News & Archives

Patpong's red light district is silent now the security forces have taken control?

Bored bar girls have been abandoned by customers in Bangkok?s notorious red-light district, now festooned with razor wire after armed troops descended to block anti-government protests.

The usual crowds of sex tourists, curious holidaymakers and expatriate regulars have evaporated from the Patpong nightlife strip, replaced by...

| | del.icio.us

Prosecutors walked out of their offices yesterday to protest Justice Secretary Alberto Agra?s clearing of two members of the Ampatuan clan in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao last November.

The furore over Agra?s decision has even reached the United States, which urged the Philippines ?to spare no effort in investigating and prosecuting these terrible crimes in order to...

| | del.icio.us

"TG" assails DoJ for dropping charges against top Ampatuan's (in English & Tagalog)?

Bukidnon Representative and Liberal Party Senatorial Candidate Teofisto ?TG? Guingona slammed the Department of Justice over its decision to drop the murder charges against two prominent members of a powerful Muslim clan over the massacre of 57 people last year.

DOJ Secretary Alberto Agra dropped Zaldy and...

| | del.icio.us

Police arrested a con-artist, who posed as an employee of the Manila City Hall, for duping two Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) into a bogus food cart business in Paco, Manila on Friday afternoon.

The suspect, Jesie ?Jack Apa-ap? Cutillas, manager of Hamoraon Company and of 1415 C-Gomez Street, Pandacan, Manila, faces charges of estafa (swindling) and violation of Revised Penal...

| | del.icio.us

Mass Migration: The Modern Version Of Invasion?by Stanislav Mischin

In the ancient days, such as prior to 1945, politics, that is territorial acquisition, was much more honest. If I wanted your province, I invaded, if I could, took it, if I could and annexed it, if I could. That was prior to 1946.

Since 1946 and the UN, things have...

| | del.icio.us

?

Beauty and the Beasts?

Her justice secretary cleared two top members of the Ampatuan clan of complicity in the Maguindanao massacre.

Her deputy spokesman has stated that she had no part in the decision to drop the charges. That is not the same as saying she did not?know.

The prosecutors have stated that Argra made the decision on Friday,...

| | del.icio.us

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has ordered the summary deportation of a British national for unjustly firing a security guard employed at his nightclub in Makati City.

Atty. Floro Balato Jr., BI spokesman, identified the Briton as Owen Sterling, allegedly the owner and manager of the Wow Wow Dancing Table/Singing Bar and Restaurant located along Burgos Street, Poblacion, Makati City....

| | del.icio.us

?

Satellite image courtesy of NASA - more images from NASA below

Global travel and trade disupted along with fears of an ecological timebomb?similar to?previous eruptions in Iceland over the past thousand years - an analysis plus excellent images from space

Eyjafjallaj?kull. While some say it is ?unpronounceable?, it would be a good idea to get used to the name...

| | del.icio.us

NAZI WAR CRIMINALS?WOULD HAVE?BEEN CLEARED HAD?AGRA?BEEN PROSECUTOR

The ghosts of those Nazi war criminals executed after the Nuremburg war crime trials should be stirring now. The trials, held in the wake of the collapse of Germany in 1945, put on trial some of the monsters who were the top tier devising, planning and implementing the Holocaust. Almost none were actually...

| | del.icio.us

??

The forthcoming British election has immigration as a major topic

By Charles Kelly?

Labour?s Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister, Tory leader and poll favourite David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg all promised to control immigration.

In the run up to the General Election on 6 May, ITV staged the first of three televised US-style...

| | del.icio.us

Families of those slain in the Philippines' worst political massacre vowed on Sunday to appeal a government decision to drop charges against two members of a Muslim clan blamed for the killings.

"We are going to oppose this order in court. We will file an appeal," Harry Roque, a private prosecutor representing some of the families, told AFP.

"They are...

| | del.icio.us

Mahal naming mga community leaders,

Nakikiusap po ang FCN sa inyo at sa inyong mga lokal na pamayanan na suportahan po natin at daluhan ang UST Singers Concert sa ika-25 Abril, 2010 ? ika-6 ng gabi.

Ang UST Singers po ay dadalo sa pandaigdigang patimpalak ng mga mang-aawit sa Cork. Ipakita po natin sa kanila ang ating suporta sa pamamagitan...

| | del.icio.us

NEW ORLEANS ? A business that brought hundreds of Filipino teachers to Louisiana to work in public schools has been fined and ordered to refund placement fees that a teacher union estimates will total $1.8 million.

