Reportedly,  an earthquake with a magnitude of  6.8  struck the Negros-Cebu region, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Earlier  information from the agency said the quake struck  at 11:49 a.m. in the following epicenters:

    70 kms (44 miles) north from Dumaguete, Negros
    79 kms (49 miles) west northwest from Tagbilaran, Bohol
    80 kms (50 miles) south southeast from Bacolod, Negros
    574 kms (356 miles) south southeast from Manila

The agency added that  the earthquake had a depth of 46.6 kms.
 

Finishing  2 days of shoot in the middle of a  tight security in Navotas City, the production team  is all set to shift  to Marikina City on Thursday.

The production crew ended its filming in Navotas City and began  preparing for  scenes at a market in Marikina, radio dzBB reported early Thursday.

However,  the filming in Marikina City might not be as long  as the crew is slated to shoot scenes at the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) Rotonda area in Pasay City this weekend.

From Friday to Sunday, the crew’s schedule will take place along Rotonda area shooting  action-packed scenes, the report added.

Meanwhile, bystanders are prohibited to take pictures  and videos while shoot is going on.
 

 
 According to news release from the office of  Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH),  the agency  has allocated from its 2012 budget P78.099 billion  for building, rehabilitating, widening and upgrading national roads.
 
DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson said they plan to cover  15,872 kilometers (km) of national arterial roads by 2014 and 15,370 km of national secondary roads by 2016.
 
“The DPWH, true to its mandate, should focus its efforts on improving the quality and safety of our national roads, which, unfortunately was neglected in the past due to a poor selection and subjective process in the prioritization of national road projects,” Singson said.

DPWH stated that its priority for this year is to   upgrade national roads by concreting or widening arterial roads leading to tourism destinations, airports, RORO ports, food production areas, and economic zones.
 
“With the implementation of World Bank-assisted International Road Assessment Program (iRAP Philippines), the DPWH aims to adhere to international safety standards,” Singson said.
 

Chinese New Year Celebration will happen on  Jan. 23 to 25.  On those days,  the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong will be closed to the public  for the Lunar New Year holidays.

In addition to that, the  Philippine Embassy in Thailand also made an announcement that their office will also be closed on Monday for the Chinese New Year.
 
 In its announcement released  on its website, the Consulate General in Hong Kong said their  services will be available to the public on January 26, a Thursday.
 
“The Philippine Consulate General wishes to inform the public that it will be closed on 23, 24 and 25 January 2012 (Monday and Wednesday) on the occasion of the Lunar New Year’s Day,” it said.
 

After the long  search, the housemaid found guilty of poisoning and robbing her employers in Manila and Quezon City was arrested at a bus terminal in Zamboanga City yesterday. The housemaid has  escaped from the Women’s Correctional facility in Mandaluyong City.

According to Zamboanga City police chief Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, Anamae Livrando, 31, was “on her way to Cagayan de Oro or Butuan City to get a passport because the (Department of Foreign Affairs office) in this city is strict about issuing passports.”

He added Livrando – also known as  “Poison Ivy” by police investigators in Manila – was planning to fly to Malaysia to avoid jail.

Livrando made her escape  from the Manila City Jail in 2008  during a trial for frustrated homicide and robbery However she  was recaptured in August 2011 after victimizing two more families. She was serving her sentence for multiple serious physical injuries and robbery when she made her latest escape.

Her plan  is to make friends with security guards of high-end condominiums and would ask  them to put a good word  for her when she applies of a job as a housemaid. Once accepted, she would poison her employer’s family then steal their things while they are in the hospital.

The presiding judge Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile,  has denied yesterday the motion of the prosecution panel to call  Chief Justice Renato Corona and members of his family to testify before the impeachment trial.

Earlier, Enrile turned down the motion of Corona’s camp to  prohibit the use of private prosecutors by the House ?of Representative’s prosecution panel.

The Senate President’s ruling to deny the prosecution’s motion to require the appearance of the chief magistrate and his family to testify on their assets was defied  by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.

“The question… is may they claim this qualification of privilege not to testify against the respondent in an impeachment trial? It really depends on the purpose and the author of the evidence. But we are not yet there… In any event, the time to invoke this is when they are called to testify,” he said.

