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Volume 10 – Issue 12 • 16 Pages
MA R C H 1 8 - 2 4 , 2 0 1 6 Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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Philrem chief apologizes to DATELINE USA Bangladesh over $81-M heist FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA
To return P10-M cut from deal
by Daxim
l, lucas Inquirer.net
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
Super Tuesday Part 3: Trump and Clinton dominate primary night
MANILA—Saying they were unaware that they were dealing with funds suspected of having been stolen from the overseas bank accounts of the Bangladeshi government, the president of foreign exchange dealer Philrem Services Inc. apologized on Thursday, March 17, to the am-
bassador of the impoverished South Asian nation and offered to return all proceeds it made from the transaction. Salud Bautista – the president of the firm that facilitated the conversion of $81 million in funds stolen from the Bangladeshi central bank into the local currency – said Philrem “has no interest in profiting from any questionable sources.”
“We will prepare a cheque as soon as the Bangladeshi delegation confirms to us who the payee will be,” Bautista said, adding that the total amount the foreign exchange dealer made from the transaction — and would return — was P10,474,654. “That cheque will represent every centavo our company earned RCBC bank manager Maia Santos at the second Blue Ribbon Committee from this series of transactions,” hearing on the reported laundering of $81 million that suspiciously went
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by TeTch
Torres-Tupas Inquirer.net
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INTERNATIONAL students who earn their degrees in highly-sought STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields may be able to extend their stay in the United States longer. The revamped STEM Optional Practical Training program, or STEM OPT for short, adds an additional seven months to the previous length of stay required, while offering some safeguards to address labor concerns voiced by hundreds of American workers and STEM students, reported the US News & World Report. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records, there are approximately 70,000 students currently in OPT--of those, about 23,000 are studying in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics
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SENATE INQUIRY ON MONEY LAUDERING. Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Sen. TG Guingona III (center), Senate President ProTempore Ralph Recto (2rd from right), Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano (right) and Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV (left), Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara (2nd from left) and Joseph Victor Ejercito (seated) in a huddle during a break of the continuation of the Senate inquiry on the reported laundering of $81 million that suspiciously went through the country’s financial system, including local casinos. Senate photo by Alex Nueva España
Voting 13-0, the Supreme Court on Thursday, March 17 dismissed with finality the appeal filed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and maintained on the need to issue receipts to voters on the May 9, 2016 elections. Ruling was issued around thirty minutes after the high court conducted an oral argument where Comelec presented their timeline for the May 9 polls. During the oral argument, Comelec conducted a demonstration of its vote counting machines (VCM). One VCM was configured to only have an on-screen verification, while the other machine was configured to have an on-screen verification and to print receipts. Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim and Marlon Garcia, project manager of Smartmatic Philippines, led the demonstration. Lim said on the first VCM, the voters have 15 seconds to see the onscreen verification of whether their votes were accepted or not. On the second VCM, it will take 60 seconds or one minute for the on-screen verification and the printing of receipts.
Overseas Filipino voters could swing May elections by marvin
BionaT Inquirer.net
PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire — There are now 1.38 million overseas Filipino voters, according to the Philippines’ Commission on Elections (Comelec). It’s a critical mass that now puts the overseas vote in the same league as the top ten vote-rich provinces in the Philippines and positions overseas Filipinos as a potential swing vote in the coming May elections. The emergence of this new class of
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by Germelina lacorTe Inquirer.net
DAVAO CITY—Presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte told thousands of his supporters on Wednesday night that the time has come for a Mindanao native to sit in Malacañang after decades of mismanagement by politicians from Luzon and Visayas. More than 20,000 people were estimated to have attended his rally on Wednesday, March 16. Duterte told the still swelling Presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte gives speech to the people of Tabaco City, Albay province.
Inquirer.net photo by Mark Alvin Esplana
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voters now poised to flex its growing political muscle did not happen without growing pains. There was great excitement among advocates and supporters of the political empowerment of overseas Filipinos when the absentee voting bill was finally passed into law in 2003. Section 2 of Article V of the 1987 Philippine Constitution clearly states that “Congress shall provide … a system for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos abroad.”
Duterte tells supporters: Time for Honda introduces Mindanao to choose next president legislation to reunite families
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Senate photo by Alex Neuva Espana
SC denies Comelec appeal on issuance of vote receipt
ON Tuesday night, March 15, five more states held key presidential primary contests--Ohio, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and Missouri--where two party candidates emerged as front-runners of the race. Hillary Clinton swept all five contests in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri, and Ohio, racking up more delegates to solidify her lead for the Democratic nomination. The victories bolster Clinton’s claim that she is her party’s only candidate who can win diverse states that will be pivotal in the November general election, CNN reported, even despite her surprise loss in Michigan last week. “We are moving closer to securing the
Program allows int’l STEM grads to stay longer in US
through the country’s financial system.
WASHINGTON, DC—US Rep. Mike Honda (D-Silicon Valley, Calif.) joined several of his Congressional colleagues at a press conference introducing the Reuniting Families Act (RFA), a piece of commonsense legislation designed to cut the backlog causing the separation of 4.4 million family members from US citizens and green card holders. “Today’s press conference was to show our commitment to the family values that America stands for,” said Honda on Thursday, March 17. “America was built by families of immigrants, spread-
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FORMER US Vice President and global climate action advocate Al Gore on Wednesday, March 16 urged the public to act as a “counterweight” to governments and big businesses that continue to use coal-fired plants and other polluting sources of energy. On the third and final day of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Manila, Gore urged some 750 climate warriors from 33 countries to “summon the political will to be in the streets, knock on doors and organize others to build a counterweight to business.” Inquirer.net photo by Richard A. Reyes
Al Gore to Pinoys: Use ‘people power’ to address climate change by alexis
romero Philstar.com
MANILA — Former US vice president and environment activist Al Gore on Wednesday, March 16 urged Filipinos to use “people power” to convince leaders to act on climate change and to counter the influence of industries opposed to the phasing out of coal.
Gore said groups advocating climate action should organize themselves and use technology like the social media to spread their message and express their concerns. “People in social media can serve as counter balance (to the coal lobbyists),” Gore said during the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in
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