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CA junks Richard Gomez’s complaint vs 3 Leyte policemen linking him to drug trade | jreyes0314 | 31/01/2024 19:42 | DEFENSE. Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez reverts to stricter protocols against COVID-19
Ormoc City government
The Court of Appeals (CA) has scrapped the administrative complaint filed by actor-turned-politician Richard Gomez against Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, Police Chief Inspector Leo Laraga, and Police Officer 3 Hydie Yutrago, who claimed he was involved in the illegal drug trade of the Espinosa clan in Albuera municipality, Leyte.
In a 12-page decision penned by Associate Justice Eleuterio Bathan, the CA’s 13th Division affirmed the June 28, 2019 decision and the resolution dated July 24, 2020 issued by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) en banc.
The Napolcom en banc dismissed Gomez’s complaint of grave misconduct, dishonesty, and conduct unbecoming of a police officer against the respondents for lack of substantial evidence and legal standing.
Gomez, currently Leyte’s 4th district representative, had argued that the Napolcom committed a serious and reversible error when it ruled that he could not legally push for a reappraisal of the decision absolving said policemen.
“In administrative cases, appeals are extended to the party adversely affected by the decision, which refers to the government employee against whom the administrative case is filed for the purpose of disciplinary action, or the disciplining authority whose decision is in question,” the CA said.
“The fact that the petitioner is the then-mayor of Ormoc City is of no moment. It is established that in administrative cases, a complainant is a mere witness. No private interest is involved in an administrative case as the offense committed is against the government. In fact, the Supreme Court has held that a private complainant in an administrative case has no right to appeal the decision of the disciplining authority,” it added.
On November 16, 2016, Gomez filed a complaint affidavit against Espenido, Laraga, and Yutrago for grave misconduct, dishonesty, and conduct unbecoming.
He accused the policemen of violating the commitment orders of Espinosa clan bodyguards and staff Marcelo Adorco, Jose Antipuesto, Jessie Ocares, and Jeffrey Pesquera.
He also claimed that Laraga publicly accused him of being involved in the drug trade with the Espinosas without any basis.
Gomez also accused Espenido and Yutrago of fixing the “ready-made” affidavits of Max Miro, Galo Stephen Bobares and Brian Anthony Gates, the alleged men of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa. – Rappler.com
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More than 100 years after first sighting in Manila Bay, rare bird reappears | Iya Gozum | 29/01/2024 10:52 | ELUSIVE. The rare Chinese crested tern sighted on a sandbar in Bulacan in December 2023.
Irene Dy
MANILA, Philippines – It was a dry and windy day in Manila Bay. The sun was out. Local bird watcher Irene Dy was walking along the sandbar that straddles the boundary between Sta. Cruz, Paombong, and Pamarawan Island in Bulacan.
Dy was doing a survey in December 2023 to count birds and check the bands and flags on their legs. An entire flock flew up, and one with a different bill shape and color – and most importantly, with a black tip – caught her eye.
There it was. One of the rarest birds in the world: the Chinese crested tern.
“It was a heart pounding moment, as I instantly knew what it was,” Dy said.
She’s waited three years for this moment. “I followed it with my binoculars until it landed and immediately started to photograph it.”
Dy, who had been birdwatching for more than a decade, said she felt “extremely lucky” to spot the bird in Manila Bay.
The bird’s first recorded sighting in the Philippines was in 1886. Then it was in 1905 that the Chinese crested tern was spotted in Manila Bay. In 2018, it came back, this time in Panabo, Davao.
In the following weeks after the Manila Bay sighting, Dy said other fellow birdwatchers visited the area in hopes of seeing the rare bird.
The Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini) can easily be confused with the more common Greater crested tern (Thalasseus bergii). It can be distinguished from the latter by its two-toned yellow bill and the black tip.
Ornithologists attribute its decline to illegal poaching.
With only around a hundred left in the wild, the Chinese crested tern is categorized as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
It was long thought to breed only in China, until the species was found breeding in South Korea, too.
That it’s seen in Manila Bay, outside its breeding grounds, can mean the environment in the Bay area is healthy enough to provide support for migrating and endangered birds.
“The appearance of Chinese crested tern [in] Manila Bay is a good thing,” conservation biologist Simba Chan told Rappler in a message. Chan has closely studied the species and monitored the tern breeding colony in China.
According to Chan, there’s not enough knowledge on the migratory route of the species. In general, they follow the migration of the Greater crested terns bred in Southeast China to Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
“This proves the Bay is an important migratory site to seabirds and shorebirds from northern Asia,” added Chan.
Its presence in the area can also point to a possible overwintering site in Luzon, Danish ornithologist Arne Jensen told Rappler. Jensen is one of the founders of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines. An overwintering site is where migratory birds stay to wait out the winter season.
“The Bulacan bird was expected given that it is documented that there is an overwintering site in Davao,” said Jensen.
“However, the time of the Bulacan bird came as a surprise because it was in the middle of its overwintering period where it shouldn’t be migrating. This can suggest that there may be another overwintering site in Luzon.”
The Philippines lies in the East Asian Australasian Flyway, the most populated flyway in the world. The country is a crucial rest stop and refueling station for birds who fly at night and rest in the morning, moving to warmer places to spend winter.
Birdwatchers in the Philippines find the winter months of December to February a good time to go birding. There’s always a chance to see a rare migrating bird, in the chilly weather of the amihan season.
Jensen noted that recent observations of the bird species suggest a tiny overwintering population in Panabo and a migration roost site in Donsol, Sorsogon, and Pangasinan.
It’s been a hundred years since the first recorded sighting of the Chinese crested tern in Manila Bay. It was a different Manila back in 1905, the same year American urban planner Daniel Burnham made the City Beautiful masterplan.
The sandbar where Dy spotted the rare bird is northwest of the New Manila International Airport, touted as the single-largest investment project in the country.
At present, Manila Bay hosts many reclamation projects that seek to develop the crowded capital outward to the sea.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is conducting an assessment of all the projects and their impacts on the ecosystem, as these projects were green-lighted and evaluated separately.
Researchers have warned against human activities that disrupt the area as an important pit stop for many migratory birds. (READ: Save migrating birds over northern Manila Bay, says study)
Aside from the Chinese crested tern, birdwatchers have spotted the endangered Nordmann’s greenshank (Tringa guttifer) in the same area – around 13, according to Jensen.
The ornithologist said there should be more collaboration among groups, scientists, and political institutions to protect critical habitats.
“It should be the conservation NGOs and academe that know their birds that should produce informative press releases, informing the public and politicians and [advocating] that existing critical habitat policies are being implemented.” – Rappler.com
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PIRMA lead says Romualdez helped them in Cha-Cha signature drive | Bonz Magsambol | 31/01/2024 8:00 | Angie de Silva/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The lead convenor of the People’s Initiative for Modernization and Reform Action (PIRMA) admitted on Tuesday, January 30, that House Speaker Martin Romualdez “helped” them in the signature campaign they initiated for the supposed people’s initiative to amend the Constitution.
PIRMA lead convenor Noel Oñate told senators in a hearing that they coordinated with House lawmakers to get 3% of signatures per congressional district, noting that in one of those meetings held, Romualdez was present.
Oñate at first denied that he ever met with Romualdez, but Senator Imee Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on electoral reforms, flashed a photo of him together with Romualdez and other House members, with the caption “People’s Initiative for Charter Change Staff meeting” dated January 8.
“I received this photo and I believe it was one of the meetings that you alleged Mr. Onate. Can you identify the people in the photograph? People’s Initiative for Charter Change Staff Meeting January 8. Can you tell us who are in the picture Mr. Onate, please,” Marcos said.
“You said you never met the Speaker nor Mr. Zaldy Co, our congressman. You are under oath, sir,” she added.
“That was the time that I met with the Speaker,” Oñate replied.
“Kasasabi mo lang na hindi naman kayo nagkita. Sabi ‘nyo sina Congressman [Alfredo] Garbin lang,” Marcos said in response. (You just said that you didn’t meet. You said it was only Congressman Garbin.)
“Yes. Because it slipped my mind. It slipped my mind, Madam Senator,” Oñate explained.
When Marcos asked, “Is Speaker Martin Romualdez supporting your group?” Oñate said: “That was the time I sought the help of the Speaker to help us in our signature campaign. Yes.”
Romualdez denied any involvement in attempts to revise the Constitution through people’s initiative.
“The meeting with the people’s initiative representatives was an exercise in this commitment. My role, as misinterpreted by some, is not as an orchestrator but as a facilitator for healthy democratic processes,” he said in a statement.
“I firmly deny any allegations of involvement in unlawful activities such as vote-buying related to this or any other initiative. Such practices are against my principles and the ethical standards of our government,” he added.
In the same Senate inquiry, Oñate disclosed that PIRMA spent P55 million for a paid advertisement on the supposed “failures” of the 1987 Constitution to highlight the need for charter change.
“The advertisement costed P55 million with ABS-CBN, TV5, and GMA7,” he said, adding that the funds spent for the advertisement were his money and from his friends.
“That’s my money. [The rest] are contributions from my friends and our supporters,” Oñate said. He refused to give the names of his “friends” who contributed to the ad payment until they give permission.
Amid questions surrounding the people’s initiative, the Commission on Elections decided to stop proceedings related to charter change. – Rappler.com
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SB19’s PABLO releases new single ‘Akala’ with brother Josue | Jaira Roxas | 30/01/2024 23:53 | RADKIDZ. PABLO and Josue collaborate once more for 'Akala' which is released Tuesday, January 30.
Sony Music Entertainment
MANILA, Philippines – SB19 leader and main rapper PABLO released another song as a solo act Tuesday, January 30. “AKALA” is the P-pop star’s second solo release this year.
The track is also a collaboration with his brother Josue under RADKIDZ, who co-produced “Determinado” and SB19’s viral song “Gento.”
PABLO said he wants “AKALA” to be a song that is “easy to listen to and sing along to, just like how it is when friends gather and sing together.” He didn’t want the song to be just about drinking alcohol and getting wasted, so he played with the word ‘alak’ (liquor) for the title.
The song was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic. He listened to one of Josue’s beats with a partially-written verse that talked about finding escape in getting intoxicated. The brothers have different perspectives about alcohol consumption, and PABLO felt the need to tweak a few parts of the track.
He also shared that their mother suggested a line in the song and it made more sense to him.
The fast-rising rapper and producer added, “Everything that I have released so far features intense and heavy instrumentation, but ‘AKALA’ follows a completely different direction this time around. It has a more laid-back, dreamy vibe to it.”
PABLO released his solo debut single ‘La Luna’ in 2022. His group SB19 recently went on tour in the United States and Canada. – Rappler.com
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BOSES NG KALYE: May ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ na ba? | Dwight de Leon | 31/01/2024 7:13 | MANILA, Philippines – Sabi ng mga nag-organisa ng kickoff rally para sa “Bagong Pilipinas” slogan ng administrasyong Marcos, higit sa 400,000 katao ang dumalo sa pagtitipon noong Linggo, Enero 28.
Tinanong natin ang ilan sa kanila kung naniniwala silang nag-iba na ang estado ng bansa higit 500 araw mula nang mahalal sa katungkulan si Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr., sa kabila ng tumataas na presyo ng mga bilihin.
Panoorin ang mga panayam sa kanila ni Rappler reporter Dwight de Leon.
Reporter: Dwight de LeonProduction specialist: Franz LopezEditor: Emerald HidalgoProducer: Nina Liu
– Rappler.com
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Sleepless nights pay off for Magnolia, but nightmare San Miguel matchup awaits in finals | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/01/2024 23:56 | VETERAN MOVES. Mark Barroca in action for the Magnolia Hotshots in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner's Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – Chito Victolero and Magnolia earned the right for a good night’s rest.
The Hotshots get to celebrate at least for one night as they claimed their place in the finals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after hurdling stubborn Phoenix with an 89-79 win at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, January 31.
With import Tyler Bey and veteran guard Mark Barroca taking turns, Magnolia wrapped up the best-of-five semifinals in four games and set up a championship duel with San Miguel that starts on Friday, February 2, at the same venue.
Although the series did not go the distance, Victolero admitted having a hard time going up against the Fuel Masters.
“It was a battle. There were sleepless nights. We’re just not used to Phoenix being in the final four but they gave us a good fight,” said Victolero in Filipino.
Bey delivered a 20-point, 20-rebound double-double on top of 4 assists and 2 steals, while Barroca put up 21 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds as they both hit timely buckets in the fourth quarter to keep Phoenix at bay.
The Fuel Masters got buried by as deep as 21 points, 74-53, early in the final salvo before they went on a 15-4 run capped by back-to-back Sean Manganti triples to inch within 10 points with under five minutes left.
But Bey and Barroca answered with a dunk and a three-pointer in succession for a commanding 83-68 lead as the Hotshots reached the finals for the first time since the 2021 Philippine Cup.
“We dream of another journey to the finals. We prepared hard for this conference,” said Victolero, whose squad went unbeaten in the PBA On Tour exhibition series and finished the elimination round as the No. 1 seed with a 9-2 card.
Ian Sangalang supplied 12 points in the win, Aris Dionisio and Rome dela Rosa added 8 and 7 points, respectively, while Paul Lee chimed in 6 points and 6 assists.
Sleepless nights, though, are far from over for Magnolia as it faces a nightmare of a matchup in the form of the Beermen, who are riding on a blazing nine-game winning streak going into the best-of-seven finale.
Its star-studded local cast bolstered by highly talented import Bennie Boatwright, San Miguel is coming off an unprecedented semifinal sweep of Barangay Ginebra.
“There will be no sleep for us again. We’ll try to think what we need to do against this powerhouse team,” said Victolero.
Import Johnathan Williams posted 17 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals for Phoenix, which failed to weave the same magic of its Game 3 win where it fought back from a 21-point deficit to stay alive.
The Fuel Masters came oh-so close a couple of times, especially when they trimmed a 43-26 deficit to just 53-51 midway through the third quarter.
Bey, though, answered with an and-one play on the next possession, sparking a 15-0 blast that restored order for the Hotshots.
RR Garcia paced all Phoenix locals with 15 points, RJ Jazul had 11 points, and Manganti netted 10 points.
Magnolia 89 – Barroca 21, Bey 20, Sangalang 12, Dionisio 8, Dela Rosa 7, Lee 6, Tratter 6, Jalalon 5, Laput 4, Reavis 0, Ahanmisi 0, Abueva 0.
Phoenix 79 – Williams 17, Garcia 15, Jazul 11, Manganti 10, Perkins 6, Alejandro 5, Tio 5, Muyang 4, Tuffin 3, Rivero 3, Soyud 0, Mocon 0, Verano 0, Camacho 0.
Quarters: 29-16, 49-38, 70-53, 89-79.
– Rappler.com
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Dwight Ramos drops season-high in Japan after Gilas roster inclusion | Jasmine Payo | 31/01/2024 23:12 | TOP FORM. Dwight Ramos in action for the Levanga Hokkaido in the Japan B. League.
JAPAN B. LEAGUE
MANILA, Philippines – After recently being tapped by Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone to be part of his 12-man national team, Dwight Ramos delivered his best game yet for the Levanga Hokkaido in the 2023-2024 Japan B. League season on Wednesday, January 31.
Playing inspired basketball, Ramos put on an offensive clinic and exploded for a season-high 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, to go along with 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in over 34 minutes.
His all-around numbers, however, went for naught as Hokkaido suffered a 94-82 loss to the Gunma Crane Thunders at the Hokkai Kita-yale.
The 6-foot-4 guard Ramos is one of three B. League imports named to the newly formed Gilas Pilipinas roster, together with big men Kai Sotto of the Yokohama B-Corsairs and AJ Edu of the Toyama Grouses.
Only Ramos saw action on Wednesday as Sotto was listed inactive in Yokohama’s 75-74 victory against the Seahorses Mikawa, while Edu remains out for Toyama due to a torn meniscus injury he suffered last November.
In contrast to Ramos’ Hokkaido, Ray Parks’ Nagoya Diamond Dolphins and Thirdy Ravena’s San-En NeoPhoenix both emerged triumphant on Wednesday.
Parks finished with 12 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in Nagoya’s 86-77 win over the Osaka Evessa at the Dolphins Arena.
On the other hand, Ravena produced 7 markers, 7 boards, and 4 dimes in San-En’s 75-62 beating of RJ Abarrientos and the Shinshu Brave Warriors at the White Ring.
Abarrientos had a forgettable performance for Shinshu in the loss as he went scoreless in nearly 19 minutes of action, missing all his seven attempts from the field.
With their 12th straight win, Ravena and the NeoPhoenix broke their deadlock with the Alvark Tokyo and rose to solo first place in with an impressive 30-4 record. – Rappler.com
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Double kill: Bren Esports celebrates PSA citation as founder Chong clears legal hurdle | jisaga0269 | 31/01/2024 21:08 | CHAMPIONS. AP.Bren rules the Mobile Legends M5 World Championship.
Mobile Legends Esports Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Bren Esports celebrated a big two-hit winning streak in its camp as the Department of Justice (DOJ) cleared its founder Bernard “Bren” Chong of falsification charges from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in an October 10, 2023 order released Wednesday, January 31.
This comes just two days after the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) awarded AP.Bren – founded by Chong, but now run by AJ Ponce – a special citation at the Diamond Hotel ballroom in Manila for their title-winning run at the M5 World Championship.
“After a careful and judicious evaluation of the records and evidence presented in this case, it is the stern opinion of the undersigned panel of prosecutors that no probable cause exists against the respondents for the charges of Falsification of Commercial Documents,” read the order approved by Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento.
According to the decision, the NBI’s allegation of fraudulent receipt printing in May 2023 is “too general” and the elements of the crime of falsification are lacking in the evidence submitted by the bureau’s Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division.
Furthermore, the records submitted to the court do not indicate the period when Chong and other named entities were actually in control of the corporation, and that the complaint failed to determine the exact nature of Chong’s participation.
The decision added that “mere membership or being President does not mean knowledge, approval, and participation in the act alleged as criminal,” and that “active participation” must show.
Also, respective to the charge of printing fraudulent receipts under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), the prosecutors said “there is no authorization from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner to file a case.”
“There is no authorization from the BIR Commissioner as to the filing of the case hence, dismissible. The fact that it is being related to the Cyber Criminal Law is of no moment since the original charge is for NIRC violation,” the prosecutors added.
All in all, this decision marks another win for the controversial Chong, who was also cleared of drug smuggling charges in May 2023.
