Citing a 2007 report of the Commission on Audit (COA), Hontiveros said the DPWH budget reeks with patong and bukol, terms that have made it to the Philippine vocabulary of graft and corruption during the investigation of the ZTE broadband scandal involving President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a number of her officials.
"Based on COA's report, several DPWH accounts have been overstated. In contemporary corruption parlance, 'overstatement' is actually equivalent to 'patong' and 'bukol'. Nakakapangilabot na ang ganito kalaking pondo ay mukhang nawawala," Rep. Hontiveros said.
"This is exactly the reason why people think that DPWH is one of the most corrupt government agencies," Hontiveros said.
She said the missing funds should be enough to keep the Office of the Ombudsman busy in the next five years.
In her questions during the DPWH budget hearing, she highlighted three accounts where the bulk of the missing funds is concentrated.
"The biggest patong is in the Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) account, which was overstated by P64.7 billion. According to COA, there are unsubstantiated, unsupported, and erroneous reporting in the procurement and purchase of items under this account," Hontiveros said.
"The second highest is in the Account Payables (AP) account, which was overstated by P53 billion or 73% of the reported liabilities of DPWH. This account lists obligations and indebtedness to contractors and suppliers," Hontiveros added. "We have to check if the transaction under this account are legal and if these contractors and suppliers that benefited from these transactions are legitimate."
She said that about P249 million of funds transferred to national government agencies and local government units remain unliquidated.
"Under COA's Circular No. 94-013, reporting by implementing agencies should be done monthly during the project duration, with all accountable officers submitting supporting vouchers, payroll, and other relevant documents monthly. There shouldn't be any excuses at all why these disbursed funds have not been liquidated yet," she said.
Hontiveros said that DPWH Sec. Hermogenes Ebdane promised that a written reply to her questions would be provided prior to the plenary debates for DPWH's budget. However, she said that she will move for the deferment of the budget's approval should the department fail to submit a satisfactory reply. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/123191/Lawmaker-sees-P120-billion-missing-from-DPWH-funds>
House to let NGO's join budget deliberations
An article on the House of Representatives website (www.congress.gov.ph) said the House Committee on People's Participation deemed it proper to tap POs and NGOs in the deliberations public amid a controversy over insertions being made by lawmakers into the national budget.
Several questionable items, including double entries and lump-sum appropriations, were found in the national budget for 2008.
The approved measure, dubbed "People's Participation in Budget Deliberations Act of 2008," aims to take the place of House Bills 4735, 4959 and 4977.
Authors of the proposal included committee chairman Rep. Guillermo Cua (PL, COOP NATCO), Thelma Almario (Davao Oriental), Teofisto Guingona III (Bukidnon), Lorenzo Tañada III (Quezon), Solomon Chungalao (Ifugao), Edelmiro Amante (Agusan del Norte), Manuel Agyao (Kalinga), Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruiz (Cebu), and Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu).
Under the measure, POs and NGOs will participate in the budget deliberation to ensure the budget will be for development and will reflect national objectives, strategies and plans.
The Senate President and House Speaker shall allow the active participation of accredited POs and NGOs in the annual budget deliberations by inviting their duly-authorized representatives as resource persons.
"However, this will be subject to internal rules and regulations of the Senate and the House and what their concerned committees may provide," the House article said.
Local Development Councils headed by their concerned barangay captains, mayors and governors shall also allow the active participation of POs and NGOs in their annual budget deliberations subject to the limitations provided by statutes and their respective ordinances.
Accredited POs and NGOs, through their authorized representatives, shall be allowed to participate in any regular and consultative public meetings, hearings, conferences, dialogues, debates or deliberations sponsored by the Senate and House, including district and other local bodies in relation to the government’s annual national budget.
They shall also be allowed to submit their own alternative or proposed budget or position paper with regards to the sector they represent, as well as written proposals on projects and activities of the government agencies whose budget is under deliberation.
Also, they shall have access to copies of the bills or budget proposals filed in Congress and in the local governments concerned, and to data coming from these institutions according to the proposal.
For accreditation, POs and NGOs shall be required to submit their application forms with the following documents: articles of incorporation; certificate of registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and concerned authority agency; affidavit of modus operandi; certificate of good track records and standing from a proper authority; and duly audited financial statements for the past three years showing the assets and liabilities of the organizations.
Upon approval of their application by the secretary of the Senate or the House secretary-general, a certification of accreditation valid for three years shall be issued to the concerned POs and NGOs. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/123141/House-to-let-NGOs-join-budget-deliberations>
Dismissed LRT workers hold protest as House panel tackle DOTC budget
A radio report said members of the Pinag-isang Lakas ng Manggagawa ng Metro-National Federation of Workers Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (Piglas-NFWU-KMU) trooped to the Batasan Complex saying that instead of pushing for the approval of their P23.56 billion budget, the DOTC should first settle their “debts" with the dismissed LRT employees.
The group said the DOTC owes them P229 million in back wages and separation pay, when it “illegally" dismissed 211 employees.
The employees were relieved from work after participating in a July 2000 strike which was triggered after the employees and the management reached a deadlock in the negotiations for their collective bargaining agreement.
In an earlier ruling by the National Labor Relations Commission, the LRTA and the Metro Transit Organization Inc (MTOI) were being ordered to jointly compensate the dismissed workers. The MTOI is a government-owned and controlled corporation that formerly operated the LRT Line 1.
However, the Court of Appeals 13th Division later ruled against the NLRC decision and said that only the MTOI, and not the LRTA, should pay up the said amount.
According to the appellate court, the LRTA could not be held liable for the unpaid wages because the dismissed workers were actually employees of MTOI.
In April, however, the Supreme Court’s Third Division ruled in favor of the employees and said their relief was illegal.
The High Court ordered the MTOI to pay the workers P208 million in back wages and P21 million in legal fees. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/122821/Dismissed-LRT-workers-hold-protest-as-House-panel-tackle-DOTC-budget>
EC call for 'universal' broadband
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Regions of some European nations cannot currently get broadband
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The fast growth of broadband has lead the European Commission to bring forward a review of the basic telecoms services Europeans can expect.
Current statistics suggest about 36% of households in EU member nations have high-speed net access.
When a majority of EU citizens are using a telecoms service, EC
rules dictate that it becomes one every European should be able to
enjoy. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7637215.stm>
French hold out against credit crunch
The BBC's Emma Jane Kirby asks if other nations should take a leaf out of the thrifty Gallic book?
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In France, it is very difficult to spend money you do not have
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If I had to use one word to describe France's financial system, the word I would choose would be "cautious".
French banks are immensely careful about whom they lend money to and, to limit risks, they spread their investments much more widely than those in the US or UK.
Only about a quarter of banking activity is related to investment banking and dealer-broker activity - the rest is all to do with retail banking.
This meant when the credit crunch bit, the French banks were hit a lot less hard than those in many other countries.
But it is not just about banking investments - this country as a whole simply takes far fewer risks.
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In
London... it was as if wealth was something you could get from a bank,
it's a sort of miracle people seem to believe in England
 Francois Artignan, banker
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Take the level of household debt. In France, it is at 47% of GDP, while in the UK it is well over twice that.
Its not that temptation does not exist in France - the lure of consumerism is just as strong as it is elsewhere.
But it is very difficult to spend money you do not have in France.
French credit cards are little more than debit cards, so there is no question of simply sticking a couple of flat screen TVs on your credit card and hoping to pay for them later - if there are insufficient funds in your account, your bank will immediately block the transaction.
In the wealthy suburb of St Germain-en-Laye, just outside Paris, I met Francois Artignan, a well-to-do banker who moved back to France two years ago after a long stint of living in the UK.
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Mr Artignan was 43 when he bought his first house in France
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Francois admits he misses the buzz of London living but says he was alarmed by the way so many British people lived on their credit cards and never saved money.
"It's true that you can note a big difference in consuming behaviours between the French and the English," Mr Artignan says.
"People here don't believe you can just put your debts together and get them refinanced... But in London... it was as if wealth was something you could get from a bank, it's a sort of miracle people seem to believe in England.
"It seems to me people there are very keen to use up all the
money they have, and that's a worry when you wonder how people are
going to have money for retirement for instance," Mr Artignan says. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7635327.stm>
Pilot completes jetpack challenge
Yves Rossy landed safely after the 22-mile (35.4 km) flight from Calais to Dover, which had been twice postponed this week because of bad weather.
The former military pilot took less than 10 minutes to complete the crossing and parachute to the ground.
The 49-year-old flew on a plane to more than 8,200ft (2,500m), ignited jets on a wing on his back, and jumped out.
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Yves Rossy aimed to reach speeds of 125mph
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It felt "great, really great", said Mr Rossy: "I only have one word, thank you, to all the people who did it with me."
He said weather conditions on Friday had been perfect and his success signalled "big potential" for people to fly "a little bit like a bird" in the future.
Known as "Fusionman," he was aiming to follow the route taken by French airman Louis Blériot 99 years ago when he became the first person to fly across the English Channel in a plane.
In Dover, Mr Rossy flew past South Foreland lighthouse - which the building's manager Simon Ovenden said Blériot used as a target during his pioneering flight - and looped onlookers before landing in a field.
"It's a remarkable achievement, we saw the climax of his attempt as he came down to earth with his parachute. It's been an exciting afternoon," said Geoff Clark, a 54-year-old spectator from Chatham, in Kent.
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His quote consistently is: I'm not worried about risk, I manage risk
Kathryn Liptrott
National Geographic Channel |
In an interview earlier this week, Mr Rossy said: "If I calculate everything right, I will land in Dover. But if I get it wrong, I take a bath." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7637327.stm>
Brazil unveils deforestation plan
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By Tim Hirsch
BBC News, Sao Paulo |
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Brazil's disappearing rainforests have long been of concern
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The Brazilian government has pledged to end net deforestation by 2015.
It is one of the key commitments in a draft climate change plan, which stops short of setting specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan - setting out how Brazil will help prevent climate change, and how it will adapt to it - was promised nearly a year ago by President Lula.
But the environmental group Greenpeace criticised it for simply highlighting existing proposals.
It said the draft did not explain how they would be brought into action.
Aggressive plan
In the provisional version which will go for public consultation before being finalised, no specific targets are set for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions amongst Brazil's industrial sectors.
But with deforestation accounting for 75% of the country's emission, it sets out a timetable to reduce forest loss to a point where by 2015, more Brazilian trees are being planted than are cut down.
According to the Environment Minister Carlos Minc, this will be possible through an aggressive programme of restoring native forests, as well as further crackdowns on illegal logging.
Other measures outlined in the document are incentives to
improve energy efficiency and to encourage renewable energy sources
such as wind power. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7637070.stm>
Touring the greenest museum ever
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By Maggie Shiels
Technology Reporter, BBC News, San Francisco |
Maggie Shiels takes the hi-tec green museum tour
The California Academy of Sciences, based in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, opens its doors to the public this weekend following three years of construction and 10 years of planning.
The 410,000 square foot (38,000 square metre) structure is just as big a draw as the exhibits it houses.
Designed by Renzo Piano, a winner of the most respected prize in architecture, the Pritzker, the Academy has green credentials running through every sinew and vein: from the planetarium to the aquarium and from the rainforest to the living roof which mirrors the hills the city is built on.
"People from all around the world are looking at this building," explained Chris Andrews, the chief of public programmes at the Academy and also the director of the Steinhart Aquarium.
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As the finishing touches are applied, T-Rex doesn't let the frenzy bother it
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The list of sustainable design features is seemingly endless: non-toxic insulation, a passive heating and cooling system, a recycled steel structure and electricity provided by some 60,000 photovoltaic cells.
