of Rights, magarantiyahan na ang katungod sa mga pasahero batok sa mga giingong makailad nga polisiya ug sumbanan sa mga airline companies. Alang sa mga detalye sa DOTC-DTI JAO No. 1, Series of 2012, bisitaha lang sa Official Gazette website: http://www.gov.ph ug sa Civil Aeronautics Board website: http://www.cab.gov.ph....Typhoon Pablo Possible Path Includes Bohol
December 05, 12:00AM: Typhoon Pablo is now well away from Bohol and is bearing down on northern part of Palawan after subjecting Dumaguete City and southern tip of Negros island with winds up to 170kph. Based on the forecast from the Japan Meteorological Agency and PAGASA, Bohol should already be safe from any further adverse effects of Pablo. Many Boholanos feel lucky that the typhoon spared Bohol from major damage even though strong winds and heavy rainfall were experienced in most of Bohol. December 04, 6:00PM: Typhoon Pablo has dissipated some of its strength after passing through Northern Mindanao. As of 6:00PM, the center of the typhoon is heading towards the southern tip of Negros island and Dumaguete. In Tagbilaran City, winds intensified at around 2PM until 5PM and has since subsided. In central Bohol, there were reports of strong winds and heavy rain. December 04, 3:00PM: Typhoon Pablo has exited Mindanao and is bearing on Western Visayas. Forecast shows that the center of the typhoon may skip Bohol but will possible make landfall at Dumaguete and the southern tip of the Negros Island. December 04, 8:00 AM: Typhoon Pablo has made landfall in Northern Mindanao and is estimated to have winds near the center at about 170kph and gusts up to 240kph. It is forecast to move west and become weaker with speeds up to 130kph near the center by December 4, 2012 at 8:00PM. Due to the typhoon’s westward movement, Bohol is no longer forecast to be directly hit by the typhoon’s center although strong winds and heavy rain are still expected in the province. All schools,...National News
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