Back in the esports scene, Chong’s AP.Bren in 2024 will look to build on its recent M Series title and 2023 Southeast Asian Games gold-medal finish.
Grassroots development has also been underway for months, carrying the idea that the Philippines has the potential to be a longtime esports force in the world arena. – Rappler.com
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How Filipinos can use this online platform to map hazards during disasters | Samantha Bagayas | 31/01/2024 19:31 | MAPPING HAZARDS. The MapaKalamidad.ph platform allows users to report different hazards during disasters.
Rappler screenshot
MANILA, Philippines – When disasters strike, what can you do to help others make informed decisions about their safety?
Among the ways that Filipinos can help out is to report hazards they observe in their communities during disasters. One platform aims to help facilitate that by allowing individuals and authorities to report and map earthquake, typhoon, volcanic eruption, and flooding events in their communities in real-time.
Initiated by Indonesia-based non-profit organization Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation), multi-hazard platform MapaKalamidad.ph offers people a chance to view, share, and map real-time disaster events in their communities. In doing so, residents, first responders, and government agencies can use the map to make decisions about safety, coordination and resource management. Among the users of the platform are official agency partners of MapaKalamidad.ph such as the Office of Civil Defense, which monitor and submit verified reports on the map.
The platform is one of many available in the Philippines that aims to facilitate data-driven responses to disasters. Among these options are Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’s HazardHunterPH and GeoMapperPH, as well as Rappler’s Project Agos.
“When [authorities] see the reports coming in from residents, they’re able to identify exactly which locations need help and exactly how severe it is, so they can decide how to best allocate their resources because we know that resources are limited, staffing is often tight,” said Nashin Kelash Mahtani, director of Yayasan Peta Bencan.
MapaKalamidad.ph first started out as a flood-mapping platform covering only Quezon City and Pampanga in 2020, later going nationwide in 2022. By January 29, it has since expanded to allow users to report different hazards, such as earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and flooding events.
“During disasters, people are sharing information with each other on social media, not only sharing memes but also warning each other of blocked roads, of community efforts for response. This represents a vital information source for us to tap into….This is a method of crowdsourcing that allows us to reach millions of users every day, collecting information from street level, from people who know the situation best because they’re experiencing the disaster,” said Nashin Kelash Mahtani, Director of Yayasan Peta Bencana.
“We have seen that when disaster response professionals and residents work together, and when residential knowledge about local conditions is integrated into disaster response efforts, communities can convert the noise of social media into inclusive, life-saving, humanitarian infrastructure,” she added.
During disasters, people can report real-time hazards in their communities for free and anonymously on MapaKalamidad.ph using social media or its web-based platform.
According to MapaKalamidad.ph, here are some of the ways you can submit hazard reports in the platform:
People may view the map on the MapaKalamidad.ph website.
As the submissions appear real-time, people may also flag if there are inaccurate reports on the platform to alert administrators. Mahtani added that since they are working in collaboration with the Office of Civil Defense, the agency can confirm reports with their on-ground staff and flag these if needed.
Mahtani shared that MapaKalamidad.ph was intentionally designed to be web-based, and not an application. By allowing people to file reports using select social media platforms, MapaKalamidad.ph gets to meet people where they are already at, and there doesn’t need to have heavy training to use the platform.
“Mapakalamidad is also designed to be extremely data-lite and usable on a mobile phone, so it’s easy to access even for agencies with limited technical funding, and even if the connection is poor…. We’re really focused on what [are] the crucial types of data that people need to make decisions about response at a community level. We’re very selective about the type of information coming [in], but we welcome other agencies to use that as a layer of data in their existing data sets,” said Mahtani.
They’re working on integrating SMS services, radio services, as well as other means of reporting to allow other people to file reports even without internet connection, according to Mahtani.
Since the project is fully open source, interested organizations may collaborate with MapaKalamidad.ph for data integration and extraction in case they may want to use the information to complement existing maps and efforts. For more details, you may refer to this.
The development of MapaKalamidad.ph’s multi-hazard platform was made with the support of the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance of US Agency for International Development, the Office of Civil Defense, Mapbox, and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. – Rappler.com
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Daily Tribune faces P10-M cyber libel complaint | Joann Manabat - CMS | 30/01/2024 9:45 | CYBER LIBEL. Philippine Consul General in Milan Elmer Cato appears before Angeles City Prosecutor Oliver Garcia to file a cyber libel complaint against the Daily Tribune on January 29, 2024.
Joann Manabat/Rappler
PAMPANGA, Philippines – Philippine Consul General in Milan Elmer Cato filed a P10-million defamation complaint against Manila-based English publication, Daily Tribune, at the Angeles City prosecutor’s office in Pampanga province on Monday, January 29.
Cato filed 17 counts of cyber libel citing violation of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 against the publishers, editors, reporters of Daily Tribune over what he described as a “disinformation campaign” against him which allegedly started in September 2023.
Name respondents were the following Daily Tribune personnel: Willie Fernandez, Gigie Arcilla, Chito Lozada, Dinah Ventura, Gibbs Cadiz, John Henry Dodson, Allan Hernandez, Jom Garner, Rey Bancod, Manny Angeles, Rose Novenario, Gilmore Leaño, and Alvin Murcia. Also included were Filipino job applicants Vanessa Antonio, Enrique Catilo, Apple Cabasis, and two others identified only as Teb and TBT.
According to Cato, the Daily Tribune accused him of failing to act, respond, and assist Filipinos who were defrauded by Alpha Assistenza, an immigration consultancy firm in Milan. The firm is being investigated for allegedly scamming Filipinos applying for jobs to Italy, he said. Cato added that he was also accused of coddling with the owners of the consultancy firm.
“We filed cyber libel against the Daily Tribune for this disinformation campaign mounted against me for the past four months which injured my reputation. I was forced to take action because this is something we should not tolerate. The allegations against me were largely fabricated,” Cato said in an interview on Monday.
“They said I did not take action because I was close with the owner and because the owner calls me ‘tatay’ [dad], that we have photos and videos hugging me, and because they were the sponsors during the Independence Day celebration last year. They were, in effect, saying I am irresponsible, incompetent, and even corrupt,” he added.
The Daily Tribune deliberately omitted, in its reporting, factual information including official statements from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Cato said. Despite the interview he had with them, it was not released, he added.
“I know them. I always tell people, our journalist friends, what I request is for you to take my side. It should come out at the same time, right? But it didn’t. You cannot suppress the information I gave them. That would disprove the allegations they have been peddling. They were consistent. Why did they keep insisting that I didn’t do anything?” he said.
Rappler reached out to Daily Tribune for comment. However, we have yet to receive an official response as of this posting. We will update this story once they respond.
In a news report on the libel complaint published by Daily Tribune on Tuesday, January 30, the broadsheet said it “welcomes Cato’s complaint as it stands by the veracity and objectivity of our stories, as well as the public interest they have served in bringing to light charges of fraud raised by hundreds of Filipinos against Alpha Assistenza SRL.”
It added that the Daily Tribune would issue a “further statement upon receipt of the complaint.”
Cato officially assumed the post of Philippine consulate general in Milan in December 2022. He was a journalist for almost two decades, and has been a diplomat for 25 years.
Cato said the issue has affected their efforts in Milan and divided the Filipino community.
In a press statement, Cato said the Daily Tribune based its repeated allegations on the statements made by alleged fraud victims, Vanessa Antonio, Enrique Catilo, Apple Cabasis, who are also respondents in case. The victims were among 200 applicants in the Philippines who were allegedly scammed by paying P20 million to Alpha Assistenza for non-existent jobs in Italy.
Cato stressed that Antonio, Catilo, and Cabasis, as the reports alleged, could not have accused him of failing to act or respond as they are in the Philippines.
Cato’s legal counsel, Jocelyn Clemente, said in a statement that a total of 92 complaints of aggravated fraud have been filed against Alpha Assistenza before the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Milan. The Consul General may have been dragged into the controversy due to business rivalry among Filipino-owned agencies in Milan dubbed as “patronatos (patrons),” she added.
The series of articles and commentary published by Daily Tribune were part of a fictitious narrative to remove Cato from his position as a consul general and a diplomat, Clemente said.
“(These) were all made up to depict Consul General Cato as negligent, insensitive, incompetent, and corrupt diplomat who should be removed from his position because he is an embarrassment to the foreign service,” she added.
Contrary to what was reported by Daily Tribune, Clemente said Cato had “announced his intention to regulate these companies to put a stop to the exorbitant fees being charged for services rendered to Filipino clients.”
The Office of the Prosecutor will send summons to the Daily Tribune for their counter-affidavits. A reply from Cato would follow if necessary, she said.
“After that, it will be the decision of the prosecutor whether it would issue a resolution. And then it will be elevated to the court, and then the court will be issuing warrants of arrest to the respondents so that they could get jurisdiction over the persons,” she added.
Cyber libel remains a crime in the Philippines. – Rappler.com
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Anti-graft court allows dropping of 66 estafa cases vs former DOF official | Chito de la Vega | 31/01/2024 20:57 | Former Quezon City Mayor Herbert "Bistek" Bautista emerges from a “not guilty plea” at the Sandigan Bayan in Quezon City on May 18, 2023, on his arraignment on the graft and corruption charges filed against him and Quezon City Administrator Aldrin Junia by the Quezon City government for their involvement in the Online Permitting Tracking System contract worth 32 million pesos.
FILE PHOTO/Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – After over a decade since she was indicted, the anti-graft court agreed to drop the 66 counts of estafa thru falsification of public documents charges filed by the Ombudsman against a former official of the Department of Finance.
In an Omnibus Motion filed last January 3, the Ombudsman told the Sandiganbayan that it wanted to withdraw the case against Charmelle Recoter, a former senior tax specialist of the DOF-One-Stop Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (DOF Center), as well as the rest of the co-accused in the case.
Recoter was named a co-defendant when former DOF officials were indicted on December 9, 2012 in relation to alleged unlawful transfer of tax credit certificates (TCCs) of oil companies.
Also charged then were the late Undersecretary and DOF Center executive director Antonio Belicena, other DOF officials, and executives of oil companies.
What led to the filing of the cases was a 1998 Senate investigation which found out that the DOF Center issued between P5.3 to 6 billion worth of falsified TCCs.
The Ombudsman’s motion gave the anti-graft court the following reasons for intending to discontinue the case:
The Ombudsman conceded in its motion that it could no longer convict the accused because the witnesses and documentary evidence it planned to present were rendered useless.
The prosecution also said that Ombudsman Samuel Martires allowed the dropping of the cases.
The anti-graft court agreed with the futility of the proceedings and allowed prosecution to discontinue pursuing the 66 counts of estafa thru falsification of public documents it filed against Recoter.
Recoter surfaced on August 24, 2023 then posted a bail of P70,000.
“This Court deems it appropriate and practical to grant the Motion of the prosecution. It would be futile to proceed with the trial in these cases when the prosecution would not be able to present vital witnesses and evidence needed to put the accused on trial and convict them,” said the Sandiganbayan First Division.
In 2021, the Sandiganbayan also junked 44 counts of graft and 46 counts of estafa thru falsification of public documents related to the multi-billion pesos TCC scam. The reason was that all of the prosecution’s witnesses were either dead or could not be found. – Rappler.com
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[ANALYSIS] Why airport ‘surot’ and Taylor Swift matter | gdecastro0289 | 29/02/2024 15:17 | The Philippines is in the news once again after some travelers complained about getting bitten by bed bugs – the Filipino word captures it better: surot – in the country’s main international gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Mind you, this incident may be just the tip of the iceberg: many travelers wouldn’t bother complaining about it either officially or through social media.
This surot incident is a classic example of why the Philippines is a laggard in regional and global tourism. It goes to the heart of why no tourism slogan will ever work to make the Philippines a major player in global and regional tourism: customer satisfaction.
Successful countries and companies are those that are able to satisfy customers with positive experiences – and vice-versa. They succeed because they outperform their competitors in terms of customer satisfaction.
Because of these positive experiences, customers become repeat customers. In tourism, they visit the country again or recommend it to others because of good experiences.
In business, they buy the product again and again (think Jollibee Chicken Joy) or they visit the same place repeatedly (think SM Malls) or they watch a show every night (think ABS-CBN’s FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano or Batang Quiapo) or buy the same clothing brand several times (think Uniqlo), use the same car (think Toyota), or patronize the same coffee shop (think Starbucks).
The same could apply to politics and elections, but that’s another story.
Globally, the Philippines is nowhere near the leaders, such as France, Italy, Spain, and the US. As of 2022, for instance, France got 79.4 million tourists; Spain, 71.7 million; US, 50.9 million; and Italy, 49 million, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN WTO) latest global data.
The Philippines? 5 million, as of 2023 (also using UN WTO data), many of whom were actually Filipino balikbayans.
Within the ASEAN region, the more reliable indicator is tourist arrivals in 2019 or the year before the pandemic hit global tourism. Here’s how we scored, using ASEANstatsDataPortal, an official regional website where ASEAN members submit statistical indicators:
We’re the last among the ASEAN-6, which includes Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. All these countries get at least two times more tourist arrivals than we do.
Positive experience in airports is an important factor in getting tourists to come – and visit again – since it’s the first main space that travelers have experiences with in a country or territory. Unfortunately, we’ve had several negative experiences at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that have gone viral through the years, including the laglag bala, dirty toilets, theft by transport security personnel, and inappropriate or illegal acts by immigration personnel.
Singapore’s Changi is currently number one on the World’s Best Airport list by Skytrax, which is based on airport customer satisfaction surveys that include topics such as airport website, ease of access, public transport options, taxi prices, terminal comfort, terminal cleanliness, immigration efficiency and attitude, ease of transit, cleanliness of washrooms, hygiene standards, entertainment facilities, children’s play area, duty-free outlets, choice of cafés and restaurants, WiFi service, ATM facilities, smoking lounges, lost luggage services, perception of security standards, among others.
In terms of World’s Cleanest Airport, Skytrax has Tokyo Haneda as number one, followed by Singapore’s Changi.
To be able to maintain high ratings, these airports have the right systems in place, including, of course, regular fumigation and frequent cleaning to get rid of bed bugs and other pests.
In the global or regional competition to attract tourist arrivals, countries must think of what they can offer travelers, and to be a leader they have to think of what they can offer better than others, or offer something that others don’t have.
And this is where Singapore’s successful pitch to pop superstar Taylor Swift comes in.
Reuters reported that the city-state went all out to get her to perform in Singapore, which is her only stop in Southeast Asia.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavasin was quoted as telling a business forum that Singapore paid Swift $2.77 million per show on condition that it would be the only country in Southeast Asia where she would perform.
“It is likely to generate significant benefits to the Singapore economy, especially to tourism activities such as hospitality, retail, travel and dining, as has happened in other cities in which Taylor Swift has performed,” said concert promoter AEG Presents.
Over 300,000 tickets have reportedly been sold for Swift’s concerts from March 2 to 9.
This successful pitch is what countries that are leaders in regional and global tourism do for country and people.
I am sure the $2.7 million paid to Swift by Singapore can easily be recouped via the tourist arrivals, the revenues in accommodations, the food that will be consumed by Swifties, the souvenirs and other goods that will be bought, the additional trips to other tourist spots that many fans will be visiting.
So, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) chief Ramon Ang and his consortium have their work cut out for them following their successful bid to rehabilitate NAIA. It’s not just upgrading the terminals but also making sure that travelers will have positive experiences. I’m sure he’s up to it because the SMC conglomerate is the biggest, if not among the biggest, in the businesses where they compete – from beer (San Miguel Brewery) to oil refining and marketing (Petron) to food (Purefoods, Magnolia, Dari Creme, to name a few).
Not having bed bugs or surot should be high on the list of what needs to be done in the rehabilitated airport (or any of our airports for that matter), and that requires perhaps not having furniture where bed bugs can thrive. (NAIA management has reportedly permanently removed the rattan chairs where the surot hid and has apologized to the traveler.)
Imagine what would happen if Taylor Swift, in case she visits the Philippines when she’s no longer as famous as she is now, gets bitten by bed bugs! Shake them off, now! – Rappler.com
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It is a blessing in disguise that, among the ASEAN, only Singapore was able to successfully persuade pop star Taylor Swift to conduct her concert there. This would help in hiding the “incompetence” of our tourism department. Secondly, if this is to be feared:
“Imagine what would happen if Taylor Swift, in case she visits the Philippines when she’s no longer as famous as she is now, gets bitten by bed bugs!” How about if this will happen at the peak of her fame? What would she say? Perhaps: “Get these bugs off me swiftly.”
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Who is the Senate’s top absentee? | Bonz Magsambol | 28/02/2024 17:40 | Manny Pacquiao, former senator, no longer holds the record of having the most absences as a member of the upper chamber.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is now the Senate’s top absentee.
According to Senate records, Cayetano attended only 36 of the 54 regular sessions from July 24, 2023 to February 21, 2024. He missed 18 sessions; four were due to official missions.
It seems the senator from Taguig is keeping up with a reputation. In 2017, he also had the most number of absences as senator, attending only 31 sessions from July 25, 2016 to May 31, 2017.
In the 2013 elections, Cayetano was seen only once in senatorial debates and one-on-one interviews. But in 2016, he had the audacity to hit then-vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for being absent from one of the televised debates during the campaign.
Rappler reached out to Cayetano’s office for comment, but they have yet to respond as of this posting.
Meanwhile, 12 senators tallied perfect attendance, as of February 2024:
Meanwhile, the following senators had one to six absences:
Meanwhile, Binay was absent in three more sessions due to official missions; Escudero missed two sessions due to official missions; and Pia Cayetano and Tolentino also missed six sessions due to official missions.
Angara’s office said that the senator missed three sessions because of the bicameral conference committee meetings.
Some senators did not register perfect attendance because they were in official local and foreign missions. They were senators JV Ejercito, Lito Lapid, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Mark Villar.
In a statement on Tuesday, Zubiri said that “true leadership starts by showing up for the important work for the people.”
“Many of us show our commitment to our duty by being here most of the session days. Public service is a reward in itself, but we go to work knowing that our presence and our voices represent the people’s interests,” he said.
Zubiri has had perfect attendance since first being elected into the House of Representatives in 1998. – Rappler.com
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Would there be an award for the top absentee? Like that of the “Dirty Ashtray” award? There should be none. Congratulations to the 12 senators who have been in perfect attendance as of February 2024. Absenteeism seems to project that he needs to be more serious about his work as a Senator. This is more likely because he has something of greater priority than his work as a legislator, and the people he represents do not care. I agree with Senator Zubiri: “True leadership starts by showing up for the important work for the people.”
