The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

Manila Philippines - What do you think are the pros and cons of having an automated election? There are several issues and benefits regarding this automation of election. The question is, are you in favor of this automated election, are you satisfied in what you have paid in a billion pesos? Would you rather consider the short line for manual voting rather than than of long lines because it became a clustered precinct? As of May 11 We have partial results came from the PCOS machine and being announced by chairman melo of COMELEC, or would you choose the manual voting that the output might result in less than a week?

There are things that needs adjustments at first just like the PCOS machine, because things that are first tested are not guaranteed a 100% full accuracy sometimes it has bugs and other errors which are very usual to machines, but the thing is that the Smartmatic should put IT professionals or Technician who knows well of the PCOS machine and the Smartmatic should test the machine first before they distribute and if lack of time is the reason for this bugs in the PCOS machine, the thing that the Smartmatic should do is to hire more people in their company even for a month only just ti verify that the smartmatic is working great and reliable in counting of votes. The more people that works on the smartmatic the more productive or the more reliable the PCOS machine will be. The smartmatic should also foresee some of the risk that might happen when using the machine so that the technician will know what are the things that he needs to do to be able to fix it as soon as the election starts. Well In the manual voting there are several watchers and teachers that are need to be present just to be able to count the votes that sometimes none of them seem to do their task. The advantage of the PCOS machine is that it makes the counting easily, is makes less people involve in election counting, less effort and many more compared to manual voting that requires opposite of the automated election. A little advice is that before releasing of the machine be sure that it is working and complete in everything that is needed in the election and there should always be a person or technician or IT professionals who knows how to troubleshoot and Be sure to know what are the error and later on fix or enchance the PCOS machine for the next election.

BY: Eden Pabalan

As the Philippine BPO Industry expands, foreign investors continue to inject capital and resources into the economy, resulting in job creation for the local work force.  A key to this unprecedented growth is the recently developed SVEG, short for Special Visa for Employment Generation, a non-immigrant visa which is enabling foreigners to create  business opportunities in the Philippine market.

The Global Economic Crisis has never been a better time for the SVEG to be approved for the benefit of foreign investors in the Philippines. On November 17, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed  for the approval of the Executive Order 758, which created the SVEG that enables foreigners to indefinitely reside in the Philippines. The government enforced this executive order primarily because of the difficulty among foreign investors in setting up their business in the Philippines and staying here for long to manage it. Unlike the Pre-Arranged Employee Visa (9G),SVEG is as permanent as an investor’s business.

SVEG has many privileges, and one of them is for the SVEG holder to be allowed to enter and depart from the country freely even for multiple times. It saves foreigners the hassle of renewing their professional visas and makes estalishing their business in the country easier. Those who hold the SVEG are considered special non-immigrants and do not need to immediately depart from the country after a specified time.

Many small, medium-sized, and large foreign companies are applying for the SVEG.  In September 2009, The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), EEI Corp., Fontana Dev’t Corp. (FDC), SamSung Multi-English Company, Cathay Builders Center Inc., Fort Ilocandia Land Dev’t Co., Ilocos Norte Mining Co., and SME Networks Phils. Training Center have become some of the latest holders of the SVEG. Koreans have topped the list of holders of the visa followed by Chinese nationals. Western expats are also increasing in number.

According to Gregory Kittelson, Managing Director of Kittelson and Carpo Consulting,  “Our Visa Consultants are now recommending the SVEG to foreign clients looking to invest in the Philippine BPO industry. The visa offers unique advantages to foreign nationals, while also creating numerous job opportunities for working Filipinos.”

There are some requirements when availing of an SVEG.  It is necessary for a foreigner to engage in a sustainable investment or enterprise in the Philippines, which can hire at least 10 employees and can be productive. While the 9G is for professionals working in the country for a short period of time, the SVEG is a foreigner’s pass to permanent residency in the Philippines.

