News & Current Events

6 reasons why Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won't be ousted

It surprised me to read from the Philippine Star earlier today that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) issued a statement saying they are convinced President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) will not be ousted and will actually be able to finish her term.
With calls for GMA’s ouster coming from all sides of the Philippine society, a neutral stand from a Muslim separatist rebel group is unexpected.
The news story quoted the views of MILF Secretariat chief Muhammad Ameen which were posted on the MILF website, www.luwaran.com.
Ameen cited six factors why the current oust-Gloria groups are unlikely to succeed in their advocacy. Here are those six reasons.

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Crying Babies – Transcript of Lozada-de Venecia wiretapped conversation

The plot thickens in the NBN-ZTE issue.
While the Senate interrogates witnesses in the corruption-laden National Broadband Network project, a video appeared on YouTube supposedly containing the wiretapped conversation between NBN-ZTE “star witness” Jun Lozada and Congressman Joey de Venecia.
The conversation, laced with profanities from both parties, dealt with the supposed bribery in the NBN deal and discussed another potential kickback with regard to the “Chinese embassy thing.”
The Inquirer reported that de Venecia did not deny it was his voice talking about a $130-million kickback allegedly demanded by former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos. He claims it was Abalos who probably masterminded the release of the wiretapped conversation on YouTube.
Listen to the alleged Jun Lozada- Joey de Venecia conversation and read the transcript after the jump.

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Microsoft-Yahoo to merge vs. Google?

If you’re Microsoft Corporation, what do you do to challenge Google’s dominance in the online advertising industry?
You acquire another search engine, albeit struggling, company such as Yahoo!.
That seems to be Microsoft’s plan when it submitted an unsolicited takeover bid of $44.6 billion.
The offer of $31 per share is a 62% premium to Yahoo! stock’s closing price on Thursday. Yahoo climbed $10.40 a share, or 54%, to $29.58 in premarket trading after the announcement.

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Rich people in the Philippines own 1/3 of incomes

An Inquirer article published today reported that the richest 10% of families in the Philippines holds more than a third of the country’s total income.
According to the National Statistics Office, the richest 1.74 million families earned 36% of the aggregate family income of around P3 trillion ($74 billion) in 2006.
Who are these families? Well, they include the Ayalas, the Sys, the Tans, the Tys, and the rest of the 40 richest Filipinos.
How about the family of Juan de la Cruz? According to the same report, the average income of a Filipino family is $12 a day or $4,380 a year, or roughly P180,000 per year.

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