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Ang kulit! ABS-CBN sets record straight on new franchise | gdecastro0289 | 28/02/2024 13:55 | FORMER GIANT. The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
Ever since ABS-CBN Corporation (ABS-CBN) was ordered by the Duterte administration to shut down its free TV and radio operations four years ago, reports about a new franchise for the Lopez media conglomerate still circulate once in a while.
The reports spread again after ABS-CBN CEO Carlo Katigbak promised Kapamilyas last December that 2024 would be the “best year” for the company after losing its lucrative broadcast business in 2020.
Some social media pages then speculated in January that ABS-CBN would be returning soon, which company executives internally denied.
Even a reputable entertainment website got caught in the hype and reported – albeit more cautiously – that ABS-CBN’s franchise “may be restored” in 2024.
The reports spread again this week after a daily broadsheet wrote about a possible ABS-CBN comeback, linking it to former senator Manny Villar’s broadcasting venture, Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS). With no franchise, ABS-CBN disposed of its broadcast equipment, including selling some to Villar so it can operate its ALLTV after securing the Channel 2 frequency.
Asked by the Philippine Stock Exchange to clarify this latest report, publicly-listed ABS-CBN gave an official statement on Tuesday, February 27.
“ABS-CBN Corporation disposed of assets that the company no longer needed to various broadcasting networks after we ceased operations as a broadcasting company,” the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“It is not true that ABS-CBN is applying for a new franchise nor does it intend to buy back any of the assets it sold,” it added.
ABS-CBN has pivoted into a content creation company and now distributes its entertainment and news programs to various platforms, including to its former competitors.
Although it no longer has a broadcast franchise, most of its entertainment shows, especially its popular teleseryes (TV series) can be seen on free television, including tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s TV5 and televangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva’s A2Z channel.
It is also doing business with its erstwhile enemy, the Philippines’ leading media conglomerate GMA Network, such as co-producing Unbreak My Heart, and selling its movies and other entertainment content so that Kapuso viewers can watch them.
Select ABS-CBN movies and teleseryes are also available via streaming platforms like Netflix and Viu.
With the scuttled Sky Cable acquisition by telco giant PLDT Incorporated, ABS-CBN still has its Kapamilya Channel as well as the ABS-CBN News Channel on Sky Cable and on YouTube.
On radio, ABS-CBN returned to the airwaves on June 30 via a content supply agreement with House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s Prime Media Holdings Incorporated.
ABS-CBN’s former radio station DZMM was resurrected via radio DWPM 630. Under the joint venture Media Serbisyo Production Corporation, ABS-CBN supplies the content, while Prime Media handles the airing.
So, what’s generating this demand for an ABS-CBN free TV comeback? Perhaps, it’s economic. Free TV is ultimately better than paid TV for many people, especially those in the lower-income groups who live in areas not covered by Digital Terrestrial Television. It may also be a sign that people are not happy with unstable telco service.
Whatever the reasons, it’s probably best to just ignore these reports of an ABS-CBN comeback. They’re already back. Ang kulit ‘nyo! – Rappler.com
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FEU reinforces UAAP boys’ football dynasty, topples UST for 12th straight crown | jisaga0269 | 29/02/2024 23:19 | DYNASTY. The FEU Baby Tamaraws celebrate after winning the UAAP Season 86 boys' football championship
UAAP Season 86 Media Team
MANILA, Philippines – No matter the struggles, champions in sports always know when to turn up the fire when it matters most.
Such was the case for the FEU-Diliman Baby Tamaraws as they ruled the UAAP Season 86 high school boys’ football tournament for the 12th straight time, toppling first-time finalist UST Junior Golden Booters with a 3-0 romp on Thursday, February 29.
Even after UST led the standings for much of the season, FEU snuck right back on top after a stellar elimination round wrap-up, followed by a masterpiece finale that saw the Baby Tamaraws hold a 1-0 lead just 18 minutes in.
Eventual Golden Boot winner Theo Libarnes, who pushed FEU further away with his seventh season goal 8 minutes after intermission, echoed the struggles his team went through and was just glad that when the lights were brightest, they shone brightly right back.
“I was shocked to get the Golden Boot award because I didn’t score in the first round,” he said in Filipino. “I did bounce back in the second round, but still, our struggles to get to the final were evident.”
“But now, we’re in the FEU history books. I gave it all I got for my teammates,” added the graduating forward.
Fellow senior Gian Carlo Lucha, the Baby Tamaraws’ ace defender, likewise bowed out of high school competition in style by winning tournament MVP.
UST’s Edsel James Lauron and Kent Laurenz dela Peña nabbed Best Goalkeeper and the Best Midfielder honors, respectively. Bacchus Ekberg, a vital piece in La Salle-Zobel’s third-place finish, bagged the Best Defender award. Ateneo, meanwhile, secured the Fair Play Award.
“It feels unreal because I never thought this award would be mine,” Lucha said in Filipino. “We struggled a lot, lost twice in the eliminations, but I just said to my teammates to steel their hearts and trust God.”
“Thankfully, our sacrifices paid off.” – Rappler.com
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James Yap not demanding long minutes in Blackwater: ‘Just let me play’ | delfin.dioquino editor | 29/02/2024 13:22 | VETERAN. James Yap in action for the Blackwater Bossing in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
PBA Images
RIZAL, Philippines – Gone are the days when James Yap used to have access to heavy minutes, but that is no longer a concern for the two-time MVP as long as he gets to play.
That is a chance Yap is enjoying in Blackwater as he helped his new team open the PBA Philippine Cup on a winning note after a hard-earned 96-93 victory over Meralco at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Wednesday, February 28.
Fielded for nearly 13 minutes by head coach Jeff Cariaso, Yap finished with 5 points and 1 rebound in his debut for the Bossing.
“I told coach that I’ll always be ready. He assured me that he’ll use me. It’s not like I’m demanding long minutes, like 40 minutes. I’m not. Just let me play,” said Yap in a mix of Filipino and English.
Yap signed with Blackwater after securing his release from Rain or Shine at the end of the season-opening Commissioner’s Cup, drawing the curtains on a seven-season run with the Elasto Painters.
His exit from Rain or Shine came at a time when Yap saw a major decline in his playing time as he suited up in just three games last conference.
“It’s hard when you keep on practicing but you’re not able to show the things that you’ve been practicing in games,” said Yap.
Yap added he got approached by his supporters – some even from the provinces – who came to watch him play only to witness him ride the bench.
“Every time I play, it’s for the fans. I want to make the fans happy. That’s always my mindset,” said Yap.
As Yap plays for a historically struggling franchise which finished at the bottom in two of the last three conferences, he aims to influence the team with his winning pedigree, being a seven-time champion and a Grand Slam winner.
For the four-time Finals MVP, the first goal is to reach the semifinals – a feat that the Bossing have yet to accomplish.
“If you want to make a name in the PBA, if you want to create a good reputation in the PBA, you have to make the semis and the finals. The other teams will respect us if we reach the finals and the semifinals,” said Yap.
“Teams only become popular and gain respect if they make the semis and the finals,” Yap added. “The fans will remember if you win a championship, if you reach the semis.”
A promising start for Yap and Blackwater, but obviously, a long way to go. – Rappler.com
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‘He can be a diplomat’: Charismatic Naga priest is new bishop of Virac | Paterno Esmaquel II | 29/02/2024 21:04 | NAGA PRIEST. Father Louie Occiano is currently rector of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Joseph in San Jose, Camarines Sur.
Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Joseph
MANILA, Philippines – Pope Francis named Father Luisito Occiano, a longtime Naga priest who is described as warm and charismatic, as the new bishop of the Diocese of Virac in Catanduanes.
Occiano replaces Bishop Manolo delos Santos, 76, who has gone beyond the retirement age of 75. Delos Santos was bishop of Virac since 1994, according to the news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The Vatican announced Occiano’s appointment on Thursday evening, February 29.
The 52-year-old Occiano is currently rector and parish priest of the Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of Saint Joseph in San Jose, Camarines Sur. He also leads the Caceres Commission on Communication.
When he was installed as shrine rector in 2021, then-Caceres archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona described Occiano as a priest with a warm personality. “He relates well with people and works well with them,” Tirona said.
Once, Tirona even thought of sending Occiano for further studies in Rome to become a diplomat of the Holy See.
“He can be a diplomat. He shows charisma in discussions,” Tirona said.
The Diocese of Virac is a nearly 50-year-old Catholic territory that covers the province of Catanduanes. It is made up of more than 257,000 Catholics. – Rappler.com
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Supreme Court punishes Badoy for threatening Manila judge | Jairo Bolledo | 29/02/2024 12:27 | Former spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict Lorraine Badoy.
Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has moved to punish former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Lorraine Badoy for threatening a Manila judge.
In an August 15, 2023 decision that was only published this week, the High Court found Badoy guilty of indirect contempt for her “vitriolic and outright threats” against Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar. She was also ordered to pay a P30,000 fine and “WARNED that a repetition of the same or similar acts in the future shall merit a more severe sanction.”
Senior Associate Justice Leonen wrote the ruling dated August 15, 2023, but was only published by the High Court this week. This is the latest decision punishing Badoy. In 2023, the OMB also reprimanded her for red-tagging lawyers. pic.twitter.com/e1Y1XLhCkZ
Under Philippine laws, indirect contempt is committed out of the court’s presence. Badoy was found guilty for her action that falls under Section 3(d), Rule 71 of the Rules of Court that categorizes indirect contempt as “any improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice.”
In September 2022, Malagar, who presides over Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 19, dismissed the years-old petition of the Philippine government seeking to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army as terrorists. In her decision, Malagar noted the difference between terrorism and rebellion, and that the atrocities in question did not fall under the elements of terrorism as defined by law.
Shortly after the decision was released, Badoy red-tagged the judge and called Malagar a “friend and defender” of the communist rebels.
The SC came to Malagar’s rescue and issued a statement, warning that inciting violence against judges may be punishable through contempt. It said that its en banc tackled motu proprio (acted on its own) possible actions against Badoy for issuing threats against Malagar. Judges and law schools also broke their silence and rallied behind Malagar.
In October 2022, the High Court issued a show cause against Badoy and ordered her to explain her threats.
Badoy’s red-tagging spree started during her stint at the NTF-ELCAC. Several legal actions were filed seeking to make her accountable for her attacks.
The Office of the Ombudsman, in September last year, reprimanded Badoy and her former fellow NTF-ELCAC official Antonio Parlade Jr. for red-tagging lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers. The two were found guilty in an administrative case and also received a stern warning. – Rappler.com
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I greatly appreciate the Supreme Court’s decision, which finds Badoy guilty of indirect contempt for her ‘vitriolic and outright threats’ against Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar. Badoy’s red-tagging of the judge and calling her a “friend and defender” of the communist rebels has been punished through such a decision. Thanks to the Supreme Court.
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Is the proposed wage hike good or bad for SM? | Ralf Rivas | 29/02/2024 21:05 | LEADER. SM Investments Corporation president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio.
Rappler
Will a legislated wage hike hurt the Philippines’ business climate?
That was one of the questions asked of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio in a recent press briefing, amid business groups sounding the alarm that it would hurt both businesses and consumers.
DyBuncio did not give a categorical answer but noted that SMIC, the Philippines’ largest conglomerate in terms of market value at over P1 trillion, is keeping an eye on the issue as “it will obviously increase operating costs” and have an impact on economic growth.
SMIC is the holding company of the SM Group. The company is engaged in businesses through its subsidiaries, namely The SM Store, SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket, SaveMore, Walter Mart, Alfamart, SM Prime Holdings, BDO Unibank, and China Banking Corporation.
The Senate on Monday, February 19, unanimously approved on third and final reading the bill that seeks to give a P100-daily increase to minimum wage earners in the country. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has also started deliberating on various bills but with differing amounts, ranging from P150 to P750.
DyBuncio could not give the number of minimum wage earners in the SM group, but noted that most of their employees earn higher than minimum wage.
“That will affect the minimum wage workers. I think the bulk of our employees are actually higher than minimum wage. Again, it will obviously increase the operating cost, so the question is how much of that increase will be passed on to customers,” Dy Buncio said.
“We still don’t know what the final number would be but we had wage increases in the past and we will be able to adjust our businesses,” DyBuncio said.
The last legislated national wage hike in the Philippines was in 1989, when the Wage Rationalization Act ordered a P25 wage hike from the national P64 minimum wage. At present, Metro Manila’s minimum wage is P610 a day.
Proponents of the wage hikes, however, note that workers with higher wages spend more, thus stimulating the economy.
This point was echoed by SMIC consultant for investor relations and sustainability Tim Daniels.
“If you increase the spending power of the average Filipino consumers…when you look at the GDP of the Philippines, a very high percentage of GDP growth, over 70%, comes from consumer spending…that is something that you would probably see – retail activity in our malls,” Daniels said.
So, are wage hikes good or bad for business?
“It depends on who you ask,” Daniels said.
SMIC reported a net income of P77 billion, a 25% jump from P61.7 billion in 2022. Revenues reached P616.3 billion last year, up 11% from P553 billion.
“A key success driver was the healthy spending patterns of Filipino consumers in both essential and discretionary purchases, particularly in fashion, dining and entertainment,” DyBuncio said. – Rappler.com
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Australian senators protest vs Marcos | The wRap | Jaira Roxas | 29/02/2024 22:45 | Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
Some Australian lawmakers protest inside and outside their parliament building while Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech. Senator Janet Rice of the Australian Greens raises a banner inside the hall reading, ‘Stop the human rights abuses.’
The Supreme Court punishes former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy for threatening a Manila judge. It finds Badoy guilty of indirect contempt for her ‘vitriolic and outright threats’ against Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar.
The Manila International Airport Authority, which operates the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, apologizes to passengers who were reportedly bitten by bed bugs in Terminals 2 and 3.
An Illinois state judge disqualifies Donald Trump from appearing on the Illinois’ Republican presidential primary ballot due to his role in the US Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
SB19’s Justin releases single ‘surreal’ for his debut as a solo artist. He says the song is a love letter to those who dare to dream beyond reality. – Rappler.com
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Cone, Gilas eye friendlies vs European teams in buildup for Olympic qualifiers | delfin.dioquino editor | 28/02/2024 18:57 | TEAM. Gilas Pilipinas in action in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
FIBA
MANILA, Philippines – It only gets tougher for Gilas Pilipinas from here on out.
After a stellar sweep of the first FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers window, head coach Tim Cone and the Nationals turn their focus on the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where they face an uphill climb against two top 25 teams.
The Philippines has its work cut out for it as it battles world No. 8 Latvia and No. 23 Georgia in the group stage of its OQT leg set in Riga, Latvia, in July.
And to gear up for their quest to qualify for the Paris Games, Cone and his crew brace for possible tuneup games against a couple of European squads.
“We’ve got some invitations from Lithuania, from Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. We’re going to work our way through those and see what we can do,” said Cone.
The Nationals are on a high after a pair of blowout wins against Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei to kick off their Asia Cup Qualifiers campaign.
Drubbing Hong Kong by 30 points on the road and crushing Chinese Taipei by 53 points at home, the Philippines secured the top spot in Group B, which includes New Zealand, with a whopping 83-point win margin.
Cone, though, knows the barometer has been raised significantly higher considering the caliber of foes that stand in the Philippines’ way in the OQT.
Latvia is coming off a stunning win over basketball powerhouse Spain to sweep the first window of the FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers.
According to FIBA records, Latvia has won 23 of its last 26 games, making it the hottest national team in the world.
Georgia, despite a winless start in the EuroBasket Qualifiers, remains a major threat as it boasts of two NBA players in Goga Bitadze of the Orlando Magic and Sandro Mamukelashvili of the San Antonio Spurs.
“This 2-0 start is great, but that is a little baby step on the way. We need to make a lot more bigger strides as we go as the next game we play is Latvia, which is top eight,” said Cone.
“We got Latvia and Georgia coming up. So can we get to that level?”
Gilas Pilipinas also has to deal with a short preparation time, with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas striking a deal with the PBA, UAAP, and the Japan B. League to allow the players to practice for 10 days before the OQT.
“So that might be 10 days here, Inspire camp every day, or maybe it is going out and trying to find some friendlies against European teams so we can get a feel with the way they play,” said Cone.
“We have not all figured that out yet but we are in the midst of figuring it out.” – Rappler.com
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Joshua Pacio believes confidence is everything ahead of rematch with Jarred Brooks | Jasmine Payo | 29/02/2024 19:13 | ALL SET. Filipino fighter Joshua Pacio believes heu2019s ready and confident heading into the match.
ONE CHAMPIONSHIP
MANILA, Phiippines – Former ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio believes that a lot of things are bound to change the moment he enters his rematch against reigning division king Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks.
The two best strawweights in the world tangle for the ultimate prize in their division in one of the three World Title bouts scheduled for ONE 166: Qatar on Friday, March 1, at Lusail Sports Arena.
“After that bout, I realized that we went the whole five rounds. We reached the decision, and I wasn’t able to show my strengths in that fight,” Pacio said.
“This time it will be different. I’ll definitely be showing up. Eduard [Folayang] and coach Don don [Colas] have been in my ears since then, telling me my errors and things that I could’ve done in that first fight.”
Pacio still believes his previous loss against the American Brooks could’ve been avoided, and now he’s doing everything to make sure he doesn’t suffer the same setback in the rematch.
That all starts with the energy that his new team, Lions Nation MMA, brings to training.
Pacio now has a team that’s ready to go to war with him – as not only is he getting emotional support, all his physical needs are being addressed as well.
“As an athlete, it’s so helpful to be able to come to the gym and feel at home. You come in confident, you come in happy with the environment. It’s a big help,” he said.
“That’s one of my advantages now. I truly feel all the support from my team. We added kuya Vince [Loman] (Stephen’s brother) as our strength and conditioning coach. He’s helping me out with explosiveness and speed.
“We’re doing fight simulations. Coach Gibran Langbayan added Godwin [Langbayan] to help me out in this fight. He’s one of the best BJJ athletes in the Philippines and also a member of Sambo Philippines.”
With that in mind, Pacio is confident that he’s done enough in his camp, so now it’s all about executing the right game plan come fight night against Brooks.
“The things that we trained for, our combinations, it has to come out in that fight. That’s one thing I truly changed entering this fight, my mindset,” he said.
“I know I have to be confident. I have to realize that I’m already one of the best in the world, and there’s no better stage to show it than this fight,” he added.
