2007 May- Davao Today

Pimentel bats for gradual automation of ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, Philippines, Politics on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino �Nene� Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today branded as a canard the allegation that he had opposed the computerization of the country�s elections. Referring to a political advertisement which appeared in some newspapers blaming him and other legislators for the...

Philippines’s JEDI presented at Su...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Inbox, Philippines, Technology on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

The University of the Philippines Ayala TBI based JEDI project team scored another milestone, when it presented at the Sun JavaOne conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA. The conference was held last May 8-11. The team was led by Professors Rommel Feria and JP Petines of the UP Computer...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Environment, Inbox, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — In the wake of the reopening of the controversial Rapu-Rapu polymetallic mine in Albay last February, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently announced that investments in the mining sector are expected to hit $348 million this year. But whatever benefits such investments...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, OFWS & Migration, Philippines, Pinoy Life Abroad on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA � The DFA has urged Filipinos staying illegally in Kuwait to avail of the amnesty granted by the Kuwaiti government to illegal aliens. In his report to DFA Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo M. Endaya said that the two-month amnesty � from 1 May to 30 June 2007 � was...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Inbox, World on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

Joint statement from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights, Reporters Without Borders (New York, May 31, 2007) � The Iranian government should immediately release two Iranian-Americans from detention and clarify the case of a third who may have...

‘I’m not going to Melo panel...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Extrajudicial Killings, Human Rights, Inbox, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna President Satur Ocampo today categorically denied that he has agreed to testify before the Melo Commission regarding extrajudicial killings of activists, including 130 members of Bayan Muna. “I have not made any statement that we are ready to...

Arroyo lauds 6.9% GDP growth...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Economy, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

Statement of the President: On economic growth in the 1st quarter of 2007 I am pleased to announce that the economy has shown rather strong growth in the first quarter of 2007. Gross domestic product or GDP grew by 6.9 percent, while gross national product or GNP grew by 6.6 percent. This is a great sign...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Economy, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

Socio-economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri released a statement about an hour ago announcing that the Philippine GDP grew by a robust 6.9 percent in the first quarter, surpassing the forecast of between 5.3 and 6.1 percent. The services sector proved crucial for this growth, growing at 9.1 percent. Below...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Latest Posts, Philippines, Trade on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (via PLDT) – The Philippines and the Sanitarium Health Food Company (SHFC), a leading New Zealand food manufacturer, have forged a partnership agreement intended to bolster the two-way trade of food items between the Philippines and New Zealand ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Economy, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — The government is ready to implement its old but effective measures to avert the domino impact on the domestic fuel prices of oil price increases in the global market. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his weekly press briefing in Malacanang this afternoon that this is in response to...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | 1 Comment

MANILA — Malacanang assured today government employees whose tenures will be affected by the implementation of Executive Order 366 or the Rationalization Plan that they will receive the full benefits due them. ...

Philippines praises Australia’s ro...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, Military, Philippines, World on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lauded today the important role Australia is playing in ensuring peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. ...

Philippines welcomes leftist solon’...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Extrajudicial Killings, Human Rights, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — Malacanang welcomed today the move of Rep. Satur Ocampo of the militant party-list Bayan Muna and the Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights (KARAPATAN) to participate in the investigation of the extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations being conducted by the Melo...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Economy, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — Mitigating measures to help exporters and families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) cope with the adverse effects of the strong peso are now in place, according to Malacanang. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his weekly press briefing this afternoon that while the government and...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Health, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — Malacanang has ordered the Department of Health (DoH) to look into allegations that the government�s Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) program might have been “taken advantage of,” leading to its P4-billion loss since 1995. ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Davao City, Davao Region, Latest Posts on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

At the start this week of the marathon hearings on the injunction the banana industry has filed against Davao City�s ban on aerial spraying, the banana companies allegedly misrepresented data or outrightly lied about them in order to mislead the court and the public about the pesticides they use and how they...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Inbox on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

Journalists� leaders are calling for a sea change in newsroom attitudes to increase diversity and tolerance in media. Delegates to the International Federation of Journalists congress in Moscow today called on media unions and employers to join forces to improve coverage of other cultures, particularly...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Inbox, Press Freedom Watch on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

The International Federation of Journalists� World Congress in Moscow has launched a detailed report on the problems facing media and journalists in the Middle East with a call for an end to targeting of journalists and reform of legal regimes that are a barrier to press freedom in the region. Threats of...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Inbox, Press Freedom Watch on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

Today the International Federation of Journalists, meeting at its Congress in Moscow, strongly condemned the harassment of journalists defending trade union rights in Serbian paper Narodne Novine, accusing the management of �cynical union busting�. On 28 May, 5 journalists of Serbian newspaper Narodne Novine...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Breaking News, Inbox, Latest Posts, Military, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan ( Bayan ) today picketed the Australian Embassy in Makati. The group was protesting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo�s visit to Australia and the impending signing of a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which allows the entry of Australian troops to the...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Davao City, Latest Posts, Travel & Leisure on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

DAVAO CITY — This city will continue to be a haven for new investments especially in the field of tourism-related business ventures. Lawyer Domingo Duerme, Senior Assistant Vice-President for Mindanao Sales of the Philippine Air Lines (PAL), express this optimism Wednesday morning at the launching of...

Davao City promotes breastfeeding...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Davao City, Health, Latest Posts on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

By Rose Palacio City Health Officer Dr. Josephine Villafuerte said the city government, as instructed by Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, has been monitoring nutrition implementation in all district of Davao and promotes breastfeeding as a vital component of the President�s hunger mitigation program. ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Latest Posts, Mindanao on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

DAVAO CITY — Big ticket investments that were firmed up during the Davao membership meeting of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, Inc. (CCAP) last year will be operational before the second quarter of 2007. ...

Philippines orders gov’t agencies:...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Health, Latest Posts, Philippines on 05 31st, 2007 | No Comments

By Rose Palacio President Arroyo ordered government agencies to pool and intensify their efforts and seek the cooperation of the private sector to wipe out hunger in the country. ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Breaking News, Latest Posts, Mindanao, Philippines, Politics on 05 30th, 2007 | No Comments

MANILA — Canvassing the votes from Maguindanao will spark more protests and will deal the final blow to the credibility of the elections. This was the warning aired by the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today as hundreds of its members and supporters gathered in the morning in front of the...