An administrative law judge with the Louisiana Workforce Commission said California-based Universal Placement Inc.,?headed by a Lourdes Navarro,?operated without the proper Louisiana license. Les...

| | del.icio.us

German insensitivity showed itself in a gross example on Thursday evening when 12 Filipinos who held UK visas were detained at Frankfurt airport after landing there onboard a diverted Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong bound for London's Heathrow airport.

The flight was diverted as a result of the Icelandic volcano which has closed most of Europe's air traffic systems....

| | del.icio.us

The firestorm of controversy battering the Catholic Church shows no sign of dying down, as the institution and its leaders continue to endure scorching new accusations of pedophile priests abusing young children, and of Vatican officials covering up their actions. Amid all the fury, the Vatican made a bold move: In a reversal of a decades-old pronouncement, the church forgave...

| | del.icio.us

It is normal for repairs to be done by professionals. Unless that is people are expert at do it yourself household repairs, it is always best to get a real builder, carpenter or plumber in; pay them and relax.

Unfortunately, there are those who save the money, do the repair themselves who are to put it mildly, thick. The photos...

| | del.icio.us

A multinational firm doing intelligence work for a host of embassies and some of the world?s top corporations has said signs that the Philippines? first automated balloting on May 10 would fail are getting clearer as the elections draw closer.

In a paper entitled ?Assessing 2010 Elections Automation in the Philippines,? Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PSA) said it had found...

| | del.icio.us

In the light of numerous complaints on fake franchisors involving overseas Filipino workers as victims, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to issue an advisory to all Philippine Embassies and Consulates General to warn overseas Filipinos against rampant franchising scams.

The DTI specifically identified the following companies and individual as bogus...

| | del.icio.us

A Mexico, Pampanga man who has been sentenced to death by a Saudi court is to?file an appeal.?

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said today that the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was meted the capital punishment on April 13 was assisted by legal counsel provided by the Embassy during the course of his trial. The Embassy also said that...

| | del.icio.us

Bagumbayan standard bearer Sen. Richard Gordon on Wednesday said he will file charges against survey firms that conduct pre-election polls saying this influences public opinion.

Gordon said he has asked his lawyers to file the damage suit against independent pollsters on Friday (April 16).

?It is unfair. They are just conditioning the minds of voters,? the former Olongapo City mayor...

| | del.icio.us

The Supreme Court (SC) announced on Wednesday that the rules and procedures on environmental cases will take effect on April 29, 2010.

According to SC Spokesman and Court Administrator Atty. Jose Midas Marquez, the implementation of such environmental rules and procedures is unprecedented as it is the first of its kind in the world.

Marquez said that under the rules,...

| | del.icio.us

The media advertising is changing with the addition of online and mobile advertising, which is slowly but surely asserting its place in the advertising world.

With this realization, the IMMAP (Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines) was born. It is composed of all web and mobile players in the country, to start an advocacy towards professionalizing, regulating and...

| | del.icio.us

Angat Dam, Bulacan

Greenpeace today stepped up its call for the need for urgent political action to climate-proof the country's water resources as water levels in Angat Dam reached?a critical level.

The decline in Angat's water levels is currently being monitored by the "Water Watch" camp which Greenpeace, together with National Power, set up last Monday. As the El Nino...

| | del.icio.us

About 60 flights between Asia and Europe were cancelled Friday, stranding several thousand passengers, as ash from an Icelandic volcano filled the skies over northern Europe. (With video)

Japan Airlines?said nine flights to and from Europe were canceled, including round-trip flights from Narita International Airport to Paris, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt, affecting around 2,300 passengers. All Nippon Airways Co....

| | del.icio.us

A United States lawmaker has expressed concerns on the upcoming nationwide automated polls in the Philippines, expressing fears of fraud and massive disenfranchisement of voters during election day on May 10.

California Rep. Ed Royce (Republican) raised the electoral fraud issue with President Arroyo during dinner in Washington DC on April 14.

Royce said he was able to take up...

| | del.icio.us

An investigation spanning 21 countries across six continents found that 30 priests accused of sexual abuse were transferred or moved abroad, with three of them ending up in the Philippines, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Some of the priests escaped police investigations. Many had access to children in another country, and some abused again.

