Latest press releases, statements, manifestos, announcements, etc.
MANILA — The three officials of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
(IPU) are very disappointed over the disparaging
remarks made by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez about
their mission to look into alleged persecution of
leftist party-list representatives to Congress, led by
Crispin Beltran (Anak-Pawis) and Satur Ocampo
(Bayan-Muna).
MANILA — Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno hit the nail on the head.
This was the reaction of the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan after Puno slammed the United States-led war on terror and its particular conduct in the Philippines. The Supreme Court justice criticized the worsening human rights situation in the country as a result of a state that has been weakened by corruption and lack of credibility.
MANILA — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban B. Conejos, Jr. reiterated the Government?s standing ban on the deployment of Filipinos to Iraq as he received reports that foreign companies continue to recruit Filipinos for employment in different areas in Iraq.
MANILA — Leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), one of the country?s top five banks, recently entered into a strategic partnership that will push for the use of mobile commerce in delivering fast and accessible financial services to benefit LANDBANK?s OFW clientele. LANDBANK and SMART also agreed to cooperate in developing products and services to address the requirements of LANDBANK?s priority sectors ? farmers and fisher folk, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro entrepreneurs, local government units (LGUs).
Under the memorandum of agreement, LANDBANK will utilize SMART?s mobile commerce platform, the SMART Services Hub, in developing new remittance and financial services and products such as LANDBANK?s Cash Card. The SMART Services Hub is SMART?s global financial and telecommunications services model based on its award-winning Smart Money electronic financial services platform.
?We are proud to mark yet another milestone for the Smart Services Hub. It is our pleasure to provide the country?s premier financial institution with our tried and tested, and highly successful mobile commerce solutions. We are optimistic that our partnership with LANDBANK will enable the bank to reach out to the unbanked and underbanked in the countryside, and around the world.” said Napoleon L. Nazareno, SMART president and CEO.
?LANDBANK welcomes this partnership with SMART as it will provide us with more and better opportunities to enhance our services to our OFW clients. Combining the advantage of SMART?s advanced mobile commerce technology with LANDBANK?s strong countryside network, will benefit our OFWs in terms of having a reliable, efficient and faster way of sending their remittances to their families back home ? wherever they may be,? LANDBANK president and chief executive officer Gilda E. Pico said.
The partnership is in line with SMART?s efforts in promoting m-commerce and mobile phone-based remittances. Two months ago, SMART successfully launched the Smart Services Hub at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Through this platform, telcos and banks abroad can offer mobile phone-based remittances to Filipino migrants.
The remittance then goes through a clearing and settlement agency and ends up in the Philippines ? specifically, in the recipient?s deposit account or Smart Money-powered card issued by a partner bank like LANDBANK. Both the sender and recipient will be notified via a text message that the remittance transaction has been completed.
SMART?s mobile commerce systems are available to international mobile operators and banks and to domestic banks, enabling them to provide a broad range of secure data and transactional services.
?Our mobile commerce platform has been designed to work closely with banks and financial institutions. To date, we have established mobile banking partnerships with seven Philippine commercial banks, Smart Money tie-ups with three of the country?s leading banks, and interconnection with the three ATM consortia in the country. SMART is also the only non-bank equity member of the ATM consortia in the Philippines,? Nazareno said.
DARWIN CITY, AUSTRALIA ?The four governments of the Brunei
Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area
(BIMP-EAGA), and their private sector counterparts will converge here this
week to concretize trade ties between EAGA and the Northern Territory (NT),
while working to fully revitalize cooepration in the growth area.