Third legislative district in North Cotabato pushed
0ANOTHER legislative district should be carved out in North Cotabato due to its growing population, a bill proposed in the Senate stated.
Citing data from the National Statistics Office, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the province’s population stood at 1,226,508 in 2010, a number which is vital in keeping the province’s leadership in the production of cereals, tropical fruits, vegetables, sugarcane, coconut, coffee, freshwater fish, and livestock.
Under the bill, the first legislative district shall be composed of the municipalities of Pikit, Pigkawayan, Alamada, Libungan, Midsayap, and Aleosan.
BIR padlocks store in NorthCot town
0KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/25 May) – Revenue officers in North Cotabato padlocked on Thursday one of the biggest grocery centers in Midsayap town due to its alleged failure to pay taxes amounting to P6 million.
Venerando Homez, head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) District 108 based here, identified the store they served closure as PM Grocery Center. PM stands for Pablo Momo, the name of the owner of the establishment.
The closure order was issued by BIR Deputy Commissioner Nelson Aspe, according to Homez.
Records from the BIR showed that PM Grocery Center violated several provisions of Republic Act No. 7642, or an Act Increasing the Penalties for Tax Evasion, amending some pertinent sections of the National Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines.
According to Homez, the owner underestimated his taxable income by more than 30 percent.
40 Midsayap fisherfolk to receive tilapia fingerlings, fish pond
0KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, May 1 (PIA) — Some 40 fisherfolk in confict-affected village in Midsayap, North Cotabato are set to benefit from tilapia fingerlings distribution and turn-over of nine units of fish ponds from the government.
Plan for the fingerlings dispersal and fish pond turn-over in the remote village of Olandang is being finalized by the office of North Cotabato 1st District Rep. Jesus Sacdalan and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and officials of the local government unit.
Dominador Aspacio, congressional district office staff, said the fingerlings will be dispersed free to help residents begin a sustainable livelihood.
(more…)
Cotabato City under tight watch
0COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Authorities placed the whole city under tight watch following the transfer of a notorious Moro bandit to the Maguindanao Provincial Jail.
Security forces transferred Datukan Samad alias Commander Lastikman, from Kidapawan City to the provincial jail, which is located in Cotabato City, over the weekend. The transfer was made after theMidsayap City Regional Trial Court cleared him of a kidnapping case filed in 2007.
He was transferred to the provincial jail because he has other pending criminal cases in Maguindanao.
Security forces tightened the security in the city as Samad’s followers had tried to spring him from his detention cell in Kidapawan City last February.
Samad was transferred to the provincial jail by three teams from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, policemen and soldiers backed by combat vehicles.
Parties pledge consultations before finalizing peace deal
0MIDSAYAP, NORTH COTABATO — Officials of the government and leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separately vowed to put before their respective constituencies the proposed final peace agreement before it is signed.
“No final peace agreement will be signed without the government making it known to the people first,” Secretary Teresita Q. Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, said in a statement issued on Saturday.
For the MILF, spokesperson Von Al-Haq stressed that the Moro rebels will continue its advocacy for transparency with the Bangsamoro people.
“Every development [in the peace process], we always bring it to the ground for consultation with our stakeholders,” he said on the phone on Sunday.
A kick for peace in Mindanao
0MANILA, Philippines http://sports.inquirer.net/44081/a-kick-for-peace-in-mindanao – Football in the Philippines is no longer just a sport, it has also become a way to bring peace to war-torn Mindanao – thanks to the Philippine Azkals.
Azkals team members Roel Gener and Eduard Sacapano will lead a football clinic at the Southern Christian College grounds in Midsayap, Cotabato on May 28 and 29. Both are regular military personnel from the Philippine Army.
Dubbed as “Football Para sa Kapayapaan 2012 [Football for Peace],” the event aims to teach children aged between 6 and 12 the virtue of sportsmanship and peace building.
Free Online Courses from Top School
0You can now study for free online on these websites:
edX http://www.edxonline.org/ MIT and Harvard
Khan Academy - www.khanacademy.org Free Educational Videos
Coursera - https://www.coursera.org/
Udacity - http://www.udacity.com
Philippine Stocks that are Bought/Trade in AMEX, NYSE, NASDAQ, PK in the United States of A
0here are the list of Philippine Stocks with symbols that can be traded in the US using TradeKing, Scottrade, TDAmeritrade
- JBFCF.PK – Jollibee Foods Corporation
- SMGBY.PK – San Miguel Corporation
- PHI (NYSE)- Philippine Long Distance Co
- SPHXF – SM Prime Holdings
- SVTMY – SM Investments
- JGSHF.PK – JG Summit Holdings Inc
- AYAAF.PK – Ayala Land
- AYYLF.PK – Ayala Corp
- BPHLY.PK – Bank of PHilippine Islands
- FPHHF.PK – First Philippine Holdings Corp
- EGDCY.PK – Energy Development Corporation
- GTMEF.PK – Globe Telecom
- MTPOY.PK – Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company
- PXMFF.PK – Philex Mining Corporation
- UVRBF.PK – Universal Robina Corp
This is so far the partial list of Stocks traded in the Philippines Stock EXchange (PSE) that you can buy in US Stock Markets using brokers in the United States.
