Philippine News at A Glance Sunday, March 28, 2010

Philippine News at A Glance Sunday, March 28, 2010
Headlines | Opinion | Metro | Business | Nation | News Feature | Sports | Entertainment

HEADLINES
';Nothing irregular with appointments'
Malacañang said there was “nothing irregular” with its recent appointments and dismissals because they were done in accordance with the Constitution and were not covered by the ban on hiring of officials 60 days before the May 10 elections.

1,044 towns, cities join Earth Hour
Some 1,044 cities and municipalities all over the country were expected to participate in last night’s Earth Hour 2010.

OPINION
EDITORIAL - Picking local executives
The campaign for local positions officially kicked off the other day, with 49,996 candidates vying for 17,874 positions. Voters must pick 222 congressmen, governors and vice governors of 80 provinces, mayors and vice mayors of 120 cities and 1,514 municipalities, plus 1,346 city councilors and 12,116 municipal councilors.

METRO
Jail officer caught with P.5-million cocaine
A Caloocan City jail officer was arrested during a drug bust conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) outside the prison facility Friday afternoon.

Belmonte vetoes ordinance creating new school
Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. vetoed an ordinance recently passed by the city council that seeks to create a “new school” out of the Commonwealth Elementary School-Annex (CESA) by making it separate and independent from the main unit.

BUSINESS
RP trims second quarter domestic borrowing
The national government trimmed its domestic borrowings in the second quarter of the year by 3.2 percent as it expects to book the proceeds of its foreign commercial borrowings as well as concessional official development assistance (ODA) loans from multilateral lending agencies led by the World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency.

GFIs, GOCCs to provide half of P100-billion stimulus fund
The government is set to source half of the P100-billion economic stimulus package this year from government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as well as government financial institutions (GFIs), Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the other day.

NATION
NPAs gun down militiaman, hurt 4 others
New People’s Army guerillas gunned down a militiaman, wounded four others and set on fire several bunkers in a para-military detachment in a daring attack late Friday in Mlang, North Cotabato.

Palawan governor barred to run as congressman
The outgoing provincial governor of Palawan, Joel Reyes, who is eyeing to be this province’s second district congressman, has been ordered disqualified by the Commission on Elections from running after it found out that the former is residing outside of his district’s area.

NEWS FEATURE
VP bet: Stop ignoring me
Ang Kapatiran Party vice presidential candidate Dominador Chipeco Jr. is hurting and wants to know why he was left out of a televised debate last week despite his party’s having sent a letter to express his intention to join the debate.

SPORTS
Ravina rules first leg of cycling classic
Pangasinan’s Baler Ravina used his experience yesterday to rule the 161-km Tagaytay-to-Marikina opening stage of the Koten PCSO Summer Cycling Classic.

Tigers clobber Beermen, grab lead
Coca-Cola outscored San Miguel in a duel of spurts last night, getting away with a telling run at the finish for a 108-98 victory in their PBA Fiesta Conference road game at the Gingoog City Sports and Cultural Center in Gingoog, Misamis Oriental.

ENTERTAINMENT
How Miss Saigon 'Snatched' Joanna from Becoming a Nun
Besides Lea Salonga, unarguably the most well-known among them, other Filipino talents have played Kim, the principal female character in the megahit Cameron Mackintosh musical Miss Saigon (one of the longest-running musicals that was first mounted in London’s West End and wowed audiences around the world).

Bing and Bergman in gentle, uplifting story
The authoritative The Movie Guide gives The Bells of St. Mary (1945) a glowing review. Samples: ‘Touchingly sentimental, but strong in all the right places.’ ‘A joy to behold.’ ‘Gentle, uplifting story.’

2009 BAR EXAMINATIONS
Complete list of successful examinees
VIDEO
PUP president clarifies issues on tuition hike
BARANGAY PHILSTAR
Still waiting
Events @ Philstar:
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