MANOLO LOPEZ STEPS DOWN AS MERALCO CHAIRMAN!

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) chairman Manolo Lopez will step down from his post in the country’s largest power distributor today.

Meralco has set its annual stockholders’ meeting today.

In an interview yesterday, Lopez, 69, confirmed he will focus on his responsibilities as Philippine ambassador to Japan.

FACEBOOK TO BUY OPERA FOR A FB-CENTERED BROWSER?

Is social networking giant Facebook planning to buy Norwegian browser maker Opera Software to create a Facebook-centric browser?

A tech site cited sources who said this could be the case—where the resulting product will allow a user to keep his or her social life up to date.

Pocket-lint.com said one of its trusted sources indicated the social networking giant is looking to buy Opera Software, the company behind the Opera web browser.

"Opera already has a very good mobile browser, which has seen strong growth in the two years it has been available. And Facebook's buying the company would save it having to build a browser from scratch," it said.

AMERICAN IDOL PAYS JESSICA SANCHEZ LESS WITH AS RATINGS DWINDLE!

After becoming the first runner-up in Season 11 of "American Idol," Filipino-Mexican-American Jessica Sanchez may get at least $30,000 in advances for recording singles, reportedly a much smaller amount compared to what the previous runners-up received.

According to a report of the news site NJ.com on Friday: "Coming in second on "American Idol" may still be a path to superstardom, but it no longer offers guaranteed paychecks worthy of the next pop idol or rock star."Apart from this, Sanchez will only receive at least $60,000 if she is asked to record four to 10 extended play songs.

CJ CORONA DENIES HAVING 82 DOLLAR ACCOUNTS! CLAIMS TRANSACTIONS WERE TIME DEPOSITS!

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Renato Corona on Tuesday denied he has 82 dollar accounts with at least $10 million as alleged by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales last week.

In the second part of his lengthy opening statement, Corona said, “wala ako kilala na may 82 bank accounts. Ewan ko kay Ombudsman, baka sya meron.”

Corona also said he had a reason in pushing his defense team to present Carpio-Morales as a witness, even though some experts say it was a wrong move and damaging to his case.

LIVE STREAM: CHIEF JUSTICE CORNA IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

MICROSOFT RELEASES ITS OWN SOCIAL NETWORK!

Microsoft has quietly launched its own social networking project that it said seeks to combine social networking and search, while encouraging interaction and collaboration.

 

Dubbed So.cl (pronounced “social”), the new network developed by Microsoft’s FUSE Labs is an “experimental research project” that explores social search for the purpose of learning.

 

MVP NAMED AS PHL'S BEST CEO!

The chairman of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) emerged as the country’s leading CEO in the 12th annual poll of Asia's top companies by FinanceAsia.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, who is also the president and chief executive of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and chairman and chief executive of Philex Mining Corp. garnered majority of the tallied votes from investors and analysts across Asia to lead the survey in the Best CEO category among Philippine companies.

He also serves as chairman of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and ABC Development Corp., which operates TV5. InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5.

CHINA TO IMPOSE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON PHL?!

BEIJING – China should impose “sanctions” against the Philippines after it offered to allow more US troops on its soil, state media said Sunday, amid growing tensions over disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Manila said Friday it planned to hold more joint exercises and to let more US troops rotate through the Southeast Asian country — an offer welcomed by the United States as it seeks to expand its military power in Asia.

GMA NETWORK SUFFERS 27% IN PROFITS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2012!

Broadcast giant GMA Network Inc. on Wednesday announced that its net income reached P388 million in the first quarter of the year, a strong start on the heels of a lukewarm closing for 2011.

 

Although the first quarter figure of this year failed to match the P534-million net income posted in the same 2011 period, GMA chair and chief executive Felipe L. Gozon noted the company is targeting P2.8 billion in net income for 2012, higher than the P1.7 billion net income recorded last year.

 

ATTY. GOZON: WE WANT TO SELL GMA-7 BECAUSE THE MARKET HAS ALREADY MATURED!

MANILA, Philippines [UPDATED] - Amid talks of a possible deal between the 2nd and 3rd largest media groups in the country, an official of GMA Network Corp. said all major shareholder groups said have agreed to sell GMA-7 if the right price is offered.

He also stressed GMA-7 is an attractive buy and that other groups, aside from rival TV5 chair Manuel V. Pangilingan, have approached to acquire them before.