Over the next couple of months the US Green Building Council is expected to confirm its highest award on the building, a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating.
'Science is cool'
But there is more to the Academy than its greenness, and those that run it have said they have a clear mission to "explore, explain and protect the natural world."
"One thing we desperately want to do at the Academy is start to impress upon people that science is cool, science is fun," said Dr Andrews as he wandered through the world's deepest living coral reef display complete with more than 4,000 reef fishes.
"We want to emphasise to people that we are fascinated by the natural world and that we are passionate about it."
To drive home the fun and interactive aspects of the museum, Dr Andrews demonstrated a game with a Wii-type device that visitors wave in the air to catch bugs and butterflies.
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Science and nature doesn't have to be boring said Dr Andrews
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Another display employing overhead cameras and sensors lets visitors sweep their hands and feet over the ground to move food around for insects while another lets them play scientist and inspect some of the wonders stored in the Academy's vast research facility.
"We want people to touch the stuff and as far as possible we want it to be the real stuff," an enthusiastic Dr Andrews told BBC News. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7630591.stm>
Uncovering Namibia's sunken treasure
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By Frauke Jensen
BBC News, Oranjemund, Namibia |
A team of international archaeologists is working round the clock to rescue the wreck of what is thought to be a 16th Century Portuguese trading ship that lay undisturbed for hundreds of years off Namibia's Atlantic coast.
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Recovered treasures include copper ingots, ivory and cannons.
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It was found in April when a crane driver from the diamond mining company Namdeb spotted some coins.
The project manager of the rescue excavation, Webber Ndoro, described the find as the "the most exciting archaeological discovery on the African continent in the past 100 years".
"This is perhaps the largest find in terms of artefacts from a shipwreck in this part of the world," he said.
Skeleton coast
The ship may have been unable to withstand the currents in the volatile seas off the Namibian shore.
The area is also known as the Skeleton Coast and is associated with the skeletons of wrecked ships and past stories of sailors wandering through the barren landscape in search of food and water.
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I am sure there will be many more wrecks to be found here
Webber Ndoro
Project manager |
Working out whose ship this was is no easy task.
Gold coins that the Portuguese crown began producing in October 1525 mean it could not have been the vessel of the famous seafarer Bartholomew Dias, who disappeared on one of his travels around the point of Africa in the year 1500.
But there are other pointers, including swivel-guns known to have been used by Portuguese and Spanish seafarers, and the boat's shape, indicating that it was a Portuguese "nau".
There are also copper ingots carrying a clearly visible trident seal that can be traced back to the German banker and merchant family of Jakob Fugger - the main suppliers of primary materials to the Portuguese crown.
Gold and silver coins have been deposited in a bank vault.
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Copper ingots carry a trident seal used by the Fugger family
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Rare navigational instruments have been sent to Portugal for research, while pewter plates and jugs, pieces of ceramic, tin blocks and elephant tusks are temporarily housed in a warehouse on the premises of the mining company.
Some are being freed of their layer of sand and salt to allow for more detailed scrutiny over their make and origin.
"It represents a very interesting cargo - we have goods from Asia, we have goods from Europe, we have goods from Africa," said Mr Ndoro.
"We always think that globalisation started yesterday but in actual
fact here we are with something we can date to around 1500." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7634479.stm>
Making money from blogging
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By Ewan Spence, Las Vegas
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People from all walks of life are blogging
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Blogging has continued to grow in the last few years, and organiser of the Expo, Rick Calvert, was delighted at the diversity of those attending.
"Look at the topics that people here are covering - sports, politics, religion, technology, finance and military bloggers to name just a few. We have had attendees flying in from around the world, but the one thing that links them all is their passion for this new media."
It is the connections between these groups, and the spirit of sharing that was on show both at the conference and online every day, that drives the rich and diverse modern internet.
Both the individual blogger and the larger media companies are looking for ways to make the business of blogging profitable.
One of the rules of thumb that came up on the panel discussions at BlogWorld was that there is still the same amount of advertising money out there, but rather than be restricted to a few media conglomerates, it is being shared out a lot more.
Sharing culture
Larger companies are seeing advertising revenue drop, while bloggers are seeing their incomes rise.
What seems to be working well at the moment for the full-time bloggers at the Expo is affiliate marketing.
Rather than being paid to display an advert on their site, affiliate marketing only pays the blogger when their reader acts on the displayed advert.
This could be as simple a goal as clicking on the advert, through to receiving a percentage of any item the reader buys via an advert.
Amazon offers a large affiliate program, where people can receive up to 15% of the sale price of an item as commission by referring their readers to the site.
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Some bloggers are keen to make money from their efforts
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How well these techniques would translate to the larger sites of
traditional media companies remains to be seen, but there are a number
of profitable new media companies, such as b5media, that not only show
that it can be done, but are actively sharing how they have achieved
their success and are more than happy to help others to do the same.
This culture of sharing that runs through the blogging scene is one reason that this new medium is such a breath of fresh air to many. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7633786.stm>
Bail-out debate: For and against |
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As the debate rages about the US $700bn (£379bn) financial bail-out plan, BBC News looks at the arguments for and against this rescue package. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7635420.stm> | |
'Car sleepers' the new US homeless
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By Rajesh Mirchandani
BBC News, Santa Barbara |
Santa Barbara boasts a classic laidback California lifestyle, with uncongested beaches, wholesome cafes and charming Spanish-style architecture.
Of course there's a hefty price tag: nestled between the gentle Santa Ynez mountains and the inviting Pacific Ocean are multi-million dollar homes.
But in this sun-washed haven of wealth, many live far from the American dream.
In a car park across the street from luxury mansions, the evening brings a strange sight.
A few cars arrive and take up spaces in different corners. In each car, a woman, perhaps a few pets, bags of possessions and bedding.
Across the street from homes with bedrooms to spare, these are Santa Barbara's car sleepers.
Homeless within the last year, they are a direct consequence of America's housing market collapse. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7585696.stm>
Contact center sector may be threatened by US crisis
“The main source of domestic job placements are BPO outfits such as call centers whose clients are in the US," Speaker Prospero C. Nograles said. “We may not feel the effects right away but…these key industries… are directly linked with the crisis in the US."
The BPO sector only gained ground in the Philippines in the early part of the new millennium, although outsourcing in other parts of the globe began as early as the 1990s.
From a mere P2 billion in 2000, investment in the Philippines’ contact center industry surged to P11 billion in 2001, then settled to P5 to 7 billion annually in the next four years.
From 112,000 employees in 2005, the BPA/P (Business Process Association, Philippines) targeted a direct employment close to 1 million by the end of 2010.
“As the growth of the US economy will definitely stagnate because of the adverse ramifications of the financial market turbulence, the Philippines will be affected through a slowdown in exports. While the
hare of the country's exports to the US has been declining, it continues to be the number one export market," he added.
Nograles urged President Arroyo to immediately call for an economic summit, or an expanded Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting as soon as possible in view of the US economic meltdown which, Nograles said, will inevitably cause rippling effects on the Philippine economy. - D’Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/123696/Contact-center-sector-may-be-threatened-by-US-crisis>
Asian shares down after US deal
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Investors are waiting to see the details of the rescue plan
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Asian shares have fallen with investors remaining cautious despite news of an agreement over a $700bn (£380bn) deal to rescue the US financial system.
Analysts said investors were waiting to see how the rescue deal actually starts to work.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index of leading Japanese shares ended the day down 150 points or 1.3% to 11,744.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 395 points, or 2%, at 18,287 during afternoon exchanges.
"Investors want to wait to see how the US plan works," said Yukio Takahashi, market analyst at Shinko Securities.
"They haven't been able to pass judgement on it yet." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7641173.stm>
Financial crisis haunts Asian leaders at UN
Monday, September 29, 2008
UNITED NATIONS: Japan is worried about a severe credit crunch, India
wants regulations tightened, while China expects the situation to
get worse before it gets better. The US financial crisis has been
haunting Asian leaders as they took the rostrum at the UN General
Assembly.
As the United States debated a $700-billion Wall
Street bailout package to ease the turmoil reverberating around the
globe, the region’s leadership was concerned that financial
contagion could cause a repeat of the market turmoil that rocked
Asia a decade ago.
The 1997 to 1998 Asian turmoil led to a
prolonged global debate for a revamp of the international financial
architecture, but no concrete efforts were made to tighten
supervision of the financial system, the leaders said.
“There is a need for a new international
initiative to bring structural reform in the world’s financial
system with more effective regulation and stronger systems of
multilateral consultations and surveillance,” Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh told the UN summit last week.
“This must be designed in as inclusive a
manner as possible,” said the World Bank economist-turned
politician.
He said that while industrialized nations could
afford periods of slow growth as a result of upheavals in
international financial markets, “developing countries certainly
cannot.”
The US crisis struck as Asian economies were
grappling with a severe food and energy crisis. <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/sep/29/yehey/top_stories/20080929top2.html>
Report: Population to drive growth if ...
By Cai U. Ordinario Reporter
RAPID population growth, especially the growth of the middle class,
could be the next economic growth driver in the world if governments
and businesses learn to make this consumption-based growth sustainable,
according to the second Global Growth@Riskreport released by the World
Economic Forum (WEF).
The WEF report said that by 2012, the world’s population is expected to
grow by almost 7 percent to 6.8 billion, and by 2050 to 9 billion.
Central America, North Africa and Southeast Asia are the regions with
the highest expected population growth for 2007-12.
By 2012, the report said the International Monetary Fund’s population
growth projections show Asia and the Pacific region as the most
populated with more than 4 billion people, over one-quarter of whom
live in China.
“Power is shifting to middle-income economies with a growing middle
class. Such a global middle class will result in hundreds of millions
of people changing dietary habits and seeking better housing and
education, adopting more sophisticated technology and financial
services,” the report said.
“While their spending power will drive growth, governments and
businesses need to create ways to make this coming boom in consumption
sustainable,” the report added.<http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/09292008/headlines07.html>
Why China's milk industry went sour
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By Vaudine England
BBC News, Hong Kong |
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Tainted milk has made thousands of Chinese babies ill
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China's failure to produce good milk has killed at least four babies, and sickened many thousands of others.
Domestic and export markets in anything that might contain Chinese milk powder are stymied, and scores of dairy firms have gone to the wall.
The still unravelling saga has reduced China's reputation for food safety - and manufacturing integrity - to its lowest level in years.
Experts in the industry say the problems start at source - the cows.
Most farmers are poor and do not eat well - and neither do their cows. Average herds of just three to five cows are often kept in substandard, filthy conditions.
But bigger problems occur as the milk moves through the production chain. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7635466.stm>
US House backs India nuclear deal
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The deal would give India access to US civilian nuclear technology
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The agreement now goes to the Senate for final approval, before President George W Bush signs it into law.
India PM Manmohan Singh, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, has said India is close to securing a "new status" in the world nuclear order.
India says the agreement is vital for it to meet its energy demands. Critics say it creates a dangerous precedent.
They say the deal allows India to expand its nuclear power industry without requiring it to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as other nations must.
Under its terms, India would get access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel.
In return, Delhi would open its civilian nuclear facilities to
inspection - but its nuclear weapons sites would remain off-limits. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7641149.stm>
Roosevelt's 1932 talk on unstable economy oddly prescient
"We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer," he said.
Those words could have come from John McCain or Barack Obama this week, but they were spoken to the graduating class of Atlanta's Oglethorpe University by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Democrat who went on to win the 1932 election three years into the Great Depression.
His comments — which ring eerily true to Americans this week — are contained in the original May 22, 1932, speech typed in blue ink and signed by Roosevelt that Oglethorpe plans to display starting Friday.
