Contestants for the upcoming Miss Philippines Earth 2008 pageant hold signs encouraging motorists to cut emissions and pose for photographers as they are presented to the media at a hotel in Manila April 29, 2008.
Ginebra hires 7-foot-1 for import
Barangay Ginebra hopes to arrest its alarming skid in the Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference, finally, with the help of a new import in Chris Alexander.
And he is not a small hope to cling on to.
The 7-foot-1, 260-lbs behemoth who saw for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the National Basketball Development League, is set to arrive anytime now to replace an ineffective Earnest Brown, who turned out to be lacking.
Ginebra coach Jong Uichico admitted he does not have any idea as to how the current tallest import in the league would fare.
“Of course we don’t know how Alexander will fare. We don’t even know if he’s going to be here in time. But we have to do this move,” said Uichico, whose Kings have been languishing in the cellar with their four straight setbacks.
As soon as Alexander arrives, he will see action immediately for the Kings when they play sister team Purefoods on Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Purefoods and Alaska, because of their not-so-impressive showing in the tournament, are also giving strong considerations to changing their imports at soonest possible time.
Brown averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds since coming in to replace Rahshon Turner, but he negated that impressive numbers by committing an average of 6.4 turnovers.
Climate Change
Two top officials of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pag-asa) yesterday warned that climate change could worsen the country’s precarious food situation due to abnormal weather patterns that damage agricultural production.
Pagasa director Prisco Nilo and weather branch chief Nathaniel Cruz said in separate statements that changing weather patterns as a result of climate change could lower agricultural production in the
“Due to climate change, some crops will be negatively affected. Occurrence of more extreme events will affect agricultural production,” Cruz said in a phone interview.
Nilo, meantime, said “it is likely that climate change will aggravate the world food crisis due to frequent droughts and floods that could destroy crops.”
Earlier, Pagasa’s climate data section chief Lourdes Tibig said the increase in greenhouse gases, which affects weather patterns, is already having an effect on crop yields in some parts of the country.
“The most vulnerable are marginal lands or lands characterized by poor soil conditions. Climate change will also have an adverse effect on those who live in flood-prone and drought-prone areas and those who practice monoculture,” Tibig said.
Tibig said changing weather patterns as a result of climate change could also lead to more rats and pests living in rice fields.
She said weather fluctuations could have a positive effect such as the application of irrigation scheduling to take advantage of the rainy season but the adverse effects outweigh the positive since a slight change in weather patterns could be devastating in areas where agriculture is the only source of income.
Tibig said global warming, for example, could lead to a decrease in rainfall, and warmer temperatures can damage crops and reduce yields. Animals and plants are also more susceptible to disease.
For agriculture, Tibig said rice, cassava and potato crop yields could increase by 15 percent under optimal conditions. Heat stress and decreased rainfall, on the other hand, affect yields of maize and sugar cane crops due to water shortage.
The United Nations-organized Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in November 2007 cited several signals that showed that climate change is happening all over the world. These signs include the following: 11 of the last 12 years are the warmest since 1850; more frequent hot days and nights and heat waves but less frequent cold days; more intense and longer droughts since the 1970s; and more frequent, persistent and intense El Niño since the mid 1970s.
Tibig said the report showed a 99 percent probability of warmer and more frequent hot days and nights and heat waves over most land areas in the coming years. She said more frequent rainfall over most areas would result in increased flood, landslide, soil erosion and mudslides.
Arroyo pushes Tubbataha, Chocolate Hills for 7 wonders
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has pitched for the inclusion of three of the country's sites into the ongoing search for the New Seven Wonders of the World. Arroyo said she visited the Tubbataha Reef in Palawan to campaign for the site, which as of Friday was number seven among the 77 candidates ranked through Internet-based voting.
She said she would return to Tubbataha after her actvities in Negros Oriental.
Arroyo took a break from work Thursday and went diving in the popular diving spot.
"We need all Filipinos who are working here and abroad to vote," Arroyo said in an interview with the local media in Negros Oriental, which was aired Friday over government station Radyo ng Bayan.
Aside from the Tubbataha Reef, Arroyo also campaigned for Chocolate Hills in Bohol and the underground river in Palawan, which she said were ranked ninth and 20th respectively.
In the website www.new7wonders.com, however, Tubbataha Reef is the only Philippine site in the top 77 as of April 25.
