At least 3,732 Filipinos are languishing in jails in 53 countries, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, reports Manila Standard Today. Of this number, 108 are in death row, with 69 in Chinese jails awaiting execution or clemency, Recto said. Malaysia has the most number of imprisoned Filipinos--2,236, mostly immigration cases.
The country’s top universities remain highly regarded in world academic circles, but most of them slipped in the latest ranking of the world’s top 800 universities by the ratings firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), reports Inquirer.net. UP Philippines, Ateneo de Manila and the University of Santo Tomas while De La Salle maintained its place from last year. UP still led Philippine universities on the list, but the state university was down to 380th this year from 348th last year.
Filipinos in rural areas are spending more, boosting the growth of fast moving consumer goods in the country, according to a consumer survey by Kantar Worldpanel, reports ABS-CBNNews.com. The rural sector's spending is growing at a faster rate than the urban sector, with South Luzon and Mindanao leading the way, spending 5% and 6% more, respectively, since 2008. The growth is attributed to government-backed development initiatives in the agricultural sector.
Each day, thousands of Filipino welders, pipe fitters, and other workers arrive at the Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific construction yard and port in Batangas, to make pieces of infrastructure projects destined for final assembly in locations worldwide. The heavy lifting at the AG&P site is part of a wave of outsourcing that could do for the construction industry what Indian companies did for back-office services, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
A Filipina American nurse, Gisela Oloroso received houses and cars worth $30 million and stands to inherit another $30 million in cash from reclusive copper-mining heiress Huguette Clark, according to the book Empty Mansions, by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr., reports Interaksyon.com.
A New York City police officer is under arrest, accused of smuggling assault rifles, reports ABC News. Officer Rex Maralit, 44, was taken into custody by the NYPD's internal affairs bureau in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. Maralit's brother Wilfredo, a customs agent at Los Angeles International Airport, is also under arrest, while a third brother is still being sought. Police say Rex and Wilfredo bought the weapons and dismantled them before shipping them to Ariel Maralit in the Phillippines, where they were sold.
The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has called on Filipinos to complete their immigrant documentation and carry their papers at all times after the Malaysian government initiated a new crackdown on the undocumented this month, reports Inquirer.net.
Inspired by the growing success of Pinoy food in the US, Filipina nurse Carol Semb is bringing "kamayan"-style dining to Horten, Norway through her restaurant, Carol's Cuisine, reports ABS-CBN News. Semb, a Negros native who came to Norway 24 years ago, has seen her food business expand from home catering.
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