Historic town in Pampanga celebrates 243 years with a pageant
SANTA RITA, Pampanga—This 243-year-old town, known for its rich history and production of pinipig used by Magnolia Ice Cream in 2012, is celebrating its fiesta on May 22. Highlighting the fiesta was the Mutya and Lakan Ning Santa Rita 2013 on Monday night.
From the Citi, a gem of a program supports PHL microenterprises
EVERY Filipino entrepreneur aspires for success—but the road is not always easy. How does one get the ample funding, right skills and an effective network? Faced with these challenges, not everyone is able to turn his dream of owning a business into reality.
More than just monoliths, Rockwell Land is building communities
OPERATING a business in a mall is quite challenging because of the competition and cost involved. To ensure sustainability of their businesses, mall tenants need all the support from management to achieve a win-win situation for both parties.
Fewer Facebook users take a liking to its new Home software
SAN FRANCISCO—It may be too soon to call Facebook Home a flop. But it’s clearly not the breakout hit that some expected. One month after its splashy debut, fewer and fewer people are downloading Facebook’s new mobile software. It took weeks for Facebook Home to hit 1 million downloads—less than 0.1 percent of its 1.1 billion monthly active-user base.
Google+ gets a face-lift, enhances photo features
GOOGLE is taking significant steps to differentiate Google+ from Facebook by adding dozens of new features, redoing the social network’s design and adding a handful of tools that will make it easier for users to upload photo albums. In total, Google+ is being updated with 41 new features, but the most notable change is in the content feed. Now, new posts show up in one, two or three columns depending on the screen size being used to check out Google+. Previously, the site displayed just one column, so the new look makes it easier to see more posts at one time. Users may also notice the similarity of the new Google+ looks to Pinterest.
News
Warning out on Luzon power crisis
Businessmen have warned the government that the financial losses now being suffered by Mindanao as a result of the crippling power outages there may be replicated in premier investment centers of Luzon unless “swift and decisive” steps are taken to meet the rising demand for electricity in these areas.
Real-estate developers oppose DOF bid to trim tax perks for mass housing
The biggest umbrella organization of real-estate developers in the country said the Department of Finance’s (DOF) bid to remove mass housing from the sectors enjoying tax perks under the annual investment blueprint runs counter to government programs aimed at making housing affordable.
Opposition-led provinces not on list of coconut-levy fund beneficiaries
THE Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the claimants movement Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin (CLAIM) on Monday assailed Malacañang not only for trying to use money that doesn’t belong to it but also to “reward” provinces that backed its gubernatorial candidates in the May 13 elections.
Residents do not want a geothermal plant in Irosin, Sorsogon–ICAG
IROSIN, Sorsogon—In the 1990s, the locals successfully blocked attempts of the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) to put up a geothermal power plant in the area, Irosin Coalition Against Geothermal (ICAG) Chairman Dr. Precy D. Gante told the BusinessMirror on May 19.
The tourism phenomenon
APART from the tourism phenomenon, the housing phenomenon covers mainly cities and major municipalities, although key players in the industry are increasing their presence in other areas, especially the hometowns of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who now represent a significant market for housing developers.
Chinese premier visits India to boost ties
NEW DELHI—Just weeks after a tense border standoff, China’s new premier visited India on Sunday on his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to speed up efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties.
Business
Cebu to have its own ‘Mall of Asia’ by 2015
AFTER inaugurating its lifestyle mall in Bonifacio Global City last week, SM Prime Holdings Inc. announced it is set to open its next premier shopping center in Cebu by 2015, casually referring to the project as the Mall of Asia in the South.
Biotech crops risky to consume, says former pro-GMO scientist
A DECADE after retiring from his job as a research scientist at Agriculture Canada, Dr. Thierry Vrain, a former promoter of genetically modified organisms (GMO), has warned that eating biotech crops is essentially risky.
Philam Life portfolio to be allocated more to real estate
LEADING life-insurance firm Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life) has allocated a bigger portion of its investment portfolio to real estate, which is closely watched by regulators in anticipation of a more problematic sector down the line.
From the Citi, a gem of a program supports PHL microenterprises
EVERY Filipino entrepreneur aspires for success—but the road is not always easy. How does one get the ample funding, right skills and an effective network? Faced with these challenges, not everyone is able to turn his dream of owning a business into reality.