The site said that the vote is on until Dec. 31, 2008, after which the top 77 nominees would be submitted to a panel of experts that would put together a shortlist of 21 finalists by January 2009.
A second round of popular voting for the 21 finalists will then ensue and last until the end of 2009 -- with the top seven nominees being officially declared the "New Seven Wonders of the World" by the year 2010, it said.
The search is organized by the Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and the non-profit New Seven Wonders Foundation, which also undertook the "New Seven Wonders of the World" search that ended last year.
Cebu Surgery Scandal
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday named five of the 15 medical staff and students who were present in the operating room during a controversial surgery last Jan. 3 at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City where doctors removed a perfume canister from a patient’s rectum. The procedure was recorded on video without the patient’s permission and uploaded on YouTube, a video sharing website.
Named were Dr. Philip Leo Arias, head surgeon; Dr. Angelo Alinawagan, assisting surgeon; Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo, a surgeon at an adjacent operating room; nursing attendant Rosemarie Villareal and circulating nurse Carmenia Sapio.
The patient yesterday filed criminal and administrative charges before the Ombudsman for the Visayas. Although the complainant – a florist and resident of Barangay Basak-Pardo – did not name the respondents in his eight-page sworn statement, Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago said those responsible for the unauthorized uploading of the footage on YouTube may be identified during the investigation that formally started yesterday.
Another aspect of the investigation will focus on why the VSMMC medical personnel allowed so many people inside the operating room even if they were unauthorized.
The Department of Health (DOH) is now reviewing the recommendation of the VSMMC fact-finding committee that administrative charges be filed against the medical staff.
A “show cause order” has been issued by the DOH, directing these “primary respondents” to explain why charges should not be lodged against them.
A preliminary investigation will then be conducted by the DOH to determine the extent of their offenses and liability, leading to the possible filing of formal charges against them.
Farmers: distribute the Arroyo lands!!!
Farm workers from the three haciendas owned by the Arroyo family in Negros Occidental slipped past presidential guards and staged a lightning rally in front of Malacañang Tuesday morning, GMA's Flash Report said.
Some 20 farmers who participated in the lighting rally near the New Executive Building took off their shirts to protest the government's failure to uphold their land rights.
The protesters said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo herself failed to fulfill her promise seven years ago of distributing her family's haciendas to farmer-beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
"Lupa ng Arroyo ipamahagi (Distribute the Arroyo lands)," they chanted.
The protesters were hauled to a passenger jeepney and brought to a police precinct for investigation. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV
Canada invites more Filipino workers
Praising their admirable work ethics, the mayor of Kingston town in Ontario, Canada hopes to lure in more Filipino migrants to work there.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement on Friday that Kingston Mayor Harvey Rosen aspires to make his town a major destination for migrant workers, particularly Filipinos.
The Philippine embassy officials in Canada led by Ambassador Jose Brillantes visited Kingston as part of the Embassy’s outreach and information-dissemination program.
“[During the courtesy visit] Mayor Rosen said that, since Kingston is the hub of eastern Ontario, with immediate and easy access to the major population centers of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and even Syracuse, New York, the city needs hardworking immigrants such as Filipinos who could competently fill the jobs generated by businesses choosing to locate or expand in Kingston," the DFA statement read.
The DFA also said that according to Rosen and Bill Gray of the Kingston Economic Development Corp. (KEDCO) the town’s strategic location has made it attractive for such industries as transportation and logistics, business outsourcing, warehousing and distribution, information technology and knowledge-based innovation in biotechnology, health sciences and fuel cells.
“With Kingston considered as one of the top 25 cities in Canada, the Mayor said he hopes for Kingston to be a major immigrant destination, particularly for Filipinos," the statement added.
Kingston Ontario- Canada’s first capital- has been tagged as the “Limestone City" because of the many historic buildings made from limestone
Download NDS Games
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Filipino Archbishop - appointed as Papal Nuncio to S. Korea
The Philippine Embassy in Seoul reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Vatican has appointed Filipino Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla as the next Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Korea.
Archbishop Padilla currently serves as the Apostolic Nuncio in Costa Rica. His tour of duty in Seoul begins in July.
Archbishop Padilla is the first Filipino Apostolic Nuncio appointed by the Vatican. His previous postings as Apostolic Nuncio were in Sri Lanka (1994), Nigeria (1998), and Costa Rica (2003).
He is the elder brother of Archbishop Francisco Padilla, the third Filipino Apostolic Nuncio appointed by the Vatican, who is currently posted in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
The Padilla brothers hail from Cebu. The second Filipino Nuncio is Archbishop Adolfo Yllana from Naga City, currently the Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan.
