MetroVanIndependent.com
April 2015
A7
NEWS Round-Up
Jollibee to open in Toronto, soon in Vancouver
Fast food connoisseurs in Canada are
abuzz this week over the news that yet
another foreign restaurant chain will soon
be setting up shop in our home and native
land.
Start your spam sandwich savings
funds now, fans of Filipino fast food,
because by the end of this year, Jollibee will
be open for business in Toronto.
Oft-hailed as "the McDonald's of
the Phillippines," Jollibee is well-known
around the world for its pineapple-topped
hamburgers, peach-mango pie and
"Chickenjoy" fried chicken.
CFO of the Jollibee Foods Corp. Ysmael
Baysa confirmed during an interview at
the Phillipine Investment Forum that his
company would soon be opening its first
Canadian location.
With 2,833 stores worldwide as of 2014,
Jollibee Foods Corp. is the biggest fast
food restaurant operator in The Phillipines.
The company, which was founded in
1978, has opened outposts of its flagship
fast food joint in about a dozen countries over the past 30 years, the most
recent being Singapore, Qatar and the
U.S. (which has 29 Jollibee stores, for the
record.)
Baysa said Tuesday that Canada was
one of several countries being eyed by the
company "due to the growing number of
Filipinos in these areas."
Indeed, just over 660,000 people of
Filipino descent were living in Canada as
of 2011 according to StatsCan — some
of whom took to Twitter after learning of
Jollibee's pending arrival to share their
excitement along with others in Toronto
who simply love the restaurant.
Jollibee's impending foray into the
Canadian market is not being celebrated
by everybody, however.
Some online are saying that the LAST
thing our country needs is another fast
food chain to increase obesity rates.
Nearly 25 per cent of Canadians are
now considered obese, according to
StatsCan's most-recent report on the condition — 17.5 per cent more than in 2003,
and over three times as many as the number of obese Canadians recorded in 1985.
Others are simply miffed that Jollibee
chose Toronto for its first Canadian location, as opposed to somewhere in their own
region.
But don't lose hope yet if you don't
live near Toronto — Manila Standard
reports that Jollibee plans to open up 330
stores this year alone, including 220 in the
Philippines and 110 overseas.
The DFA issued this order as it raised
crisis alert level 4 over Yemen.
“Alert level 4 is raised where there is
large-scale internal conflict of full-blown
external attack. Under this alert level, the
Philippine government undertakes mandatory evacuation procedures,” the DFA said
in a statement.
The DFA cited “the continued occupation of the capital city Sana'a by Houthi
rebels, as well as the recent suspension
of operations of numerous embassies in
the capital.”
“A crisis management team deployed
by the Philippine embassy in Riyadh,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is currently on
the ground in Sana’a and stands ready to
for the People.”
Steve Marshall
Publisher
Yul Baritugo
Editorial Consultant
[email protected]
Editorial Staff
Emmy Buccat
Alex Mino
Kim Mendez
Arts Director
Bert Morelos
Photographer
Filipinos ordered to leave Yemen
The Philippine Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) said it ordered Filipinos to
leave Yemen because of political turmoil
in the Middle Eastern country.
Malacanang yesterday said there are
about 700 Filipinos in that war torn country.
The Philippine government estimates
that up to 2,190 Filipinos live in Yemen.
“The Voice of the People, by the People,
assist Filipinos who wish to be repatriated
home to the Philippines,” the DFA said.
The situation in Yemen worsened after
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and
his Cabinet quit in the face of an apparent
coup attempt by anti-US rebels.
In December 2013, the Philippines
already raised alert level 3 over Yemen
after a suspected terrorist attack killed 7
Filipinos and injured 11 others there. Alert
level 3 meant voluntary repatriation.
Luisa Marshall
Advertising & Marketing Head
[email protected]
Mailing Address: PO Box 56003 1st Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5L 4V0
Phone: 604.288.7664
Email: [email protected]
MetroVan Independent Media
Pinay in death row awaits
execution by firing squad
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso in Indonesia.
Death penalty welcome signage at the airport.
Photo by www.reuters.com
Indonesia is preparing to move a
Filipina death row inmate to execution
following the Indon