There are steps to get an SVEG. One must pass an application for SVEG and it will be reviewed and evaluated by the immigration for 15 working days. Once approved, the Bureau of Immigration will provide a notice of approval, pending the submission of processing payments and other necessary documents. Then applicant will then be given an Alien Certification of Registration (ACR) I-Card and an Identifiction Certification (IC). If disapproved, the foreign-applicant may file for a Motion for Reconsideration for the immigration to review the application.

There are firms which specialize in assisting investors in SVEG application and in their business registration. Kittelson and Carpo Consulting assists foreign investors who want to start their business in the Philipppines and provide other services part from visas such as business registration, tax incentives, recruitment and general business consulting.

The right time to register business in the Philippines is now. As of September 2009, a total of 140 companies were already given a SVEG, with 217 principal applicants and 120 dependents. A total of 30,300 Filipino full-time and regular employees are working with the registered companies. This provided the country over P4.3 Million in revenue for the bureau.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is sending Vice President Noli De Castro to Kuwait to appeal for the life of a Filipina domestic worker whose death sentence was recently affirmed by the country’s highest court, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.

De Castro will carry a letter from the President addressed to the Emir of Kuwait interceding for the life of Jakatia Pawa, who was convicted for stabbing to death Dala Al-Naqi, the 22-year old daughter of her Kuwaiti employer, on May 14, 2007.

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MANILA, Philippines—The remains of a Filipino United Nations staff member have been recovered, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

The DFA identified the fatality as Jerome Yap, who was from Pampanga, served as executive Assistant to Luis Carlos da Costa, the deputy special representative of the UN Secretary General, who was also killed in the collapsed building. They both served with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah).

The department expressed “regrets to inform the public that the Philippines lost one of its own in last week’s earthquake that struck Haiti with the recovery of the remains of Mr. Jerome Yap at 5:15 a.m. (Haiti time).”

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MANILA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) — Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday suggested that Washington is not in favor of terminating the Philippines-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), stressing that the accord is an “important expression of partnership” between the two countries.

Clinton, who is on a two-day visit to Manila, maintained that the 10-year-old treaty is beneficial to both countries, particularly to the Philippines, by providing disaster relief assistance in times of calamities and helping its cash-strapped military eradicate terrorism.

“Let me say that the U.S. is committed to strong partnership and alliance with the Philippines and I’m here today to reaffirm that commitment. The Visiting Forces Agreement is an important expression of that partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interest,” Clinton told a press conference.

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Unidentified armed men abducted a 78-year-old Irish Catholic missionary in Pagadian City Sunday night, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Philippine military said Monday.

Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command Maj. David Hontiveros identified the latest kidnap victim in southern Philippines as Michael Sinnott, 78, of the Columban Missionaries.

About 7:20 p.m. Sunday, six armed men barged into the Columban House in Gates District in Pagadian City and took the foreign missionary with them, Hontiveros said.

“The suspects forced the priest onto a mini-van and headed towards Sta. Lucia (district), where they burned the mini-van and transferred to a boat then fled,” Hontiveros said, adding that “intelligence operatives are hot on the heels of the six kidnappers.”

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SACRAMENTO – The California State Senate has unanimously approved legislation to officially recognize the accomplishments of Filipino Americans. Senate Concurrent Resolution 48, authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), will declare October as Filipino American History Month.

“It is imperative that we continue efforts to promote the accomplishments of Filipino Americans,” said Yee, whose district includes one of the largest Filipino communities outside of the Philippines. “For far too long the role of Filipinos in our national history has been ignored. Through SCR 48, we help ensure that our children learn about this important history.”

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MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will be sending 133 policemen to serve as peacekeepers in East Timor.

East Timor, officially known as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a Southeast Asian country that torn by internal conflict since it gained full independence from Indonesia in 2002.

The United Nations has asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to send additional personnel to help keep order in the fledgling state.

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MANILA, Philippines - Fifty more Filipino workers who were laid off in Taiwan due to the global financial crisis are set to return to the Philippines.

In an e-mail to media, Migrante International on Thursday said that the workers were formerly employed by Sintek Corporation, a semi-conductor company in Taiwan.

It added that the 31 will arrive late Thursday while the other 19 are set to return on Friday.

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