LM Confidential Issue September 2014

L.ittle M.anila Confidential
Runsfor Trustee
Married People Live Longer
JOSIE
DE LEON
The New face
Of Aranas
Story Inside about Aranas and Josie de Leon
Small
Towns
Boom
Transforming Secondary Cities as Centers of Trade and Industry is critical to Economic Growth
Cars and Jeepneys sit in traffic at a junction in front of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol building, seat of the provincal government, in Iloilo, Panay Island, Philippines.
ILOILO, Philippines - Jennifer Ann Palmares- Fong has come home. Fifteen years after leaving Iloilo in the Philippines for the bright lights of Manila, she and her friends have been lured back as her once-quiet hometown is transformed.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect there would be these developments mushrooming all over,” Palmares-Fong, 32, said as she prepared to take clients to view a site for new $57,000 condominiums. “It used to be a sleepy place, now at night it’s all lights.”
Iloilo, an hour’s flight south of Manila, is at the center of the country’s biggest provincial transformation since independence in 1945
SMALL TOWNS BOOM continued on page 22
Anderson
Manny Yanga
UN Ordered Peacekeeprs to
Surrender Weapons
Last month, Filipino and Fijian peacekeepers were given the same order to surrender their weapons to Syrian rebels. Who made the right choice?
Balikbayan Boxes May Be Delayed
Remember...?
See on Page 4
MANILA -The “ber” months – from September to December – are supposed to be peak season for importers.
Not this year.
Importation of food is unlikely to increase in volume in the “ber” months due to the continuing port congestion, a group of truckers, importers and brokers said.
“There is no peak season that we are expecting,” said Aduana Business Club President Mary Zapata, noting that foreign vessels
continue to avoid Manila due to lack of space in the Port of Manila (POM) and Manila International Container Port (MICP).
She pointed out that a drop in the number of imported goods is expected since many shipments from Singapore, China, and Hong Kong have yet to reach Manila ports. “They don’t want to go here simply because of the delay in
Star Gerald Was At Taste of Manila
Singers Inah Canlapan, Maria Panaligan and Monarie Ocray
BALIKBAYAN continued on page 21
MANILA, Philippines – Peacekeeping forces from two countries were caught in a similar situation, and were given the same order by their overall commander. Each took a different path – one defied it and the other followed – leading to different outcomes.
Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) Commander Lieutenant General Iqbal Singha, based on various reports in Fiji.
“At no stage in an operation would I expect any of my officers not to follow the decisions of the first commander....The Filipinos chose to do so and the Philippines government has supported them for having chosen that path,” Tikoitoga said in new interview defending the surrender. The situation of the Fijians was being compared to the Filipinos who were
pose
with Kapamilya star Gerald Anderson at the first Filipino street festival Taste
Fiji’s Army Chief Brigadier General Mosese
Tikoitoga revealed in various interviews that the
detained 45 Fijian peacekeepers, in fact, surrendered
to the Syrian rebels following the orders of United of Manila.
PEACEKEEPING continued on page 23
SEPTEMBER 2014 L. M. Confidential
1
SEPTEMBER 2014
SAM
Pinto
Life At Fast Forward