Roosevelt biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin says Roosevelt understood the importance of making citizens feel their leaders were handling the situation.
"He just understood that action was critical," she said. "You just have to make people feel that they are taking hold of the situation."
Roosevelt said circumstances that were entirely avoidable led to 1929's infamous "Black Friday," the stock market crash that finally shattered the myth of an invincible U.S. economy.
"We have not been brought to our present state by any natural calamity — by drought or floods or earthquakes or by the destruction of our productive machine or our man power," Roosevelt told the crowd. "This is the awful paradox with which we are confronted, a stinging rebuke that challenges our power to operate the economic machine which we have created."
Many of today's issues were around then, including war, globalization and the falling value of the American dollar. And so Roosevelt cautioned against the danger of inaction, a warning also echoed this week in Washington.
"The country needs and — unless I mistake its temper — the country demands bold, persistent experimentation," he said before delivering one of his most-often quoted lines: "It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." - AP <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/124186/Roosevelts-1932-talk-on-unstable-economy-oddly-prescient>
Overseas workers only spectators in migration talks
10/01/2008 | 01:39 PM
MANILA, Philippines - As more than 400 delegates from different sectors and countries discussed the plight of women migrants in a recently concluded Manila forum, an Indonesian delegate asked, “Where are my fellow domestic helpers?"
Sumiyati, a member of the Coalition for Migrant Rights Hong Kong, told an audience of 150 last Friday she felt disheartened that only two domestic workers were invited to the International Conference on Gender, Migration and Development (ICGMD).
“I feel sad because I don’t see many migrant workers like myself," the 48-year-old Indonesian migrant and conference speaker said.
About 436 ICGMD participants – mostly government senior officials from UN member states, trade union leaders, women and migrant advocacy groups, the academe, and the private sector – gathered September 25 to 26 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila.
“They talk about us but everyone here are NGOs and government officials," Sumiyati, who worked in Hong Kong for seven years, told GMANews.TV.
“Of course it’s not enough. Next time there must be more (migrants)," she added, referring to the upcoming 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila in October 27 to 30.
Prof. Aurora Javate De Dios, former chair of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), said they didn’t mean to exclude domestic workers from the discussion.
The two-day forum was organized by the NCRFW in partnership with other migrant worker groups and international institutions like the Unicef and the International Labor Organization.
De Dios explained that since the different delegates in the conference were made to shoulder their own expenses to Manila, only the leaders of migrant domestic workers were able to come.
“Talagang kulang ang pondo; kanya-kanya ang funding (The funds were not enough; each delegate had to shoulder the travel expenses)," De Dios told GMANews.TV on Wednesday.
De Dios also said that while it might be ideal to invite more migrant household service workers from all over the world, the high-level discussions among the members of the academe and policy makers might not appeal very well to them.
Participants to the ICGMD issued a resolution on Tuesday urging different governments to uphold the rights of women migrants by creating fair and gender sensitive polices and practices.
Domestic work should also be recognized as work in international and national laws, effectively recognizing their human, social, labor, and trade union rights like the other workers, according to the groups.
With the help of diplomatic and consular missions, restrictions on organizing and joining trade unions and migrant organizations should also be reduced, they said.
Meanwhile, Sumiyati said the only way for advocates of overseas workers to reach their goal is for the governments to start looking into the long-term welfare of all migrants.
“Development to me means that our governments create jobs and improve the life of the people in our country so that we don’t have to work overseas," she said. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/124168/Overseas-workers-only-spectators-in-migration-talks>
New loan to enhance RP's spending programs
Comprising the second part of a three-tier development policy support program (DPSP), the loan will assist the country in meeting its medium-term development goals, the ADB said in a statement.
Launched in February last year, the loan’s first tranche—already released upon approval—was able to help the Philippines to implement “a series of measures to address the fiscal imbalance, resulting in improvement in the fiscal situation and macroeconomic stability," the Manila-based institution said.
Besides providing much needed funds for increased spending on the social sector and infrastructure in 2007, the measures also contributed to the Philippines’ best macroeconomic performance in over 30 years.
However, the surge in commodity prices in early 2008, volatility in US financial markets, and the economic slowdown in developed economies have negatively affected the Philippine economy, with a sharper-than-expected slowdown in GDP growth and a spike in inflation to a 17-year high level in August. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/124171/New-loan-to-enhance-RPs-spending-programs>
Fighting the scourge of scareware
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
Microsoft and Washington State's Attorney General filed lawsuits against scam artists who frighten consumers into buying useless software.
"Scareware" merchants are accused of tricking computer users into clicking on pop-up alerts that claim their device is "damaged and corrupted".
They are then persuaded to buy software that corrects the non-existent issue by offering fake security fixes.
It is a "blatant rip-off of consumers," said Attorney General Rob McKenna.
Users are "duped into downloading a fake scan (of the computer) and then duped into paying for software they don't need".
The attorney general's lawsuit has been filed against a Texas firm called Branch Software and Alpha Red and its owner James Reed McCreary IV. The suit alleged that Mr McCreary's company "sent incessant pop-ups resembling system warnings to consumers' personal computers.
"The messages read "CRITICAL ERROR MESSAGE! - REGISTRY DAMAGED AND CORRUPTED."
The complaint goes on to claim that the ads "instructed users to visit a web site to download Registry Cleaner XP" at a cost of $39.95 (£21.70)
"We won't tolerate the use of alarmist warnings or deceptive 'free scans' to trick consumers into buying software to fix a problem that doesn't even exist," said Mr McKenna.
"We've repeatedly proven that internet companies that prey on consumers' anxieties are within our reach." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7645420.stm>
US vote fails to lift Asia shares
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Optimism is growing that the latest US rescue plan will get approval
|
Japan's Nikkei average slipped 1.1%, Australia's stock market slid, and Hong Kong also opened lower.
Analysts said concern persisted about the plan's fate in Congress, amid deep fears for the US economy.
The revised $700bn package must still be approved by the House of Representatives, which rejected an earlier version on Monday.
"There's still a lot of distrust of this bill in the House, so it's hard to know what will happen there," Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities, told Reuters news agency.
"If you look at recent indicators for the US and Japan, the
economy is clearly bad," he said. "You can't expect a rebound just on
the bill passing the Senate." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7647662.stm>
DVD-copying software sparks
RealNetworks on Tuesday released software that lets people copy films
on DVDs, sparking a heated legal battle with Hollywood film studios
fearful of rampant piracy.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rushed to federal
court in Los Angeles and filed a lawsuit demanding that RealNetworks be
stopped from distributing its RealDVD software and be made to pay cash
damages.
"RealNetworks' RealDVD should be called StealDVD," MPAA general counsel Greg Goeckner said in a release.
"RealNetworks knows its product violates the law and undermines the
hard-won trust that has been growing between America's movie makers and
the technology community."
RealNetworks countered by saying it will file legal paperwork asking
the court to rule that the software enabling people to copy movie DVDs
is legal because it complies with a DVD Copy Control Association
license agreement.
"RealNetworks took this legal action to protect consumers' ability to
exercise their fair-use rights for their purchased DVDs," the company
said in a release.
"We are disappointed that the movie industry is following in the
footsteps of the music industry and trying to shut down advances in
technology rather than embracing changes that provide consumers with
more value and flexibility for their purchases." <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/02/yehey/techtimes/20081002tech1.html>
Strike brings Bollywood to a halt
|
Some workers have not been paid for months, unions say
|
Unions representing film employees in Mumbai (Bombay) say many members have not been paid for months and are threatening to strike indefinitely.
Meanwhile, film producers have told the BBC they will meet to decide their response on Thursday.
They say that they are prepared to weather a long dispute if necessary. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7646404.stm>
Batangas farmers marching to Malacañang
By Ira Karen Apanay, Reporter
FIFTY farmers from San
Juan,Batangas plan to march to Malacañang to condemn the decision
of the Office of the President granting with finality the petition
of Henessy Development Corporation (HDC) for an extension of the
period to develop a 124-hectare agricultural land into an ecotourism
resort.
The 50 farmers belong to
Laiya-Ibabo Samahang magsasaka (Limasag), who are petitioning for
distribution of the said property, have setup camp in front of the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) central office in Quezon City in
preparation for the march to the Palace.
Lisamag President Vicente Ayap
said the decision of the Palace is against the Arroyo
administration’s policy on Land conversion.
“President Arroyo called for a
moratorium on land conversion, yet here is Malacañang allowing a
practically defunct corporation to convert an agricultural land into
a tourist spot,” Ayap said.
In April 2008, President Arroyo
issued a moratorium on converting farmland to other uses to address
the unabated conversion of prime agricultural land into real estate
development.
DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman
earlier said that the issuance of a moratorium is a unilateral
decision of the department to stop the conversion of agricultural
land into real estate development.
The Office of the President
issued an order on July 28 granting HDC’s request for conversion
on the ground that farmers failed to file a motion for
reconsideration of a decision by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita
on May 20, 2008 allowing the conversion.
However, Task Force Mapalad (TFM),
which supports the Limasag farmers, said DAR filed a manifestation
arguing the facts of the case and seeking for execution of its
earlier decisions.
“The farmers did not have to
file a motion for reconsideration because DAR had already responded
and filed a manifestation. It seems the Office of the President
simply ignored this,” said Lani Factor, TFM National Coordinator.
Factor noted that Secretary
Ermita may have set aside a DAR decision dated December 21, 2006
denying HDC’s petition for extension of the conversion period and
another DAR decision dated August 31, 2007 denying HDC’s motion
for reconsideration of the December decision.
The HDC property was covered by a
land conversion order dated June 17, 1998, but the corporation
failed to develop the property during the five-year conversion
period, which ended in 2003.
The HDC applied for extension of
the conversion in 2005 and DAR gave the firm a chance, however, the
firm failed to submit the requirements asked by the department.
In 2006, the DAR dismissed
HDC’s application for extension since it had gone beyond the
allowable period and after a DAR investigation found out that no
substantial development had taken place in the 124-hectare property.
Following the decision of DAR,
the property was placed under coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program, but HDC appealed to the Office of the President.
<http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/03/yehey/prov/20081003pro1.html>
Yuan’s rise reflects economic strategy
Friday, October 03, 2008
By Zhu Yifan Xinhua
BEIJING: Coming back from a short
business trip to Hong Kong, Clare Hu opened her purse and found that
she had unintentionally spent half of her monthly salary while
browsing through shops and department stores there.
“There are a variety of goods
there, and they are much cheaper,” said Hu, a media worker in
Shanghai. Her colleagues bought even more. The buys ranged from
2,000-yuan cameras to a box of milk tea.
Mainland tourist shopping sprees
in Hong Kong are becoming a tradition, but such behavior has become
much more reckless as the yuan has risen in value, increasing its
purchase power.
China’s currency, the Renminbi
or yuan, has appreciated 20 percent against the US dollar since it
was unpegged from the dollar in 2005. The Hong Kong dollar, which is
still pegged to the US dollar, has weakened from 1.06 to 0.88 to the
yuan. <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/03/yehey/china/20081003ch1.html>
US bailout uncertainty cuts local share prices
The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index slipped 46.68 points or 1.7865 percent to 2,566.21 while the all-share index skidded 27.63 points or 1.6815 percent to 1,615.56.
Losers dominated gainers 58 to 16 while 51 stocks were unchanged.
Volume traded reached 846.56 million valued at P2.303 billion.
Jose Vistan, AB Capital Securities research chief, said investors were apprehensive over the markets' behavior once the US House decides on a bailout plan which included $150 billion in tax breaks and a temporary increase in the deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to $250,000. The plan has been approved by the US Senate.