“Sure, I’m fighting the best fighter in the world in my division, but I have to remember that I’m also one of the best, and I have to come in without any hesitation.” – Rappler.com
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Marcos names 3rd commissioner to PCGG, the agency hunting his family’s plunder | Dwight de Leon | 29/02/2024 18:49 | President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appoints Rogelio Quevedo to the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
RTVM screenshot
MANILA, Philippines – A lawyer who was part of the group which claimed that then candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr won the 2016 vice presidential election, was appointed to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the agency tasked to go after the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth.
Lawyer Rogelio Quevedo was named PCGG commissioner, the Presidential Communications Office announced on Thursday, February 29.
It was unclear if Quevedo replaced someone or was just an addition to four other PCGG commissioners.
Prior to his appointment to PCGG, Quevedo was the government corporate counsel.
Quevedo was among the IT professionals who questioned the credibility of the 2016 vice presidential race, where Marcos Jr. lost to Leni Robredo.
Marcos formally challenged Robredo’s win and the case dragged on for years until the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, unanimously dismissed the electoral protest in 2021.
A copy of Quevedo’s credentials posted on the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System website indicated he was also once a member of the MWSS Board. He was also a former president of the Philippine Information and Communication Technology Organization.
He had been with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Presidential Management Staff, and taught commercial law and civil law at the University of the Philippines, according to the said document.
In the last quarter of 2023, Marcos also appointed former Abra mayor Marco M. Bautista and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority executive director Angelito Vergel de Dios as PCGG commissioners.
The PCGG, an attached agency of the Department of Justice, was created after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution with the mandate to recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, his family, and their cronies during his 21 years in office.
As of September 2021, the government has retrieved P174 billion, and is going after P125 billion more.
Calls to abolish the PCGG intensified during the administration of Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, but these proposals did not prosper.
In the present Congress, at least two bills have been filed seeking to get rid of the PCGG, and transfer its powers to other government agencies. These proposals are still pending at the committee level.
The Marcos administration has given the agency a combined budget of P326 million in the past two years. – Rappler.com
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‘Massive potential’: PH bids to host FIVB Volleyball World Men’s Championship | Jasmine Payo | 29/02/2024 18:44 | ELITE. US and France in action in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League.
Volleyball Nations League
MANILA, Philippines – The world’s best volleyball players in men’s action may just showcase their wares in the Philippines.
The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) aims to make that happen as the country formalized its bid on Thursday, February 29, to host the prestigious FIVB Volleyball World Men’s Championship 2025.
“We see a massive potential in the Philippines,” said FIVB Volleyball World chief business officer Guido Betti. “We decided to bring the VNL (Volleyball Nations League) here two years ago and the fandom was crazy. We’re overwhelmed, and with that being said, players will be happy to come back.”
Betti, along with FIVB Volleyball World CEO Finn Taylor, met with PNVF president Ramon “Tats” Suzara during the special briefing of the Philippines’ hosting bid.
Senator Pia Cayetano, a staunch sports advocate, also attended the Thursday meeting at the Grand Hyatt Manila in BGC, Taguig City along with Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, Philippine Sports Commission officials led by chairman Richard Bachmann, and other key representatives.
“As they say, teamwork makes the dream work and this meeting is a first major step towards the dream of a successful bid and eventual hosting of the men’s world championship,” said Suzara.
The Philippines hopes to ride the heels of the PNVF’s successful staging of the VNL, which the top FIVB officials praised as the best hosted editions in 2022 and 2023, with the country boasting a huge local fan base.
“The VNL last year at the MOA Arena was the best event of the VNL and we had 14 stops around the world,” Finn said. “It shows that the Philippines has embraced the best of volleyball, and we were able to see that not only the fans embraced the players, but teams embraced the fans.”
“They can’t wait to come back,” Finn added.
The PNVF hosted two weeks of VNL action, both men and women, at the Araneta Coliseum in 2022 and a men’s leg at the Mall of Asia Arena last year.
Both major venues are again eyed for next year’s world championship.
“Love from the people here was unique that all the volleyball players are dreaming for,” said Betti.
Cayetano shared her experiences as a former varsity and national volleyball player as she committed Taguig City and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s support for the event.
“We’ve come a long way and we’re so excited to be part of this journey,” said Cayetano, promising that the Senate will support the event hosting. “We know that 2025 is a year that will bring much pride to the Philippines and share the love the Filipinos have.”
The Philippines hasn’t been to the men’s world championship since the 1974 edition in Mexico.
As host, the Philippines may earn a slot along with the 31 of the world’s best nations.
The formal announcement of the winning host is set late March. – Rappler.com
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Butuan honors tricycle driver who returned envelope of cash to passenger | Herbie G | 29/02/2024 16:45 | HONEST DRIVER. Tricycle driver Delfin Au00f1ora Jr., seen in a screenshot from DXBC-RMN Butuan video, receives praise and honors from the local government for returning P300,000 left behind by a passenger in Butuan City. In the background is a tricycle against the regional center of the Caraga region.
Ivy Marie Mangadlao/Rappler
BUTUAN, Philippines – Honesty has proven to be the best policy for a tricycle driver in Butuan City. After returning P300,000 in cash left by a passenger on his tricycle during his daily route, he received praise and was recognized by the city government for the commendable act.
Delfin Añora Jr., a senior citizen from Barangay Baan Riverside, Butuan, handed over a red envelope containing the money along with documents to local broadcaster DXBC-Radio Mindanao Network, on Monday, February 26.
“While I was driving, [the driver of] a bao-bao (tricycle) that was behind me approached and informed me that an envelope had fallen at the backseat of my tricycle. I stopped to look into it and discovered that it contained cash, so I rushed immediately here,” Añora told DXBC in Bisaya.
He said he was taught to be honest, and his faith in God compelled him to return the money.
“If God gives it, it’s rightfully ours, but if not, we should not take it, as only God knows what he will reward us with,” he added.
The radio station’s manager, Ramil Bangues, said the owner, a resident of Barangay Obrero, claimed the lost cash as soon as they called him up about the find. The passenger’s contact information was found in the documents.
“That cash is part of his retirement pay. He just retired as a government employee,” Bangues said.
Later that day, during Bangues’ evening radio program, a listener offered to give the honest tricycle driver P5,000, and another listener pledged to donate a sack of rice.
On Wednesday, February 28, the city council passed a resolution, authored by Butuan Councilor Cherry Busa, “commending Delfin Añora Jr., a Butuanon tricycle driver, for his exemplary and admirable character of honesty, demonstrated in his return of a misplaced red envelope, duly expressing the appreciation of the city government of Butuan through an honorary reward commensurate with his act, worthy of emulation by every citizen of the city.”
Councilor John Gil Unay Sr., who chairs the city council’s committee on franchises and licenses, said he would propose the creation of an ordinance to automatically grant financial incentives for such commendable acts by public utility vehicle drivers in the city.
“I am glad that the driver returned the money and showed that humanity is not yet lost; there are still good people in our society,” Unay said.
It was not the first time that a tricycle driver in Butuan has been recognized by the city government for his honesty. In May 2021, tricycle driver Jervin Udarte Abuzo went to the City Information Office of Butuan to return a bag left by one of his passengers, containing P20,000 and important documents. – Rappler.com
Ivy Marie Mangadlao is a community journalist writing for Mindanews and an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow for 2023-2024.
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Australian senators protest vs Marcos | The wRap | Jaira Roxas | 29/02/2024 22:45 | Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
Some Australian lawmakers protest inside and outside their parliament building while Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech. Senator Janet Rice of the Australian Greens raises a banner inside the hall reading, ‘Stop the human rights abuses.’
The Supreme Court punishes former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy for threatening a Manila judge. It finds Badoy guilty of indirect contempt for her ‘vitriolic and outright threats’ against Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar.
The Manila International Airport Authority, which operates the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, apologizes to passengers who were reportedly bitten by bed bugs in Terminals 2 and 3.
An Illinois state judge disqualifies Donald Trump from appearing on the Illinois’ Republican presidential primary ballot due to his role in the US Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
SB19’s Justin releases single ‘surreal’ for his debut as a solo artist. He says the song is a love letter to those who dare to dream beyond reality. – Rappler.com
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[DOCUMENTARY] Marcos Jr. and Hawaii: Dictator’s son returns to land of his exile | Dwight de Leon | 28/02/2024 16:00 | MANILA, Philippines – It was a triumphant homecoming for the dictator’s son.
During the 38th anniversary month of the EDSA People Power Revolution, Rappler revisits President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s return to Hawaii in November 2023, more than three decades since his family’s exile in the island-state as a result of the uprising.
Rappler’s political reporter Dwight de Leon met with longtime anti-Marcos community leaders and diehard loyalists, to better understand how a family ousted by bloodless revolt sought refuge for years on an island that is over 5,000 miles away from the Philippines.
He also sat down with younger generations of Filipino immigrants who, in their small ways, continue to resist, despite being overwhelmed in numbers by a large group of pro-Marcos supporters in Hawaii.
Ang Muling Pagtapak ni Marcos Jr. sa Hawaii (Marcos Jr.’s Return to Hawaii) features interviews with the following people:
Nearly four decades since the People Power Revolution, the question remains: Will Filipinos ever learn to rise above myths? – Rappler.com
Reporter/Writer: Dwight de LeonProducers: Cara Angeline Oliver, JC GotingaVideographer: Jeff DigmaVideo Editors: Jen Agbuya, Jaene ZaplanAnimation: Guia AbogadoGraphic Artists: Nico Villarete, Alyssa ArizabalSupervising Producer: Beth Frondoso
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NAIA’s surot-infested rattan chairs, once its pride, are now gone | lkyu0285 | 1/3/2024 13:10 | RATTAN. Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, then-MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong, and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco walk beside the newly installed rattan chairs in NAIA Terminal 2.
Screenshot from the DOT Facebook video
After news broke out of passengers reportedly being bitten by bed bugs in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the airport’s operator has been quick to throw out what was once its pride: the rattan chairs that adorned NAIA Terminal 2.
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has now pulled out all of the rattan chairs in Terminal 2 after pest control service providers deemed them to be “prone to infestation,” MIAA Executive Assistant Chris Bendijo said in a Radyo5 interview on Friday, March 1.
The MIAA Media Affairs Division confirmed to Rappler that all rattan chairs have been removed “subject to disinfection.”
How did the chairs, which only arrived last year, go from a symbol of local culture to another bad mark on NAIA?
Earlier, MIAA issued a public apology after a passenger’s post about the bed bugs in the airport went viral. The passenger told Rappler that the bed bugs that bit them were particularly located in the rattan chairs of the arrival side of NAIA Terminal 2.
MIAA has reached out to the passenger and offered to compensate them for their medical expenses.
Those rattan chairs, which looked beautiful were it not for the creepy crawlers that they hid, are now gone. They were originally added as part of a “new and improved look” for NAIA Terminal 2.
Just last April 2023, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation set about renovating the terminal and adding Filipino-made solihiya lamps and panels, mini-gardens, and “enticing rattan chairs.”
#NAIATerminal2 gets a new look 🥰😍Relish the beauty of the Filipino-inspired look of NAIA T2, where solihiya lamps hang…
In a video by the Department of Tourism, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco is seen lounging around the rattan furniture, along with Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and then-MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong. A few days later, Frasco posted a photo of her and several children sitting on the rattan seats in Terminal 2 while waiting for their luggage to arrive.
“The craftsmanship and talent of our Filipino furniture makers is truly world class,” the tourism secretary said. “Maka-proud!”
Not even a year later, the same chairs – now infested with bugs – have been pulled out.
And it’s not just the rattan chairs that are problematic. In January 2023, a public video also showed bed bugs crawling and peeking out of the holes of the metal gang chairs at NAIA Terminal 3.
Bendijo said that they’ve already pulled out the gang chairs as well, which will be sprayed with chemical disinfectants.
“Kakaibang species ng surot ang kanilang nakita (They saw a unique kind of bed bug species),” Bendijo said about what their pest control service provider found.
Bendijo also said they’re studying the performance of their pest control and housekeeping service providers. Currently, pest control is done quarterly while housekeeping personnel disinfect chairs daily using alcohol-based disinfectant during the airport’s non-peak hours.
“Itong mga service agreement na ito, aaralin po natin kung kailangan bang mas dikit ‘yung interval … para sigurado pong wala po talagang infestation ng ating mga upuan,” he said in the Radyo5 interview.
(We’ll study these service agreements to see if we need to make them more frequent…to really prevent any infestation of our chairs.)
Before this incident, NAIA already suffered from congestion and a lack of seating. But Bendijo said that MIAA has taken steps to ensure that seats will still be available in the terminals even now that several chairs have been pulled out for disinfection. MIAA is also considering procuring more chairs to replace the rattan chairs.
The country’s ailing international airport is due to get a total rehabilitation soon. A consortium led by San Miguel is expected to take over as NAIA’s operator within the next three to six months while MIAA will remain as a regulator. – Rappler.com
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AboitizPower reminds everyone to stay safe from fires this Fire Prevention Month | Julian Cirineo | 1/3/2024 9:43 | The Philippines observes Fire Prevention Month in March to raise awareness and promote fire safety nationwide.
The Bureau of Fire Protection recorded over 15,000 fire incidents in the Philippines in 2023, a 21% increase from data in 2022. This highlights the need for continued fire safety, especially within our homes.
Here’s what to do to stop or address the causes of most fire incidents in the country:
Fires can devastate lives and homes. AboitizPower, a leading Filipino energy provider, urges everyone to remain alert and implement fire safety practices.
AboitizPower champions fire prevention alongside the rest of the country, urging electrical safety in March and year-round to combat the nation’s leading fire cause: faulty electrical wiring. AboitizPower advocates for safety in its workplaces and power plants to protect its team members and host communities. – Rappler.com
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Negros Occidental farms drying up, initial losses placed at P55 million | Herbie G | 1/3/2024 12:10 | Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental Mayor Benjie Miranda says he has asked IP elders to perform rituals and plead to the 'nature spirits' to bring rain to his city.
Erwin Delilan/Rappler
BACOLOD, Philippines – Dry weather conditions are wreaking havoc in Negros Occidental, causing substantial damage to farms in at least 75 villages and resulting in initial agricultural losses amounting to some P55.4 million.
In a report submitted to Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Wednesday, February 28, acting provincial agriculturist Dina Genzola ssaid the dry spell, caused by the El Niño phenomenon, affected 1,064.14 hectares of rice and corn fields, impacting some 1,213 farmers from 10 component cities and towns.
Genzola said Kabankalan City was among the hardest-hit areas, followed by the cities of Sipalay and Himamaylan, and the towns of Ilog, Hinoba-an, Cauayan, Binalbagan, Isabela, Hinigaran, and Moises Padilla.
In Kabankalan alone, approximately 431.6 hectares of farms in 13 barangays have dried up, adversely affecting about 504 farmers who suffered losses estimated at over P22.8 million, according to Genzola.
Kabankalan Mayor Benjie Miranda said on Thursday, February 28, that there could be more, as the city hall counted 25 out of 32 barangays in the city badly affected by the dry spell.
Miranda has instructed Kabankalan’s agriculture department to continue assessing the damage in the city and implement mitigating measures.
The situation has worsened to the extent that Miranda, a member of an indigenous people’s community in Barangay Tan-awan, turned to IP elders and asked them to perform rituals to plead with “nature spirits” to bring rain.
“Wala man ‘ta piyerdihon kon magpati ‘ta, di ba? Pero kon mag-ulan, pasalamat gid ‘ta,” Miranda said. (We have nothing to lose if we believe, right? But if it rains, we should be thankful.)
Miranda said they were considering declaring Kabankalan City under a state of calamity due to the El Niño, a move that would allow city hall to use its reserve funds during the crisis.
For his part, Lacson said there was no need yet to place the entire province under a state of calamity.
Negros Occidental provincial board members Jeffrey Tubola, Valentino Miguel Alonso, and Cauayan Mayor John Rey Tabujara urged the government to initiate cloud-seeding operations to address the ongoing drought, alleviate water scarcity in the region, and enhance precipitation by dispersing substances into clouds.
“Laya na halos ang katubuhan sa 6th District, ilabi na sa Kabankalan City (Sugarcane plantations were almost dried up in the 6th District, especially in Kabankalan City),” Tubola said.
Tabujara said the municipal government has counted 17 barangays and 197 farmers adversely affected when approximately 176.66 hectares of farms started to dry up.
The provincial government estimated that Cauayan incurred losses in agriculture estimated at P2.52 million. – Rappler.com
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PRIMER: Investigations, cases against Apollo Quiboloy | Herbie G | 27/02/2024 18:35 | CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, February 27, once again called on doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy to face his accusers and address the serious allegations raised against him in an ongoing investigation.
Hontiveros made the call just one week before the fourth hearing set by her committee regarding the alleged abuses committed by the Davao-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) against its former workers and members.
The senator earlier warned that she would cite Quiboloy in contempt and have him arrested unless he showed up at the March 5 hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Hontiveros said the committee, as it investigates matters in aid of legislation, “has the power to compel the attendance of witnesses, no matter how well-connected they are.”
She said Quiboloy, who styles himself as the “appointed son of God,” is not above the law and the country’s institutions.
“In the past, Cabinet officials, lawmakers, an incumbent Senate president, and even a former president have submitted to Senate subpoenas and appeared as witnesses. His (Quiboloy’s) constitutional rights, like all witnesses, are respected. Pero hindi siya mataas pa sa presidente, sa Senado, at sa batas (But he is not higher than the President, the Senate, and the law),” she said in a statement recorded on video.
Quiboloy has wielded much influence as a religious figure in the country. He has maintained a close friendship and unwavering support for former president Rodrigo Duterte, with their ties dating back to Duterte’s time as mayor of Davao City. Throughout Duterte’s presidency, Quiboloy served as his “spiritual adviser,” cementing their long-standing relationship.
Hontiveros also noted that Quiboloy and his followers called the witnesses who appeared before the Senate committee as cowards for not showing their faces in public, yet the KOJC leader himself declared his intention to disregard the Senate subpoena.
She pointed out that Quiboloy’s accusers have executed affidavits against the preacher and his church associates.
Addressing Quiboloy, Hontiveros said, “Bukas po ang Senado para sa panig ‘nyo. Hinihintay namin kayo (The Senate is open to your side. We are waiting for you).”
The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Office served the subpoena to Quiboloy, through his lawyer Marie Dinah Tolentino-Fuentes, on February 22, after the preacher ignored invitations to attend three previous hearings at the Senate.
