The Lei Company: Community building and cultural preservation through entrepreneurship
A LEI or a flower garland is more than something you wear around your neck, as it is a message of welcome, congratulations, love, sympathy and many more. Used around the world, the earliest record of flower garlands being sold in Egypt was shortly before the birth of Christ. However, the proliferation of leis…
What’s on your ballot? A look at the 2018 California propositions
ON Tuesday, November 6, in addition to candidates for state and local positions, voters in California will also decide on 11 statewide ballot propositions. There were originally 12, but Proposition 9 was removed from the ballot by the California Supreme Court. It had proposed splitting California into three different states. During the June 5 primary,…
PH named 5th worst country for the prosecution of journalists’ killings
A REPORT from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) revealed that the Philippines, for the second time in a row, remained fifth among the countries with the worst prosecution of journalist killers. In the recent CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index report, the Philippines followed countries in the Middle East and African regions, namely Somalia, Syria,…
Boracay now open to the public after six-month rehab
WORLD-renowned Boracay island opened its doors to visitors on Friday, October 26, six months after it closed for rehabilitation. President Rodrigo Duterte previously called the hot spot a “cesspool” due to overcrowding and the disregard for environmental safety and standards. Given the circumstances at the time, he ordered that the island be shut down in…
SWS: Majority of Filipinos believe PH heading in ‘right direction’
The majority of Filipinos have a positive outlook on the current climate in the Philippines, the Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) latest survey has revealed. Results from the September 2018 survey found that 75 percent of adult Filipinos view the country is heading in the “right direction.” Only 22 percent said the country is in the…
Employers push for P20 wage hike instead of P344
THE Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on Wednesday, October 24, found a total of P20 increase in daily minimum wage to be the “acceptable” amount for workers to recover from the lost of purchasing power brought by inflation. This is said to be way below the P344 wage increase that the labor group Associated…
LA receives $85 million in state funds to address homelessness
LOS ANGELES became the first city in California to receive $85 million in state funds for projects aimed at reducing homelessness, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced this week. The city received $85 million, its full disbursement of state Homeless Emergency Assistance Program (HEAP) dollars, which will be used to fund two A Bridge Home projects — one in…
Farmers, human rights group seek truth behind Sagay massacre
The National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), labor organizations and human rights advocacy groups on Wednesday, October 24, started their joint fact-finding investigation on the massacre of nine farmers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental. Karapatan, a human rights advocacy group, named the initiative — National Fact-Finding Mission (NFFM) — which delves into the facts of…
PDEA: No slowdown of anti-drug operations despite 4,948 deaths
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Tuesday, October 23, that the government’s fight against illegal drugs will remain continuous as it reported the 110,395 anti-drug operations conducted from July 2016 to September 2018. “There is no slowing down in the operations since the aim is for the country to have drug-free barangays,” PDEA…
Senators reject PH withdrawal from IPU
Senators Franklin Drilon, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, and Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, October 23, opposed the proposal of House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the Philippines to withdraw from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). “I oppose the proposal of Arroyo that we withdraw from the IPU just because this global body of parliamentarians expressed its concern over the…
Facebook purges 95 pages and 39 accounts in the Philippines
SOCIAL networking site Facebook on Tuesday, October 23, has shut down a total of 95 pages and 39 accounts linked to President Rodrigo Duterte and Imee Marcos, daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos for operating as a “spam network.” According to a statement from Facebook, the said pages and accounts were “encouraging people to…
California deadline to register to vote in midterm election on Oct. 22
ELIGIBLE voters in California who want to vote in the upcoming midterm election on November 6 have until Monday, October 22 to register. To do so, one can fill out an application online at registertovote.ca.gov or obtain a voter registration form at the county elections office or at a local library, post office, or Department…
World Bank reveals 3 billion people struggle for basic needs
The World Bank stated in its “Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle“ report issued on Wednesday, October 17, that nearly half of the world’s population is struggling to meet their basic needs with 3.4 billion people still live on less than $5.50 a day. “Over 1.9 billion people, or 26.2 percent of the world’s population, were…