The Seoul Archdiocese announced the good news to the Filipino community gathered at the Sunday Mass at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in Hyewahdong.
Archbishop Padilla currently serves as the Apostolic Nuncio in Costa Rica. His tour of duty in Seoul begins in July.
Archbishop Padilla is the first Filipino Apostolic Nuncio appointed by the Vatican. His previous postings as Apostolic Nuncio were in Sri Lanka (1994), Nigeria (1998), and Costa Rica (2003).
He is the elder brother of Archbishop Francisco Padilla, the third Filipino Apostolic Nuncio appointed by the Vatican, who is currently posted in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
The Padilla brothers hail from Cebu. The second Filipino Nuncio is Archbishop Adolfo Yllana from Naga City, currently the Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan.
The Seoul Archdiocese announced the good news to the Filipino community gathered at the Sunday Mass at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in Hyewahdong.
Air Fares also rising
Philippine Airlines (PAL) and other carriers have asked the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for an increase in their fuel surcharges.
PAL made a request last March 25 for an increase of as much as 10 percent for domestic flights.
The CAB will hear PAL’s petition on April 18.
PAL said its Luzon-Visayas routes should be increased from P930 to P1,130; Luzon-Mindanao, P1,180 to P1,380, Visayas-Mindanao, P900 to P1,110; within Luzon, P780 to P880; within Visayas, P650 to P750; and within Mindanao, P650 to P1,100.
Cebu Pacific submitted its petition last April for an increase of from six percent to 10 percent.
CAB will hear Cebu Pacific’s petition on May 10.
Cebu Pacific said its Luzon-Mindanao route should be increased from P1,300 to P1,400; Luzon Visayas, P1,070 to P1,170; within Luzon, P750 to P800; within Mindanao, P1,000 to P1,100; Visayas-Mindanao, P1,000 to P1,100.
Twenty-five foreign air carriers comprising the Airline Operation Council and five other carriers have filed a similar petition for fuel surcharge increases.
Cathay Pacific has asked to increase its surcharge from $65.10 to $66.40, from
Singapore Airlines has also asked for an increase from $26 to $30, from
There is also a pending request to increase the rate from $123 to $130 from
Royal
Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has also filed an increase from $75 to $80 from
It has a petition to increase the rate from $26 to $30 from Singapore Manila
Rosanna Roces New Scandal
Actress Rosanna Roces made a scene at an off-track betting station in Quezon City Thursday night, after a teller refused to register her bet without her paying first.
Radio dzBB reported Friday that Roces even tried to "assault" a television cameraman who was taking footage of the incident.
The actress-TV host rushed to the OTB station at Tandang Sora near Commonwealth Avenue around 10 p.m. Thursday to confront the teller for not registering her bet on a horse.
But the teller, whom the report identified as Letty Labay, said she refused to register Roces' bet because the actress merely called up a bettor and asked him to place her bet, without paying for it.
She said what could have irked Roces was that the actress placed a winning bet that could have won P20,000.
The report said Roces berated the cashier and teller at the OTB station, then tried to kick a GMA-7 cameraman, who managed to dodge her attack. - GMANews.TV
Radio dzBB reported Friday that Roces even tried to "assault" a television cameraman who was taking footage of the incident.
The actress-TV host rushed to the OTB station at Tandang Sora near Commonwealth Avenue around 10 p.m. Thursday to confront the teller for not registering her bet on a horse.
But the teller, whom the report identified as Letty Labay, said she refused to register Roces' bet because the actress merely called up a bettor and asked him to place her bet, without paying for it.
She said what could have irked Roces was that the actress placed a winning bet that could have won P20,000.
The report said Roces berated the cashier and teller at the OTB station, then tried to kick a GMA-7 cameraman, who managed to dodge her attack. - GMANews.TV
Watch UFC 87 Jon Fitch vs Georges St Pierre Fight Video
Searching for the information about the latest event Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC 87 Seek and Destroy Video Fight highlighting the World Welterweight Championship Jon Fitch vs Georges St Pierre Fight.
For sure many UFC 87 fans out there enjoyed watching the UFC 87 online in pay per view held last August 9, 2008. So, for those who missed the LIVE streaming of the UFC 87 Seek and Destroy here is the summary of the results.
