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MANILA, Philippines—Starting March 8, passport operations will be moved from the Department of Foreign Affairs offices to its new Office of Consular Affairs (OCA) building at the corner of Bradco and Macapagal Avenues in Aseana Business Park, the DFA said in a news release.
But the transfer of authentication services will begin earlier on March 4.
MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is set to hear today a fare hike petition by a group of taxi cab operators.
LTFRB officials are expected to act on the petition of the Philippine National Taxi Operators’ Association (PNTOA) asking for a P10 increase in the existing P30 flagdown rate for the first 500 meters of travel.
Road rage killing suspect Jason Ivler on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to the murder charge slapped against him for the killing of Renato Ebarle Jr., son of a Malacañang undersecretary, in November 2009.
Ivler entered the plea during his arraignment at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 76 presided by Judge Alexander Balut.
Present at the proceedings were Ivler’s mother Marlene Aguilar and stepfather Stephen Pollard.
SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela – Cagayan province in northern Luzon has been placed under state of calamity to mitigate the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on its farmlands.
Governor Alvaro Antonio said the provincial government had no choice but to declare a state of calamity since efforts by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to lessen the impact of the phenomenon have not been enough. (read more for video)
Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim and Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III led the unveiling of the 15-foot monument of the late President Corazon C. Aquino on her 77th birth anniversary Monday at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and P. Burgos Drive across the historic Manila Hotel.
Republic Cultural Heritage awardee Eduardo De Los Santos Castrillo, who was personally commissioned by Lim for the project, sculpted the bronze statue of the much-loved leader. (more…)
MANILA, Philippines — Customers continue to flock Bulacan province, in particular Bocaue, the acknowledged “firecracker capital” of the Philippines, to get their supply of firecrackers to be used for the New Year’s revelry. (more…)
It would be the mother of all fireworks. An eruption of Mayon Volcano looms for the New Year, as state volcanologists cited hot molten rocks nearing the crater and continuous lava flows.
Three days after the mass murders that have shocked the world, primary suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town, surrendered to authorities Thursday morning. Ampatuan is awaiting formal murder charges in General Santos City.
The police also said they “rounded up” several local militia members who may have taken part in the bloodbath.
“At this point, Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is a suspect,” Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said in an interview on dzBB radio. His statement came three days after the horrific mass killing on Monday of civilians, including journalists and lawyers. (more…)
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expressed fears Thursday that it might end up conducting a manual election in some areas next year if suppliers Smartmatic Corp. and Total Information Management (TIM) fail to fix the bugs in its transmission system.
Comelec Chairman Jose Melo mentioned such possibility after acting director Jeannie Flororito of the poll body’s Information Technology Department said that at least 25 percent of areas nationwide don’t have transmission systems. (more…)
In a forum attended by former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada himself, lawyers voted Wednesday against his plan to run again for the country’s top post in the 2010 elections.
Estrada surprised participants of a debate on the legality of his plan to join next year’s presidential race when he showed up and participated in the event in San Juan. However, his presence failed to sway the lawyers’ vote in favor of his reelection.
Eighteen of the 30 lawyers who attended the forum said Estrada cannot run again for president in 2010, because the Constitution clearly prohibits ex-presidents to seek reelection. Seven lawyers agreed with the legality of Estrada’s reelection bid, while three said they were undecided. (more…)
“The Iglesia ni Cristo has remained at the forefront of spiritual evangelism, good will and honorable peace, thus enriching countless Filipino lives, leaving an indelible imprint in Filipino society and bestowing upon our country and people a lasting spiritual legacy.”
THE Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) was founded by Felix Y. Manalo on July 27, 1914, as a non-trinitarian Christian restorationist religious organization. A basic component of the INC’s beliefs is that its founder, Felix Y. Manalo, was sent from God to reestablish the Christian church in its true form. (more…)
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan claim that “poverty, plunder, persecution, and pandering” sum up the state of the nation under Mrs. Arroyo’s nine years in office.