What I noticed with this list of stocks that are traded in PSE is… they are big and stable companies in the pHILIPPINES with strong leadership, and growth potential. They also have aggressive leadership that they already jumped to neighboring countries like China, TAiwan, Vietnam, Singapore to expand their market share, example of these are Jollibee, San Miguel, JG Summit, Robinson Robina, ICTSI, PHI, and SM.
at this writing the Jollibee Stock Price is $2.47 (May31,2012)
Villanueva braces for IBO slot
0RARELY does heavy-handed Lorenzo Villanueva go the distance in his fights, with all but one of his 22 career victories coming via the short route.
As the 26-year-old Filipino knockout artist braces for his toughest fight next month, he hasn’t left a stone unturned and is prepared to go the whole 12 rounds.
“He is in Baguio City right now. He is already sparring for 12 rounds and building up a lot of stamina. He knows that Daud (Cino) Yordan has never been stopped and that the fight could last 12 rounds,” Villanueva’s manager Manny Piñol told Sun.Star Cebu.
Ambition
Villanueva is gunning for the vacant International Boxing Organization (IBO) featherweight strap against former world title contender Daud Cino Yordan on May 5 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Villanueva, a native of Midsayap, North Cotabato, has set up his training camp for the biggest break of his career in Baguio City. He has been sparring with four different fighters from Mindanao—Ronnie Apilado (16-1, 10 KOs), Rey Juntilla (16-1, 9 KOs), Rolando Magbanua (19-2, 14 KOs) and tall light welterweight Rugen Mamayog.
Yordan, 28-2 with 22 knockouts, should serve as a true measuring stick if Villanueva is the real deal, because the Indonesian is experienced and has fought for a world title. He also has a granite chin and has lost to world-class opposition in current world champions Chris John and Celestino Caballero, both by decision.
N. Cotabato folk to stage ‘day of mourning’ over power woes
0COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Different sectors in North Cotabatoare planning to stage a “day of mourning” to show their indignation over the worsening power crisis in the province and in other parts of Mindanao.
Kidapawan City administrator Rodulfo Cabiles told Catholic radio station dxND they are expecting thousands to join the protest action anytime before the end of April.
The Cotabato Electric Cooperative, the power utility serving all 17 towns of North Cotabato, earlier said it had no choice but to ration power in the province due to lack of supply from the state-run hydroelectric plants in Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon.
“We have six to eight hours of rotating blackouts in Kidapawan City and surrounding towns and because of it the economy has been declining,” Cabiles said.
The Kidapawan City council earlier threatened to sue the National Power Corp. (Napocor) for disregarding public clamor to allocate 25 percent of the electricity generated by two geothermal power plants located in the city.
The two geothermal plants, operating for almost two decades now, are located at the foot of Mt. Apo in Barangay Ilomavis, a hinterland district in Kidapawan City.
However, the electricity being supplied by Napocor to Kidapawan City and surrounding towns, through the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco), comes from the hydroelectric plants in Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon.
Kidapawan City Vice Mayor Joseph Evangelista said Napocor’s reluctance to allocate 25 percent of the power generated by the two geothermal plants to the city and 17 North Cotabato towns is a serious infraction of a 20-year-old agreement obliging the power firm to supply the province with enough electricity from the two facilities.
Evangelista was apparently referring to the memorandum of agreement between the province and Napocor, crafted before the two geothermal plants were built in the 1980s, to ensure that local consumers would benefit, “first and foremost,” from the geothermal resources to be tapped from Mt. Apo.
Evangelista said the city council is now preparing a petition for a writ from the court to compel the Napocor to abide by its obligation to supply Kidapawan City and the entire North Cotabato with 25 percent of the total power output generated by the two power plants.
“We are to wage a legal battle against the Napocor. The power crisis now being experienced in North Cotabato is already very serious. It has been damaging the local economy,” Evangelista said.
The city council is also seeking President Aquino’s intervention through the immediate implementation of Section 6.2 of the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 7638, or the Department of Energy Act of 1992.