A priest who admitted to abuse...

| | del.icio.us

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation or RCBC is offering a number of foreclosed properties from the Visayas and Mindanao areas and interested parties can now submit offers for the said foreclosed properties. All offers for these RCBC foreclosed properties must be submitted on or before April 23, 2010, Friday, at the 12/F Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue corner...

| | del.icio.us

RCBC are holding a?Mega Property Auction featuring foreclosed properties from Metro Manila and Luzon happens on April 24, 2010, Saturday, 9:30AM, at the Podium 4 Lobby, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue corner Buendia Avenue, Makati City, Philippines.

?

The Mega property Auction is a joint auction that combines foreclosed properties from RCBC and RCBC Savings Bank.

? ?

Click the image...

| | del.icio.us

Department of Justice acting secretary Alberto Agra met with families of the victims of the Ampatuan massacre an hour before Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal accused in the murders, was transferred Thursday to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

The families, accompanied by their lawyers, sought among others, government protection from alleged harassment and persecution from...

| | del.icio.us

AMPATUAN, Maguindanao

Suspected members of the private militia of the Ampatuan clan shelled the surroundings of this town?s police station and a detachment of the Army?s 45th Infantry Battalion Tuesday night.

Although no one was killed or wounded in the shelling, the seventh in the past 10 days, the attack forced more residents at the town proper to flee their...

| | del.icio.us

THE administration?s presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. will take time out from his provincial sorties to hold emergency meetings with his party mates after a series of defections rocked the ruling party.

Albay Gov. Jose Salceda, who only recently launched ?Team Palabra de Honnor (Word of Honor)? and vowed to stay true to Teodoro, became the latest party stalwart to...

| | del.icio.us

Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Senator Manny Villar has improved his rating, arresting his perceived slide in the presidential preferential survey.

In the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted March 28-30, Villar posted 29 percent, which was one point higher from the previous mid-March survey also conducted by the SWS.

Villar?s SWS rating was likewise four percent above...

| | del.icio.us

Public Attorney's Office (PAO) Chief Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta on Saturday said that the civil suits filed against the Sulpicio Lines, Inc. (Sulpicio Lines) in connection with the sinking of "M/V Princess of the Stars" has been fortified by evidence showing its neglect to identify almost 100 victims buried in Cebu and Romblon island provinces.

Rueda-Acosta led here the exhumation of...

| | del.icio.us

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center on Tuesday helped file the very first case of trafficking in human against a private lending company, RJJ Lacaba Financing Corp.

Senatorial candidate Susan ?Toots? Ople, head of the The Center, and 20 bus drivers who are among the victims of the lending company, trooped to the Justice department and filed the complaint.

They...

| | del.icio.us

U.A.E. A maid pleaded guilty to the charge of endangering the life of an infant on Monday in the Court of Misdemeanours. The judge is set to pronounce a verdict on April 26.

The Filipina maid, 30, held the five-month-old, carrying him near the railing of the apartment on the 13^th floor of a building, with the intention to...

| | del.icio.us

A viral video and email message about the alleged brutal rape of two Filipinas in Abu Dhabi is nothing but a hoax, Philippine Embassy officials here confirmed.

The hoax was so widely-circulated that it prompted the embassy to report the matter to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Sunday.

According to the email and video, two Filipinas...

| | del.icio.us

In a press conference held on Monday morning in the Manila Hotel, the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), a national confederation of government employee unions, bared their concern over TESDA?s accumulated debt to various schools nationwide totaling to more than P 2 Billion under the Pangulong Gloria Scholarship (PGS) program.?

Formerly known as the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo-Training for...

| | del.icio.us

?

The Angat Dam's levels are dangerously low, and with the dry season in full swing, expected to get lower (click images to enlarge)

Angat Dam, Bulacan

Greenpeace set up a ?Water Watch? camp in Angat Reservoir, Metro Manila?s main water source, to highlight the urgent threat to the country?s water resources. Greenpeace is calling on the public to take...

| | del.icio.us

?

The Washington, DC based Migrant Heritage Commission has gone on the attack over racist remarks made by Adam Carolla (pictured above), a broadcster with quite a following on his podcasts. His remarks have caused a major stir among Filipinos in the USA as well as reaching Malacanang.

On?his April 4, 2010 podcast, Carolla referred to Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao...

| | del.icio.us

?

By Charles Kelly

The latest updates on important immigration news??