"The market is conditioned that a bailout is needed to get the US out of mess. The uncertainty of the US House approval made investors cautious and take profits," he said. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/124731/RP-stocks-tumble-as-US-bailout-plan-goes-to-House>
Blind battle to remain S Korea's masseurs
|
By John Sudworth
BBC News, Seoul |
|
Kim Jang-soo, a masseur for 25 years, protests outside court in Seoul
|
You must be registered blind.
It is a legal protection that provides many blind people with autonomy and an income.
The sole right to practise massage, in place for the best part of a century, now means that more than 7,000 visually impaired massage therapists earn their living this way.
I met Han Yong-seok, busy training to become a masseur, at South Korea's National School for the Blind in Seoul.
Before coming to study here, he was once employed as a teacher.
But he lost his sight late in life, and like many of his fellow students, he says he had no choice but to give up his existing profession.
"I simply couldn't get another job apart from massage work," he tells me.
"I need to learn this trade so I can continue to bring up my family and be part of society." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7649374.stm>
'US dominance is over' - Medvedev
|
Russia's frosty ties with Nato were also on the agenda
|
Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in St
Petersburg, Mr Medvedev said the world needed a "more just" financial
system. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7647729.stm>
'Taxing' farts and burps
|
New Zealand's climate means sheep and cows can graze outdoors all year
|
Mr Brenmuhl has just turned 60 and he has been a dairy farmer on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand since he was 29.
He worked his way up from farm labourer to farm manager to farm owner, five generations after his great-great-grandfather fled as far as he possibly could from the politics of Poland and Germany in the 1870s.
Now, Frank has encountered a different sort of politics: the environmental politics of New Zealand. And he is not happy about it.
So much so that he now spends much of his time away from the
farm, lobbying in Wellington on behalf of the country's dairy farmers. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7646857.stm>
South Korea's free computer game model hits US
Friday, October 03, 2008
Free computer game play that is all the rage in South Korean is taking
hold in a US market dominated by videogames sold on packaged disks or
by online subscriptions.
Seoul-based "free-to-play" computer game titan Nexon on Wednesday
blasted into the US videogame arena with a "Combat Arms" online
first-person shooter title that makes its cash from optional
"micro-transactions" by players.
"Combat Arms had a great beta run, with players of all levels loving
the fast-action FPS game play and in-game community features for
ranking and challenging other players," said Nexon America spokesman
Min Kim.
The game makes its money from players that buy animated helmets,
outfits, emblems or other virtual items to customize in-game characters.
To keep the battlefield even, players earn experience or advanced
weaponry by skill so people essentially can't pay for power.
"People can't buy uberguns to get a tremendous advantage," Kim said
while demonstrating the game for AFP in San Francisco earlier this year.
US videogame powerhouse Electronic Arts (EA) has started investing in
free play and is putting the finishing touches on a "Battlefield
Heroes" war game supported by in-game transactions instead of up-front
purchase prices.
"We expect it to be the world's largest PC (personal computer) action
game," 'Battlefield Heroes' franchise executive producer Ben Cousins
said while showing AFP the game recently at EA's offices in Northern
California.
"It's a Web project as much as it is a game project. It's what you love
and are addicted to about Facebook and what you love and are addicted
to from 'Battlefield' smashed together."
Free online shooter games encourage multi-person play in which people
form teams, share performance rankings and fight with or against each
other.
In a bit of turn-about, EA is tailoring a version of "Battlefield
Heroes" for the South Korea market. Early last year EA paid 105 million
dollars for a 19 percent stake in Seoul-based online gaming company
Neowiz.
Nexon introduced its hot online offering "Maple Story" to the US in
2005 and saw annual revenues here triple after it began selling
pre-paid game cards in US stores two years later.
Kim says people prefer prepaid cards to tying credit cards to ongoing
subscriptions to online role-playing games as is the case with popular
"World of Warcraft."
Kim says personal computers have become a natural gaming forum as
people spend massive amounts of time online at social websites such as
Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.
"As people live more in front of their computers they are looking for other ways to interact online," Kim said.
Free games are reportedly played by more than a third of South Korea's population.
"I don't think we are going to get more than a third of North Americans
playing our games, but I think there will be some pretty big numbers,"
Kim said.
"We have those big boys taking our business model and fleshing it out in a Western way." <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/03/yehey/techtimes/20081003tech1.html>
Nokia's unlimited music service on sale Oct 16 in Britain
Nokia will start offering unlimited music through mobile phones in
Britain on October 16, the Finnish company said Thursday, as it seeks
to muscle in on a market dominated by Apple's iPod.
The new service, named "comes with music", allows people owning a
special device to download unlimited music for free through their
mobile telephone or computer for up to 18 months -- after which they
can also keep the music.
"It's about changing the way we consume music," said Tero Ojanpero,
executive vice president and head of entertainment and communities
business at Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker.
Britain will be first to offer the service through the Carphone
Warehouse dealer. It will be initially available on 5310 Xpress Music
phones, which cost 129.95 pounds (165 euros, 229 dollars), but other
phones will then be added.
The service will then be rolled out to ten other countries including
France, Sweden, Spain and Singapore where the online Nokia Music Store
is available.
The store in Nokia's answer to the iTunes store from Apple, and it has
signed deals with Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI, Warner and a host of
independent labels to give customers a wide range of music to choose
from.
Sony-Ericsson said Wednesday that it would also be launching an
unlimited music download service by the end of the year, but it would
be part of a mobile phone package, PlayNow, and customers could only
keep up to 300 songs.
In another challenge to Apple, Nokia said it would launch its first
touch-screen phone in Taiwan, Spain, Russia, Indonesia, India, Hong
Kong and the United Arab Emirates later this year, and France and
Britain in 2009.
<http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/04/yehey/techtimes/20081004tech1.html>
Nokia performs well in emerging markets such as China, India and Latin
America, but has been struggling in the United States, where Apple's
iPod, iPhone and related iTunes store have made it the world leader in
digital music. -- AFP <www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/04/yehey/techtimes/20081004tech1.html>
Bollywood workers strike 'over'
|
Some workers have not been paid for months, unions say
|
Union leader Dinesh Chaturvedi told the BBC News website that managers had agreed to their demands.
Unions said staff were working unreasonable hours and in many cases producers were months behind in payments to their staff.
The strike had also hit the booming television production in Mumbai (Bombay) in western India. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7651586.stm>
US bailout won't cure economic stress
It's a little bit like those ads for protein drinks that show skinny milquetoasts turning into Schwarzeneggers in 60 days — you want it to be true, but you know in your heart it will take months or years of sweating in the gym to pack on that kind of muscle.
The latest readings on the U.S. economy show just how far we have to go. Home prices and auto sales are plummeting, manufacturing activity has tumbled and the consumer is feeling increasingly strapped.
The economy seems nearly dead, and things could get worse before they improve — even with Washington's help.
Much attention has been paid recently to the wrangling over the taxpayer-funded emergency rescue package. As it should. That's enough money to give every man, woman and child in the U.S. about $2,325 each.
Lawmakers say the bill is the best hope to save the financial system and revive the economy. It would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions, thereby inducing them to lend again to businesses and consumers instead of hoarding their cash.
The package, which was approved by the Senate late Wednesday and the House on Friday, would also include tax breaks for companies and the middle class.
History tells us not to expect miracles overnight. After the last big U.S. bailout — the formation of the Resolution Trust Corp. in 1989 to stop the U.S. savings and loan crisis — it took a year for the stock market to hit bottom, two years for the economy and three years for the housing market, according to Merrill Lynch.
And when Japan put a bailout plan in place in the late 1990s, its stock market took another five years to recuperate. By some measures, its economy still hasn't had a sustainable recovery, according to Merrill's chief North American economist, David Rosenberg.
Standard & Poor's global investment policy committee, in notes from its weekly meeting, said that even with a rescue plan "cascading concerns remain."
"Will it be enough to accomplish the required task of unfreezing credit markets? If so, are we just back to recession 101?" said the group of the firm's senior investment advisers.
Today's bailout doesn't even attack one of the biggest problems for our economy: The housing sector. Government officials from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on down have said the economy won't recover until housing does.
Falling home prices were behind a wave of foreclosures that pushed many banks to take multibillion-dollar writedowns and some banks to fold or be rescued by the government or rivals. The contagion from that caused a crisis of confidence in the banking system that has led lending to freeze between banks and other banks, and to businesses and people.
Home prices tumbled in July by the sharpest annual rate ever, a 16.3 percent year-over-year decline, according to the latest reading from the closely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index. That was the biggest pullback since the index's inception in 2000, and represents a 20 percent decline in prices since the peak in July 2006.
As weak as this report was, it also didn't reflect the most recent turmoil in the financial markets at the end of the summer. Since then credit conditions have tightened significantly.
That showed up in the awful September auto sales. Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Chrysler LLC all posted steep drops of more than 30 percent.
Americans are turning increasingly cautious about spending and are buckling under the burden of excessive debt. Citigroup Inc. now anticipates surprisingly large credit losses of up to $10 billion — a 30 percent rise from the second quarter — due in part to its credit-card holders not paying their bills.
The jobs outlook is dimming by the day. New applications for unemployment benefits are at a seven-year high. Employers slashed payrolls by a bigger-than-expected 159,000 in September, and the unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent, according to a Labor Department report on Friday.
Manufacturing activity has fallen off a cliff. After looking resilient for months, the September survey by the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing was at its the lowest since after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was the biggest one-month decline since January 1985.
"Such a big drop would be remarkable under any circumstances, but the element of surprise in this report was especially big because there was no warning of it," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
All this gloomy data is convincing economists that a recession is upon us, with gross domestic product possibly contracting in the third quarter for the first time in this economic downturn.
They say the Federal Reserve might have to lower its overnight bank lending rate, which has already gone from 5.25 percent to 2 percent in the last year. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues may even have to make that move before the central bank holds its next regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 28-29
Even if they did cut the key rate, many economists believe it won't have a lasting effect unless lending begins to thaw.
Until then the wait continues, and the economy will suffer more. - AP <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/124891/US-bailout-wont-cure-economic-stress>
Roxas asks US help in recovering P728-M fertilizer fund
In a statement on Saturday, Roxas said he asked US officials to retrieve the fund or parts of it which are believed to have been deposited in the bank accounts and assets of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc" Bolante in America.
He said the Philippine Senate had already released its report finding Bolante to be the “main architect" of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, and recommended the filing of criminal charges against him in 2006.
In separate letters to three agencies involved in finding illicit funds, he asked “for an exhaustive and comprehensive financial investigation" on Bolante’s bank accounts and assets in the US.
“Sa pagdulog ko sa mga ahensiya ng Estados Unidos, kampante akong hindi nila papalampasin ang ganito kabigat na krimen (After seeking help from government agencies of the United States, I am confident that they will not let off such a big crime)," Roxas said in the statement.
He addressed this appeal for assistance to, among others, Undersecretary Stuart Levey of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Department of Treasury; Director Mark Sullivan of Financial Crimes Division, Secret Service; and Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney-general of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the Department of Justice.
Moreover, Roxas said they have been doing everything just to bring Bolante back to the Philippines to face the law in the soonest time possible.
“We’ve been waiting for four years. We need to show that no one can escape the consequences of committing a crime against the Filipino people," said Roxas.
He said in the letters that although Bolante’s 32 known bank accounts have already been frozen, there is “strong probability" that a substantial amount of the missing public fund has already been deposited to foreign banks or otherwise used to acquire assets in the US.
“I fear that the Filipino taxpayers’ money, which has been illegally diverted to other uses, will never be traced and recovered," he said in the letters to the US agencies.
