PNS—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against accepting unknown “padala” (packages) as three na­tionals apparently duped into carrying ille­gal drugs await execution in China. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis­Baldoz said Filipinos should be suspicious of any package they are asked to carry, es­pecially if they do not know its contents.

MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos are the top charity givers in Asia and Africa. This is the result of the latest MasterCard Survey on Ethical Spending conducted from September 13 to November 11, 2010, involving 10,502 consumers in 24 countries in Asia and Africa.

“Ma, we’re trapped at CTV building. We need help, please rescue us.” The desperate plea came from nurse Rhea Mae Sumalpong, one of at least seven reportedly trapped inside the Canterbury Television (CTV) building that col­lapsed in Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.

PNS - While they did meet briefly in July last year, Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona denied being Lauro Vizconde’s source of the in­formation against Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, according to the high tribunal’s spokesperson, Jose Midas Marquez. “The Chief Justice categorically denies the statement of Mr. Viz­conde,” Marquez said.

SAN DIEGO, Philippines—A ‘fake’ US Marshal who “arrested” and “deported” a terrified preg­nant Filipino woman has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Gregory Denny Jr., 38, a se­curity guard of Hemet, was sen­tenced to jail on January 24 by United States District Judge Larry Alan Burns. He was given the maximum sentence for falsely representing himself as a federal officer and arresting and detain­ing Cherriebelle Hibbard, the 28- year-old wife of Denny’s distant cousin.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—The hu­man rights group Migrante-Middle East slammed the Philippine em­bassy on Wednesday for advising a Filipino worker to amicably settle a rape charge she filed against her manager. “The victim had been forced to settle her case amicably as per the advice of the Philippine embassy allegedly because the case is weak since there’s no evidence,” John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator, told Arab News.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has gained a new record, that of having the most expensive electricity in the whole of Asia. The new record was reported by the Manila Elec­tric Company (Meralco) to the power and energy committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) chaired by Jose Alejandro dur­ing a recent meeting. The committee quoted a study made last October by the International Energy Con­sultants, an independent think-tank which allowed the power distributor to borrow the result of said study.

A 22-year-old Filipino-Ameri­can woman filed a complaint of at­tempted rape against well-known student regent Jesse Cheng of the University of California sys­tem. Although the complaint was filed with the City of Irvine Police Department on Oct. 26, 2010, it came to light only recently.