UKBA publish Tier 4 changes for education providers and migrant students

The UK Border Agency has published important changes to the Immigration Rules, which?came into force this week, affecting migrant students and educational providers which sponsor them under Tier 4 of the points-based system.

Other stories...

| | del.icio.us

The Philippine government launched Thursday its first-ever onshore Treasury bond (T-bond) intended primarily for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their beneficiaries.

In a briefing, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) would initially offer US$500 million worth of the multi-currency retail treasury bond (MRTB), though it has an option to increase it depending on demand.

He said...

| | del.icio.us

The Philippines comes in for criticism over its low value of spending on healthcare, currently around 2%?of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The World Health Organization (WHO)?has called on governments across the Asia Pacific region to spend more on health in order to cut out-of-pocket health-care costs for the poor and vulnerable, stating that the optimum figure should be of the...

| | del.icio.us

??

Marlene Aguilar?(above center) proved that a mother's love knows no limits. Even if she makes herself look a complete idiot as well as criminally culpable for harboring a fugitive in a murder case.?(With video)

On Friday morning she started a campaign with a march?to convince the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to?send her son, the prime suspect Jason...

| | del.icio.us

A 70-year-old Filipino pharmacist will receive $120,000 from discount department store giant Kmart after the company agreed to settle out of court an age discrimination lawsuit filed by a federal labor agency on behalf of the victim.

In its report, US-based online news service Philippine News said Kmart Corp. also decided to furnish other relief to settle an age harassment,...

| | del.icio.us

?

Life will come to a standstill if malls are closed

The Philippine government, grappling with electricity shortages brought on by a long drought, said Thursday it will ask shopping malls and factories to shut down for several days to ensure an uninterrupted power supply during May elections.

Optical scanning machines will be used for the first time to count...

[More]

---

Posted at: 05:43 | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

GAY PARTY CAN STAND SAYS SUPREME COURT

9 April 2010

The Philippine Supreme Court overturned a decision Thursday barring a gay rights group from contesting national elections in May and recognized it as a legitimate political party for the first time.

In a unanimous ruling, the 15-member court threw out decisions by the Elections Commission denying accreditation to Ang Ladlad (Out of the Closet) on grounds that it tolerates immorality...

[More]

---

Posted at: 05:32 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

"OFW" BONDS LAUNCHED

9 April 2010

The Philippines launched Thursday $500 million worth of multi-currency retail Treasury bonds, with at least 20 percent of the volume to be sold to migrant Filipino workers and their relatives

The three- and five-year issue will consist of $400 million in dollar-denominated bonds and 75 million in euros.

National Treasurer Roberto Tan expressed optimism that demand for the bonds would...

[More]

---

Posted at: 05:25 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

EU AIR BAN STARTS TO IMPACT ON TOURISM

9 April 2010

The Tourism Department expressed alarm Thursday over a number of European tour cancellations after the European Union blacklisted Philippine carriers due to safety reasons.

The department urged the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to work out measures to lift the restriction on local carriers, saying local tourism would suffer losses if tour cancellations continued.

?Major European travel operators from...

[More]

---

Posted at: 05:17 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

SMOKE BELCHERS UNDER NEW THREAT AS STRONGER SANCTIONS ANNOUNCED

9 April 2010

?

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on Wednesday that vehicles emitting thick, black smoke will be immediately apprehended and cited for smoke-belching violation even without undergoing the required emission test.

The agency said that this new system of apprehension will make it easier for the agency to clamp down on smoke belchers.

?Just the sight of a vehicle...

[More]

---

Posted at: 03:03 | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

DAVAO STARTS PLANS TO EMULATE AMSTERDAM GIVING PRIORITY TO BICYCLES

9 April 2010

?

Dutch authorities have long allowed bikes to have priority - now Davao starts along that road

The bicycle ordinance of this city finally got the approval of the City Council on third and final reading Tuesday.

City Councilor Leo Avila III, the ordinance?s author, said there are four phases in the implementation of the ordinance, the final of which...

[More]

---

Posted at: 02:16 | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

BACTERIA FOUND TO HALT DENGUE TRANSMISSION

9 April 2010

?

Entomologists at Michigan State University (MSU) have found that a bacterium can stop dengue viruses from replicating in the mosquitoes. The research was published Thursday in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

"In nature, about 28 percent of mosquito species harbor Wolbachia bacteria, but the mosquitoes that are the primary transmitters of dengue, Aedes aegypti, have no Wolbachia in them," said...

