Tag Archives: Philippines

Business, International, Travel

‘BALIKBAYAN’ BOXES WILL NO LONGER BE ALLOWED ON INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER FLIGHTS TO THE PHILIPPINES

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balikbayan-box-shippingHONOLULU, Hawaii (The Adobo Chronicles) – Starting April 1 this year, Filipinos returning to or going on a holiday to the Philippines will no longer be able to bring balikbayan boxes on board international flights to Manila, Cebu and other destinations in the country.

Balikbayan boxes are those corrugated cardboard boxes that Filipinos pack with tax-free goods to bring back to loved ones in the Philippines. The goods range from designer shoes and clothing to cartons of canned foods, cigarettes and toiletries — mostly purchased from big box stores like Costco and Walmart.

During their annual convention held last weekend in Honolulu, members of the International Commercial Airline Association (ICAA), agreed to totally ban balikbayan boxes as a way to speed up check-in procedures at airports and to maintain universally-accepted weight limits on their aircraft.

The ICAA said that many of their airline customers have constantly complained about the long check-in lines at airport counters, notably for flights going to the Philippines, because of the large number of balikbayan boxes being checked in by Filipino passengers.  The long lines have caused many passengers to miss their flights.

The ICAA also said that flights to the Philippines are always up to the load limit for aircraft due to the heavy weight of the balikbayan boxes. Most balikbayan  boxes  exceed the 50-pound limit for checked in baggage. “It compromises airline safety,” an ICAA spokesperson said.

Overseas Filipinos will still be able to send back goods to the Philippines in balikbayan boxes but only through cargo vendors that ship via ocean vessels.  It takes an average of 30-45 days to ship from the U.S. Mainland to the Philippines.

 

 

Government, International, Law Enforcement, Politics

FORMER PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO FINDS AN ALLY IN MRS. GEORGE CLOONEY

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, a.k.a. Mrs. George Clooney,  has filed a case against the Philippine government before the United Nations over the continued detention of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Clooney filed the case on Feb 26 before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), a body under the UN Commission on Human Rights, Philippine media reported late on Sunday.

“The case concerns Arroyo’s protracted detention by the Philippine government despite her age, health condition and the court’s continued denial to grant her bail,” one of Arroyo’s lawyers, Modesto Ticman, told GMA News Online.

In filing the case, Mrs Clooney wants the UN to persuade the Philippine government to release Arroyo, who has been under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Centre (VMMC) in Quezon City.

Upon hearing of the news, Janet Lim-Napoles, suspected mastermind of the Ten Billion-peso pork barrel scam and who is currently in detention, asked to meet with Clooney. Napoles wants Clooney to handle her case in the Philippines.

“My lawyers have not  done a good job in defending me in my case. That’s why I remain in detention.  I am confident Mrs. Clooney, since we are both women, can do a  better job to exonerate me from the charges against me, and  negotiate for my release from detention,” Napoles said.

“I am willing to pay Mrs. Clooney whatever amount she demands. I have enough funds from the pork barrel scam that I masterminded, so money is not going to be a problem,” Napoles added.

Meanwhile, TV host and presidential sister Kris Aquino has reportedly sent an email to Mrs. Clooney, asking if she could help her schedule a one-on-one interview with her husband, George. “I’m a fan of George, and it would be wonderful to interview him for my gossip show,” Aquino stated in her email.

Business, Food, Government, Health & Medicine, International, Politics

CALIFORNIA BANS ALL PORK IMPORTS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

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Philippine pork longganisa (sausage). Photo by The Adobo Chronicles
Philippine pork longganisa (sausage). Photo by The Adobo Chronicles

SAN FRANCISCO, California  (The Adobo Chronicles) – If you live in California and you like Filipino food, you had better stock up on your packaged tocino or longganisa.

Effective March 15, 2015, the state of California will impose a comprehensive ban on all pork imports from the Philippines. The ban covers livestock, frozen meat and packaged pork-based food items.

The Manila government immediately criticized the move, saying that California is merely retaliating for a recent ban on chicken imports from California imposed by the Philippines.  The chicken ban was a result of confirmed cases of Avian or Bird Flu found in several chicken farms in California.

But California Governor Jerry Brown told reporters that the state’s decision to ban Philippine pork imports was the result of a series of serious considerations which began after Filipino business people and senators were accused and jailed for the pork barrel scandal which defrauded taxpayers of some Ten Billion Pesos. The pork barrel money allegedly went into the pockets of the individuals accused of the massive scam.

“We’re simply taking precaution to make sure that our state government, especially our state legislature, will not engage in similar pork scams ” Brown said.

The price of pork in the world market currently averages $198.00 per barrel.

U.S. imports of agricultural products from the Philippines totaled $991 million in 2013 alone. The California ban on pork imports will hurt the Philippines’ overall revenue from its exports to the U.S., since California is recognized as having one of the largest economies in the world.