Blast hits condominium at Global City Philippines kill 3

Three people died last night at Global City Taguig Philippines, they were crushed by a concrete slab that fell from an upscale condominium after a mysterious explosion, local officials said.

The victims were aboard a van passing through the posh commercial area in Taguig City when a concrete slab fell from a section on the fifth floor of Serendra when it was damaged by the blast. Several other vehicles were also struck.

The explosion caused a panic among the people shopping and dining in the area. The explosion also shattered windows of other establishments near the area. “We are still in the process of getting all information and determining the cause of the explosion,” Taguig City Administrator Joel Montales said in a press statement. “Local police, fire and rescue teams are in the area to help determine the cause and casualties in the explosion,” he added.

According to initial information gathered by police, the blast was caused by an appliance in one of the condominium units. Residents of the condominium were forced to evacuate the building due to thick smoke, police said.

Philippines posts 7.8% growth in first quarter

The Philippine economy recorded a surprising 7.8 percent growth in the first quarter of 2013, the fastest in Asia, and its own second-highest growth rate, the National Statistical Coordination Board announced on Thursday.

It was a sharp increase from the 6.5 percent in the same period last year and was driven by healthy growth in heavy industry, and by both public and consumer spending. The boost was also attributed to strong services, industrial and agriculture sectors, Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters.

Mining, manufacturing, and construction together grew by 10.9 percent.

The overall growth rate beat China's 7.7 percent, Indonesia on 6 percent, Thailand with 5.3 percent, and the 4.9 percent posted by Vietnam for the same period, he said.

It was the country's second-highest year-on-year increase, behind a 8.9-percent leap posted in the second quarter of 2010, Balisacan said.

The government expects the economy to grow by 6 to 7 percent in 2013.

Dan Brown Reply to MMDA Letter regarding Manila “gates of hell”

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino letter to Dan Brown

Dan Brown's reply

Francis Tolentino chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) wrote a letter to American best-selling novelist Dan Brown to express his disgust on the depiction of Manila as a "gate of hell" in Dan Brown new novel "Inferno."

“While we are aware that yours is a work of fiction, we are greatly disappointed by your inaccurate portrayal of our beloved metropolis,” Tolentino said. “We are displeased of how you have used Manila as a venue and source of character’s breakdown and trauma, much more her disillusionment in humanity,”

In the novel, one of the character Sienna Brooks went to Manila for a humanitarian mission. She was shocked by the scale of poverty in Manila.

There is also a reply of Dan Brown to the letter MMDA Tolentino that is going around social media sites but personally I think it is fake but really funny. In the letter Brown reiterate the Inferno's copyright page:

"This book is a work of fiction. the names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used ficitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental"

"Mahirap bang intindihin yon?"

Druggie raped and infects 5 year-old girl with STD

Erwin “Weng” Lerit, 27, was high on drugs when something gotten to him and decided to make out with a drugged girl in his house, but the girl was too wasted. He turned his eyes to the girl's five year-old kid who was beside her mother.

The alleged rape happened on October 17, 2012 inside the house of Lerit, 27, an alleged drug dependent tagged as one of the 20 most wanted persons in Valenzuela City. He was arrested in Bulacan.

Lerit, of Bgy. Bignay, Valenzuela City is now detained at the Valenzuela City Police Station for charges of statutory rape.

City police commander Senior Supt. Roderick Armamento said that on April 29, 2013, PO3 Robert Santillan of Police Community Precinct (PCP) 6 received information from informants that Lerit, who went missing since October last year, was sighted in Novaliches, Quezon City and Bulacan.

Armamento ordered a manhunt and surveillance operation against Lerit which resulted to his arrest with a warrant on May 2, 2013 in Guiguinto.

Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court Branch 270 Judge Evangeline Francisco did not recommend bail for Lerit’s liberty.

SPO1 Lorena Hernandez, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Women and Children’s Protection Desk revealed that Lerit was accused of raping ‘Kim’ (not her real name) who got infected with a sexually transmitted disease after she was raped allegedly by Lerit.

source: journal.com.ph

Manila Thrill seeking Acid-thrower is still on the loose

Cops have not yet identify the suspect who throw an acid on a 29-year old man in Pasay City. All they know is that the suspect is male. The victim is known as August Bautista, working at Toyota  Cars along Roxas Blvd. according to a statement made by SPO2 Joel Landicho. August is under observation at San Juan De Dios Hospital after suffering from an acid attack perpetrated by an unidentified man on Sunday afternoon.

The victim has not made contact with the investigators since he can't speak from the injuries he sustain. The victim's friend and housemate, Richie Delotina, told police that the it happened past 2pm at Bay Garden Compound (in front of Toyota Manila Bay), Metrobank Ave., EDSA Ext., Pasay City. He said that he met Bautista from his place of work because they were supposed to go home together.

Delotina parked his car in front of a construction site along Blue Bay Walk located along Metrobank Avenue to wait for August. When August got off from work, he proceeded to the parked car. Before leaving, Delotina poured water onto the radiator while the victim was standing beside him. Suddenly, an unidentified man appeared and without saying anything, threw acid on the victim's face and body.

The victims bag containing money amounting to P60,000, mobile phone, and identification cards fell on the ground. The victim immediately ran towards the comfort room to wash off the acid. The suspect picked up the victim's bag and ran away.