Following Cayetano’s motion to “divide the house,” the senator-judges voted 14-6 to uphold Enrile’s ruling.

Reportedly, Chief Justice Renato Corona will not participate in the Supreme Court hearings on 5 petitions asking  to stop his impeachment trial in the Senate. This was according to court administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez.

A deliberation will be done by the high court  on the 5 petitions tomorrow. 

The petitions were  filed by "tax informer" Danilo Lihaylihay, lawyer Vladimir Cabigao, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines President Vicente Millora, lawyer Oliver Lozano, and lawyers Homobono Adaza and Allan Paguia. They  want the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Corona’s impeachment trial in the Senate.

The petitioners claim that the 188 congressmen who signed the articles of impeachment failed to properly verify the complaint.

They alleged  the lawmakers of committing perjury, at the same time violating the Constitution and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The petitioners think that Corona’s impeachment violated due process and the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

Since  the  devotees of the Black Nazarene see themselves in times of  poverty and every day  struggles to the wounds and tribulations experienced by Jesus, the people went to Quiapo despite the fact that  their patron’s feast is still three days away.

The crowd is starting to get big in Manila’s Quiapo district Friday, causing  traffic in the area.
 
Majority of the  followers occupied  several lanes of Quezon Boulevard as they went to Quiapo Church for the First Friday Mass, radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported.
 
In addition to that, some  vendors were also in the area, selling Black Nazarene-themed items such as handkerchiefs, towels, replicas of the Black Nazarene and other religious items.
 
Only two to three lanes of Quezon Boulevard was passable to traffic early morning, the report said.
 
As this progressed, the city government issued an order repairing the  facilities where the procession was to pass through.
 
In particular with this event, Mayor Alfredo Lim  ordered the city engineer’s office ensure that the  electrical and phone wires do not dangle from posts at the procession route.
 
Meanwhile, in the dzBB report, the  parades will kick off  in Quiapo as early as Saturday, along with the Black Nazarene replicas.

Report has it that there will be some  Filipino celebrities that will  be  a part of the much-awaited film "Bourne Legacy" starring Hollywood star Jeremy Renner.

The confirmation came from Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino. However he refused to give the names of the celebrities joining the film.

He added that  preparations for the shoot in different  locations in Metro Manila are already finished.

"Ang alam ko po ay mayroon pong ilan tayong mga artistang makakasama din pero hindi ko pwedeng ma-disclose. Lahat ng settings ay well prepared na po. Nagulat nga po ako, akala ko ngayon lang sila magpi-prepara tapos na po ang preparation at ilalabas na lang yan," he told radio dzMM.  He also said this film took 3 years preparing the scenes.

"Marami tayong mga kabahayan dito sa Kamaynilaan na naayos na. Ito po ang mga indoor shots at gagamiting eksena. Tahimik po pati ang mga barangay officials ay tahimik din po na tapos na pala ang mga yon before the Christmas season na nakumpuni na yung mga barangay hall," he added.

Currebtky  the film’s cameraman is  in Manila and that a group from Entertainment Tonight will arrive soon.

The places mentioned were Intramuros and somewhere in Roxas Boulevard.

Reportedly, a supplier of Jollibee Foods Corp faces a criminal complaint after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed a  complaint with the Department of Justice due to  tax evasion.

Great Wall Promotionals Co. Ltd. together with its officials Carlito N. Pancho, Flordeliza M. Casimiro, George T. Co., Jr. and Roberto T. Co., were identified  in the complaint for tax evasion and for deliberately failing to give accurate information in its Income Tax Return for 2008.

Great Wall is  a partnership registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its main office is located along National Road, Sta. Cruz, Zambales.

While the articles of partnership showed Pancho and Casimiro were the partners, a BIR investigation found that they were "mere dummies" of the Cos.

The Cos were named as the real principals of Great Wall, according to the 2007 Mayor’s Permit issued by the Municipality of Sta. Cruz, Zambales and the SEC Registration Data Sheet obtained by the BIR.