Pinoy Entrepreneurs

Tropical storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) left the country yesterday, leaving behind a trail of 95 people dead, 29 missing, and some 247,555 affected families.

The figures, however, could go higher as reports from the provinces have yet to reach the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) as of press time.

Rescuers struggled through heavy traffic and darkness of the night to bring residents of flood-stricken areas, who were perched on their roofs carrying their children and cherished possessions, to safer grounds.

Images of onrushing mud and stranded people clinging to corrugated rooftops filled television screens broadcasting the events in real time.

Some individuals were even seen holding signs in a desperate attempt to call the attention of military helicopters hovering above waterlogged cities.

Two men converted a car rooftop into a makeshift raft, and were hauling themselves by rope across what was once a road but now a river.

Students, faculty members and others struggled howling out of their respective cars while flashflood rushed into a hospital parking lot.

Elsewhere, dog and chicken carcasses floated in the water as rescuers in rubber boats tried to navigate a mountain of debris.

Distress calls and e-mails from thousands of residents and their worried relatives flooded TV and radio stations overnight. More…

Source: PhilStar
Photo Credit: Times News Network

The family of former president Corazon Aquino opted for a private funeral instead of a state funeral in Malacañang.

Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, eldest son of the late President, announced their decision at a press conference in Makati City, shortly after Aquino succumbed to colon cancer on early Saturday morning.

“There won’t be a state funeral,” he said. “We are more comfortable having it in a church.”

The Aquino family chose to hold the wake at the La Salle Greenhills Gymnasium in Mandaluyong City. Starting Saturday night, a Catholic Mass on the La Salle campus will be held twice a day: one at noon and another at 8 p.m.

The announcement came shortly after Malacañang declared a 10-day national period of mourning to honor the former president’s death through Proclamation 1850.

Arroyo and Aquino have not been on good terms in recent years after the latter called for the President’s resignation following allegations of election cheating in the 2004 polls.

Aquino told Arroyo, who was catapulted to power in a similar EDSA revolt in 2001, to “make the supreme sacrifice” and resign.

Sen. Aquino said that the decision not to hold a state funeral for his mother was not political.

“‘Wag na nating idamay lahat ng iba pang issues of political nature (Let’s not bring up issues of political nature),” he said. More…

Source: GMANews.TV
Author: M. MERUEÑAS, A.B. SEE, and A. CALONZO
Photo Credits: Jose Javato

STARTING this year, real estate practitioners will have to pass licensure examination from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) pursuant to Republic Act 9646, otherwise known as Real Estate Service Act.

This, as the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) was urged to spearhead the creation of Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Service following the enactment of RA 9646 that took effect yesterday (July 31).

CHEd acting executive director Atty. Julito Vitriolo said the commission expects the increase of interest in this field, disclosing that there are several schools offering such courses on real estate.

“I think with the passage of this bill, more schools will seek accreditation for courses on real estate,” Vitriolo said.

He however admitted that the implementation of Real Estate Service Act of the Philippines, which aims to “safeguard and protect legitimate licensed real estate service practitioners,” is expected to formalize the creation of a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Service recognized by the CHEd and the Professional Regulatory Board (PRB) on Real Estate Service.

With the implementation of the new law, real estate consultants, appraisers, local government assessors and brokers will now be overseen by the PRB of Real Estate Service under the PRC taking over from the Department of Trade and Industry in administering examinations for real estate service practitioners in the private sector.

The law also provides that unlicensed practitioners for real estate will be meted with a penalty ranging P200,000 to P2,000,000, as well as one year to 12 years imprisonment. More…

Source: JournalOnline
Author: Jeffrey C. Tiangco
Photo Credits: thinkpanama

BUTUAN CITY , Philippines Education Secretary Jesli Lapus disclosed that the 400,000 public school teachers who would serve in polling centers all over the country during the May 2010 elections need training for the automated polls.

Lapus, keynote speaker of the recently concluded 5th Mindanao Educators Congress held here, said the teachers are still not ready for automated elections and that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should immediately train the teachers.

He said that some teachers have asked the Comelec to exclude them from serving in future elections because of threats to poll officers and accusations of poll fraud during and after election day.

Lapus said the teachers could not avoid the moral responsibility and the duty to supervise polling centers nationwide.

He said the teachers need training on how to handle the automated machines and also to manage the voters and any crisis that may arise, especially the expected protests of poll watchers of the different political parties and candidates on election day.

When asked about the time frame of the Department of Education for the training of teachers, Lapus said: It will depend on the Comelec.

Lapus said the Comelec would reduce the number of teachers that would serve in the automated polls.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the poll body would cut by half the number of teachers that would serve as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) in the 2010 local and national elections, from 750,000 teachers that used to serve in the elections to only about 400,000. More…

Source: PhilStar
Author: Ben Serrano

When Wednesday turns China pitch black.

Yet another solar eclipse come July 22. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth. Astronomy enthusiasts the world over will be out in full force to witness the longest solar eclipse of this century.

In Singapore and part of the Philippines, this would only be a partial solar eclipse that will be visible between 8:41 am and 9:44 am, peaking at 9:11 am.

Elsewhere, parts of India and Bangladesh, as well as Hangzhou and Shanghai in China, are some of the best places to view the total eclipse. (Source: Reader’s Digest)

Based from Inquirer.net, avoid using x-ray films, sunglasses and basins filled with water when viewing the partial solar eclipse on July 22.

According to astronomy and weather experts, looking at the partial eclipse through these methods would only ruin your eyes. The experts advised the public on Thursday to use the proper equipment in watching the moon partially obscure the sun.

Professor Frederick Gabriana, of the Astronomy Philippines and an instructor of the Rizal Technological University Department of Astronomy, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that water had a five percent rating of reflectivity.

“That is, it reflects five percent of sunlight while allowing 95 percent to pass through. While this seems small, it is still 5,000 times bigger than the 0.00001 considered to be safe for solar observation,” he said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said “enthusiasm and excitement” may lead observers to view the eclipse without the proper gear, that could lead to damage to the retina.

Even the use of smoked glass and photographic films and negatives would be dangerous, the agency said on its website.

Pagasa said the safest method would be “indirect viewing” through a “pinhole camera” or projecting the image of the sun onto a white piece of paper or a card using a pair of binoculars (with one of the lenses covered), a telescope, or another piece of cardboard with a small hole of about one millimeter in diameter. More…

Source: Inquirer.net
Author: Alcuin Papa
Photo Credits: n0ll