Bread prices will increase next week
Consumers will have to tighten their belts further as members of the Federation of Bakers announced that they will increase bread prices starting next week.
According to reports, prices of bread will increase by about five to ten percent of current prices.
Philippine Baking Industry Group head Simplicio Umali Jr. said in a radio interview that they tried to prevent the price hike but could not cope up with the rising prices of flour in the world market.
Umali said that effective April 15, consumers can expect the price of pan de sal to increase by as much as P1.50 each. It currently sells at P2.50.
Prices of loaf bread, meanwhile, will increase by P3 to P5 per loaf or from P47.50 to P55.
According to reports, prices of bread will increase by about five to ten percent of current prices.
Philippine Baking Industry Group head Simplicio Umali Jr. said in a radio interview that they tried to prevent the price hike but could not cope up with the rising prices of flour in the world market.
Umali said that effective April 15, consumers can expect the price of pan de sal to increase by as much as P1.50 each. It currently sells at P2.50.
Prices of loaf bread, meanwhile, will increase by P3 to P5 per loaf or from P47.50 to P55.
New gov't portal allows electronic payments
Financed by the e-Government Fund and initiated by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and the National Computer Center (NCC), the portal is being touted as the “single door".
For the e-Serbisyo portal, Diaz de Rivera said government had a budget of P50 million for hardware, software, and services. Winning bidder TIM (Total Information Management) undertook the project for P46 million.
Applying for passport now more convenient for OFWs
Beginning April 15, Filipinos leaving for jobs abroad can already apply for passports at the Department of Foreign Affairs satellite office located at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Mandaluyong City.Processing fee is at P500 for 14-working day processing. If you want to claim your passport within seven working days, there is an additional processing fee of P250.
In a press statement, the DFA said the passport processing fee in the Philippines remains among the lowest in the world. Besides, most countries take at least six weeks to process a passport application.
The DFA said the accessibility of passport application at its satellite office in POEA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue corner Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City) is for the benefit and convenience of OFWs.
Since July 2007. the DFA has been issuing the maroon-colored machine readable passport that contains a data summary in a format that is capable of being read by machine.
The new passport design was in compliance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation organization, and facilitates the passport check at port of entry, increases the credibility of Philippine passports and better secures the holder's identity, the DFA said.
All countries in the world now issue and use MRPs.
DFA encourages the public to file their passport applications way ahead of their intended travel date and not to wait until the last minute.
Passport application requirements include personal appearance and submission of a completed application form, three pieces of colored passport photos with royal blue background, authenticated birth certificate and at least two government-issued identification cards and documents proving the applicant's identity and citizenship.
The passport application form and guidelines may be downloaded at www.dfa.gov.ph. -gma news.tv.
Invasion: Philippines vs. The World
Gerry Peñalosa of the Philippines beat challenger Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight title on Sunday at the Invasion: Philippines vs The World boxing event at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.Peñalosa won after the referee stopped the fight with 29 seconds remaining in the eighth round. Peñalosa knocked down the Thai thrice, in the fifth, seventh, and earlier in the eighth before the referree stopped the fight.
It was in the fifth round that Peñalosa started punishing the Thai with a series of combinations that nearly knocked him down, at one point sending him down on his knees. Vorapin, however, managed to put his arms around Peñalosa's waist to break his fall.
The event featured four Filipinos, who won all their matches.
In the third bout, Rey "Boom-Boom" Bautista of the Philippines knocked out Genaro Camargo of Mexico in the second of a 12-round match to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) inter-continental super bantamweight title. -FULL STORY
Playboy Magazine Philippine Edition has launched
American adult magazine Playboy has launched its first ever Philippine edition, triggering protests from the country's conservative Roman Catholic Church, but promising to avoid full-frontal nudity.
The local issue promises to be tamer than other editions sold across the world and will seek to avoid offending local sensibilities, editor-in-chief Beting Laygo Dolor told AFP.
Tubbataha Reef
Tubbataha Reef is nominated for NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE. It is an atoll coral reef in the Sulu Sea, Philippines. It is a marine sanctuary protected as Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park. The reef is composed of two atolls, North and South Reefs. Each reef has a Single small islet that protudes from the water. The atolls are separated by a deep channel 8 kilometers wide. Over one thousand species, including many that are endangered, can be found at on the reef. These include manta rays, lionfish, tortoises, clownfish and sharks.
Please vote TUBBATAHA REEF for New 7 Wonders of Nature. To vote, please click HERE.
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