Hontiveros’ committee has been tasked by the Senate to look into allegations of human trafficking, sexual abuse, violence, and other misconduct involving the preacher and his organization.
She can, according to Section 17 of the Senate rules governing the conduct of committee investigations. The authority of Senate committees includes the “power to summon witnesses and take their testimony and to issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum, signed by its Chairman, or in his absence by the Acting Chairman, and approved by the President.”
“Within Metro Manila, such process shall be served by the Sergeant-at-Arms or his assistant. Outside of Metro Manila, service may be made by the police of a municipality or city, upon request of the Secretary,” reads a clause in the Senate rules.
Section 18 of the Senate rules on panel investigations provides that a “contempt of the Committee shall be deemed a contempt of the Senate.”
The rules also provide that “such witness may be ordered by the Committee to be detained in such place as it may designate under the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms until he/she agrees to produce the required documents, or to be sworn or to testify, or otherwise purge himself/herself of that contempt.”
Former KOJC members have testified on the alleged abuses of Quiboloy and his church associates before Hontiveros’ committee since the panel started the hearings on January 23.
Their narratives – including that of two Ukrainian women who alleged that Quiboloy sexually abused them in the name of religion – have been consistent with and corroborated by the allegations made also by former KOJC members in the United States against the Davao-based preacher.
Quiboloy and eight of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in a US District Court in Santa Ana, California, in 2021.
The 74-page indictment document shows that the preacher and the other accused have been charged with the following crimes:
The indictment papers enumerate 94 overt acts of the preacher and his associates.
The US court ordered Quiboloy and his associates arrested on November 10, 2021. Except for Quiboloy and two others, Teresita Dandan and Helen Panilag, the others either surrendered or were arrested by US authorities, and subsequently bailed out.
The others who have been indicted along with Quiboloy are the following:
At least one of those accused has subsequently agreed to turn state witness against Quiboloy’s group.
On January 31, 2022, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) included Quiboloy, Dandan, and Panilag, among several other fugitives from Mexico and China, in its most wanted list, and published their separate wanted posters on its website.
The FBI’s “most wanted” poster on the KOJC leader reads, “Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the founder of a Philippines-based church, is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.”
On November 3, 2022, Judge Terry Hatter Jr. of the US District Court-Central District of California reset the trial of Quiboloy and his co-accused in Los Angeles from March 21, 2023, to March 19, 2024. Subsequently, in late 2023, the trial was again moved to November 2024.
In the 2022 order, Hatter granted the request of five of the defendants – Salinas, Cabactulan, Duenas, Estopare, and Roces – to be given more time to prepare their defense, based on the US Speedy Trial Act.
Based on the US-Philippines extradition treaty, an extradition request must be made through diplomatic channels.
But nearly three years after the indictment of Quiboloy and his associates, the US has yet to submit a formal extradition request for the preacher, Dandan, and Panilag, according to the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ).
In late 2022, the US announced sanctions against the KOJC leader through its treasury and state departments, a move that coincided with International Anti-Corruption Day and on the eve of International Human Rights Day.
The sanctions include the following:
– Rappler.com
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Fencer Maxine Esteban closes in on Olympic slot, but not for PH team | Jasmine Payo | 29/02/2024 17:14 | TRIUMPHANT. Maxine Esteban, the Filipino fencer now representing Ivory Coast, celebrates a win.
Maxine Esteban Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Maxine Esteban closes in on becoming the first female fencer from the Philippines to claim an Olympic berth.
But too bad she won’t be representing the country as Esteban, who switched federations after being controversially dropped by the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA), currently leads the race for the direct qualification spot for the African continental zone.
“I will continue to work hard and hopefully take back my dream that people tried to take away from me,” said Esteban, who’s now representing Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) as a naturalized player.
Esteban will compete in a final Olympic qualifying tournament in Washington DC on March 15, looking to officially book a ticket to the Paris Games this July.
An eight-time Philippine champion and multi-World Cup medalist, Esteban ranks second among Asian female foil athletes in the Olympic qualification ranking.
That means the Filipino-Ivorian fencing standout could have been a solid bet for one of two Asian continental slots to the Paris Games and become the fifth Olympian after world No. 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan, and boxer Eumir Marcial
Last year, Esteban switched federations due to what she said was an “unfair and unjust” treatment by the PFA.
A strong showing in the Washington qualifier would officially hand Esteban an outright Olympic spot, thus skipping the wild card tournament, which is reserved for countries with no fencers directly qualifying in the sport yet.
With Esteban out, the Philippines has no fencer on the list for any direct qualification spot, leaving the PFA to fight for a wild card ticket in April.
The PFA surprisingly dropped Esteban from the national team last year even if the 23-year-old was the country’s top fencer, citing that she skipped the Philippine qualifiers.
However, Esteban provided documents showing the PFA had excused her from the national trials because she suffered an ACL injury while representing the country in the World Championship in Egypt.
“Not only was I dropped for a reason they excused me from, but the rule was not applied to everyone in the national team,” Esteban, who is currently ranked No. 37 in the world, said then.
“That’s why I really worked extra hard this past year. I want to repay Côte d’Ivoire for giving me not just a home but a shot to retake the things I worked so hard for that they (PFA) tried to tear away from me.” – Rappler.com
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Feeling the ground? Red tents, blue posters seen in Angeles, Mabalacat in Pampanga | Joann Manabat - CMS | 1/3/2024 9:01 | Red tents carry the name of Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. vis-a-vis blue posters with the face of retired General Oscar Albayalde are seen in busy areas of the two cities in Pampanga
Joann Manabat/Rappler
ANGELES CITY, Philippines – Red tents that carry the name of Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. vis-a-vis blue posters with the face of retired Philippine National Police General Oscar Albayalde are frequently seen in busy areas in the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat in Pampanga province.
The 2025 midterm election is still more than a year away. However, it appears that Lazatin and Albayalde have started to make their presence known.
Bearing the name of Lazatin, the red tents also have the word “Cong” before his name.
“Cong” in Kapampangan is short for “coyang,” which is used by the locals to address an older brother, Team Lazatin explained. “Cong” is also used to refer to a district representative – as in “Congressman.”
Editor’s Note: We earlier reported that the mayor and Cong Jun are stepbrothers. This has been corrected.
Carmelo Lazatin II, known to locals as “Cong Jon,” is the incumbent 1st District Representative of Pampanga. Cong Jon is serving his last term while Lazatin is on his second mayoral term. They are half brothers.
Local political observers are convinced that the Lazatin brothers will switch places in the 2025 midterm polls.
The red tents were installed on February 23 in 16 different barangays of Mabalacat: Dau, Lakandula, Duquit, Camachiles, Mabiga, Sto. Rosario, San Francisco, Sta. Ines, Mangalit, Mamatitang, Atlu Bola, Cacutud, Tabun, Dolores, San Joaquin, and Poblacion. The remaining 11 barangays will receive their tents on March 8, Team Lazating said.
Angeles City chief executive IC Calaguas spearheaded the tent distribution together with the respective barangay captains.
Meanwhile, in the blue corner, posters of Albayalde have been pinned up in most residential areas since the holiday season in 2023.
Albayalde said he is still “feeling the ground” whether to run for public office. Albayalde is also making his presence felt through media interviews and public appearances in different communities.
The talk in Pampanga is that Albayalde is eyeing to run as mayor of Angeles City or 1st District Representative of Pampanga.
In 2023, he once admitted that there were “some people” who had been pushing him to run for public office.
The former Philippine National Police chief was once implicated in the “ninja cops” controversy, which later on were dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman. He ended his career in the national police force quietly after he went on non-duty status in October 2019.
The 1st District of Pampanga consists of the highly urbanized Angeles City, its neighboring component Mabalacat City, and the municipality of Magalang.
The filing of candidacy for the 2025 midterm polls is set for October. Will it be red versus blue? – Rappler.com
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Eagles fly again: Lazaro, De Leon relish Ateneo reconnection with Valdez in Creamline debut | jisaga0269 | 29/02/2024 22:27 | TOGETHER AGAIN. The Creamline Cool Smashers huddle after a point in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference
PVL Images
MANILA, Philippines – In perhaps one of the most unusual sights so far in the new 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference, former Choco Mucho leaders Bea de Leon and Denden Lazaro-Revilla finally donned their Cool Smashers kits on the court after five years of heated sister team clashes with the Flying Titans.
Although it was only their first game together after sitting out the conference opener, both De Leon and Revilla immediately meshed well with their new teammates, excelling in their defensive assignments despite limited playing time against Akari on Thursday, February 29.
Of course, it certainly helps that Creamline is not completely unfamiliar territory, as for the first time in nearly a decade, De Leon and Revilla linked up with their former Ateneo champion teammate Alyssa Valdez, while fellow ex-Lady Eagle Ella de Jesus watched on as a reserve.
Only playing in important stretches of the match against Akari, Valdez finished with 8 points, while De Leon added 5. Revilla, meanwhile, went in and out of the rotation as liberos often do, and finished with 11 excellent receptions on just 23 attempts.
Three-time PVL MVP Tots Carlos, meanwhile, exploded for a new career-high 31 points on 55% attack efficiency to set the tone from start to finish.
Once a heated rival of the PVL’s undisputed top dynasty, Revilla exuded nothing but gratitude for her new team in an emotional postgame press conference.
“I never thought I would once again play with them, so I’m really grateful to be a part of this team,” said the UAAP Season 77 champion. “They welcomed me and I was given an opportunity. It’s just so easy to integrate myself because they know me so well, and that’s why it translated to my game on the floor.”
De Leon – Choco Mucho’s captain as recently as its finals war last conference against none other than Creamline – likewise had nothing but kind words as she continues to integrate herself in a new system.
“Same with Ate Den, I didn’t think I’d still be playing with them. I feel reassured knowing that no matter what happens, someone will have my back,” said the 5-foot-11 net anchor, who was a rookie in the masterful Season 77 run that yielded a rare 16-0 sweep on the way to the title.
“On the court, there’s Ate Ly, Ate Els, who always have your back. It’s really a light feeling on the court knowing they’re around, all my former seniors.”
With only two games down so far in a new PVL title defense, De Leon and Revilla will certainly be vital pieces as the weeks move along and multiple other contenders try to break the Cool Smashers’ seemingly impenetrable ranks.
The road will be tough as always, but champions like Creamline’s new stars are practically hardwired to adjust along the way. – Rappler.com
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Cordillera faces crisis as region sees alarming spike in wildfires | Herbie G | 1/3/2024 13:49 | DESTRUCTION. Fire ravages an area iin Kabayan, Benguet on February 27.
Northern Blossoms Flower Farm Facebook page
BAGUIO, Philippines – The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has seen an alarming surge in fire incidents, mostly wildfires, during the first two months of this year, posing a critical environmental and public safety challenge in the region.
According to Inspector Janelle Daniel, information officer of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in the Cordillera region, there were 161 fires recorded thoughout the CAR from January 1 to February 29. These comprised forest fires, grass fires, structural fires, and other types.
BFP data showed that Benguet recorded the most number of fire incidents, with 66 reported from January to February, followed by Mountain Province with 49 fires during the same period. Even Baguio City, despite its urban environment, had 21 fires.
The provinces of Abra and Kalinga reported 12 and 11 fires, respectively, while Ifugao saw only two fires, and Apayao had none.
As of posting time, three forest fires are ongoing, requiring immediate attention from firefighting teams. These include two fires in Tinongdan, Itogon town, and another in Bokod, Bobok Bisal, all in Benguet province.
Civil Defense Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said they were closely monitoring the wildfires in Benguet. He, however, said that most of the forest fires in the province were either extinguished or brought under control as of Thursday, February 28.
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is preparing for cloud-seeding operations scheduled for this week to combat the ongoing forest fires, according to PAF spokesperson Colonel Maria Consuelo.
The PAF has deployed helicopters that have already released 800 liters of water in some areas of Mount Camisong. However, this effort has had minimal impact on extinguishing the fires, which have already destroyed over 50 hectares in Benguet and more than 200 hectares in other areas of the Cordillera region since January.
In response to the alarming increase in fire incidents, the BFP, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and local officials have intensified a training program to suppress and manage forest fires, both on the ground and from the air. They have received support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Albert Mogol, Office of Civil Defense-CAR director, emphasized the importance of collaboration to enhance the skills and capabilities of firefighters and disaster response teams in handling fire emergency situations. – Rappler.com
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Pura Luka Vega arrested again by Manila Police District | jreyes0314 | 29/02/2024 17:47 | Pura Luka Vega's Instagram
MANILA, Philippines – Drag artist Pura Luka Vega was arrested again by the Manila Police District on Thursday, February 29, DZME News reported.
According to Drag Den showrunner Rod Singh, a Quezon City court issued a warrant of arrest for Pura Luka Vega’s three counts of alleged violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code, which includes immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions, and indecent shows.
“This stemmed from a complaint filed against them by three churches affiliated with the Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM). The recommended bail is P360,000,” Singh wrote in a statement posted on X.
Regarding the arrest of Pura Luka Vega today. To those who would like to help Luka for their bail and legal fees, NAIA @brianblack_ will handle the donation drive. #DragIsArt #DragIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/OirKIGl1G7
Pura Luka Vega is currently detained at the Sta. Cruz Police Station.
This comes just three days after Pura Luka Vega posted bail in Pasay City for six counts of violation of Article 201 “in relation to Section 6 of R.A. 10175” following the Kapisanan ng Social Media Broadcasters ng Pilipinas’ complaint.
Weeks after their video lip syncing to an “Ama Namin” remix while dressed as Jesus Christ went viral, the embattled drag artist was sued by Christian leaders from the PJM on July 31, 2023 for alleged violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Luka got arrested again today. Let’s not panic [because] we know that we can do something about it. For now antabay muna tayo sa (let’s wait) donation drive details for her bail,” drag queen NAIA Black – who organized the embattled drag artist’s fundraising event in October 2023 – later also posted on X.
okay luka got arrested again today. lets not panic bec we know that we can do something about it. for now antabay muna tayo sa donation drive details for her bail #dragisnotacrime
Pura Luka Vega was earlier arrested on October 4, 2023, after their alleged absence from the preliminary investigations of their criminal case in Manila. They later posted bail amounting to P72,000 on October 7, 2023. – Rappler.com
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NAIAx Tramo access ramp in Pasay now open | lkyu0285 | 1/3/2024 17:36 | NOW OPEN. View from the newly opened Tramo access ramp of the NAIAx.
San Miguel Corporation
MANILA, Philippines – A new access ramp for the NAIA Expressway (NAIAx) has opened in Tramo, Pasay City.
The 800-meter access ramp will cater to southbound traffic in EDSA coming from Makati, or northbound traffic coming from Entertainment City, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), the conglomerate that operates NAIAx, said in a press statement.
“This Tramo access ramp provides another option for motorists heading to the airport, and other areas in Paranaque City and Cavite province. We believe it can help relieve overall traffic congestion in the area, and improve traffic flow within the vicinity of the airport,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said during the access ramp’s opening on Friday, March 1.
Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan also said that the government and SMC are looking into “further improvements” for NAIAx to cater to the growing passenger volume of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The NAIAx is an 11-kilometer elevated toll expressway that connects the Skyway System to the country’s main international airport. It also connects to Entertainment City, Macapagal Boulevard, Sucat Road, and roads leading to Cavite.
San Miguel won the rights to NAIAx after it offered an P11-billion cash bid in 2013, which was significantly higher than the P305-million bid by a Metro Pacific Investments Corporation subsidiary.
A San Miguel-led consortium earlier won the bid for the NAIA rehabilitation project after it offered a government revenue share that was more than double that of the next highest bidder. SMC’s group is expected to take over operations of the Philippines’ main airport within the next six months.
– Rappler.com
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A 97-year-old Philippine company closes down | gdecastro0289 | 1/3/2024 19:55 | SHUT. Central Azucarera Don Pedro, a major Philippine producer of refined premium sugar, ends its operations on February 28, 2024.
Roxas Holdings Incorporated's website
MANILA, Philippines – Even Blue Eagle Manny V. Pangilinan’s (MVP) business acumen couldn’t save this 97-year-old Philippine company.
Sugar refining firm Central Azucarera Don Pedro Incorporated (CADPI), established in 1927, closed down on Wednesday, February 28, citing “serious business losses.”
CADPI, a subsidiary of publicly listed Roxas Holdings Incorporated (RHI) where Pangilinan sits as vice-chairman, informed the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, February 29, that it was “forced to terminate” all its employees due to closure of operations.
First Pacific Company Limited of Hong Kong, founded by Pangilinan, took a 34% stake in RHI in 2013 and raised it to majority stake two years later. CADPI was established by the forefathers of its current chairman, Pedro E. Roxas, who served for a long time as its president and CEO.
“In compliance with Article 298 of the Labor Code, CADPI has given notice both to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the affected employees at least thirty (30) days before the effective date of termination. The effectivity date of the termination of all affected employees is on 29 March 2024,” RHI said.
RHI did not say how many CADPI workers would lose their jobs, but as of end of 2022, CADPI had 445 employees. CADPI workers were sent notices of separation on February 28.
RHI said on Friday, March 1, it had no choice but to close down CADPI since it was draining the parent firm’s financial resources. RHI had a net loss of P797 million in September 2022 and a loss of P938.9 million in September 2021.
“CADPI’s closure of its operations and separation of its employees will essentially mitigate incurrence of manpower costs and other fixed costs,” RHI said.
“CADPI’s closure will prevent further dissipation of resources as opportunities to resume normal operation of the sugar refinery business of CADPI has been affected and/or limited by the increased importation of refined sugar by the national government in the past years,” the company said.
CADPI, located in Nasugbu, Batangas, produced and sold raw and refined sugar, molasses, and related products to traders and industrial customers. Among its customers were multinational food and beverage companies like Nestlé and Coca-Cola Philippines, and pharmaceutical firms such as United Laboratories Incorporated or Unilab.
At one point, CADPI was the Philippines’ second largest raw sugar manufacturer and its biggest producer of refined sugar, said a 2002 paper on labor issues in the Central Azucarera Don Pedro.
It planted and cultivated sugarcane and other farm products, and managed and operated agricultural land. It also owned parcels of land in La Carlota City and in the towns of Pontevedra and Hinigaran in Negros Occidental. Its assets were valued at P2.7 billion in September 2022.
CADPI’s closure is indicative of the sad state of the Philippines’ sugar industry.