Empowering SMEs through technology
ELECTRONICS powerhouse Samsung and telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) seek to empower Filipino small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) even more under a program that makes full use of technology to optimize productivity and output.
Malaysia developing green technology as AEC niche
THE Malaysian economy, which grew from its agricultural roots, is rediscovering possibilities in business solutions that promote green technology.
Sports
Again, not in the rising, but in the falling
I’VE been looking endlessly for one adage to be imperfect even just for once.
Lifestyle
Fewer Facebook users take a liking to its new Home software
SAN FRANCISCO—It may be too soon to call Facebook Home a flop. But it’s clearly not the breakout hit that some expected. One month after its splashy debut, fewer and fewer people are downloading Facebook’s new mobile software. It took weeks for Facebook Home to hit 1 million downloads—less than 0.1 percent of its 1.1 billion monthly active-user base.
‘Cleopatra,’ a spectacle on- and off-screen
THERE was the spectacle, the runaway budget, the fights with the studio. But almost everyone thinks about the 1963 movie Cleopatra for one thing: Liz and Dick.
Of rocks and things
AN ecotourist’s delight.
That’s probably the best way to describe Northern Samar.
It’s a coastal region blessed with so many beaches, caves and rock formations, waterfalls and hot springs, as well as popular historical and religious sites fashioned by the creative minds and hands of men.
Features
For Nivea’s country manager, the beauty of the Philippines is not just skin-deep
SOME say Manila is not the best destination in the Philippines. But for several foreign tourists and business executives who already visited the country, Manila is the place to be as it is where marble meets dust, where passion finds success.
End-to-end pharmacovigilance is a must–Unilab
NOT all medicines—even those with the same generic names—are created equal. And in numerous cases, the difference—particularly in quality, divides the line between life and death for patients.
For first time, stem cells are produced from cloning technique
WASHINGTON—For the first time, scientists have created human embryos that are genetic copies of living people and used them to make stem cells—a feat that paves the way for treating a range of diseases with personalized body tissues, but also ignites fears of human cloning.
Fuego expands service to property management
WITH the increasing number of travelers and homeowners in the country today, Fuego Hotels & Properties Management Corp. has announced the growth of its sales and marketing team, as well as its list of services, which now includes providing consultancy to properties that need guidance in setting up their own hotel and resort.
Embrace the cold call
IN the course of researching my new book, Reinventing You, I gained a newfound respect for the merits of cold calling. Ringing up total strangers on the phone doesn’t have to be a sleazy sales tactic. Instead, it can simply be a way to connect with someone you might not otherwise have access to.
ADMU, Epictech partner to include Syspro ERP in curriculum
THE Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) has recently entered into a partnership with Epictech Inc., a business solutions provider, to integrate the Syspro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suite into its curriculum.
Sacrificing the Great Barrier Reef for mining, port development
SYDNEY—Mining and port development coupled with decreasing water quality along Australia’s northeastern coast are threatening the continent’s World Heritage-listed tourist drawcard, the Great Barrier Reef.
Rooftop generators may cause yet another industrial disaster in Bangladesh
DHAKA—As Aleya Begum sewed pants for 11 hours each day, vibrations from a power generator shuddered across the roof of her Dhaka garment factory.
Five ridiculously easy ways to reduce your carbon footprint
IN the news last week were stories about how the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has hit a record high, exceeding the long-feared 400-parts-per-million milestone, US scientists announced.
So, what’s the big deal about CO2 and why should we be alarmed?
Climate change is happening…so what?
NEW YORK—Seven in 10 US citizens believe climate change is real and happening now. Yet most have never even contacted a government official about the issue, let alone volunteered with an environmental organization or taken other action.
Africa, Asia see boom in priests as Europe withers
VATICAN CITY—The number of Catholic priests in Africa and Asia has shot up over the past decade while decreasing in Europe, mirroring trends in the numbers of Catholic faithful that helped lead to the election of Pope Francis as the first non-European pope in over a millennium.
Understanding cholesterol and the role of magnesium, sulfur in our health
CHOLESTEROL is widely thought as bad for the health. But this notorious fat, which is associated to heart problems, is essential to the body, said Mary Jean Netario Cruz, an integrative-health consultant.
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