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Comelec awards P77-M ink contract to failed bidder By Marie A. Surbano 04/10/2010

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Comelec awards P77-M ink contract to failed bidder


By Marie A. Surbano
04/10/2010

Scandal after scandal has been rocking the Commission on Elections, all with the markings of irregularities, making more and more voters wonder not only just how much is being scammed by the Comelec from the P11.3-billion automated election project budget, but also on Comelec itself making it easier for poll fraud to occur.

The latest scandal that the Comelec is enmeshed in is the P77-million contract for the indelible ink to be placed on the voters’ finger which was given to a bidder that had earlier failed the indelible ink test.

A member of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), who questioned this contract grant of the poll body to a failed bidder yesterday urged the poll body to review and rebid the contract for the supply of indelible ink that will be used during the May 10 national and local elections.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100410hed1.html

DoE graft, incompetence behind power crisis — Erap 04/10/2010

DoE graft, incompetence behind power crisis — Erap


04/10/2010

Former President Joseph Estrada, the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer, yesterday expressed sheer frustration over the current power crisis the country is being hit with, what with daily two-hour brownouts being experienced in Metro Manila and, worse, with longer brownouts in Mindanao and the Visayas.

“As far back as two years ago, at the height of the rice crisis, ana-lysts were already saying that the country will be facing an energy crisis in 2010. Why did the government sleep on this, when the energy crisis was imminent?” Estrada said.
The former president attributed the crisis to the leadership of the current government..... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100410hed5.html

Dirtier tricks up EDITORIAL 04/10/2010

Dirtier tricks up



EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
04/10/2010

Both the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party (NP) are engaging in black propaganda, although neither will admit it, especially the LP, that tries to project itself and its bets as having “moral ascendancy” which they really don’t have, being such hypocrites, political and otherwise.

Both standard bearers and their running mates are trying to bring each team down — and all for increasing or decreasing their survey ratings and rankings, as they believe the ratings spell electoral victories for them.

In the case of LP bet Sen. Noynoy Aquino, since he and his supporters are very obviously planning a street revolt of some sort when he loses the race, the propaganda spiel they put out day after day is that they are already the real winners, and only if Noynoy is cheated would he lose the polls.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100410com1.html

LP illogic FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 04/10/2010

LP illogic



FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
04/10/2010

Perhaps one of the most stupid campaign spiels ever made is that of the Liberal Party (LP) and the Noynoy-Mar tandem. It is the spiel claiming that Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap, or when there is no corruption, there is no poverty.

That is pretty stupid because there is no government in this world — especially in the Third World countries — where corruption is inexistent. Yet poverty, especially in many First World countries has been virtually eliminated but corruption remains.

China, for instance, is stained with corruption, yet there is no question that China has become an economic giant and the Chinese in the mainland have vastly improved their lives. While there is still poverty there, it is certainly not due to the elimination of corruption in government and society.... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100410com2.html/

Real life ‘Hurt Locker’ teams face real Afghan bombs focus 04/10/2010

Real life ‘Hurt Locker’ teams face real Afghan bombs



focus

04/10/2010

YOSEF KHEL — It’s not quite an Oscar-winning performance but Johnny Five gets the job done, scrambling down a rocky Afghan slope to plant explosives around a propane tank wired to blow.

The little robot — technically known as a TALON but nicknamed Johnny Five after the 1986 US film Short Circuit — slowly makes its way back up to a hulking armoured vehicle where bomb disposal experts prepare to detonate.
“Twenty seconds!” a soldier shouts, as a US army commander frantically gestures to Afghan police and farmers to take cover in the dusty fields around Yosef Khel village in eastern Paktika province..... MORE


SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100410com3.html

Difficult Times Ahead for Fresh Graduates

Difficult Times Ahead for Fresh Graduates

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

Aiza Padilla, 21, endured the scorching heat of the sun and her grumbling empty stomach as she walked from one building to another along the business district of Makati City. She had just graduated a few weeks ago but she is already in a hurry to look for a job.


“I feel that it is my responsibility to my parents and siblings to find a good job as a form of gratitude for sending me to school,” Padilla told Bulatlat.

Padilla was born in Balayan, Batangas but lived with her sister in Tondo, Manila after she graduated from high school. Her elder sisters sent her to college and on March 21, Padilla graduated from Wesleyan College in Manila.

“Costly,” she replied when asked to describe how her job hunting has been. She explained that sometimes she has to choose between buying something to eat or skipping lunch to be able to save money for printing her resume’ and reproducing her pictures for her application.

“I want to apply to as many companies as I can. But most of the time, I do not have money for fare,” she said.

Padilla is not alone in experiencing difficulties in job hunting.

7 out of 10 Graduates would be Jobless

A recent study conducted by Ibon Foundation, an independent think-tank, revealed that only three out of ten college graduates who would enter the labor force this year could land a job. This means that seven out of 10 fresh graduates would enter the ranks of the unemployed this year.