“Hindi biro ang halagang ito: P728 milyon na dapat sana’y napunta sa mga magsasaka. Hindi puwedeng mawala na lang ito na parang bula (The fund’s worth should be taken for granted, it’s P728 million that should’ve gone to the farmers. The fund cannot disappear just like that)," he said.
Meanwhile, the US Court of Appeals 7th Circuit has dismissed Bolante’s petition for asylum, with a final ruling affirming this being awaited.
Last September 18, Roxas wrote US Ambassador Kristie Kenney requesting her assistance in ensuring Bolante’s deportation directly to the Philippines once the US courts rule with finality against the asylum petition.- GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/125028/Roxas-asks-US-help-in-recovering-P728-M-fertilizer-fund>
Is that cellphone kosher?
When Israeli father Avi tried to register his 6-year-old twin daughters for his local Ultra-Orthodox school this year, he was happy to sign a form saying his children do not watch television or use the internet at home.
But he was surprised to discover he had to give a "kosher cellphone number". He did not have one.
Avi lives in Har Nof, one of the main Ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.
|
I feel I can control myself not to use the bad features - But do I trust my children?
Avi
|
Like most other men in his community, Avi studies the Jewish scriptures daily, keeps the Sabbath and eats only kosher food.
But he has not yet opted for the new religious adaptation to modern technology that has swept the Haredi world in Israel.
Badge of observance
The kosher cellphone looks like an ordinary cellphone, can make and receive calls, and may have a calculator and alarm clock.
|
One of the defining features of kosher mobiles is a rabbinical stamp
|
For example, SMS capability could lead to the unwitting receipt of mass text messages publicising secular events. It could also be used as a method of illicit communication between male and female teenagers.
And all photos of women are forbidden, as is accessing websites with content deemed inappropriate.
The phone's other defining feature is a rabbinical stamp of approval, similar to those seen on kosher food items.
All the major Israeli cellphone companies have accommodated the powerful Haredi constituency by providing kosher phones, and cheaper-than-normal packages which only connect with other Haredi numbers.
As the companies have created distinct code prefixes to accompany the kosher phone plans, the phone numbers have quickly become a badge of religious observance.
Not only do some Haredi newspapers refuse to publish ads with
non-kosher phone numbers, but parents are worried their children will
be blacklisted by the shadchan, or matchmaker, if their numbers are not
kosher. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7636021.stm>
EU's climate package 'in crisis'
|
By Roger Harrabin
Environment analyst, BBC News |
|
Poland says a "polluter pays" approach will raise energy prices even further
|
The EU's attempts to lead the world to a new deal on climate change will crumble unless its current policy crisis is resolved, a study has warned.
As economic turmoil continues, there are widespread fears about the effects of the EU's climate package.
A group of states led by Poland has assembled a blocking minority to protect their industries from having to buy permits to pollute.
Poland, which relies on coal for more than 90% of its electricity, says the scheme will reduce the nation's energy independence and put up prices.
But a report from policy network Climate Strategies warns that if the group succeeds, the EU will lose its most powerful weapon in the fight for a new climate treaty.
Climate Strategies says that the existence of carbon pricing in
the EU puts up electricity prices anyway - so it's important that
polluters all pay into a fund that could be used to cushion the poor
from the price rises. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7655290.stm>
EU finance chiefs in crisis talks
|
Japan's benchmark Nikkei-225 index initially dropped below 10,000 points
|
The ministers from all 27 member states hope to bolster money markets after a day of panic saw huge share index losses in Germany, France and the UK.
A $700bn (£398bn) US bank bail-out and moves by several EU states to help their banks have not quelled fears.
Asian markets were volatile on Tuesday as investors worried global government action may not resolve the crisis.
Japan's Nikkei index plunged more than 5% - shattering the psychological 10,000-point barrier for the first time in nearly five years - before bouncing back.
Australia's financial market suffered before the country's central bank cut its official interest rate by 1%, prompting a rally. It was the largest cut for 16 years by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Share prices in China, Taiwan and South Korea also saw a turbulent morning's trading.
Earlier on Wall Street, the Dow Jones index fell 8% before
regaining some of its losses. President George W Bush said it would
take some time for the rescue plan to restore confidence to the
financial system. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7656064.stm>
Preneed plan holders spoil Yuchengco bid
By Likha Cuevas-Miel, Reporter
Planholders of Pacific Plan Inc.
are raising their voices against any moves by the Yuchengco Group of
Companies to acquire Philippine-American Life and General Insurance
Co. (Philamlife), one of the international units to be sold by
troubled American International Group (AIG).
Pacific Plan, a preneed company
run by the Yuchengco group, is undergoing voluntary corporate
rehabilitation, citing “liquidity problems,” which its
planholders have contested.
Philip Piccio, the president of
Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition, told The Manila Times on
Monday that his group composed of Pacific Plan planholders cannot
stop anybody from buying Philamlife out but “they cannot stop us
from harping about the issue.”
Addressing the Yuchengco Group of Companies, Piccio said: “You say you did not have the money to pay us, saying that you will not be liquid enough to pay us until 2010 because the money is locked in Napocor [National Power Corp.] dollar-denominated papers. Here you are offering to buy Philamlife? That is contradictory to your reasons for not paying out plans. Suddenly, you have millions to buy Philamlife.” <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/07/yehey/top_stories/20081007top3.html>
10 suitors lining up for country’s largest insurer
OFFICIALS of Philippine American Life and Insurance Co. (Philamlife) have no idea on how its US-based mother unit will move on the sale of the country’s largest life insurer, but company officials say there are already up to 10 firms waiting to buy them.
Philamlife president and chief executive Jose L. Cuisia Jr. said in a news conference on Monday it would be up to their mother firm, American International Group Inc. (AIG), to decide on whether the Philippine unit will be sold to a local or international company.
“But for sure, they will go to us to ask for advice,” Cuisia said, confirming earlier reports that 10 companies are willing to buy Philamlife.
He said that of the 10, some would be rejected outright because they did not pass the criteria that AIG itself has set up.
Cuisia, a former governor of the defunct Central Bank of the Philippines, however, said that AIG will only sell Philamlife to those firms with a reputable brand name in order to have strong recall; to those that are strong financially and with a strategic plan on how to run the company with its existing work force, and would benefit all the stakeholders.
“We don’t have exposure in Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual or in any of those companies,” Cuisia said, referring to the US-based financial institutions that had earlier sought reprieve from the US government.
He said that most of its investments are in the Philippine government-issued debt papers, some 5 percent to 6 percent are in publicly listed blue-chip firms like Ayala Corp., PLDT, SM Group, Globe Telecom; the remainder are in real estate, such as their Philamlife Tower in Makati.
Philamlife admitted there were already early terminations of plans worth millions of pesos after AIG sought a financial reprieve from the US government some two weeks ago; the numbers, though, are “extremely modest” and may not affect the financial health of Philamlife.
Cuisia, however, hinted that he may not be involved in the formation of the new company out of Philamlife, saying he plans to retire from the industry by next year, dodging questions that a change of leadership in the company is imminent.
“A change in ownership will not, in any way, diminish policy owners’ benefits and security,” the company said in a statement to the media. <http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/10072008/headlines02.html>
Climate seen to impact global tourism
These factors are thus expected to dominate discussions in the 6th United Nations International Tourism Forum for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities to be held in Cebu. Delegates from 157 countries will attend the forum from October 22 to 25.
Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said the forum will also tackle other issues like ethics in tourism and the economics of tourism. “These are pressing issues that the tourism industry is facing, and tourism professionals should address and prepare for these. This tourism forum is indeed of utmost significance, as it signals our responsiveness to the present and future challenges in tourism.”
Asian speakers in the forum include Dr. Sasithara Pichaichannarong, permanent secretary of the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, who will talk on sustainable development; and Shahram Saber, regional director of the Philippine Asia Travel Association (Pata), who will discuss climate change.
Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, vice president of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, will present a case study on the Coral Triangle and the efforts of concerned governments in Southeast Asia to promote initiatives and opportunities in tourism and travel that contribute to climate-change mitigation and adaptation. (Estrella Torres) <http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/10072008/headlines09.html>
Sans graft, MDGs could use P300B
THE Philippines could save around P300 billion a year if it can eradicate graft and corruption, according to a former National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general.
This amount, University of the Philippines economist Prof. Felipe Medalla said, could do a lot in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly on education and health, which the Philippines could miss by the time the MDG deadline sets in by 2015.
The funds, he said, could be used in education where a generous feeding program in schools will encourage parents to send their children to school, “which will be the best way to feed them,” Medalla said in his comment at the media launch of the “Stand Up, Take Action” campaign of the United Nations in Greenhills, San Juan, on Tuesday.
Medalla said the country’s performance in achieving the MDGs is “disappointing,” considering that the remittances that flow into the country amount to around $20 billion a year. When computed, this translates into a per-capita income of $200, the level now prevailing in Africa.
Given the Philippines’ financial resources compared with many poor countries, he expected a better MDG performance from the country.
Meanwhile, Medalla admitted that the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) phenomenon in the country is also one of the reasons some MDGs will not be met by the country, or why the Philippines is not doing well in some goals.
When OFWs leave the country, many children are forced to grow up without one or two parents. This, he said, creates a big problem and causes 17 percent of children aged 6 to 12 years old to drop out of school.
“[At the rate the country is going] 15 years from now, 30 percent of adults [would not have] finish[ed] high school. What kind of a society will that create?” Medalla remarked. <http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/10082008/headlines04.html>
Credit crisis: World in turmoil
As global markets fall sharply, the BBC News website looks at
some of the countries affected by financial turmoil and what their
governments are doing to alleviate the crisis. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7654647.stm>
Firefox users gain location tool
Mozilla's Geode
Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has released
technology that helps websites detect the physical location of
computers.
The system will allow users, for instance, to find local restaurants when they travel to a new town.
The Geode project is an experimental add-on ahead of a full blown launch of geolocation technology in version 3.1 of Firefox.
Users will have control over how much location information they give.
It uses technology from a firm called Skyhook which works out a computer's location from nearby wireless networks.
Its so-called Loki system can determine location within seconds with an accuracy of about 10 to 20 metres.
Local news
Mike Shaver, Mozilla's vice president of engineering believes Geode
will have a range of applications going beyond looking up restaurants.
"People have got to eat but there is a lot more to it than that," he said.
"We see location as adding an extra layer to help get people the information they need," he said.
Specific local news and website authentication that only allows people
to log in from certain locations are other possible uses of the
technology.
Farther out, Mr Shaver envisages location becoming "ambient", with
people able to look up what others have done at particular places. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7659497.stm>
Warning out on long-term risks
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Edgardo G. Lacson said with only 1%, or $386 million, of the country’s banking assets exposed to successive shocks hitting the US and Europe, the Philippines should be spared in the short term.
But "if the slowdown in the US continues," Philippine exports will suffer as demand from the country’s largest trading partner slows. Official data for July showed 16% of the country’s exports went to the US, even as this was down from 18% last year.
International trade Lawyer Jeremy I. Gatdula said the Philippines will definitely be hit, "especially if the country’s trading partners become more protectionist," mandating patronage of locally produced products as a way of riding out the slump.
University of the Philippines economist Raul V. Fabella said in a separate forum, organized by Action for Economic Reforms (AER) in coordination with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, that the Philippines won’t go into a recession, while AER officers Filomeno Sta. Ana III and Nepomuceno Malaluan stressed the urgency to address long-standing governance and fiscal problems.
Mr. Fabella said gross domestic product could come in at 3.5% next year, compared to the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s 4.1%-5.1% target.
"We will not go into a recession in the strictest sense of a negative growth for two quarters or more," Mr. Fabella said. "But that does not mean the suffering will be less steep. A lot of jobs will be destroyed."