[More]

---

Posted at: 01:53 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

EMPHYSEMA RISKS CAN NOW BE PREDICTED

9 April 2010

Using CT scans to measure blood flow in the lungs of people who smoke may offer a way to identify which smokers are most at risk of emphysema before the disease damages and eventually destroys areas of the lungs, according to a University of Iowa (UI) study available here on Tuesday.

The study found that smokers who have very subtle...

[More]

---

Posted at: 01:17 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

PAKISTANI ILLEGAL RECRUITER BEING DEPORTED

9 April 2010

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will soon deport a Pakistani national who was arrested for complaints of large-scale illegal recruitment in Palawan, it was reported Wednesday.

The Pakistani, who now undergoing deportation proceedings for being an undesirable and undocumented alien, was identified as Ehmad Agha a.k.a. Salim Jan Iftikha, who was detained at the BI detention center in Bicutan following...

[More]

---

Posted at: 01:09 | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

RP ELECTIONS START IN LONDON

8 April 2010

It?s all systems go for the start of the month-long overseas absentee voting (OAV) on Saturday, the Philippine embassy?in London?said.

Emmanuel Guzman, third secretary and vice consul, said they are not expecting any glitch in the OAV, which could draw more than 8,500 registered voters all over the country, the largest in Europe.

?We expect the process to be in...

[More]

---

Posted at: 23:10 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

EX-GENERAL IN HUMAN SMUGGLING SCANDAL SUSPENDED AS NAIA BOSS

7 April 2010

?

An airport official implicated in the Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment-National Broadband Network (ZTE-NBN) controversy was suspended from his post for alleged human smuggling, QTV's Balitanghali said Wednesday. (With video)

The Manila International Aiport Authority (MIAA) placed retired Brig. Gen. Angel Atutubo under preventive suspension for reportedly allowing 80 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to leave the country. Atutubo used to...

[More]

---

Posted at: 01:26 | 4 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

NEW CLASSIFIED ADVERTS SECTION

3 April 2010

Balita Pinoy has changed its FREE CLASSIFIED ADVERTS section by expanding it.

Still free, it has more categories, especially for freelancers to post details of their expertise for example in data input, programming, graphic design and suchlike. It also allows potential clients to post their needs.?

There is also an expanded jobs section, goods for sale section, sections for announcing...

[More]

---

Posted at: 05:13 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

BANDWIDTH-SQUATTING FORMER SOLON HAS HEART ATTACK IN JAIL AFTER ARREST ON ILLEGAL RECRUITING CHARGES

2 April 2010

Former Party-list Rep. Jaime Zarraga, who was arrested by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents last Monday for alleged syndicated estafa and illegal recruitment, was taken to a Manila hospital after he suffered a heart attack at the NBI jail on Wednesday morning.

NBI Assistant Regional Director Roland Argabioso, chief of the Field Operations Division (FOD), said Zarraga, of Hanay...

[More]

---

Posted at: 01:31 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

UK EVENTS - SUPPLIED BY THE PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN LONDON

1 April 2010

?

Filipino/Brit duo Fuse are performing in Ipswich Saturday 10th April?- free tickets and free transport from London's Liverpool Street Station - details below

EMBASSY?S MATRICES OF UPCOMING EVENTS/ADVISORIES/PRESS RELEASES

As of 01 April 2010

?

Event	Date/Time	Venue	Remarks
1. 2010...

[More]

---

Posted at: 23:14 | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

CORRUPTION CERTIFICATES TO BE TRADED ON ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

1 April 2010

Tradeable Corruption Certificates (TCC) are likely to be launched on stock markets in Asia and the Middle East today with the Indonesian Stock Market likely to be a star performer given Indonesia?s guilt-edged market performance in the sector.

These innovative certificates would facilitate recovery of bribes made by foreign companies and redeploy the funds to tourists from the same country,... [More]

---

Posted at: 02:28 | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us

AMPATUAN's FRAUD: HOW THEY USED ARMM & IRA FUNDS AS THEIR PRIVATE BANK

1 April 2010

THE COMMISSION on Audit (COA) is probably used to seeing dismal book-keeping from government units, but in the last several years, it seems to have become particularly challenged in trying to keep track of the accounts of Maguindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Since 2002, the state auditing agency, in various reports, has repeatedly raised adverse findings...

[More]

---

Posted at: 01:47 | 1 Comment | Add Comment | Permalink | | del.icio.us