Bayan claims that under Mrs. Arroyo’s watch, the number of poor Filipinos grew from 23.8 million in 2003 to 27.6 million in 2009.
Prices of basic goods also went up, according to the group. Prices of liquefied petroleum gas went up from P192 in January 2001 to P472 per 11-kiogram tank in June 2009. Prices of rice also increased from P17 in 2001 to P30 a kilo in July 2009. (more…)
The outpouring of prayers for ailing President Cory Aquino was akin to the years before the 1986 People Power Revolution when the Philippines was a “prayerful nation,” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said Sunday in his homily at the healing Mass for Aquino at the Greenbelt 5 chapel in Makati City.
“We should all go back to the prayerful nation that we were before the 1986 Edsa Revolution and during her administration,” said Arguelles, a Marian priest.
“I’ve never seen an administration closer to God than during her administration,” he added after the Mass.
“Healing priest” Father Fernando Suarez is scheduled to officiate at Monday’s healing Mass for Aquino, her spokesperson, Deedee Siytangco, said.
The bloodless uprising on the Edsa highway in 1986 ended the decades-long Marcos dictatorship, restored democracy in the country, and installed Aquino as the country’s first woman president.
The former President was diagnosed with colon cancer last year. She has been confined at the Makati Medical Center (MMC) since June 25 for weakness and loss of appetite. (more…)
MANILA, Philippines – Security and intelligence officials revealed yesterday another destabilization attempt against the Arroyo administration, claiming opposition leaders were utilizing rightist military elements to overthrow the government.
The opposition, on the other hand, accused the administration of creating the scenario of another destabilization plot to justify forceful measures against critics.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the administration has everything to gain in the series of bombing attempts in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. (more…)
If you have Hydroxycut weight-loss products in your house, you should stop using them and demand a refund from the store where you bought them.
The advice comes from the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), which has recently ordered a recall of all Hydroxycut products from the local market due to health concerns.
In BFAD Advisory No. 2009-005, BFAD Director Leticia Barbara Gutierrez ordered General Nutrition Center (GNC), the Philippine importer of Hydroxycut 1000 mg, whose ingredients include of hydroxagen, chromium picolinate, and L-carnitine, to immediately pull out the products from the market.
Gutierrez said the popular weight loss products had been ordered recalled from the US market earlier by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to reported cases of serious liver problems, such as jaundice and elevated liver enzymes. (more…)
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has activated a crisis management group tasked with planning and implementing damage control measures to cope with the worst problems that may arise during the 2010 elections.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said yesterday that the group will formulate action plans for contingencies such as breakdown of computers or a terrorist attack on election day.
Jimenez said a separate “continuity group” is coming up with possible scenarios and recommending action plans to deal with them.
“All possibilities are being taken into consideration, including mass breakdown of computers and terror attacks during the election,” he said. (more…)
An improvised bomb ripped through a city terminal in Sultan Kudarat province on Saturday morning, injuring 10 people, police said.
Senior Superintendent Benhur Mongao, Sultan Kudarat police chief, said the bomb placed in a trash can inside the Tacurong Integrated Public Terminal exploded around 10:30 a.m.
Mongao said the terminal was packed with people waiting for their rides when the blast took place. He said at least 10 people were rushed to the Quijano hospital.
The police official said the Al-Khobar terrorist group is responsible for the latest bomb attack. He, however, said the terminal’s management did not receive an extortion letter from the group prior to the attack.
Al-Khobar, a local extortionsts’ group, has been tagged by authorities in a series of bomb attacks in the province. With a report from Dexter Ganibe, radio dzMM
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) emphasized the “mild nature” of Influenza A(H1N1), saying that while the number of cases rose to 727 as of yesterday, 536 of the patients have already recovered.
The World Health Organization (WHO) website showed that as of June 24, the Philippines ranked second in Southeast Asia for confirmed A(H1N1) cases, following Thailand which had 774 cases.
Apart from this, among the 102 countries with confirmed A(H1N1) cases, the Philippines placed 10th. Worldwide, there is now a total of 55,867 cases, including 238 deaths. (more…)