Rogaciano S. Buenviaje, the Finance department’s research chief, warned the state may have less to spend on socioeconomic cushions, as it loses huge tax revenues: P9.54 billion this semester from higher income tax exemptions and P19.09 billion for 2009 from this same law. Lower corporate income tax rate of 30% next year (from 35%) will cost P15.9 billion, while tax incentives to investors under the Personal Equity and Retirement Account law will cost another P11.52 billion. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo and Ruby Anne M. Rubio, BusinessWorld <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/default.stm>
'Unbreakable' encryption unveiled
By Roland Pease, BBC Radio Science Unit
The network connects six locations across Vienna and in the nearby town
of St Poelten, using 200 km of standard commercial fibre optic cables.
Quantum cryptography is completely different from the kinds of security schemes used on computer networks today.
These are typically based on complex mathematical procedures which are
extremely hard for outsiders to crack, but not impossible given
sufficient computing resources or time.
But quantum systems use the laws of quantum theory, which have been shown to be inherently unbreakable.
The basic idea of quantum cryptography was worked out 25 years ago by
Charles Bennett of IBM and Gilles Brassard of Montreal University, who
was in Vienna to see the network in action.
"All quantum security schemes are based on the Heisenberg Uncertainty
Principle, on the fact that you cannot measure quantum information
without disturbing it," he explained.
"Because of that, one can have a communications channel between two
users on which it's impossible to eavesdrop without creating a
disturbance. An eavesdropper would create a mark on it. That was the
key idea."
In practice this means using the ultimate quantum objects: photons, the
atoms of light. Incredibly faint beams of light equating to single
photons fired a million times a second raced between the nodes in the
Vienna network.
Each node, housed in a different Siemens office (Siemens has provided
the fibre links), contains a small rack of electronics - boxes about
the size of a PC, and a handful of sensitive light detectors.
Numerical key
From the detected photons, a totally secret numerical key can be
distilled, which encodes the users' data much like the keys used in
normal computer networks do.
The advantage is that no-one else can know the key without revealing themselves.
As we saw in the demonstration: when an intruder did try to listen in
on the quantum exchange, photons became scrambled, and a rise in the
error rate at the node detectors signalled the attack. The system
automatically shut down without being compromised.
More importantly, the demonstration also showed that the network is robust.
If one quantum link breaks down, the connections can be re-routed via
other nodes, much as phone calls get re-routed automatically through a
telecoms network, so that any two users on the network can remain in
continuous secure contact.
Dr Hannes Huebel of Vienna University, operating one of the nodes,
explained how robustness is now as important as security in the
development of quantum encryption systems.
"We are constantly in touch with insurance companies and banks, and
they say it's nearly better that they lose 10 million euros than if the
system is down for two hours, because that might be more damaging for
the bank," said Dr Huebel.
"So that's what we have to prove, that we have a reliable system that
delivers quantum keys for several weeks without interruption, and then
they might be more interested."
Polarised light
The final element of the EU-sponsored project (called SECO-QC) was the
interconnection of different realisations of quantum cryptography.
There are many ways photons of light can encode a numerical key:
through the direction they're polarised (like Polaroid glasses) for
example, or the precise timing of their arrival.
Different schemes have different strengths and weaknesses, and a viable
network would have handle whatever individual users choose to use,
explained the project's director, Christian Monyk - just as a mobile
phone network has to handle handsets from many manufacturers.
Quantum cryptography is a surprising outgrowth of recondite arguments
that bounced around for decades about the meaning of quantum mechanics.
Albert Einstein, who discovered the quantum properties of photons of
light - indeed, discovered the very concept of the photon - always
resisted quantum theory's spooky behaviour, "God does not play dice",
being among his oft-quoted objections.
But experiments eventually proved that he apparently does, and also
laid the technical foundations for today's quantum information
revolution - cryptography, teleportation, and computation.
One of the grandees of quantum science, Vienna University's Anton
Zeilinger, used the occasion to argue for continued funding of
fundamental science in these increasingly application-focused days.
"Real breakthroughs are not found because you want to develop some new
technology, but because you are curious and want to find out how the
world is," Dr Zeilinger said.
"It may not have surprised the founding fathers of quantum science that
technology has advanced so that you can play with individual quantum
systems, in great detail.
"Maybe this would not surprise, but what could surprise them is that people are thinking and doing practical applications." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7661311.stm>
How to say I Luv U in Nigeria
Many men complain that women send them "hot" text messages, but all
they really want is money, while women say they are pestered by men
sending "romantic" texts when all their suitors really want is sex.
But the book's author, 33-year-old entrepreneur Femi Emmanuel, says he
writes text messages for people who are too busy, or illiterate, to
properly express what is in their hearts.
He is not married but says he send "special" text messages to his girlfriend - original ones, not out of his books.
The sale of all four volumes has been such a success he has bought a car with the proceeds.
"People have really embraced the mobile phone here in Nigeria, but they
may not be smart enough to know what to say in these kind of
situations, or maybe they're too busy, running an office or whatever,"
he said. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7657314.stm>
In bloom: growing algae for biofuel
|
By Paul Henley
BBC News, Roosendaal |
|
Algae could provide a viable alternative to fossil fuel
|
"It's exciting because it's achievable," says Peter van den Dorpel, as he looks over the big plastic tubes full of various shades of green algae.
His company has designed, produced and marketed the crop in its bid to be the first to provide the aviation industry with a feasible alternative to fossil fuel.
We are standing in an enormous greenhouse near Roosendaal in the south of The Netherlands.
Most of the greenhouse is growing tomatoes with impressive efficiency. One corner is dedicated to the cultivation of algae - in a similarly efficient way, according to Mr van den Dorpel.
"It's actually like growing tomatoes; the algae need similar things," he says.
This crop uses the warmth, light and a steady feed of carbon dioxide and nutrients to reproduce faster than any other plant on earth.
|
While we speak, we are expanding thousands and thousands of square metres of sites in greenhouses here in Holland
Peter van den Dorpel, Algae-Link
|
What Algae-Link's system claims to crack, possibly for the first time, is the problem of clogging. A patented internal cleaning system keeps the set-up harvesting twenty-four hours a day.
Once the cells of the algae are split into their constituent parts (an established science with all biofuel crops but a more secretive part of the process in this case), the green mass can be sold as feed for fish and oyster farms and the vegetable oil can be processed into engine fuel.
What will be crucial is to produce the raw material in
sufficient quantities. Cynics are saying a land mass anything up to the
size of Ireland would have to be devoted to algae production to fuel
the world's civil aviation industry. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7661975.stm>
Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis'
|
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Barcelona |
|
Losses are great, and continuous, says the report
|
It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.
The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.
The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change.
It has been discussed during many sessions here at the World Conservation Congress.
Some conservationists see it as a new way of persuading
policymakers to fund nature protection rather than allowing the decline
in ecosystems and species, highlighted in the release on Monday of the
Red List of Threatened Species, to continue. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7662565.stm>
Iran celebrates global meltdown
|
By Jon Leyne
BBC News, Tehran |
|
Iran has an inflation rate of 25% and counting
|
Amidst the financial wreckage around the world, one government is celebrating.
Watching the global gnashing of teeth, the Islamic Republic of Iran is enjoying the ride.
"We are very happy that America's economy is in jeopardy and they are paying the price for their misdeeds. God is punishing them."
That is the verdict from Ayatollah Jannati, one of the most senior clerics in Iran.
President Ahmadinejad has pronounced on the collapse of global capitalism, and announced that Iranians should stand ready to manage the world.
If there is a Persian word for "schadenfreude", this is it.
And for the moment, Iran does seem to be above the fray.
Shares on the Tehran stock exchange, while down slightly in recent trading, have increased in value by 20% during the year.
In fact, to walk the floor of the Tehran Bourse, you could be excused for thinking you are in a parallel universe.
It looks like a normal stock exchange, with a vast computerised screen dominating the room and traders working from computer to phone to computer.
|
It is surely only a matter of time before the laws of gravity reassert themselves on the Iranian economy
|
Stock market insiders told me what they were more interested in was the progress of a government privatisation plan, and other domestic factors.
Bahrom, a stockbroker watching the trading floor, explained that the crisis presented opportunities for Iran. He advised foreign investors to take a good look at the market here.
Another stockbroker said the market here was more about politics than economics.
Any foreign investors tempted to join the party should be warned that foreign investments need government approval, in a process that takes at least a month - and that is probably an optimistic assessment.
Oil economy
Iran, of course, is proud of going against the global trend.
|
Ayatollah Jannati says the West is being punished for its misdeeds
|
Mr Ahmadinejad, who says he is proud of his ignorance of economics, also seems to believe the laws of supply and demand do not apply to the Islamic republic.
He insists the excess amounts of cash in the economy, excess liquidity, is in no way to blame for the spiralling rate of inflation - 25% and counting.
In this particular case, however, it is surely only a matter of time before the laws of gravity reassert themselves on the Iranian economy.
|
The direct impact of this financial crisis in the US for the Iranian people, could actually be more than for the American people
Saeed Leylaz, economist
|
According to the BP survey, taken together this country has the largest combined oil and gas reserves in the world, and it is the world's third largest oil exporter.
Iran's oil minister said his country earned $70bn (£41bn) from oil exports last year - the vast majority of both its export earnings, and of government revenue.
But with oil prices already down to around $60 (£35) a barrel
from their peak, and still falling, that must be bad news for Iran's
finances. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7663487.stm>
Will China bail out the West?
|
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing |
With nearly $2 trillion (£570bn) worth of foreign currency reserves, China is being touted by some as the potential saviour of the Western banking system.
|
China's booming exports have enabled it to mass huge foreign reserves
|
In order to bail out ailing financial firms, Western governments need money - and China seems a good place to get that much-needed cash.
But Chinese economists say that while Beijing is ready to play its part in the rescue efforts, it will not be writing any blank cheques.
Senior Chinese officials say they are more focused on their own, internal problems, such as avoiding a domestic economic slowdown.
And any help offered by the Chinese government to solve the current
financial crisis is likely to come with strings attached. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7671482.stm>
Another PNP delegation sent to Germany
A report over radio dzBB quoted National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Soriano as saying that another PNP delegation left for Germany for an “official business" last Tuesday.
The report said the delegation team includes PNP Directorial Staff chief Geary Barias, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, QCPD deputy director for operations Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste, and QCPD Mobile Force chief Senior Superintendent Neri Ilagan, and Horacio Lagdao, a House of Representatives sergeant-at-arms.
Soriano did not indicate the budget allocated for the trip.
Over the weekend, former PNP comptroller Eliseo Dela Paz and his wife were held at the Moscow airport in Russia for failing to declare €105,000 or P6.9 million in contingency funds for the PNP delegation that attended the 77th International Police (Interpol) Assembly at St. Petersburg in Moscow, Russia on October 7-10.
The amount exceeded the ceiling of €10,000.
In a television report on Wednesday, Dela Paz however said there was nothing irregular in the undeclared cash fund.
"Everything is aboveboard, everything that has been done. Unfortunately ang naging lapse lang namin is we're not able to declare it. (The lapse on our part was we were not able to declare it) We don't know about it," Dela Paz said. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/127357/Another-PNP-delegation-sent-to-Germany-amid-controversy>
Junior cops dismayed over 'Moscow scandal' - report
Radio dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported that in eastern Metro Manila, many younger police officers said they were disappointed on why the PNP entrusted nearly P7 million to a retiring officer.
The report said the policemen, with ranks of PO1 to PO3, questioned why the PNP hierarchy had dela Paz bring out such a big amount without declaring it at the airport.
