This is from the Inquirer. Good that there are still some institutions in Canada that other countries find worth copying!
Philippines eyes adoption of Canadian housing finance system
By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: April 09, 2008
MANILA -- The Philippines will explore the Canadian housing finance system in a bid to create a system for securitization of housing mortgage in the country, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Quoting a report from the Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes, the DFA said on Wednesday that a senior level delegation from the National Housing Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) visited Canada from March 17 to 19 and met with officials of Canada Mortgage and Housing Finance Corporation (CMHC).
The department said that the NHMFC was tapping CHMC’s expertise and experience in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and as the leading provider of liquidity in Canada’s housing markets, a role similar to the one envisioned by NHMFC.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Finance Corporation (CMHC) is Canada’s national housing agency, and premier provider of mortgage loan, mortgage-backed securities, housing policy and programs and housing policy research. It has globally recognized expertise in housing finance, mortgage funding, capital markets policy, business development and new products, strategic planning, international housing policy and evaluation and legal and default management.
DFA Spokesperson Claro Cristobal said that during the three-day workshop-meeting, the officials of both housing agencies discussed and exchanged views on all aspects of securitization, its evolution and development, challenges, market analysis, funding, legal infrastructure, risk management, among others.
The members of the Philippine delegation came from the Department of Finance, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), National Housing Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC), and Home Develoment Mutual Fund (HDMF). They included Undersecretary Jeremias N. Paul, Jr., Lucille P. Ortille, lawyer Joseph Sison, Gonzalo A. Bongolan, lawyer Romeo S. Quimbo, laywer Rene N. Carreon, Daisy S. Dulay, lawyer Daniel Q. Lacuata, Rosabella C. Jose and Virgei A. Paz.
Brillantes hosted a dinner for the delegation at the “Tahanang Rizal," the ambassador’s Official Residence, which was also attended by embassy officers and staff. A reception in honor of the Philippine delegates was also hosted by Pierre David, Executive Director of CHMC International.
Showing posts with label Philippines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippines. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Hundreds of Philippine nurses recruited in Saskatchewan
This is from the Canadian Press. It is really not fair that the Philippines should in effect be subsidizing the Canadian health care system. The least we could do is to provide funds to Philippine nursing programs to help defray their costs. More of the nurses would be hired in the Philippines if hospitals had the money to pay them. The university my wife's niece graduated from would not hire her. The best they could offer is that she work as an unpaid volunteer to gain experience!
Hundreds of nurses from Philippines recruited to ease Sask nursing shortage
21 hours ago
REGINA — Saskatchewan's government has moved to ease the province's nursing shortage by recruiting nearly 300 new nurses from the Philippines.
But Health Minister Don McMorris, who announced the hirings Tuesday, cautioned that the problem is far from addressed.
"Don't ever get the impression that this fixes a problem because it certainly doesn't," said McMorris.
"This would be an ongoing effort."
In late February, a delegation that included officials from the government, five health regions, the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses went to the Philippines. The goal was to try to woo nurses with competitive wages and a compensation package.
Saskatchewan is currently short 1,000 nurses, according to the nurses union. Hundreds more are expected to retire over the new three years.
The Saskatchewan Party government has promised to hire 800 more nurses in its first term of office.
"This is only a small part of it," McMorris said of the recruitment trip. "This certainly doesn't fix the whole issue of the shortage that we have. We still have to do a lot of work on retaining our graduates."
McMorris said it was too early to say if there would be another trip overseas.
It appears the success of this one was also a matter of lucky timing. One official said a number of the new hires were originally heading to the United States.
"But given the current political environment with the upcoming election, they've actually closed much of their borders to many of these people who were recruited," said Bonnie Blakely with the Saskatoon Health Region.
"They (Philippines) had already started to expedite the process to the U.S., and now have said that if that's not going to be a market open to them, they'd like to come to Canada."
The province will pay the nurses as much as $5,000 for relocation and travel costs.
Health officials say the recruitment will not cause a brain-drain in hospitals in the Philippines. They say 100,000 nurses were trained in the country last year and 47,000 of those passed their exams. However, only 15 to 20 per cent were hired in the Philippines.
"They train more nurses than what they need," said McMorris. "It just so happens we're one of those countries that need the people that they're training."
Hundreds of nurses from Philippines recruited to ease Sask nursing shortage
21 hours ago
REGINA — Saskatchewan's government has moved to ease the province's nursing shortage by recruiting nearly 300 new nurses from the Philippines.
But Health Minister Don McMorris, who announced the hirings Tuesday, cautioned that the problem is far from addressed.
"Don't ever get the impression that this fixes a problem because it certainly doesn't," said McMorris.