The Philippines used to be one of the world’s major exporters of sugar, and sugar was among the country’s leading export products. When the Philippines was still an American colony, US companies put up sugar mills that produced sugar for export. The US and the Philippines had free trade relations, and the latter supplied a large part of America’s sugar requirements, but this special relations ended in 1974.
In 1960, the Philippines’ sugar exports still accounted for 11% of world trade, but this fell to 1% in 1990, according to a study by the government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
For many years now, Philippine sugar production has not been able to keep up with population growth, prompting the government to regularly import sugar and keep prices stable. The breakup of large sugar farms due to the land reform program further hurt the Philippine sugar industry. Sugar farming needs economies of scale to produce efficiently, according to agricultural experts, citing Thailand’s success.
The Philippines has also not been able to produce sugar competitively in the world market.
According to former economic planning secretary Cielito Habito, Philippine raw sugar prices were 1.3 to 2.4 times higher than both world prices and Thailand’s price from 2011 to 2019. Yields of Philippine sugar farms were 60 to 65 tons per hectare compared to an average of 70 to 75 tons for Thailand, India, and Brazil, he said.
“Thailand has managed to keep up with world productivity levels, whereas the Philippines has consistently suffered much lower productivity, hence much higher costs,” Habito wrote in a column on August 23, 2022.
CADPI modernized its facilities through the years as the Philippines opened up its economy as mandated by the General Agreements on Tarrifs and Trade-World Trade Organization and the ASEAN Free Trade agreements.
CADPI was already facing difficulties in the past few years.
In December 2021, Typhoon Odette destroyed a big part of the country’s sugarcane farms in southern Luzon and Western Visayas, where RHI operated. CADPI’s milling operations were hit by a big drop in supply of sugarcanes.
In December 2022, RHI closed its sugar milling operations. Three months later, in March 2023, it announced that it had sold its “unutilized and idle” sugar milling equipment and machineries to the Gokongwei Group’s food and beverage company Universal Robina Corporation. The assets were valued at P897 million.
RHI had hoped “more potential for sustainable operations” if CADPI focused purely on sugar refinery in Batangas, along with RHI’s ethanol plant in Negros Occidental.
In a statement in February 2023, the farmers group Sugarfolks’ Unity for Genuine Agriculture Reform-Batangas warned that the closure of CADPI’s milling operations would hurt 4,584 sugarcane planters in Batangas and mean less work for more than 10,000 sugarcane field workers. It urged the government to take over CADPI, provide subsidies for sugarcane planters, stop sugar importation, and extend aid to sugarcane farmers affected by CADPI’s closure.
CADPI sourced its sugar cane from planters and traders in Batangas.
In May 2023, RHI chair Roxas said CADPI’s sugar refinery operations were dealt “heavy blows” by the government’s move in February to import 440,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar on top of the 150,000 MT imported in crop year 2022-2023.
“It has been difficult for local sugar refineries to compete given the high prices of raw sugar feedstock and of outside fuel costs, which have increased significantly in recent years,” RHI said in 2023. “These costs eroded the white premium margin to entice local refineries to process and refine raw sugar.”
On Friday, RHI said CADPI was informed by the Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) that the current inventory of refined sugar in the market “must first be depleted before CADPI can offer refined sugar to the public.”
RHI said this was projected to take around 8 to 12 months, adding that this was “too long a period of non-generation of income by CADPI from its sugar refinery operations.”
It said that RHI’s other productive activities, such as its ethanol plant San Carlos Bioenergy Incorporated, could not support the parent’s recurrent costs.
“Thus, maintaining CADPI’s sugar refinery business proves to be extremely difficult and no longer viable,” RHI said.
RHI said it would be disposing of idle assets to prospective buyers to pay its obligations.
On Thursday, SRA chief Pablo Luis Azcona said CADPI’s closure meant one less Philippine company refining premium sugar. With the loss of the refining capacity in Luzon, he said premium refined sugar would come from four companies in Negros island and one in Bukidnon. – Rappler.com
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Two sides of story: UST juniors football team makes stand after punching incident in UAAP final | delfin.dioquino editor | 1/3/2024 19:07 | GOALIE. Ben Sabuga in action for the UST Junior Golden Booters in the UAAP Season 86 boys' football tournament.
UAAP
MANILA, Philippines – As far as the UST Junior Golden Booters are concerned, there is more to the punching incident involving one of their players than meets the eye.
The Junior Golden Booters asked fans to look at two sides of the story after UST substitute goalkeeper Ben Sabuga attacked FEU defender Bryan Villanueva following the Baby Tamaraws’ 3-0 win in the final of the UAAP Season 86 boys’ football tournament on Thursday, February 29.
While his teammates were celebrating, Villanueva walked past the UST bench and appeared to shush spectators before a rushing Sabuga punched him at the back of the head.
“[A] senior player from FEU, donning the captain’s armband charged towards UST’s technical area, hurling offensive taunts at their coaches, players, and supporters. He continued unchecked by anyone from FEU,” the Junior Golden Booters said in a statement posted on their Instagram account on Friday, March 1.
“The actions of this player have been captured and been posted in the social media. Unfortunately, some parts of these videos being circulated may have been spliced and only showed the reactions of some UST players.”
A post shared by UST JUNIORS FOOTBALL TEAM (@ustjft_official)
Although the Junior Golden Booters do not excuse Sabuga for his reckless act, they said disrespecting opponents should also be frowned upon.
“We do not condone these reactions by our players as we strongly believe that violence has no place in sports. But we also do not tolerate disrespect and rude behavior towards opponents, coaching staff, and supporters,” the team said.
“If a spontaneous reaction of a UST player warrants criticism and discipline, it is also with more reason that a deliberate and shameless display of rudeness by this FEU player, who instigated this incident after all, should be equally condemned and addressed.”
Sabuga received a scolding from UST coach Marjo Allado after the incident and the Junior Golden Booters said they are dealing with him privately.
“Our team’s culture is built on the spirit of sportsmanship, respect and fair play, and some of our players may not have live up to these expectations during that time. We want to assure everyone that we are taking immediate action to address the situation internally,” the team said.
“In the spirit of fairness, we only asked for your consideration and understanding and look at the incident on both sides with objectivity and impartiality.” – Rappler.com
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Bacolod horrified by discovery of dumped frozen body parts near NBI, capitol | Herbie G | 1/3/2024 21:47 | Shutterstock
BACOLOD, Philippines – The local business community was rattled, and officials were left stunned and bewildered as the city woke to the grim discovery of frozen body parts dumped near the provincial capitol of Negros Occidental and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office on Friday, March 1.
“This is alarming! Grabe ni pagpanghangkat sa mga natungdan nga otoridad (It’s a big challenge for the authorities),” said Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBBCI).
The body parts, contained in a paper bag, were found in front of the NBI office, adjacent to the provincial government seat of Negros Occidental, on Aguinaldo Street, Kamote Kahoy in Barangay 4 at around 5:45 am.
The paper bag bore the names of an NBI-Bacolod agent and an alleged drug lord, along with a warning against the law enforcer who purportedly serves as protector of the latter.
Carbon said he was worried about the potentially adverse impact of the incident on the business community, Bacolod, and Negros Occidental, and its eventual repercussions on the local economy.
A furious Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez warned of a “syndicate” behind the dumping of the body parts.
“They chose the wrong city,” Benitez said.
It wasn’t the first time. In early 2023, the city witnessed a series of what locals refer to as “wigit bangkay, ti-il kag kamot” (dumping of bodies, mutilated hands, and feet), prompting Benitez to ask Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. for the replacement of Bacolod’s then-police director.
Local officials said an illegal drugs syndicate was likely responsible for last year’s dumping of body parts, a trend that ceased with the appointment of a new police director until Friday’s grisly discovery.
NBI-Bacolod Director Renoir Baldovino, however, dismissed the possibility of the incident being linked to the illegal drug trade in Bacolod, saying it was more likely a diversionary tactic by a group affected by the bureau’s crackdown on illegal gambling operations.
Baldovino cited the NBI-Bacolod’s intensified efforts against illegal gambling activities, particularly e-sabong (online cockfighting) in the city and province.
Colonel Noel Aliño, director of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), vowed to uncover those responsible for the recent dumping of body parts and hold them accountable.
“We assure the public that we will not relax, especially with an NBI agent facing a serious threat,” Aliño said.
He tasked the BCPO’s Special Intelligence Group (SIG) and Bacolod Police Station (BSP) No. 2 to focus and prioritize the case. – Rappler.com
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Why reverting to old academic calendar is just a ‘stopgap’ measure | Bonz Magsambol | 2/3/2024 9:00 | FILIPINO STUDENTS. Students and teachers go about regular classes at the General Roxas Elementary School in Quezon City, on February 21, 2024.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
In 2023, over a hundred students of a public school in Laguna were hospitalized due to dehydration after a surprise fire drill.
The school official said the temperature when the fire drill happened on March 23, 2023 was between 39 and 42°C. It was very hot and humid. In a tropical country like the Philippines, where classrooms are not built to withstand extreme heat, conditions are not conducive to learning.
Classes in the Philippines typically begin on the first Monday of June concluding in March, as mandated by Republic Act 7797. But in 2020, this law was amended to accommodate changes in school opening schedules. Classes should start not later than the last day of August, the new law said.
The country made the adjustment due to the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown in 2020. But even prior to the pandemic, there had been calls to make the academic calendar in the Philippines synchronized with other countries, especially with its Southeast Asian counterparts. Proponents of the shift also said that the months of June and July coincide with the typhoon season, resulting in class disruptions.
Since then, the academic year had shifted to August, meaning, students were now in school from April to May – a time that previously marked their summer vacation in the previous school calendar, and a period when high temperatures were often recorded.
But after a year of full adjustment, public clamor to revert to the old academic calendar intensified. A survey commissioned by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the basic education committee, revealed that 8 in 10 Filipinos want summer breaks back to April and May. This prompted the Department of Education (DepEd) to gradually revert to the old calendar.
“The shift to the school calendar back to the usual April-May break will be gradual. We will end on May 31, but we will open around July 29. And then slowly, we will move it back until we return to the normal April-May break,” DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa said.
Poa said the decision to revert to the old academic calendar was based on consultations done by DepEd. “This is a decision made by the people,” he added.
The education official said that by school year 2026-2027, schools would open in June and end in April, based on DepEd’s projected timeline. By school year 2027-2028, schools would open in June and end by mid-March.
While the reversal of the academic calendar was welcome news to many, education experts said that it was just another “stopgap” measure. Meanwhile, for critics, it was just another “populist” policy by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.
“I think it’s more of a stopgap because DepEd couldn’t address the heat problems in the classrooms, which is the main reason why the public school teachers and students had clamored for the revert,” said education psychologist and University of the Philippines professor Lizamarie Olegario.
Olegario noted that Filipino students suffer from extreme heat in their classrooms because school buildings do not have “enough ventilation.” She enumerated the following issues that need to be addressed instead of reverting to the old calendar.
Classroom shortages had been a problem even before the pandemic. In some schools, 75 to 80 students were packed into one classroom meant for only 40. To make up for the lack of classrooms, class shifting had been implemented to accommodate enrollees every year. (READ: Classroom shortages greet teachers, students in opening of classes)
At a Senate hearing in 2023, it was revealed that DepEd would need P397 billion to address the 159,000 classroom backlog nationwide. Gatchalian also noted that the congestion rate in schools was at 32% for Kinder to Grade 6, 41% in Junior High School, and about 50% in Senior High School.
While electric fans are a common appliance in any Filipino household, there are still classrooms that don’t have them.
At a separate Senate inquiry in 2023, Senator Raffy Tulfo blasted the DepEd for soliciting funds from students – through the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) – to buy school supplies and appliances such as electric fans for classroom use, as these should be provided by the agency.
There have been calls to “institutionalize” remote or blended learning in Philippine basic education so class suspensions would be lessened in case of typhoons or any natural disasters.
But doing so is not as easy as ABC because access to technology for both teachers and students remains a problem up to this day. Teachers are also not equipped with adequate know-how on how to use technology for learning.
As if the lack of resources for teachers wasn’t enough, the DepEd even got embroiled in a corruption controversy for purchasing “overpriced and outdated” laptops in 2021.
A separate Rappler investigation also revealed that laptops procured by the agency were being resold in markets.
“Since it has been decided that basic education reverts to the old calendar, during the rainy season, the teachers and the students should be equipped to have automatic online learning. There should be no need to wait for announcements from local officials for cancellation of classes,” Olegario said.
In a statement on February 21, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) said that with the DepEd’s move to revert to the old academic calendar, the agency should tap local governments to address issues in the education sector, “as many of the concerns can be addressed at the local level.”
“The decision to revert back to the old academic calendar should not be seen as a stopgap measure to address the underlying issues that make the existing school calendar unbearable. To safeguard our children, we need to make sure that classrooms can withstand extreme weather conditions and have transportation support available,” the group said.
In an interview with Rappler on February 28, PBEd executive director Justine Raagas emphasized that the problem in Philippine basic education is not really the academic calendar.
“Regardless of the academic school year, one of the biggest problems is, our classrooms are not conducive for learning. The problem goes beyond the shifting measures. The problem is classrooms can’t withstand typhoons, or classrooms are in very poor conditions that they don’t allow proper ventilation,” Raagas said.
But another issue that cropped up with the reversal to the old academic calendar is the looming long break for senior high school students going to college.
If by school year 2027-2028, basic education in the Philippines would open in June and end in March, that would mean senior high school graduates would have a five-month break before they enter college.
Raagas fears that the long break would result in learning loss, especially since students’ foundational knowledge isn’t strong.
“Learning loss occurs whenever a student is outside the classroom. If you remember in 2020, schools opened late, sometime in October 2020. Even in normal times, where you have two months of summer break, that results in learning loss. That’s why the first few weeks of the start of classes, it’s for catch-up, and review of past lessons,” she noted.
Learning loss, according to the Journal of Education and e-Learning Research, “occurs when students lose knowledge and skills generally or specifically or there is an academic impediment due to prolonged gaps or the discontinuation of the educational process.”
With the recent move by DepEd, should the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) also change its academic calendar? Olegario and Raagas don’t think so.
“For college, it was done because they want to align with international standards and for better partnership. It could stay that way but the basic education should improve,” Raagas said, noting that DepEd should improve its teaching quality so the long break would not result in learning loss.
For Olegario, higher education institutions in the Philippines “do not have problems with ventilation in the classrooms.”
“I’ve never heard of similar issues mentioned by the public school children. I’ve never seen classes that are too cramped, unlike what I saw in some elementary and public high schools,” she added.
CHED has not released any statement yet on the recent move by the DepEd.
The public hopes that the revert to the old academic calendar will benefit students and help in learning recovery.
“If we make the decision, let’s stick to it. It’s not fair that we experiment on schedules at the expense of our students. [Our] children require normalcy and stability in their education,” Raagas said. – Rappler.com
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How smuggled ultraluxury Bugatti Chirons expose flaws in LTO | lkyu0285 | 1/3/2024 19:39 | SMUGGLED. Composite image of the blue and red smuggled Bugatti Chirons recovered by the Bureau of Customs.
Customs Intelligence & Investigation Services
After a three-week search, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) finally recovered the two luxury sports cars that were smuggled into the Philippines.
These were no ordinary cars. Both were Bugatti Chirons – cars so rare that only 500 units were ever produced from 2016 to 2022 in a Bugatti factory in France. Each is priced at around $3 million or P165 million, an amount that would take the minimum wage earner more than 750 years of daily work to achieve.
The BOC didn’t so much find the cars as have their owners surrender them – perhaps out of fear after Customs called on the public to help spot the sports cars on the road.
But behind the triumph of Customs in its search is a host of questions: How did two of these vehicles find their way to the Philippines? How did the importers and owners cheat the government out of hundreds of millions in duties and taxes? And how did these illegally imported cars get their paperwork done by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) without anyone noticing?
It began in late 2022 when the two luxury cars likely entered the country, as evidenced by a bill of lading dated December 24, 2022 and a certificate of payment issued by Customs on December 27, 2022.
Things get fishy right from the start, as the certificate of payment shows only P24.7 million – or P24,787,838.82 to be exact – was paid in customs duty. Meanwhile, an estimate by Inquirer.net suggests that the customs duty should have been about P49.5 million, with the total duties and taxes supposed to reach more than P160.5 million.
But despite this questionable customs payment, the vehicles were somehow registered under the LTO. The blue Bugatti – with a plate number of NIM5448 – was registered under Thu Trang Nguyen, while the red Bugatti – with plate number NIM5450 – was registered under Mengjun Zhu.
The vehicles were registered with the LTO on the same day, May 30, 2023. This happened to be a turbulent time for the agency. A week before, on May 22, Jose Art Tugade resigned from his post as LTO head over the shortage in plastic cards for drivers’ licenses. Hector Villacorta, a communications assistant secretary for the Department of Transportation (DOTr), only stepped in as LTO’s officer-in-charge on June 1.
That means from May 22 to May 31, the LTO was likely in a messy transition period, and the smuggled vehicles just so happened to have been registered during this window. Coincidence?
So how did these vehicles get through the LTO’s system? It turns out that there are glaring gaps in the system used for vehicle registration, sources close to the LTO told Rappler.
The LTO is currently in the process of transferring all its operations from its old IT system provider, Stradcom, to the government-owned Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal. However, because not all processes have been fully swapped, LTO personnel may still sometimes register vehicles in the old Stradcom IT system rather than the LTMS.
This is, in fact, what happened in the case of the two Bugatti Chirons. The LTMS’ service providers – a joint venture headed by German company Dermalog – said that both luxury vehicles were not registered in the LTMS, asserting they “would not have been able to be registered in LTMS as the robust security features of LTMS would have prevented such registration to occur.”
Sources close to the LTO also separately confirmed to Rappler that the vehicles were not registered in the LTMS. Instead, it seems the vehicles were registered through the LTO’s old IT system provided by Stradcom.
The LTO wrote to Stradcom on February 21, 2024 to ask for an audit trail “to determine who are the personnel involved in the processing of the registration of the said vehicles,” based on an initial report seen by Rappler regarding the LTO-NCR’s investigation into the matter.
The problem is that vehicle registrations processed through the Stradcom IT system have a weaker audit trail, a source close to the LTO told Rappler. This is because under the old system, paper documents are not scanned, making it more difficult for other officers to conduct audits or due diligence.