On the other hand, they said it was puzzling why the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) allowed dela Paz to bring out such a big amount.
Dela Paz and his wife were held at the Moscow airport last Saturday after airport authorities found the big amount of money. Dela Paz was part of a PNP contingent to the International Police Organization (Interpol) meeting in Russia.
Meanwhile, militant umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) dared PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa to face the music and assure the public about the scandal.
Radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported that the group said it was dismaying to know that some police officials figured in such a big mess in a "junket."
The group also questioned the big "contingency" fund of the PNP at a time when Filipinos face hard times because of the global financial crisis. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/127354/Junior-cops-dismayed-over-Moscow-scandal---report>
Researchers: Hackers may target cell phones next
10/15/2008 | 12:31 PM
SAN FRANCISCO - Some of the most vicious Internet predators are hackers
who infect thousands of PCs with special viruses and lash the machines
together into "botnets" to pump out spam or attack other computers.
Now security researchers say cell phones, and not just PCs, are the next likely conscripts into the automated armies.
The mobile phone as zombie computer is one possibility envisioned by
security researchers from Georgia Tech in a new report coming out
Wednesday.
The report identifies the growing power of cell phones to open a new
avenue of attack for hackers. Of particular concern is that as cell
phones get more computing power and better Internet connections,
hackers can capitalize on vulnerabilities in mobile-phone operating
systems or Web applications.
Botnets, or networks of infected or robot PCs, are the weapons of
choice when it comes to spam and so-called "denial of service attacks,"
in which computer servers are overwhelmed with Internet traffic to shut
them down. For example, botnets were used against Estonia's government
and financial Web sites in a devastating wave of attacks last year.
Botnets are so troubling because they have massive computing power and
a seemingly endless supply of newly infected PCs to replace old ones
that are wiped clean or taken offline. Millions of PC have fallen
victim. The owners typically never know.
The Georgia Tech researchers say that if cell phones become absorbed in
botnets, new types of moneymaking scams could be born. For example,
infected phones could be programmed to call pay-per-minute 1-900
numbers or to buy ringtones from companies set up by the criminals.
"The question is, can they do it effectively — make a lot of money
without much risk?" said botnet expert Joe Stewart, director of malware
research with SecureWorks Inc. "And if they can, then they will do it."
The Georgia Tech researchers say a big appeal of cell phones for
hackers is that the devices are generally always on, they're sending
and receiving more data, and they typically have poor security.
Antivirus software would suck up massive amounts of battery life, which
is a killer on a mobile device.
"This is the perfect platform (for hackers)," said Patrick Traynor, an
assistant professor of computer science at Georgia Tech and a
contributor to its Emerging Cyber Threats Report.
One big hurdle hackers will face is learning how the cellular networks
work and adapting their attacks. Unlike the wide-open world of Internet
providers, cell phone operators have tighter control over their
networks, which means they could shut down the lines of communication
between infected phones much easier.
Traynor noted that researchers have very little hard evidence that
hackers are already targeting cell phones. But successfully attacking
cell phones requires that people do a lot of Internet browsing and
downloading programs onto their phones, and that is just starting to
happen now.
"There are some challenges for the adversaries, but we've seen them
overcome the challenges in their way before," Traynor said. - AP <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/127135/Researchers-Hackers-may-target-cell-phones-next>
How Brains might have foretold the big crash
What have risky loans and Thunderbirds' Tracy Island got in common? Everyone wanted them because everyone else wanted them. It's how bubbles are made and why we are always doomed to see them burst, says Michael Blastland.
Say what you like about the new pariahs, bankers' reputations are shredded anyway. The libel laws might as well be suspended.
And why? Because they were greedy and stupid, obviously. The reasons are transparent and judgement quick. Thus is the moral high ground suddenly over-crowded. How easy, how comforting to know that vast error was simple.
|
J
M Keynes wrote that buying shares was like a bonny baby competition, in
which you don't choose the baby you think prettiest, but the baby you
think other people will think prettiest
|
This is no defence of bankers. But it can be argued that the easy explanation is inadequate and, left unchallenged, will hasten the next crash. Unfortunately, a better explanation incriminates us all.
This argument - of a link between the suits who blew it and the rest of us - is made by way of babies, Christmas toys and ants.
It works like this.
One of the first habits we acquire is to glance at mum before deciding how to react to what's around us. It is called social referencing. How do I know if I should be afraid or eager? I check the reaction elsewhere.
That characteristic equips us well. To find out what others think before we act makes sense: they might know something. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7672138.stm>
Satellite firm sells technology to miners in RP
In an interview Wednesday, officials from Inmarsat and partner Vizada Solutions noted that as the mining industry of the country — the world’s fifth richest in minerals — starts to grow, more companies will find the need to use Inmarsat’s broadband global area network technology, which allows Internet connectivity in 95% of the globe.
"The mining industry will further develop because the Philippines has a lot of potential," Inmarsat Account Manager Noemi de Rozieres said.
The company’s BGAN technology allows users to connect up to 11 people at a time to the Internet at speeds of as high as 492 kilobytes per second, anywhere in the globe using a mobile device tracked by three satellites that cover 95% of the earth’s surface.
Vivian Quenet, Vizada chief representative for Asia Pacific, Japan and Korea, said the BGAN devices would improve the operational efficiency of mining companies working in an archipelago like the Philippines, where mining exploration teams are often deployed to areas where telecommunication infrastructure may be inadequate.
Mr. Quenet said their network could be used anywhere as long as there is a clean line of sight to the sky. He said mining company executives in the country often complain about the lack of network coverage from local telecommunication providers.
Ms. De Rozieres and Mr. Quenet will be in Manila until Friday to market their product to mining firms attending a mining conference in Pasay City.
Ms. De Rozieres said other sectors that may find their technology useful include the maritime industry, groups providing relief work to remote areas and media organizations.
There are 20,000 BGAN devices around the world today, used by Australian mining firms and global ship liners. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/127315/Satellite-firm-sells-technology-to-miners-in-RP>
World wakes up to food challenge
|
By David Loyn
International development correspondent, BBC News |
|
Food prices were in part pushed up by increasing wealth in Asia
|
On World Food Day in 2007, the early warning signs that something serious was about to happen to food prices were already apparent.
Crop forecasts from big producers at opposite ends of the world last October - Canada and Australia - were disastrous. Both countries were in the grip of drought.
A steady rise in food prices began, spurred by oil price rises that were the most rapid since the early 1970s, knocking on to higher transport costs and fertiliser prices for food producers.
The unprecedented spike in food price rises in January was led by steadily increasing demand, particularly from hundreds of millions of newly rich in the rapidly growing economies of Asia, who wanted to eat better food than their parents had been able to afford.
As the food price shock took hold, there were riots worldwide - the government fell in Haiti - and a prompt return to protectionist policies as 40 countries imposed special measures to try to protect both their farmers, and those who could no longer afford to eat.
The worst hit were the urban poor in Africa, with no land to grow food for themselves, and for whom food takes a high proportion of their income.
In total, 36 countries sent out appeals for food aid. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7672536.stm>
Mind power moves paralysed limbs
|
By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News |
The technology bypasses injuries that stop nerve signals travelling from the brain to the muscles, offering hope for people with spinal damage.
So far the US team from the University of Washington have only tested their "brain-machine interfaces" in monkeys.
The hope is to develop implantable circuits for humans without the need for robotic limbs, Nature reports. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7669159.stm>
Gaza tunnels 'become an industry'
A UN report said the tunnels had become a lifeline for Gaza's Palestinians because of the Israeli blockade. Thousands work in the tunnels.
The tunnels are used to smuggle a wide variety of products into Gaza - including food and fuel.
But Israel says they are also used to import arms. It accuses Egypt of not doing enough to stop the smuggling.
Media reports estimate there are hundreds of tunnels in use along the border.
|
 |
But they also pose a danger. About 40 people have been killed as a result of tunnel incidents since the start of the year.
Last month, the Hamas authorities which control Gaza introduced regulations to licence and control trade through the tunnels.
A list of conditions were announced, including a call for all tunnel operators to meet certain standards.
Numerous tents covering tunnel entrances are visible in the Rafah area, according to the UN report, and the industry is becoming increasingly open and controlled.
But the Israeli blockade is having an ever greater humanitarian
impact on Gaza and the UN said the re-opening of the official crossings
with Egypt remained a priority. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7673926.stm>
Can Africa gain in the credit crisis?
|
By Martin Plaut
BBC News |
Is the credit crisis about to send Africa into yet another downward spiral?
Perhaps not. In fact it is possible that the continent could fare better than the rest of the world.
This is at least in part because most African economies have been so marginal to the international economic system that they have been less affected than other regions of the globe.
|
Many countries have regulations which prevented them from investing in the so-called 'toxic' financial products
Davinder Sikand
Aureos Africa Fund |
Davinder Sikand, managing partner for the Aureos Africa Fund, which has $400m (£236m) invested in the continent, says that Africa's banks have been so conservatively managed that they have almost no exposure to the sub-prime market that has caused such havoc elsewhere in the world.
"Most of our financial institutions are not directly impacted," he says.
"Many countries have regulations which prevented them from investing in the so-called 'toxic' financial products."
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) takes a similar view and says there is no systemic risk to any African country in terms of banking.
But if most African states have been relatively insulated from
the credit crunch, the same cannot be said of the most developed
economy on the continent - South Africa. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7682724.stm>
Will next US president rethink Afghanistan?
How the food crisis is making itself felt
In the hospital in Bamiyan a nurse is examining Mohammed Hakim. He is almost two years old, but his tiny figure is shrivelled and weak, little more than skin and bone.
Every month, 20 severely malnourished children are being admitted to this hospital. Their wasted figures are a warning.
After decades of war and neglect and now the worst drought in a generation, one in three Afghans - 11 million people - needs aid.
Sitting on a bed in the hospital's therapeutic feeding ward and cradling her listless son on her lap, Fatima told me her family only has enough food to last a month.
"Everyone in my village needs oil, needs flour, needs everything," she said. "When the winter snow comes we will be cut off."
"How will your son survive?" I asked Fatima. "I will pray to God to help him," was her answer.
Dr Ghulam Nadir, acting director of the hospital, says: "Here in Bamiyan around 8-10% of children are suffering severe malnutrition, but we cannot admit all of them because of a lack of space in our hospital."
|
Mohammed Hakkim was severely malnourished
|
Bamiyan's hospital gets no money from Afghanistan's central government. It has to rely on aid agencies and the Aga Khan Foundation for funding.
The hospital has a generator for electricity, but can't even pay for the fuel to run it 24 hours a day.
It is all evidence of a glaring discrepancy in the foreign investment that has been put into Afghanistan.
Currently nearly $100m a day is being spent on the war, yet
since 2001 just $7m a day has been spent on Afghans themselves,
according to the Agency Co-ordinating Body for Afghan Relief, an
umbrella organisation representing 100 aid agencies working in
Afghanistan. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7674623.stm>
Pakistan seeks IMF financial help
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The Pakistani rupee has fallen to record lows against the dollar
|
Talks on plans to strengthen Pakistan's economic stability would begin in the next few days, an IMF statement said.
It said Pakistan's difficulties were "a result of high food and fuel prices and the global financial crisis". The scale of financing had yet to be determined.
Pakistani officials had said they would only ask the IMF for money if other options failed.
Pakistan is going through its worst economic crisis in a decade, with massive trade and budget deficits, plunging foreign currency reserves and capital flight.
The growing strength of Islamic militants, demonstrated by a devastating attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad last month, is deterring many investors.
Its traditional allies, China and Saudi Arabia, have so far refused its request for help.