With 542,000 college students graduating this year, according to statistics from the Commission on Higher Education, and six out of ten graduates immediately joining the labor force, based on trends in the previous years, there would be 325,000 new college graduates who would be looking for work this year. Adding the 325,000 new job seekers to the 523,000 unemployed graduates as of January 2010 would result in 848,000 new and old college graduates competing for available jobs,” the report said.

Assuming that the trend in job generation would be constant, another 256,000 new jobs would be available for college graduates this year – the same as that of April last year, which was based on the Labor Force Survey of the National Statistics Office. Thus, 592,000 college graduates, both old and new, would end up jobless.


“That’s sad,” Padilla said when Bulatlat told her about the recent study conducted by Ibon. She said she pity all the parents who work so hard to be able to send their children to college. Padilla said her parents and siblings worked hard and scrimped on expenses to save money for her tuition, thinking that a college degree would be her ticket to a stable job. “But with this study, it seems that a college degree is no guarantee.”

Olivia Aguila, 21, earned a degree in Mass Communications and graduated cum laude last year from an exclusive school for women. When she was still a student, she thought people were just exaggerating when they tell her how difficult it is to find a job. But it took Aguila four months and 50 job applications before she finally landed a job as a project coordinator, overseeing promotional activities for a mouthwash brand. “ “It is hardly related to what I studied in college,” she said.

During her training for her job as project coordinator, she was assigned to a shopping mall to promote the product. “I felt so embarrassed. I hid when I saw a high school friend,” said Aguila.

Aguila resigned from her job as project coordinator this January to look for a job that is in line with her training in college. However, she ended up in a real estate company, working at the customer service department. “It is totally unrelated to my course,” she said.

“Eventually, I want to find a job that is related to my course,” Aguila told Bulatlat, “I do not see anything lacking in me. I just think that the career I want to take is very competitive.”

Prioritize Job Generation

Padilla thinks that the government is failing in its responsibility to generate local jobs, especially for fresh graduates like her. She added that there should also be equal opportunities for all, adding that graduates of popular and expensive colleges and universities corner the few jobs available for fresh graduates.

Padilla said she is challenging the candidates for president in the May 2010 elections to make job generation a priority. Padilla said if she does not get a decent job soon, she would consider working abroad, even as a domestic helper.

“This is a sad reality in the country because of the employment crisis. Our bright and competitive graduates are being pushed to go abroad when they can do so much more for the country,” Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino said in a statement.

Another option, Palatino said, is entering the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. But, said Palatino, BPOs are now implementing a standardized competency exam to streamline the recruitment of their applicants. “We could expect a lesser number of new graduates being hired,” Palatino said.

“This is supposed to be our ’sunshine industry’. But we see no light shining for our new graduates if they continue to push through with these exams,” he said..... MORE


Source:   (Bulatlat.com)

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/04/10/difficult-times-ahead-for-fresh-graduates/

“Substantial Wage Increase” Needed Now – KMU MARYA SALAMAT Posted By: Bulatlat.com April 10, 2010

“Substantial Wage Increase” Needed Now – KMU

MARYA SALAMAT

Posted By: Bulatlat.com April 10, 2010

In commemorating the infamous World War 2 Death March, members of KMU and Anakpawis marched yesterday from España to Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang to demand immediate action from the government to address the people’s worsening hunger and poverty.

With stagnant wages amid skyrocketing prices, workers are facing a worse situation these days, bordering on near-death hunger,” said KMU’s Elmer ‘Bong’ Labog. Several studies show that hunger incidence is higher in areas where people have low incomes, and the Philippines is among the top in the list. Last year’s Gallup International world hunger survey revealed that the Philippines ranked number 5 among 55 countries where the incidence of hunger is high.... MORE


Source: Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/04/10/%e2%80%9csubstantial-wage-increase%e2%80%9d-needed-to-mitigate-effects-of-drought-price-hikes-kmu/

Workers Slam Dole, the Fruit Company, for Anti-Union Moves By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com April 6, 2010

Workers Slam Dole, the Fruit Company, for Anti-Union Moves


By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com April 6, 2010

Workers from Dole Philippines’ union Amado Kadena have been staging weekly coordinated picket protest actions at the Dole Philippines’ main office in Makati City, and at the site of Dole’s “biggest integrated pineapple plantation, cannery and packaging complex in the world,” in Cotabato City in southern Mindanao to demand that the company “stop interfering in union matters and to stop violating its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its workers.”

With net revenues of $6.8 billion in 2009, Dole is the world’s largest producer and distributor of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables, and is the leading producer of organic bananas. Dole markets a growing line of packaged and frozen fruits and is a self-proclaimed industry leader in nutrition education and research. The food company has been doing business in the Philippines for more than 40 years now. Its plantations cover 20,000 hectares of land, mainly in Mindanao..... MORE


SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/04/06/dole-pineapples-turn-sour-as-company-interferes-in-union-matters/

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