OFFBEAT MAIL

Whenever you go on shopping sprees, do you always carry so much cash to pay for the stuffs that you buy in the markets? Well, if that is your choice, so be it. To most shoppers, this kind of practice is nothing new anymore. And it shouldn’t even raise your eyebrows whenever you see some people take out wads of money to pay for the goods that they buy.  They always believe that it doesn't only free them up with the worries of paying for  the increasing interests that their monthly bills could pile up. This, too, means to say that they'll have less to worry about because once they have paid those purchases with cash, they’re done. Mind you, there are people who don't feel secured having wads of cash in their pockets for personal reasons. Instead, some of them prefer to use "plastic money" to buy things that they need. While cash payments are good, using your debit card for your purchases is a much safer alternative. Aside from the convenience that it ma...

It feels so insulting and demeaning that China continues to ignore the pronouncement of the Permanent Court on Arbitration based in The Hague that it has legal jurisdiction over the territorial row between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea. An island reclaimed by China. After reading the news reports, all that China could utter is that it doesn't recognize the arbitral tribunal's declaration concerning its right to hear the complaint filed by the Philippines against China. However, China hasn't mentioned any valid statement that would give any suggestion as to which international body or court should have the right to hear the case? Over and over again, China keeps on repeating like a broken record that it wouldn't abide by the tribunal's decision to recognize the merits of the case on the territorial disputes because it believes that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear such complaint. China, for that matter, didn't even offer a sugge...

A Chinese diplomat dies in a shooting in Cebu City. Photo: philstar.com CEBU CITY, Oct. 21 (PNA) -- Two Chinese consular officials in Cebu were killed while the consul general was wounded in a shooting incident inside the Lighthouse Restaurant along General Maxilom, Cebu City at about 1:20 p.m. Wednesday. A Chinese retired consular official and his spouse was taken into police custody immediately after the shooting. The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 identified the fatalities as Sun Shan, a male deputy consul, and Hui Li, a female finance officer of the Chinese consular office in Cebu. Chinese Consul General Song Ronghua, who was also wounded in the shooting, is now undergoing treatment in a Cebu City private hospital. Police said they have taken into custody as suspects in the shooting Li Qing Liang, 60, identified as a retired consular official and his wife, Gou Jing, 57. Police also recovered one cal. 45 pistol Colt defender, three empty shells, two deformed slugs and ...

High ranking government officials in the Philippines had batted out the idea of sealing an agreement with China to allow a room that will pave the way for an acceptable solution in the form of partnership to further explore oil and gas deposits in the disputed South China Sea territory. A group of disputed islands now being claimed by China. Photo: wikipedia In an informal press briefing hosted by TV5 in Manila, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, now running as one of the six candidates vying for the post of vice president with the opposition's standard bearer Vice President Jejomar Binay, suggested that instead of going into war with China, the Philippines may opt to agree for a 30-70 business partnership in so far as royalties are concerned. China, considered highly equipped with mineral exploration technology, and had already established expansions by building permanent structures which had been misconstrued by political observers as a way to let the world know that it has the legal ...

Rare earth minerals in powder form. Just as big demands for rare earth elements (REES) soared by leaps and bounds over the years, the People’s Republic of China (PROC), which controls about 90 percent of the world’s supply, has slowly tightened its grip on the flow of supply into the open markets. Consequently, this put many high-tech companies worldwide wondering as to whether they could still meet their current production quotas or not? What was the motive behind China’s move? Based on reports, China has stopped further explorations of these metals when it found out that some of its local miners were engaged in illegal mining activities. Consequently, the flow of raw materials to the open markets was affected, thus hindering many hi-tech companies to meet their production targets. And no matter how optimistic they may seem, they felt that import demands may be hampered. Blame it on China’s self-imposed totalitarian rule to restrict the flow of rare earth metals to the in...

Syrian refugees flooding to Hungary. It’s nothing else but good future and security for their children that attract thousands of refugees to Europe. But streaming into Europe have cost them so much sufferings, battling with police and border guards to escape tyranny in Middle East countries where the Islamic militants are sowing terror and chaos. Robust enough to carry their dreams and determination to survive, at least, they have succeeded in breaking the barriers to the welcoming arms of the host countries like Austria and Germany, among the Euro-member countries that now provide sanctuary to these hapless migrants. But the mass exodus isn't over yet. As days roll on, thousands more are coming to Hungary's border. With the latest government's decision to seal its border, many of  these refugees, including children and women, have to find another route to get into the heart of Europe. This time, they landed in Croatia and Serbia, which eventually  allowed ...

Bodies of the 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) killed in action in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25, 2015. Who knows? This is the reason why the Senate’s Committee on Public Order, chaired by Senator Grace Poe, is hell bent on conducting public hearings that are set to uncover the truth behind the slaughter of 44 elite commandos of the Special Action Force (SAF) on January 25, 2015 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, Philippines. But unable to hold his temper during a hearing, Senator Allan Peter Cayetano immediately to put the blame on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters as the culprits behind the debacle in Mamasapano. He insisted that if the MILF didn’t coddle the terrorists and its fighters stayed away from the operation made by the SAF commandos to neutralize Marwan, a Malaysian terrorist responsible for the bombing  that killed more than 200 people in Bali, Indonesia many years ago, the SAF casualties wouldn’t have been that much. ...