"This would be an ongoing effort."
In late February, a delegation that included officials from the government, five health regions, the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses went to the Philippines. The goal was to try to woo nurses with competitive wages and a compensation package.
Saskatchewan is currently short 1,000 nurses, according to the nurses union. Hundreds more are expected to retire over the new three years.
The Saskatchewan Party government has promised to hire 800 more nurses in its first term of office.
"This is only a small part of it," McMorris said of the recruitment trip. "This certainly doesn't fix the whole issue of the shortage that we have. We still have to do a lot of work on retaining our graduates."
McMorris said it was too early to say if there would be another trip overseas.
It appears the success of this one was also a matter of lucky timing. One official said a number of the new hires were originally heading to the United States.
"But given the current political environment with the upcoming election, they've actually closed much of their borders to many of these people who were recruited," said Bonnie Blakely with the Saskatoon Health Region.
"They (Philippines) had already started to expedite the process to the U.S., and now have said that if that's not going to be a market open to them, they'd like to come to Canada."
The province will pay the nurses as much as $5,000 for relocation and travel costs.
Health officials say the recruitment will not cause a brain-drain in hospitals in the Philippines. They say 100,000 nurses were trained in the country last year and 47,000 of those passed their exams. However, only 15 to 20 per cent were hired in the Philippines.
"They train more nurses than what they need," said McMorris. "It just so happens we're one of those countries that need the people that they're training."
Monday, March 10, 2008
Imelda Marcos acquitted after 17 year trial
However she still has nine cases left. I guess she gets to keep all her shoes but at 79 she had better start wearing a different pair every day if she wants to get some use out of each pair.
Imelda Marcos acquitted after 17-year trial
Last Updated: Monday, March 10, 2008 | 6:21 AM ET CommentsRecommendCBC News
The 17-year trial of Imelda Marcos, widow of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has ended with her acquittal on 32 charges of illegally transferring wealth out of the Philippines.
Marcos and two accomplices had been charged with stashing away $863 million US in Swiss bank accounts.
But Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. of the Manila regional trial court said the prosecution presented witnesses who were not directly relevant to the accounts, and failed to prove wrongdoing by Marcos beyond a reasonable doubt.
Marcos blamed former Philippines president Corey Aquino for her problems.
"I thank the Lord to relieve me again of 32 cases that will subtract from the 901 that were filed by Corazon Aquino against the Marcoses," she told reporters.
The case, filed in 1991, has taken years to make its way through the legal system. The money has been frozen by the government and is being held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank.
Of the 901 cases filed against her in the early 1990s, just 10 remain, Marcos's lawyers told AFP.
The wealthy socialite, now aged 79, gained fame for the extensive shoe collection and diamond-encrusted tiaras she left behind when she and her husband fled the country after his 1986 fall from power.
Marcos, who later returned and was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1998, faces a string of criminal and civil cases related to billions of dollars allegedly amassed by her family during her husband's two decades in office.
The couple had denied any wrongdoing.
Imelda Marcos acquitted after 17-year trial
Last Updated: Monday, March 10, 2008 | 6:21 AM ET CommentsRecommendCBC News
The 17-year trial of Imelda Marcos, widow of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has ended with her acquittal on 32 charges of illegally transferring wealth out of the Philippines.
Marcos and two accomplices had been charged with stashing away $863 million US in Swiss bank accounts.
But Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. of the Manila regional trial court said the prosecution presented witnesses who were not directly relevant to the accounts, and failed to prove wrongdoing by Marcos beyond a reasonable doubt.
Marcos blamed former Philippines president Corey Aquino for her problems.
"I thank the Lord to relieve me again of 32 cases that will subtract from the 901 that were filed by Corazon Aquino against the Marcoses," she told reporters.
The case, filed in 1991, has taken years to make its way through the legal system. The money has been frozen by the government and is being held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank.
Of the 901 cases filed against her in the early 1990s, just 10 remain, Marcos's lawyers told AFP.
The wealthy socialite, now aged 79, gained fame for the extensive shoe collection and diamond-encrusted tiaras she left behind when she and her husband fled the country after his 1986 fall from power.
Marcos, who later returned and was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1998, faces a string of criminal and civil cases related to billions of dollars allegedly amassed by her family during her husband's two decades in office.
