Camp John Hay Investors are no Pushovers

The 1,631 investors, locators, shareholders and sub-lesses are have formed an alliance and are fighting back to protect their rights in Camp John Hay. They have filed a petition to the Court of Appeals to clarify and set the record straight. A temporary restraining order (TRO) was also asked to stop the Baguio RTC from evicting property owners who acted in good faith.

CJHDEVCO versus BCDA Who Will Win?

The Philippine Dispute Resolution Center (PRCI) ordered the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to return to CJHDEVCO the total amount of P1,421,096,052.00 representing the rental payment made by the developer based on the lease agreement. The Baguio RTC issued last April 14, 2015 a writ of execution to implement the PDRCI decision to shell out P1.42 billion in exchange for CJHDEVCO to move out from Camp John Hay.

Business venture turned philanthropic crusade to help, educate the poor

 

Helping people, the less fortunate, is natural for Filipinos, particularly those who have achieved their success from humble beginnings. Nilo S. Gret, a former Bank Executive and native of Tiaong, Quezon province, is one of those Filipinos. He pioneered the first technical school in Tiaong, Quezon, where it is helping local students pursue paying careers with TESDA backed certified training.

A Bitter Pill

BCDA’s threatening locators, unit owners and sub-lessees who entered into contracts for a 50-year lease that they could be evicted if they do not assign their contracts with BCDA. The proposal clearly exposes the parties concerned to graft and corruption since once the properties of locators, lessees and tenants are returned to BCDA. The fact is that BCDA cannot dispose them without the proper public bidding to these properties.

Philam Life offers Filipinos financial protection even at early stages of a critical illness

Health is seen as a top concern of Filipinos – as they tend to prioritize their and their family’s health. Health setbacks, especially life-threatening critical illnesses, after all, can cost much and derail the family’s finances, while taking away precious moments that the family could have spent together.

This was found by the “AIA Survey on Middle Class Hopes and Aspirations ” conducted by Philam Life’s parent company, AIA, the leading pan-Asian insurance group.  The study revealed that “being healthy” is one of the top goals in life among middle class Filipinos. More so, “unexpected emergencies” and “healthcare costs” are the top concerns among the respondents.

Bundle of Joy by Manulife

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. (Manulife Philippines), one of the country’s leading insurance companies,has made life insurance more accessible by offering FREE insurance through Manulife Bundle of Joy. This good news is perfect for new parents, parents-to-be and everyone who wants to be a part of Bundle of Joy community!

The vast majority of newborns enter the world healthy but they are more vulnerable to germs than older babies because they simply haven't had time to build up defenses. Sometimes infants develop conditions that require medical tests and treatment. All signs and symptoms are of even greater concern if the baby is less than 3 months old. We can only do so much to take care of our little one, and even if we wrap our child in our arms until they are okay to thrive on their own, we as parents cannot live forever. Accidents happen and diseases will not always be at bay. The unpredictability of parenthood comes with inevitable emergencies of life. If something happens to the mom or dad or God Forbid even both of them before they turn one, what happens to your newborn child? What can we leave behind?

We can either burden ourselves with anxiety on things we cannot control or secure the best future for your child without delay. This means that there is  no need to wait until their first birthday. The absolute security of our newborn is not even a choice, it is a necessity. After all, what is more urgent than our child’s future? The cost of pregnancy, baby delivery, supplies and immunizations all add up. So for parents like us, Manulife’s Bundle of Joy program is a welcome breath of fresh air. With no premium required, moms and dads with newborns less than a year old would only need to register online for a free one-year insurance coverage worth Php100,000.00. You can also seek expert advice and useful guides for first-time parents and financial awareness for those who are starting to build a family. The site also offers relevant information for us parents on freebies, promos and other fun activities. At this time, getting insurance may be at the bottom of your checklist, as it was previously in ours. But as we relish the joys of parenthood, let us learn to choose lifelong benefits, the ones that would benefit the family and ultimately our newborns. The cute strollers, cribs, baby bouncers and toys will be outgrown in a short amount of time but a good insurance coverage will last a long time. Bundle of Joy advocacy aims to reach, secure and protect as many Filipino families as possible. Eligible parents that sign up with the Manulife Bundle of Joy community (www.manulifebundleofjoy.com.ph) will be entitled to a free one-year term life insurance coverage worth P100,000

Yolanda's First Year

A year ago today, Supertyphoon “Yolanda” made landfall at 4:40 a.m. in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

Yolanda left a near-apocalyptic landscape: about 600 towns and 57 cities in 44 provinces flattened or damaged, more than 28,000 people injured and some 3 million affected in one way or another. The government stopped counting the dead—the corpses littered the coasts and countryside for weeks and sometimes months after the typhoon—at 6,293 last April, despite some 1,800 more persons reported missing. No one is sure of the exact number at this point.

It’s too bad that our public officials can’t set aside politics even temporarily for a tragedy of immense magnitude like Super Typhoon Yolanda. Not that you can blame President Aquino for skipping Tacloban City, Ground Zero of the monster howler, and skipping the date itself of the first anniversary, opting instead to fly to Guiuan, Eastern Samar last Friday.

President Aquino  is no statesman, and as we have seen, he doesn’t take criticism well. The people of Tacloban, led by Imelda Marcos’ relative Alfred Romualdez, were not expected to roll out the red carpet for the President. P-Noy faced street protests – not the best image to be sent out to the world by all the foreign journalists who went to Eastern Visayas for the Yolanda  Victims  anniversary. And horrors, Congresswoman Imeldific was invited to the event!

So P-Noy, who has enough problems on his plate, picked friendlier ground and went to Guiuan. There he was shown knocking on the wooden frame of a hut that looked flimsy enough to be toppled by a native pig fleeing the butcher.

Although Pnoy is the President and as such should exercise utmost statesmanship by doing the popular choice of going to Tacloban instead of Guiuan, I could understand his aversion towards sharing the same space and time with Mayor Romualdez who has time and again criticized the government's handling of recovery efforts in Tacloban. What is important is the assistance that has so far been delivered and future 

efforts to bring the city back to normalcy.

I wonder what yardstick he is using to measure the recovery efforts. He should understand that there other towns and provinces equally needing help and the government is no miracle worker to attend to the needs of people all at the same time. There are priorities and schedules to be observed vis-a-vis resources.

In the same vein, somebody should also question what Mayor Romualdez has done so far. To think this is the mayor who ignored the warning of PAGASA and didn't bother to ask the meaning of storm surge. This ignorance and inaction resulted to a lack of preparedness by his people when Yolanda slammed Tacloban's shores.

He was found out to be spending time with his family in a near-by resort. All the time he deflected criticism of his behaviour by attacking the very entity, the central government, which has the wherewithal to help him and his people. By alienating Malacanang he may have effectively denied his people the full support of the national government. Be that as it may, the government made sure that Tacloban got its fair share of relief funds and assistance.

Calling on Ping Lacson to itemize the assistance given with the amount, date and projects and  relief and rehabilitation efforts  and programs so that the people may know, and there upon ignore Romualdezes' whining and politicking.

\Is there a way of some sort of administrative sanction that could be meted on a lying, whining, and uncooperative local executives  who need to own up to their mistakes and National Government deficiencies?