Category: Development

Filipino sentiments mixed over Manny Pangilinan’s threat to quit the Philippines

Posted on By benign0 44 Comments on Filipino sentiments mixed over Manny Pangilinan’s threat to quit the Philippines

Following a threat from tycoon Manny Pangilinan to leave the Philippines and take with him his money, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II has warned that the Philippines may be in for a crisis of confidence, presumably if this sort of thing becomes a trend… The House majority leader warned Pangilinan’s move would become “a…

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Development, Economy, Money Talks

Drilling in Recto Bank gas field possibly set back by Trillanes adventurism

Posted on By benign0 4 Comments on Drilling in Recto Bank gas field possibly set back by Trillanes adventurism

When it comes to China, money is the primary currency of any kind of negotiation. And in light of the big tiff between Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and “Senator” Antonio Trillanes IV, the cast of characters is a lot bigger and includes one of the Philipines’s biggest mining companies, Philex Mining Corporation, and its…

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Development, Money Talks, Politics

Philippine anti-human-trafficking NGO sued by Uncle Sam on allegations of fraudulent use of aid funds

Posted on By benign0 25 Comments on Philippine anti-human-trafficking NGO sued by Uncle Sam on allegations of fraudulent use of aid funds

A bookkeeper of noted Philippine NGO Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) blew the whistle on its founder Cecilia Flores-Oebanda. Maria Analie Villacorte who, according to VFF attorney Laurence Arroyo, resigned from the VFF last July alleges she received instructions from Oebanda to “falsify” documents that would have been used to support the disbursement of up to…

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Crime, Development, Government

BusinessWeek cites Aquino anti-corruption drive in 2Q growth report

Posted on By benign0 4 Comments on BusinessWeek cites Aquino anti-corruption drive in 2Q growth report

The National Statistical Coordination Board of the Philippine Government announced today that the Philippine economy grew 5.9 percent in the three months to the end of June 2012 over the same period in the previous year. Several news reports credited increased spending by the government and favourable perception created by the “anti-corruption” drive of Philippine…

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Development, Economy, Media, Money Talks

Are the obvious solutions to the Philippines’ problems feasible?

Posted on By Kate Natividad 15 Comments on Are the obvious solutions to the Philippines’ problems feasible?

I keep reading about people proposing sensible and obvious things to combat the biggest problems we face today, like controlling (and maybe even reducing) population, reducing carbon emissions, and voting for the best leader. All sounds like the ‘intelligent’ things to do, don’t they? But all that is just asking too much when you consider…

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Development, Environment, Lifestyle, Society

It’s about time the Philippine government blasts squatters out of the water

Posted on By benign0 44 Comments on It’s about time the Philippine government blasts squatters out of the water

Apparently emboldened by the rising anger over the man-made nature of the massive floods that devastated much of Metro Manila last week and increasingly loud calls to rectify the problems related to it that politicians had allowed to fester for decades, President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III has issued a strong mandate for decisive action…

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Development, Environment, Government, Society

RH Bill ‘debate’: When Tito Sotto says ‘jump’ Filipinos ask ‘How high?’

Posted on By benign0 20 Comments on RH Bill ‘debate’: When Tito Sotto says ‘jump’ Filipinos ask ‘How high?’

Whatever the content of Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III’s anti-Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) speech broadcast via radio today was, the bottom line is quite simple: Tito Sotto is a celebrity. His impassioned speech delivered in Tagalog, the lingua franca of Philippine showbiz, will likely have resonated across the Filipino masses. Sure, he made debatable…

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Culture, Development, Education, Lifestyle, Politics, Religion

Solution to Manila flooding may involve more of living with it than protecting against it

Posted on By benign0 29 Comments on Solution to Manila flooding may involve more of living with it than protecting against it

Metro Manila is, by its very nature, a city vulnerable to flooding. Yet it has grown and developed into a monstrous megalopolis that, today, teeters on the brink of catastrophic failure. Manila is bisected by the Pasig River into which connect a system of natural waterways that both feed into it and absorb excess water…

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Development, Environment, Government