Another LTO source told Rappler that it might be possible for an improper certificate of payment to get through the system because it is beyond the scope of the LTO’s work to double-check if customs duties were correctly paid. Once the Bureau of Customs electronically reports the certificate of payment, the LTO issues a certificate of stock reported (CSR), a document that acts like a car’s “birth certificate” and serves as evidence that it was manufactured or imported in the Philippines.
The LTO, in its initial report, also seemed to deflect responsibility away from the agency when it came to the issue of the improper certificate of payment and the resulting CSR.
“Liaison officers of the accredited manufacturers, assemblers, and importers are responsible for inputting data into the LTO system based on the Certificate of Payment issued by the BOC. They independently handle all stages, including evaluation, approval, and the printing of the CSR. The LTO’s role is limited to the processing of payments,” the LTO said in its report.
“The validity and processing of the CSR are dependent upon the issuance and successful transmission of the Certificate of Payment issued by the BOC. Although LTO employees play a vital role in vehicle registration, their primary function is to facilitate the application process and ensure adherence to established regulations. Their duties are purely ministerial in nature. As long as the requirements are met, motor vehicle registration would proceed,” the agency added.
But even then, a misdeclared CSR was far from being the only issue here.
Aside from a CSR, an original sales invoice is one of the documents needed to register a vehicle with the LTO. But as with the undervalued customs document, there were also anomalies in the sales invoice for the Bugatti Chirons.
The LTO initial report seen by Rappler questioned why each Bugattin Chiron was listed as worth only P1 million – a fraction of the vehicle’s usual price – in two sales invoices dated May 30, 2023. The two sales invoices also did not indicate the breakdown for 12% value added tax (VAT), VATable sale, VAT-exempt sale, zero-rated sale, and total sale.
Remember, the Bureau of Customs estimated the value of the luxury car at around P165 million each. Similar to what happened with the customs payment, it’s possible that the vehicles were undervalued to lessen or avoid taxes paid.
The question here then becomes how the LTO and its system failed to flag the Bugatti Chirons with conflicting sales prices of only P1 million and customs duties of P24.7 million – both of which were obviously incorrect in the first place.
Rappler reached out to the LTO’s intelligence and investigation head for clarification but received no response.
The irregular sales invoices were issued by Frebel Import and Export Corporation, the same company that imported the vehicles into the Philippines based on the bill of lading.
Based on Frebel’s latest certificate of accreditation obtained by Rappler, the company’s address is at Room 317 Femil Building, A. Soriano Avenue, Barangay 656, Intramuros, Manila, putting it under the jurisdiction of LTO NCR West.
However, Frebel’s initial accreditation as an importer was processed by the LTO NCR East regional office when it should instead have been processed by the LTO NCR West regional office.
Frebel was first certified by Benjamin Santiago, then-regional director for LTO NCR-East on August 11, 2022. Frebel then received a certificate of accreditation as an importer and dealer from Teofilo Guadiz III, who was then the LTO assistant secretary. Guadiz currently sits as the head of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, where he has weathered accusations of corruption. (READ: From LTFRB to Malacañang: Insider says Teofilo Guadiz at center of bribes)
The accreditation history of Frebel as an importer and dealer was irregular, as flagged by the LTO investigation in its report. After the “discovery of the questionable processing of the accreditation of Frebel,” members of the Monitoring Committee for Accreditation of Regional Assessment and Compliance paid a visit to Frebel morning of February 19.
“The inspection report identified the absence of both a showroom and a warehouse at the accredited entity’s registered address. Additionally, the report noted the lack of any visible import or dealer signage,” the LTO said in the initial report seen by Rappler.
In light of this, the LTO’s investigation committee recommended issuing a show cause order against Frebel that would compel them to address potential violations. The committee, in its report, also said that “considering the severity of the alleged violations, the issuance of a preventive suspension is deemed necessary.”
The LTO will also investigate Frebel’s liaison officer and Customs broker, as well as the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission documents.
Again, the LTO seemed to downplay its responsibility to verify the legitimacy of its importers and dealers, pointing instead to a supposed “loophole” in the Manufacturers, Assemblers, Importers, Rebuilders, Dealers and Other Entities (MAIRDOE) portal system that handles the accreditation of importers and dealers.
“Online submissions for accreditation renewal of MAIRDs offered convenience and efficiency, but also raised concerns about bypassing verification processes. This approach offered a loophole that was manipulated to get accredited without meeting all the crucial requirements. In-depth verification procedures are crucial to ensure only qualified importers renew their accreditation,” the LTO said in its initial report.
But the question here is: why did the LTO not do its own due diligence before approving or renewing Frebel’s accreditation as an importer and dealer? A simple site visit would have already revealed Frebel’s lack of a warehouse and showroom. Rappler is trying to get the side of Frebel and will update this story once we are able to.
The DOTr has already requested the National Bureau of Investigation and Jose Lim IV, DOTr’s Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Non-Infrastructure and Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation, to look into the smuggling of the luxury vehicles, a source close to the LTO told Rappler. A copy of the LTO’s report was also submitted to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on February 23, 2024.
Investigators from the NBI and Office of the Solicitor General visited the LTO Central Office on Thursday, February 29, an LTO source told Rappler. Meanwhile, the DOTr has spoken up on the issue, declaring that “documentary and procedural irregularities appear to surround the eventual registration of these luxury vehicles.” – Rappler.com
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After court verdict, 5 cops in Jemboy Baltazar killing released from detention | Jairo Bolledo | 1/3/2024 18:06 | FREED. In this photo, the six cops involved in the killing of 17-year old Jemboy Baltazar leave the Navotas Regional Trial Court after the promulgation of the case on February 27, 2024.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The five police officers and personnel tagged in the killing of 17-year-old Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar have already walked free from detention, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said.
BJMP spokesperson Jail Chief Inspector Jayrex Bustinera confirmed to Rappler on Friday, March 1, that the police officers and personnel – Staff Sergeant Antonio Bugayong Jr., Staff Sergeant Niko Pines Esquilon, Executive Master Sergeant Roberto Balais Jr., Corporal Edmard Jake Blanco, Patrolman Benedict Mangada – have been released from detention. They left Metro Manila District Jail Annex 2 in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City at 5:30 pm on Tuesday – the same day the Navotas City court handed down its verdict.
The five cops were released after they received lighter penalties. Bugayong was acquitted in the murder case, while Esquilon, Balais Jr., Blanco, and Mangada were convicted of illegal discharge of firearm and were only sentenced to four months in prison.
Since the court allowed the four’s preventive imprisonment to be credited as sentence, they were ordered released. The cops have been detained since October last year after they surrendered to the police.
Meanwhile, since Police Staff Sergeant Gerry Maliban was convicted of homicide and was sentenced to four to six years in prison, Bustinera told Rappler that the cop will be transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections.
A victim of mistaken identity, Baltazar was killed in a police operation in Navotas City on August 2, 2023. The pursing cops said they had mistaken the teen-aged Baltazar as the shooting incident suspect who was said to be in the area.
He and his friend were cleaning a boat in Navotas City when the police team rained gunshots at them. Baltazar died of brain injuries due to a gunshot wound in the head, with drowning as a contributing factor. After he was shot, Baltazar fell into the river where his body remained submerged for around three hours before it was retrieved by his uncle.
His death reignited anger and condemnation against the police, and dubbed him as the second Kian delos Santos. Delos Santos was the biggest case of police brutality in the country under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration as he was also killed by cops. But unlike in Baltazar’s case, the cops in Delos Santos killing – Arnel Oares, Jeremias Pereda, and Jerwin Cruz – were convicted of murder and were sentenced to up to 40 years of imprisonment.
The Baltazar family were disappointed with the ruling after hoping the cops would be convicted of murder. Rodaliza, the teen’s mother, was emotional after the ruling and said Maliban will only be jailed for years, but her son is gone forever.
Meanwhile, Department of Justice spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said they will appeal the court’s ruling to the Court of Appeals, adding that they will tap the Office of the Solicitor General to represent the government in the appeal. – Rappler.com
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RUNNING LIST: President Marcos’ foreign trips in 2024 | Dwight de Leon | 22/01/2024 15:00 | TRAVEL. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos fly to Malaysia for a state visit in July 2023.
Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has established himself as a frequent flyer, does not intend to slow down in 2024.
For this year, the Office of the President (OP) has been provided a budget of P1.4 billion for missions and state visits, as well as P1.1 billion for traveling expenses.
The amounts are a significant increase from what the OP had in its budget for traveling purposes in 2023.
Rappler tracks the countries that the President will visit in 2024.
Updated as of Apri 22, 2024
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) announced on January 24 that President Marcos will be the keynote speaker at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, dubbed as Asia’s premier defense summit, on May 31.
As per the IISS, he will join an esteemed list of heads of state who delivered a speech at the summit in the past, such as Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Malacañang has yet to confirm Marcos’ visits to the following countries. The list is based on international gatherings usually attended by the President, invitations that Malacañang received, and other statements that Philippine officials made in the past.
President Marcos and First Lazy Liza attended the royal wedding of Prince Abdul Mateen, the 10th child of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and businesswoman Yang Mulia Dayang Anisha Rosnah Binti Adam.
Marcos flew to Vietnam for a state visit upon the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong.
There, Marcos reiterated the agreements between Manila and Vietnam’s coast guards, and the two nation’s “cooperation and coordination” in the South China Sea. The two countries also inked an agreement on rice trade.
Marcos was in Canberra, Australia on February 28 to 29. As a guest of the government, he addressed the Australian Parliament, zeroing in on security issues. He also witnessed the signing of agreements on maritime domain, cyberspace, and antitrust between the Philippines and Australia.
The President returned to Australia on March 3, just a few days after his state visit to the country, to take part in the special summit in Melbourne between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia from March 4 to 6.
President Marcos was in Berlin in March for a working visit, meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The two countries signed agreements to strengthen cooperation on maritime issues and the upskilling of Filipino skilled workers.
After his trip to Germany, Marcos wrapped up his Central Europe tour with a state visit to the Czech Republic, where he met with President Petr Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, and President of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
President Marcos flew to Washington on April 10 to take part in the first-ever trilateral summit between the Philippines, the United States, and Japan on April 11. It was a meeting that ultimately zeroed in on the growing threat posed by China in the West Philippine Sea. – Rappler.com
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[Vantage Point] Father and daughter caught in a vise of geopolitics | Glenda Gloria | 1/3/2024 15:09 | A prayer rally it was not. It was a gathering where the members of a political dynasty that has lost power and their fast-dwindling supporters met to air grievances.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte slammed his successor for supposedly being a weak leader and a dope head. The real reason for his tirade was obvious. He and his daughter, Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte, were not given what the Uniteam alliance implicitly promised: their share in the division of power and the spoils.
Mr. Duterte has since walked back on his statement. He said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was doing his level-best to lead. He also denied having said the President was a cocaine addict, despite video snippets of his allegations being shared by netizens.
On February 25, on the 38th anniversary of the non-violent EDSA People Power Revolt, Ms. Duterte issued a statement that appeared on the DepEd website. She called on Filipinos to “remember the lessons of EDSA – the power of unity, the importance of standing up for what is right.” Just a short time later, the post was taken down, with Ms. Duterte claiming that she did not approve the statement.
There is only one explanation for the vacillation. Father and daughter have come to the realization that President Marcos Jr. could hand them over to the International Criminal Court (ICC), where they, along with a number of their close allies, are facing charges for crimes against humanity.
Ms. Duterte can dismiss the Edsa People Power with contempt anytime, but she can never deny that it was singularly her father’s ticket to political fame. Her family has a lot to thank the late former president Cory Aquino for. Cory actually jumpstarted Duterte’s political career as Davao City mayor, after his mother Soledad “Nanay Soling” Duterte, refused to take the position when Cory offered her the job.
You see, Nanay Soling was a staunch anti-Marcos activist. At the height of Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship, she was at the forefront of the Davao’s city-wide protest where she led the Yellow Friday Movement from Magsaysay Park to Rizal Park in Davao City to protest against the corruption, abuses and terror brought by the Marcos regime.
Duterte even recognized his mother’s fight against the late dictator Marcos. While still Davao City Mayor, he was quoted as saying: “So I will dishonor the memory of my mother by following the persons that she helped shut down?” But this was later proven to be mere lip service. In November 2016 despite nationwide protests, Duterte allowed the very dictator his mom valiantly battled against to be entombed in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
While president, Mr. Duterte had left a trail of blood, killing by one account up to 30,000 people, including children and babies in their mothers’ arms. He also buried the country under a mountain of debt but, fortunately for him, the international tribunal can only prosecute him for murder and torture.
But what exactly ticked off the Duterte family? It was a dispute over money. Somebody in Congress leaked out the information that Ms. Duterte, a few days after her takeover of the Education Department, spent P125 million in confidential funds in just 11 days.
Critics say nobody could spend that much in such a short period of time. What actually happened, they add, was that she could have withdrawn the money and funneled it somewhere else.
They say it was not out of character for the Vice President. When she was mayor, she appropriated billions, again in the form of confidential funds, and also put thousands of ghost employees on government payroll. In 2012, they allege, then Davao City Mayor Sara was on the last full year of her term, and went on a hiring spree. She signed up 11,000 temporary workers to six-month work contracts, including 110 consultants employed by her office without any proof to show that the personnel deserved their wages.
Whistleblower Arturo Lascañas, one of the Duterte hitmen who conducted the extrajudicial killing sprees in Davao City, said that was how he was paid for his services. In an interview with Vera Files, he revealed that he received P68,000 every month from the Davao City government as a member of the Davao Death Squad (DDS). The amount, he said, was pooled from 10 to 12 ghost employees whose salaries ranged from P5,000 to P7,000 a month.
Under her father’s presidency, Mayor Sara’s administration was allocated the lion’s share of the P28.1-billion National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) budget.
Besides being a mouthful to spell out, the NTF-ELCAC campaign against suspected front organizations of the communist group seems to be at odds with who the ex-president and current vice president are. They are neither anti-communist nor anti-illegal drugs.
When he was gunning for the presidency, Mr. Duterte announced that if elected he would be the first socialist [read: communist] president. As mayor, he turned Davao City into an R&R haven for the New People’s Army (NPA). He also gave an NPA chieftain – killed in an encounter with the Army – a hero’s burial.
Father and daughter feel they are being assailed from all fronts. But the greatest threat to them is the possible issuance of warrants for their arrest by the ICC.
If that happens, President Marcos may order the Philippine National Police to order their arrest. Up to now, Marcos Jr. blows hot and cold on the issue, but geopolitics might force his hand. The United States, which is propping up his regime, might already be nudging him in that direction. – Rappler.com
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The Marcos-Romualdez vs Duterte Political Dynasties conflict is a blessing in disguise. Had this not happened, Sara Duterte would have enjoyed a large amount of Confidential Funds and the assurance of protection against the ICC. In addition, Pastor Quiboloy and SMNI would have been left untouched, too. Such conflict resulted from: “He and his daughter, Vice President, and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte, were not given what the Uniteam alliance implicitly promised: their share in the division of power and the spoils.” Such unfair sharing is also the result of the uncontrolled and unlimited greed of the controlling political dynasty.
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[In This Economy] Too much hand-waving in the economic charter change debates | D.R Castuciano | 1/3/2024 17:25 | I join my economist colleagues using the term “hand-waving” to describe the current discussions about charter change.
Too many people are joining the discussions without bringing to the table convincing evidence that economic charter change is the solution to the dearth of investments (and other economic woes).
Even economists are hard-pressed, because the literature out there has focused on correlations, not causation, which we know from Statistics 101 are not at all the same.
You see, economists these days put a premium on so-called causal inference: to what extent does X cause Y? Can the effect of X on Y be isolated and quantified?
Applying that to our discussion, exactly how many investments are deterred by restrictions on foreign ownership as found in the 1987 Constitution? I’m afraid that the evidence is simply absent.
In a Senate hearing, for instance, National Scientist Raul Fabella, my colleague at the UP School of Economics, says there is an “anti-investment ecology” in the country and that economic charter change can “reverse the march to the bottom in the investment ladder.”
But the term “anti-investment ecology” itself suggests that there’s a broad set of factors hampering investments, including red tape and corruption, not just the constitution’s restrictions.
Fabella also cited the low investment and saving rate of the Philippines vis-à-vis neighboring Asian countries. In our country, for example, savings were just 22% of total income in 2022; in Vietnam, it’s 33%, and in Indonesia it’s 37%.
But to what extent can the low saving rate be attributed to the constitutional restrictions? That cannot be answered merely by citing descriptive statistics. For all we now, the other important factors in the “anti-investment ecology” – like red tape and corruption – may be driving this correlation.
During a Senate hearing, Fabella also cited the controversy with Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Because a foreign firm could not operate it, the firm had to find a local partner first.
The problem, said Fabella, is that “the partner was embroiled in corruption cases leading to lawsuits that caused the completed Terminal 3 to be mothballed for a decade since delivery in 2002.” It was only in 2014, more than a decade later, that NAIA 3 became fully operational.
Sure, this is an interesting case study. But again, by itself, it does not say that constitutional restrictions are a significant barrier to foreign investments.
After all, there was in fact a wave of foreign investments that came into the country in the early 2010s (see graph below). That happened even without charter change.
Recently, the House of Representatives itself embarked on its own hearings, bringing in experts and also the analysis of in-house economists of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD).
The CPBRD team found that if you control for many variables that could possibly affect foreign investments, “reforms leading to a 10% reduction in the level of foreign equity restrictions…could potentially increase FDI by around 7.7% on average.”
But again, regression analyses like these are just fancier correlations and not exactly causal studies.
Moreover, if you parse their analysis, there are other variables that could have a greater statistical association with FDI, including reducing taxes, increasing the amount of human capital (like education and training), and reducing corruption. (By comparison, reducing the foreign restrictions has a smaller impact in comparison to these other determinants.)
While generally in support of economic charter change, even the House economists admitted that “easing restrictions on foreign ownership alone may not eliminate all barriers to Philippine economic competitiveness,” and “policymakers and investors should consider a range of other factors that can either attract or deter foreign investments.”
Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, meanwhile, in the second day of the House hearings, juxtaposed the House staff economists’ graphs showing that least restrictive sectors (like manufacturing and financial and insurance services) get a larger share of the investment pie.
But this again confuses correlation and causation. The FDI restrictiveness index of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) includes not just constitutional restrictions but also other factors, namely: “foreign equity restrictions, discriminatory foreign investment screening and approval requirements, restrictions on the employment of foreign key personnel, and other operational restrictions (such as limits on purchase of land or on repatriation of profits and capital).”
