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Philippine Star  "Endangered remittances" Several banks have denied shutting down their operations in Italy following the multimillion-dollar electronic heist that saw money stolen from the Bank of  Bangladesh account in the US Federal Reserve being laundered through Philippine casinos and the banking system.  The scandal has not only become a national embarrassment for the Philippines, where a large portion of about $81 million still has to be traced, but has also  endangered the remittances of millions of overseas Filipino workers. This concern has been raised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, even as it denied yesterday  the reports about several Philippine banks shutting down their operations in Italy due to the money laundering scandal.  Credit rating agencies and various analysts have expressed confidence that the Philippine banking system will weather this storm. There are also no indications so  far that the scandal might put the country ...

Inquirer  about Duterte and presidential elections Log on to Facebook and chances are one would come across a number of posts from defenders of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos waxing eloquent about “the golden era, the  prosperity, the peace and order”  of the martial law years. Given the bad grammar, the flawed logic and the rampant name-calling, one would be tempted to dismiss such  posts as the work of trolls and hacks intended to advance the political stock of the dictator’s son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who is running for vice- president. Except that the recent ascendancy of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, whom one recent survey pronounced No. 1 among the presidential aspirants, gives one  serious pause. [full text] Sun.Star Cebu  on Cebu councilors and budget This has become a ritual in the Cebu City Council in the past six weeks: a member identified with Team Rama delivering a privilege speech during the regular session  aski...