The couple had denied any wrongdoing.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Search for nurses heading to Manila
This is from Canada.com. There should be some aid program associated with recruiting health care workers from developing countries. It is very expensive to train nurses. The Philippines seem to be a global center for training employees for other countries. There is some advantage to the Philippines in that oversease workers remit huge sums to the Philippines to aid families at home survive. At the same time, Philippine hospitals themselves are short of nurses not because of lack of supply but because of horrible pay. We have a relative who recently graduated as a nurse but the sole work in her area as a nurse involved working for nothing so that she could get experience and then apply to work overseas! She ended up working as a nanny in the Netherlands. We hope she can come here later this year and at least start work as a health care aide if not a nurse.
Search heading to Manila
Pamela Cowan, Leader-PostPublished: Thursday, February 21, 2008
Building on the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region's recruiting success in the Philippines last year, a Saskatchewan delegation hopes to sign up 300 nurses when it travels to Manila next week.
During a recruiting trip to the Philippines in November, the RQHR offered jobs to 80 registered nurses.
"We know that there is a huge shortage of nurses in Saskatchewan that can't be addressed overnight but certainly recruiting from other jurisdictions provincially or internationally is a good plan," Health Minister Don McMorris said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon.
At a Feb. 7 career fair, a couple of student nurses told McMorris that they'd like to stay in Saskatchewan but only B.C. Health had been in Saskatoon to do a presentation to the nursing students.
"I inquired through the ministry immediately about that concern and they told me that wasn't quite right, that they have talked to the classes in the past and I said, 'I want to make sure that we're doing that with all of the classes - whether it's the ministry of health or the health authorities,' " McMorris said.
McMorris plans to hire 800 registered nurses in his government's first term of office. He said that filling the province's nursing needs with home-grown talent is a priority but it is a slow process so the province will continue to recruit foreign-trained nurses.
"If we get 300 nurses from the Philippines and there are more that are interested, it will be a while before we say, 'That's enough,' but our Saskatchewan grads do not have to worry -- there's more than enough work for them," he said.
Laura Ross, Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Health -- Nurse Recruitment and Retention, and two Saskatchewan Health recruitment agency officials will accompany staff from five health regions to Manila. The delegation's trip is scheduled from Feb. 28 to March 8.
Search heading to Manila
Pamela Cowan, Leader-PostPublished: Thursday, February 21, 2008
Building on the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region's recruiting success in the Philippines last year, a Saskatchewan delegation hopes to sign up 300 nurses when it travels to Manila next week.
During a recruiting trip to the Philippines in November, the RQHR offered jobs to 80 registered nurses.
"We know that there is a huge shortage of nurses in Saskatchewan that can't be addressed overnight but certainly recruiting from other jurisdictions provincially or internationally is a good plan," Health Minister Don McMorris said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon.
At a Feb. 7 career fair, a couple of student nurses told McMorris that they'd like to stay in Saskatchewan but only B.C. Health had been in Saskatoon to do a presentation to the nursing students.
"I inquired through the ministry immediately about that concern and they told me that wasn't quite right, that they have talked to the classes in the past and I said, 'I want to make sure that we're doing that with all of the classes - whether it's the ministry of health or the health authorities,' " McMorris said.
McMorris plans to hire 800 registered nurses in his government's first term of office. He said that filling the province's nursing needs with home-grown talent is a priority but it is a slow process so the province will continue to recruit foreign-trained nurses.
"If we get 300 nurses from the Philippines and there are more that are interested, it will be a while before we say, 'That's enough,' but our Saskatchewan grads do not have to worry -- there's more than enough work for them," he said.
Laura Ross, Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Health -- Nurse Recruitment and Retention, and two Saskatchewan Health recruitment agency officials will accompany staff from five health regions to Manila. The delegation's trip is scheduled from Feb. 28 to March 8.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Typhoon Mitag headed for the Philippines
This is from this site. This sounds as if it could be a disastrous storm. My wife has a house in Legaspi. Last year it was flooded during the typhoon Durian and I imagine it will flood again. My sister in law and her family will probably have to move upstairs or to another house as their house is in a low lying area. There have been heavy rains for some while so around the base of the Mayon volcano there are sure to be serious mudslides. I hope everyone gets to shelter but there seem always some people who stay where they shouldn't. Power is often knocked out for weeks. I remember when I was there I found it quite hot with no fans and no air conditioning in the bedroom for over a week! But then we were well off with a concrete house that could easily withstand the winds and rains.
Typhoon Mitag gaining strength, thousands evacuated in Philippines
Manila (AP): A tropical storm developed into a typhoon on Thursday as it powered toward an eastern Philippine region ravaged last year by flash floods and volcanic mudslides that killed more than 1,000 people, officials said.
Typhoon Mitag was packing 140 kilometer per hour (88 mph) per hour winds with gusts of up to 170 kph (106 mph) as it blew westward from the Philippine Sea at 15 kph (9 mph) toward the Bicol region around 4 p.m. (0800 GMT), chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said.