Landicho noted that it may not simply be a robbery case but something more. He disclosed that four months ago, Bautista was also attacked  by a male acid thrower at Shell Gas Station along Macapagal Ave., Paranaque City, front the Department of Foreign Affairs. Police have yet to discover the motive behind the incident.

Source: MB online

PPCRV apologized for Discrepancy in voting results tally

PPCRV apologized for Discrepancy in voting results tally.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) apologized Monday night for the early results of the midterm polls they released to the public have discrepancy and do not match the number of clustered precincts nationwide.

PPCRV chairperson Henrietta De Villa said that their tally that was released about two hours after polls closed at 7 pm showed results from around eight to nine million votes, which correspond to an estimated five to six thousand clustered precincts.

She said they had only tallied 1,418 precincts so far. De Villa told GMA News Online in a phone interview that they would resolve the problem in 15 minutes, and that she has asked Smartmatic for an explanation about the discrepancy.

Source: GMA News

The man who committed suicide in MRT Guadalupe

MANILA, Philippines - The man who allegedly jumped into a running train at the Guadalupe station of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) last Wednesday May 8, 2013 around 8:18 a.m. has been identified.

A close friend of the victim named Oliver Villacorta identified the victim at the Veronica Funeral Homes in Pasay City Thursday night.

Oliver said that his friend had been acting weird for weeks because of some problems he did not mentioned. They both live in a boarding house in Manila.

Oliver did not reveal the name of his friend, because the parents of the victim has not been informed.

However, on facebook the name of the victim has already been circulated:

"The wake of LEO MANULNA aka Jumba Carlo Sato (the MRT3 jumper) is at VERONICA MEMORIAL CHAPEL - 517 A. Arnaiz Avenue, Pasay City (Near Libertad LRT Station). THE WAKE WILL ONLY BE UNTIL 12 NOON TMRW, May 11, 2013, TO GIVE ENOUGH TIME TO TRAVEL HIS REMAINS AT HIS PROVINCE."

On a radio station report, Oliver said that the body of Leo Manulna has been transported to the province in Kalinga.

Leo Manulna is a 31 year-old freelance photographer and a former indie film actor known as Jumba Carlo Sato.

Banks urge SC to stop Comelec "cash ban"

MANILA- Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) asked the Supreme Court (SC) to halt the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing its so-called "money ban," aimed at preventing vote-buying in Monday's polls.

Represented by the Romulo Mabanta Law Firm, the BAP filed its 28-page petition for prohibition with the high court at past 10 o'clock this morning.

The ban prohibits the withdrawal of more than P100,000 from banks and other financial institutions, and the "possession, transportation and/or carrying" of more than P500,000 in cash up to May 13, election day.

The petition sought the immediate issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or status quo ante order (SQAO) to stop the poll body from implementing its resolution ordering the "money ban." BAP insisted that the order is unconstitutional.

The petition stated that the poll body "acted without jurisdiction" in issuing the resolution, "acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction" because the ban violated the 1987 Constitution, and "acted without jurisdiction" because the ban "invalidly amended Republic Act (RA) No. 9160 (Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001).

The petition also stressed that the ban "violates the laws on secrecy of bank deposits" because it will "require banks and other persons to look into bank deposit accounts."

"As a general rule, the State cannot arbitrarily interfere with a person's right to enjoy and use his or her personal property, including his or her money.

"As explained by the Supreme Court in construing this right, which finds its basis in the U.S. Constitution, the State must ensure that persons 'have the right to pursue their happiness and acquire and enjoy property,' such that 'there should be no arbitrary spoliation of property," the petition read.

The petition further asserted that the said ban is not "reasonably necessary to achieve its avowed purpose, and is in fact unduly oppressive" and that complying with the ban will only open banks to "all kinds of class suits by their depositors."

The Comelec said on Thursday that it was amending the resolution and would add a provision giving banks the discretion to allow withdrawals of more than P100,000 for their clients who would regularly withdraw more than this cap.

Source: ABS-CBN News
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/09/13/banks-urge-sc-stop-comelec-money-ban

Power blackout hits Luzon due to outage in five power plants

Metro Manila and other Meralco franchise areas in Luzon was hit by a widespread power outage on Wednesday May 8, 2013. After the outage, the LRT lines 1 and 2 raise the code red at 2 p.m. all trains were put on hold and no entry in all stations, LRTA spokesman Hernando Cabrera tweeted. Operation resumed at around 5:55 p.m.

The power outage was caused by interruption of service in five plants supplying power to the Luzon grid.

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Twitter a total of 3,700 megawatts went offline, and it had no timetable when power would be restored. They assured the public that its transmission lines are secure and fully functional

Dina Lomotan, spokesperson of Meralco said that they resorted to load dropping in some areas, and making sure critical facilities like Malacañang and the LRT are spared from the effects of the outage. However, power was cut in both anyway.

Meralco tweeted:

"Several transmission lines tripped out due to still undetermined cause, resulting in the isolation of Sta. Rita, San Lorenzo, Calaca, Ilijan, QPPL [Quezon Power Plant Philippines, Ltd.] and Sual 1 power plants. Meralco is closely coordinating with NGCP on the matter."

As of 5:30 p.m. Meralco said the power shortage was down to 900 megawatts. "We're slowly restoring as the power is coming in,"adding that full restoration is expected in affected areas in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna within the day.

source GMA News