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says an IMF programme to
stop Pakistan defaulting on its debt obligations would be politically
unpopular because of the strict conditions attached. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7684742.stm>
German blacklist call riles Swiss
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By Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Bern |
|
The Germans fear they are being deprived of tax cash
|
During a meeting of European finance ministers in Paris, Peer Steinbrueck said Switzerland was helping German citizens to commit tax evasion.
He said this was depriving his own government of much-needed cash.
The Swiss foreign minister has summoned Germany's ambassador to Bern to explain his government's stance.
Secrecy
Switzerland knows very well that Germany is unhappy that wealthy German citizens may be saving their money in Switzerland, thus avoiding paying taxes.
Nevertheless, Peer Steinbrueck's suggestion that Switzerland should be on a blacklist of tax havens has angered the government here.
The Swiss foreign minister expressed her displeasure at the meeting with the German ambassador.
Meanwhile Urs Roth, head of the Swiss Bankers Association, said Mr Steinbrueck's comments were outrageous.
"Switzerland will not be put on a blacklist because these accusations are completely baseless, we have double taxation agreements with more than 60 countries, among them Germany.
"We exchange information with these countries, including information about tax fraud, so we are quite within international norms."
But tax fraud for criminal purposes is one thing, tax evasion is another, and many European Union countries believe Switzerland should be more helpful.
During the current financial crisis, governments need every tax euro they can scrape together and the pressure on Swiss banks is sure to grow.
The question is whether they will bow to that pressure. The message up to now has been - no compromise on Switzerland's much-loved banking secrecy. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7685337.stm>
'Bribery' secured Philippine mine
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Fishermen on Pujada Bay adjacent to the mine site fear for their livelihoods (pic courtesy Cafod)
|
The Catholic non-government agency Cafod is making the accusation against Amcor, the local partner of the world's biggest mining company, BHP Billiton.
Cafod is taking its concerns to shareholders at the BHP Billiton annual general meeting in London on Thursday.
The agency wants a new, independently monitored process of securing consent.
Consent is required under Philippine law, as the mining project affects an area where a sizeable minority of residents are indigenous.
The allegations of bribery are made in a new report launched to coincide with the AGM in London. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7684860.stm>
Last of Albania's 'sworn virgins'
|
By Mike Lanchin
BBC News, Kruje, Albania |
|
Qamile wears the traditional clothing of an Albanian man
|
"My father had died and the door of our house was shut because there were no more men in the family.
"So I cut my hair and from that day on kept the door of the house open," she says grandly.
Dressed in a baggy black suit and waist-coat, with a small fez hat perched on cropped white hair, Qamile has all the trappings of a typical Albanian old man.
But hearing the 88-year-old's high-pitched voice and seeing her smooth but deeply-lined face quickly dispelled any doubts about her true identity.
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I think it's better to be barren like me, than to have children that bring grief to you, I've had a good life
Qamile Stema
|
"People respect me, and shake my hand, as they would with a man; but when they hear my voice and see my face they know I'm a woman," Qamile says.
"And they still say to me, 'how you've been' - just as they would say to a man!" she adds with a broad smile.
Qamile is one of just a handful of "sworn virgins" still alive in Albania: women, typically from poor rural communities in the north of the country, who opted to change their status, though not their sex.
According to the sociologist, Zydi Dervishi, who has interviewed more than 20 such women, some took such a life-changing decision in order to avoid an unwanted marriage; others, to make up for the absence of a male heir in the family.
He says that in Albania's historically patriarchal society, a
family without a son or a father figure was often considered
leaderless. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7682240.stm>
Why raising interest rates won't work
|
Analysis
Jon Danielsson Economist, Financial Markets Group, London School of Economics |
The first industrialised country to request assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in over 30 years is Iceland.
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The crisis will hurt ordinary Icelandic households.
|
The reason is that Iceland was hit by the deepest and most rapid financial crisis in peacetime history.
At the moment, the Icelandic economy has come to a standstill, it is almost impossible to transfer foreign currency between Iceland and abroad, which is a calamity for a country that is almost entirely dependent on imports and exports.
Exporters cannot bring export earnings into Iceland, and it is very difficult to obtain foreign currency to purchase necessities.
The key factor in Iceland's failure has been the monetary policy pursued by its central bank, in particular inflation targeting, similar to the UK.
This means the central bank targets inflation, raises interest rates if inflation is above the target, and lowers them if inflation is below target.
Such a policy has a sound foundation in economic theory and is often appropriate for large countries.
In the case of Iceland, it was disastrous. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7658908.stm>
Trojan virus steals banking info
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By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley |
|
Sinowal infects victims' computers without leaving any trace
|
The Sinowal trojan has been tracked by RSA, which helps to secure networks in Fortune 500 companies.
RSA said the trojan virus has infected computers all over the planet.
"The effect has been really global with over 2000 domains compromised," said Sean Brady of RSA's security division.
He told the BBC: "This is a serious incident on a very noticeable scale and we have seen an increase in the number of trojans and their variants, particularly in the States and Canada."
The RSA's Fraud Action Research Lab said it first detected the Windows Sinowal trojan in Feb 2006.
Since then, Mr Brady said, more than 270,000 banking accounts and 240,000 credit and debit cards have been compromised from financial institutions in countries including the US, UK, Australia and Poland.
The lab said no Russian accounts were hit by Sinowal. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7701227.stm>
Mud eruption 'caused by drilling'
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By James Morgan
Science & Environment reporter, BBC News |
Lusi erupted in May 2006 and continues to spew out boiling mud, displacing around 30,000 people in East Java.
Drilling firm Lapindo Brantas denies a nearby well was the trigger, blaming an earthquake 280km (174 miles) away.
Around 10,000 families who have lost their homes are awaiting compensation, which could run as high as $70m (£43m).
|
This
is the data we wanted to get out - the data I have never been able to
show before. It clearly shows that the well failed. It was the driver
for the eruption
Professor Richard Davies
Durham University |
Correspondents describe the result a significant development in the tug-of-war to establish liability for the disaster. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7699672.stm>
Divine power in the Pyrenees
Stephane Di Caro stood in my parents' garden, his eyes closed.
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The Pyrenees mountains extend for about 267 miles (430km)
|
Stephane, however, was sensing something else. In each hand he held a thin metal rod bent in the middle like a shelf bracket. He held these out before him as he moved slowly towards us.
As he approached, the rods wavered and then smoothly turned inwards to meet, their points touching.
Stephane stopped, took out a can of spray paint and drew a large red X onto the mud. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7698221.stm>
T5 was 'national embarrassment'
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The report blamed BA and BAA for the chaos at Terminal 5
|
The event in March was a source of "national embarrassment", the House of Commons Transport Committee said.
It said the problems, which included cancelled flights and thousands of bags going missing, "could and should" have been avoided with better planning.
Deep sea submarine pioneer dies
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Jacques Piccard was still taking dives into his seventies
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In 1960, Piccard and US co-pilot Don Walsh took a submersible developed by his father to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific.
They went 11km (seven miles) beneath the surface of the sea.
Their discovery of living organisms at that depth led to a ban on the dumping of nuclear waste in ocean trenches.
"By far the most interesting find was the fish that came floating by our porthole," Piccard said afterwards.
"We were astounded to find higher marine life forms down there at all."
'Relishing the unknown'
News of Piccard's death was announced in a message carried by the website of his son, the balloonist Bertrand Piccard.
"One of the last great explorers of the 20th Century, a true Captain Nemo who went deeper than any other man, Jacques Piccard passed away on Saturday... at his home on the edge of his beloved Lake Geneva," it said, referring to the hero created by French writer Jules Verne in his novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
Bertrand Piccard added:
"He passed on to me a sense of curiosity, a desire to mistrust dogmas and common assumptions, a belief in free will and confidence in the face of the unknown."
Jacques Piccard was born in Brussels, son of balloonist Auguste Piccard. He studied in Switzerland, where he settled.
After the Mariana Trench dive, he worked for the US space agency
Nasa, exploring deep seas, and built four mid-depth submarines,
including the first tourist submarine which he used to take passengers
into the depths of Lake Geneva. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7704551.stm>
WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESS: Caterpillar, WellPoint may win, Delta, Pfizer lose under Obama
Written by Lorraine Woellert / Bloomberg
Wednesday, 05 November 2008 22:49
Health insurers UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc. may be winners in the Barack Obama administration. Drug maker Pfizer Inc. may not be. The president-elect’s pledge to spend on roads and bridges probably will help Caterpillar Inc., and delivering on his promise to “fast-track” money to automakers would come none too soon for General Motors (GM) Corp. and Ford Motor Co.
Delta Air Lines Co. and other airlines may face higher labor costs, and new regulations may rein in Internet service providers such as Comcast Corp. A drop in oil prices may let Exxon Mobil Corp. escape a windfall- profits tax, at least in the early months of Obama’s presidency.
The Democratic president-elect will create corporate winners and losers as he tries to carry out his promise to produce jobs, expand health-care coverage and increase the use of alternative energy, all while cutting taxes.
His dreams may collide with the reality of a federal government operating under a record budget deficit and an economic crisis that has drawn more cries for federal aid beyond the $700-billion bailout already approved by Congress.
Here’s a look at how selected industries may be shaped by the historic presidency of the 47-year-old Obama, the first African-American to hold the country’s highest job. <http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1538:what-it-means-for-business-caterpillar-wellpoint-may-win-delta-pfizer-lose-under-obama&catid=34:perspective>
Court orders film copyright guards in China-made DVD players
A US court has sided with Hollywood film studios by ordering Gowell
Electronics Ltd. to build piracy-thwarting technology into DVD players
made by the China-based firm.
A US District Court in California issued an injunction Friday against
Gowell as part of a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the Motion
Picture Association of America, a group representing major US film
studios.
The suit filed in June of this year accuses Gowell of making DVD
players without Content Scramble System (CSS) anti-copying technology
called for under terms of a licensing agreement.
"Compliance with the CSS license is a critical step in protecting
copyrighted material from infringement," MPAA associate general counsel
Dan Robbins said in a release.
"This judgment is another significant victory for content owners and
further affirms that CSS licensees must respect the terms of the
license agreement they signed by making secure products that protect
the copyrighted content of DVDs." <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/nov/06/yehey/techtimes/20081106tech1.html>
Wide reforms eyed for RP education
Thursday, November 06, 2008
By James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Emmanuel Angeles on
Wednesday unveiled the initial recommendations of the Presidential
Task Force on Education Reforms, which he claimed would recommended
wide-ranging reforms covering the country’s basic to tertiary
level of education to make it more competitive globally.
The recommendations, which include a month-long
study and discussion among various higher education stakeholders,
are part of the strategic plan that the task force would submit to
Malacañang next month, Angeles said in an interview.
As part of the finishing touches of the plan,
the task force is set to meet starting Friday with university and
college heads nationwide, to get their reactions and opinions on the
initial assessment.
“We are planning to consult with our
stakeholders and get their reactions about our concerns and
proposals which are all geared towards making Philippine education,
both at the basic and tertiary level, competitive with the rest of
the world,” Angeles said.
The commission would start the national
consultation this month. It hopes to submit the final report and
recommendations to President Gloria Arroyo by December.
Angeles said the plan has four major concerns:
faculty development; facilities development; scholarship for poor
students; and strengthening the research capability of higher
educational institutions.
He said priority would be given to teacher’s pre-service training, licensure examination and reserving some courses only for those with a master’s degree. <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/nov/06/yehey/metro/20081106met1.html>
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Global Economics-10
Globalisation Index
News Index
Index Nation States
Index Cultural Systems
Some
personal Reflections on the News
Theory
Forming and Articulation
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