It could be a ``super typhoon'' with winds of over 220 kph (138 mph) when it makes landfall at the weekend, Cruz said.
Disaster officials said close to 46,000 people already have been moved to temporary shelters in 15 towns around Mayon volcano in Albay province, about 340 kilometers (213 miles) southeast of Manila.
In Sorsogon province, south of Albay, more than 900 people also were evacuated, mostly from villages in Irosin town, which is often hit by mudslides from nearby Bulusan volcano.
Another 2,275 people also fled flooded communities in Camarines Sur province.
Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon are among the six provinces of the Bicol region on the southern tip of the main Philippine island of Luzon.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, worried about a repeat of last year's disaster, has ordered mass evacuations in the typhoon's expected path and cut short her trip to Singapore, where she was attending an Asian summit.
Cruz said if the typhoon doesn't change direction, it will hit Bicol by Saturday morning or veer northwest and make landfall in Quezon province farther north the next day.
The typhoon is also enhancing northeast monsoon rains, drenching the eastern Philippines, he said.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has suspended classes so some schools can be used as temporary shelters.
Cedric Daep, executive officer of the provincial disaster office, said full evacuation of the most threatened communities along the coastline and in the foothills of the Mayon volcano will begin Thursday afternoon.
``It's been raining for many days in some areas, and these are ripe for landslides,'' said Glenn Rabonza, administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.
He warned that storm surges from a powerful typhoon could generate waves 3-10 meters (10-30 feet) high that could wreak havoc on coastal villages.
Typhoon Hagibis, which was forecast to hit Vietnam at the weekend, left 13 people dead in the Philippines, including seven people buried in landslides in Surigao del Norte province in the south.
Officials estimate up to 200,000 people may have to be evacuated in Albay, which last year bore the brunt of Typhoon Durian that triggered flash floods and unleashed tons of volcanic debris, wiping out entire communities and killing more than 1,000 people. About the same number of people died in 2004 in Quezon when it was hit by successive storms and typhoons.
Typhoon Mitag gaining strength, thousands evacuated in Philippines
Manila (AP): A tropical storm developed into a typhoon on Thursday as it powered toward an eastern Philippine region ravaged last year by flash floods and volcanic mudslides that killed more than 1,000 people, officials said.
Typhoon Mitag was packing 140 kilometer per hour (88 mph) per hour winds with gusts of up to 170 kph (106 mph) as it blew westward from the Philippine Sea at 15 kph (9 mph) toward the Bicol region around 4 p.m. (0800 GMT), chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said.
It could be a ``super typhoon'' with winds of over 220 kph (138 mph) when it makes landfall at the weekend, Cruz said.
Disaster officials said close to 46,000 people already have been moved to temporary shelters in 15 towns around Mayon volcano in Albay province, about 340 kilometers (213 miles) southeast of Manila.
In Sorsogon province, south of Albay, more than 900 people also were evacuated, mostly from villages in Irosin town, which is often hit by mudslides from nearby Bulusan volcano.
Another 2,275 people also fled flooded communities in Camarines Sur province.
Camarines Sur, Albay and Sorsogon are among the six provinces of the Bicol region on the southern tip of the main Philippine island of Luzon.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, worried about a repeat of last year's disaster, has ordered mass evacuations in the typhoon's expected path and cut short her trip to Singapore, where she was attending an Asian summit.
Cruz said if the typhoon doesn't change direction, it will hit Bicol by Saturday morning or veer northwest and make landfall in Quezon province farther north the next day.
The typhoon is also enhancing northeast monsoon rains, drenching the eastern Philippines, he said.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has suspended classes so some schools can be used as temporary shelters.
Cedric Daep, executive officer of the provincial disaster office, said full evacuation of the most threatened communities along the coastline and in the foothills of the Mayon volcano will begin Thursday afternoon.
``It's been raining for many days in some areas, and these are ripe for landslides,'' said Glenn Rabonza, administrator of the Office of Civil Defense.
He warned that storm surges from a powerful typhoon could generate waves 3-10 meters (10-30 feet) high that could wreak havoc on coastal villages.
Typhoon Hagibis, which was forecast to hit Vietnam at the weekend, left 13 people dead in the Philippines, including seven people buried in landslides in Surigao del Norte province in the south.
Officials estimate up to 200,000 people may have to be evacuated in Albay, which last year bore the brunt of Typhoon Durian that triggered flash floods and unleashed tons of volcanic debris, wiping out entire communities and killing more than 1,000 people. About the same number of people died in 2004 in Quezon when it was hit by successive storms and typhoons.
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