Moreover, it’s unfair to use the OECD’s restrictiveness data (dated 2020) which cannot possibly reflect the effects of the recently passed liberalization efforts (including the 2022 amendments to the Public Service Act, as well as the 2021 Retail Trade Liberalization Act).
Representative Quimbo accused IBON Foundation of “cherry-picking” the data. But she should be wary of doing it, too. We need to base our analysis on updated data, and not stick to old data that may no longer reflect current realities.
One of the other resource persons, Dr. Hazel Parcon-Santos of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, provided a voice of reason. She said that amending the constitution is not a “silver bullet” to our investment woes, and more studies need to be done on the sectors that economic charter change aims to liberalize.
Moving forward, we need better data and more nuanced debates for something as large and consequential as economic charter change.
On the part of Filipino economists, this presents a challenge to do proper causal studies on FDI inflows. Correlation studies just won’t cut it. Of course, causal studies are no mean feat. But there are tools in the economist’s arsenal to do them.
On the part of everyone participating in the economic charter change debate, this is also an invitation to exercise caution in making claims that economic charter change is a surefire way of boosting the economy.
Otherwise, unfounded claims may gain credence and easily make their way into mainstream discussions, or even propaganda. For instance, some political blogs and posts have already cherry-picked Fabella’s recent statements to advance their own messages.
Worse, we might go the way of other ill-thought policies, like the Maharlika Investment Fund which was blindly passed by Congress using a plethora of woolly economic arguments and hand-waving.
The difference, of course, is that with economic charter change the stakes and risks are much, much higher. – Rappler.com
JC Punongbayan, PhD is an assistant professor at the UP School of Economics and the author of False Nostalgia: The Marcos “Golden Age” Myths and How to Debunk Them. JC’s views are independent of his affiliations. Follow him on Twitter (@jcpunongbayan) and Usapang Econ Podcast.
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The Filipino People are not concerned about correlation and causation but about whatever food they have on their table and the job that brought them the money to buy them. Those tools, including “cherry picking” (or how about “mango picking”?), appeal to those glued to social media but without the exercise of critical thinking. Using the Marcos Government’s Triumvirate’s Corruption-Repression-Disinformation three-headed dragon, it will surely get what it wants. Government economists should toe the government’s line because, as one incident has shown, the exit door easily opens for those who do not.
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How smuggled ultraluxury Bugatti Chirons expose flaws in LTO | lkyu0285 | 1/3/2024 19:39 | SMUGGLED. Composite image of the blue and red smuggled Bugatti Chirons recovered by the Bureau of Customs.
Customs Intelligence & Investigation Services
After a three-week search, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) finally recovered the two luxury sports cars that were smuggled into the Philippines.
These were no ordinary cars. Both were Bugatti Chirons – cars so rare that only 500 units were ever produced from 2016 to 2022 in a Bugatti factory in France. Each is priced at around $3 million or P165 million, an amount that would take the minimum wage earner more than 750 years of daily work to achieve.
The BOC didn’t so much find the cars as have their owners surrender them – perhaps out of fear after Customs called on the public to help spot the sports cars on the road.
But behind the triumph of Customs in its search is a host of questions: How did two of these vehicles find their way to the Philippines? How did the importers and owners cheat the government out of hundreds of millions in duties and taxes? And how did these illegally imported cars get their paperwork done by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) without anyone noticing?
It began in late 2022 when the two luxury cars likely entered the country, as evidenced by a bill of lading dated December 24, 2022 and a certificate of payment issued by Customs on December 27, 2022.
Things get fishy right from the start, as the certificate of payment shows only P24.7 million – or P24,787,838.82 to be exact – was paid in customs duty. Meanwhile, an estimate by Inquirer.net suggests that the customs duty should have been about P49.5 million, with the total duties and taxes supposed to reach more than P160.5 million.
But despite this questionable customs payment, the vehicles were somehow registered under the LTO. The blue Bugatti – with a plate number of NIM5448 – was registered under Thu Trang Nguyen, while the red Bugatti – with plate number NIM5450 – was registered under Mengjun Zhu.
The vehicles were registered with the LTO on the same day, May 30, 2023. This happened to be a turbulent time for the agency. A week before, on May 22, Jose Art Tugade resigned from his post as LTO head over the shortage in plastic cards for drivers’ licenses. Hector Villacorta, a communications assistant secretary for the Department of Transportation (DOTr), only stepped in as LTO’s officer-in-charge on June 1.
That means from May 22 to May 31, the LTO was likely in a messy transition period, and the smuggled vehicles just so happened to have been registered during this window. Coincidence?
So how did these vehicles get through the LTO’s system? It turns out that there are glaring gaps in the system used for vehicle registration, sources close to the LTO told Rappler.
The LTO is currently in the process of transferring all its operations from its old IT system provider, Stradcom, to the government-owned Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal. However, because not all processes have been fully swapped, LTO personnel may still sometimes register vehicles in the old Stradcom IT system rather than the LTMS.
This is, in fact, what happened in the case of the two Bugatti Chirons. The LTMS’ service providers – a joint venture headed by German company Dermalog – said that both luxury vehicles were not registered in the LTMS, asserting they “would not have been able to be registered in LTMS as the robust security features of LTMS would have prevented such registration to occur.”
Sources close to the LTO also separately confirmed to Rappler that the vehicles were not registered in the LTMS. Instead, it seems the vehicles were registered through the LTO’s old IT system provided by Stradcom.
The LTO wrote to Stradcom on February 21, 2024 to ask for an audit trail “to determine who are the personnel involved in the processing of the registration of the said vehicles,” based on an initial report seen by Rappler regarding the LTO-NCR’s investigation into the matter.
The problem is that vehicle registrations processed through the Stradcom IT system have a weaker audit trail, a source close to the LTO told Rappler. This is because under the old system, paper documents are not scanned, making it more difficult for other officers to conduct audits or due diligence.
Another LTO source told Rappler that it might be possible for an improper certificate of payment to get through the system because it is beyond the scope of the LTO’s work to double-check if customs duties were correctly paid. Once the Bureau of Customs electronically reports the certificate of payment, the LTO issues a certificate of stock reported (CSR), a document that acts like a car’s “birth certificate” and serves as evidence that it was manufactured or imported in the Philippines.
The LTO, in its initial report, also seemed to deflect responsibility away from the agency when it came to the issue of the improper certificate of payment and the resulting CSR.
“Liaison officers of the accredited manufacturers, assemblers, and importers are responsible for inputting data into the LTO system based on the Certificate of Payment issued by the BOC. They independently handle all stages, including evaluation, approval, and the printing of the CSR. The LTO’s role is limited to the processing of payments,” the LTO said in its report.
“The validity and processing of the CSR are dependent upon the issuance and successful transmission of the Certificate of Payment issued by the BOC. Although LTO employees play a vital role in vehicle registration, their primary function is to facilitate the application process and ensure adherence to established regulations. Their duties are purely ministerial in nature. As long as the requirements are met, motor vehicle registration would proceed,” the agency added.
But even then, a misdeclared CSR was far from being the only issue here.
Aside from a CSR, an original sales invoice is one of the documents needed to register a vehicle with the LTO. But as with the undervalued customs document, there were also anomalies in the sales invoice for the Bugatti Chirons.
The LTO initial report seen by Rappler questioned why each Bugattin Chiron was listed as worth only P1 million – a fraction of the vehicle’s usual price – in two sales invoices dated May 30, 2023. The two sales invoices also did not indicate the breakdown for 12% value added tax (VAT), VATable sale, VAT-exempt sale, zero-rated sale, and total sale.
Remember, the Bureau of Customs estimated the value of the luxury car at around P165 million each. Similar to what happened with the customs payment, it’s possible that the vehicles were undervalued to lessen or avoid taxes paid.
The question here then becomes how the LTO and its system failed to flag the Bugatti Chirons with conflicting sales prices of only P1 million and customs duties of P24.7 million – both of which were obviously incorrect in the first place.
Rappler reached out to the LTO’s intelligence and investigation head for clarification but received no response.
The irregular sales invoices were issued by Frebel Import and Export Corporation, the same company that imported the vehicles into the Philippines based on the bill of lading.
Based on Frebel’s latest certificate of accreditation obtained by Rappler, the company’s address is at Room 317 Femil Building, A. Soriano Avenue, Barangay 656, Intramuros, Manila, putting it under the jurisdiction of LTO NCR West.
However, Frebel’s initial accreditation as an importer was processed by the LTO NCR East regional office when it should instead have been processed by the LTO NCR West regional office.
Frebel was first certified by Benjamin Santiago, then-regional director for LTO NCR-East on August 11, 2022. Frebel then received a certificate of accreditation as an importer and dealer from Teofilo Guadiz III, who was then the LTO assistant secretary. Guadiz currently sits as the head of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, where he has weathered accusations of corruption. (READ: From LTFRB to Malacañang: Insider says Teofilo Guadiz at center of bribes)
The accreditation history of Frebel as an importer and dealer was irregular, as flagged by the LTO investigation in its report. After the “discovery of the questionable processing of the accreditation of Frebel,” members of the Monitoring Committee for Accreditation of Regional Assessment and Compliance paid a visit to Frebel morning of February 19.
“The inspection report identified the absence of both a showroom and a warehouse at the accredited entity’s registered address. Additionally, the report noted the lack of any visible import or dealer signage,” the LTO said in the initial report seen by Rappler.
In light of this, the LTO’s investigation committee recommended issuing a show cause order against Frebel that would compel them to address potential violations. The committee, in its report, also said that “considering the severity of the alleged violations, the issuance of a preventive suspension is deemed necessary.”
The LTO will also investigate Frebel’s liaison officer and Customs broker, as well as the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission documents.
Again, the LTO seemed to downplay its responsibility to verify the legitimacy of its importers and dealers, pointing instead to a supposed “loophole” in the Manufacturers, Assemblers, Importers, Rebuilders, Dealers and Other Entities (MAIRDOE) portal system that handles the accreditation of importers and dealers.
“Online submissions for accreditation renewal of MAIRDs offered convenience and efficiency, but also raised concerns about bypassing verification processes. This approach offered a loophole that was manipulated to get accredited without meeting all the crucial requirements. In-depth verification procedures are crucial to ensure only qualified importers renew their accreditation,” the LTO said in its initial report.
But the question here is: why did the LTO not do its own due diligence before approving or renewing Frebel’s accreditation as an importer and dealer? A simple site visit would have already revealed Frebel’s lack of a warehouse and showroom. Rappler is trying to get the side of Frebel and will update this story once we are able to.
The DOTr has already requested the National Bureau of Investigation and Jose Lim IV, DOTr’s Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Non-Infrastructure and Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation, to look into the smuggling of the luxury vehicles, a source close to the LTO told Rappler. A copy of the LTO’s report was also submitted to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on February 23, 2024.
Investigators from the NBI and Office of the Solicitor General visited the LTO Central Office on Thursday, February 29, an LTO source told Rappler. Meanwhile, the DOTr has spoken up on the issue, declaring that “documentary and procedural irregularities appear to surround the eventual registration of these luxury vehicles.” – Rappler.com
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Life on tracks: The journey of Santa Mesa’s oldest railway trolley pusher | Herbie G | 23/02/2024 12:02 | TROLLEY. Rodolfo Maurillo and his two-decade-old trolley behind him at the PNR rails in Santa Mesa, Manila.
courtesy of Rafaela Abucejo
MANILA, Philippines – Besides the looming wipeout of traditional jeepneys through the public utility vehicle modernization program, another form of transportation is wary of being stamped out through modernization.
This time, it’s Manila’s illegal transport service, considered as among the world’s most dangerous commutes – the trolleys on Philippine National Railways (PNR).
“Patay! Hindi ‘ata makakatapos ang anak ko (It’s doomed! My son won’t graduate now),” said Rodolfo “Sangkay” Maurillo, reacting when he heard about the PNR’s railroad improvement project through the construction of North-South Commuter Railways (NCSR).
Tatay Sangkay, as his student passengers call him, is a 64-year-old trolley pusher who was among the pioneers of the bizarre transport method in their community in 1979.
His vehicle is a manually pushed handmade wooden cart that plies along the PNR tracks from Santa Mesa to Pandacan station, sending passengers for five to seven minutes from point to point.
In a 2018 article on Yahoo! Finance, the illegal service was dubbed “the world’s most dangerous commute.”
There’s no holding back for Tatay Sangkay to walk on a tightrope every day, pushing his two-decade-old trolley, because it means food on the table. In his case, however, there’s no table to be served food as he lives in a very small shanty alone that he built beside the pile of lumber to be used for the new rails’ construction.
Since he moved to Manila from Leyte around 1979, his family has lived in an informal settlement site in Santa Mesa. In 2007, however, a design company for condominiums demolished their houses and force-relocated their community to Bocaue, Bulacan. This is also the year when his wife gave birth to their only child.
Tatay Sangkay found no opportunities for job openings or any livelihood in the relocation site, so he traveled back to Manila that same year to find a job. Having nowhere to live, the wooden trolley is what he considered his home. The cart has become both his bed and house for 16 years until building his small shelter last year.
Passengers in those times, he said, were still looking for trolleys to ride, so he continued the illegal service even if his wife and infant were left in Bulacan.
Being the oldest trolley pusher in the area, the loud horns of an approaching PNR train do not disconcert him anymore. By pushing the cart carrying, at most, eight people for a single trip, his perseverance to generate income and send money to his family every weekend is what keeps him strong in making ends meet.
Passengers, he said, prefer a trolley ride to other transports to escape the traffic jams of Manila with less smoke and pollution while traveling.
“Ako, masigasig ako kahit matanda na ako (I am still enthusiastic despite my age),” he said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tatay Sangkay was earning around P500 daily. For around P7 to P10 per head, he gave a ride to passengers for a whole day. But before he could earn this much, he had to risk his and his passengers’ lives by dangerously traversing the track where a PNR train shuttles.
In times of pitfall when a train is heading in their direction, he swiftly lifts and carries the trolley to the other side of the track. But once, he and his passengers faced a terrifying moment when two trains approached them from both directions. In a split-second decision, they positioned themselves in the middle of the tracks, along with the trolley, as the trains, each traveling at around 40 kilometers per hour, passed by.
Such precarious situations led the PNR management to ban their operations on the railways in 2019, said Tatay Sangkay. Trolley pushers then negotiated for the continuation of their presence on the tracks, for it being their lone means of living. He claimed they were allowed to return to the dangerous service but limited their operations to certain hours.
Now, Tatay Sangkay and other trolley owners can only operate from 7 am to 8 am, and 4 pm onwards. The limited hours left a huge impact on their incomes because even if the fare has increased to P20 per passenger, he now earns only a maximum of P200 for a day or two.
Seeing his son’s commitment to finish his studies keeps Tatay Sangkay moving forward. The 17-year-old, who is now in senior high school, is bent on pursuing a degree in information technology (IT).
He said thinking about his child’s dedication motivates him on every trip, making him somewhat immune to challenges like heat, danger, and physical constraints while doing push-and-runs on the rail tracks.
“Iniisip ko kasi ‘yung anak ko. ‘Yung anak ko kasi nangako siya sakin: ‘Pa, mag-aaral ako nang mabuti.’ […] Kailangan malakas pakiramdam mo dito. E ako, ingat na ingat din ako kasi sabi ng anak ko, ‘‘Pa, mag-ingat ka, ‘tutuloy ko pagaaral ‘ko.’ Sabi ko, ‘Sige kung ‘yan ang gusto mo.’ Kaya di ako sumusuko dito,” he said.
(I think about my son because he promised me: ‘Pa, I’ll be good in my studies.’ You need to have a strong feeling here. I, myself, I’m always being careful here because my son said, ‘Pa, always watch yourself out, I will continue to study.’ I then replied, ‘I’m okay with that if that’s what you want.’ That’s why I never give up.)
Ellen Ayubit, 67, who was among the relocated families in 2007 with Tatay Sangkay, has been admiring his perseverance for years of pushing trolleys despite its dangers. Working hard to provide education to his son every day, she praised the trolley pusher for working despite his age instead of being a bystander.
But Ayubit, who sees Tatay Sangkay as family, said she always worries when he comes back late from Pandacan to Santa Mesa, fearing that he might have an accident, especially when crossing the bridge over the Pasig River in Paco.
For the construction of NSCR, an elevated, double-track, and electrified train system will be built directly on top of the existing tracks of PNR. The modernization means a total wipeout of the unofficial transport culture in the area, a livelihood that became the bread and butter of a community for almost half a century.
Tatay Sangkay said he hopes that despite the ongoing construction at Alabang Station, his income from pushing trolleys will be enough to support his son’s college expenses and graduation. If trolley-pushing is banned, he said he would switch to pedicab driving, borrowing a sidecar to continue providing for his family.
“Nangangamba rin ako syempre kasi kahit papaano, ‘yung kita ko dito sa riles, sarili kasi eh. Wala akong bina-boundary-han. E nanghihinayang din ako. Ngayon, kung talagang gusto nila [gawin] ‘yung riles, patigilan na kami, wala kaming magagawa. Syempre gobyerno na ‘yun,” he said.
“Kung talagang gusto nila [kami] mapaalis, tumulong sa isang taong kagaya ko, senior [citizen], mabigyan man lang ho ng kahit kaunting kabuhayan, okay na ako. Wala na akong kahilingan,” he added.
(I still fear because at least, what I earn here on the rails is mine. I’m not paying through a boundary system. I feel sorry for its loss. Now, if the government persists in working the rails and banning us, we cannot do anything. They’re the government. If they really want to ban us and help senior citizens like me, a small livelihood will do. I’m okay with that. I have no other wishes.)
When asked how he stays strong, he said praying before each trip gives him the strength to carry on. He also said he believes the rosary hanging on his trolley keeps him safe, along with his family’s trust in him and their faith in God. –with reports from Precious Altura/Rappler.com
Chris Burnet Ramos is a campus journalist from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). A senior news writer for The Communicator, he is also an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow of Rappler for 2023-2024.
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Pura Luka Vega arrested again by Manila Police District | jreyes0314 | 29/02/2024 17:47 | Pura Luka Vega's Instagram
MANILA, Philippines – Drag artist Pura Luka Vega was arrested again by the Manila Police District on Thursday, February 29, DZME News reported.
According to Drag Den showrunner Rod Singh, a Quezon City court issued a warrant of arrest for Pura Luka Vega’s three counts of alleged violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code, which includes immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions, and indecent shows.
“This stemmed from a complaint filed against them by three churches affiliated with the Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM). The recommended bail is P360,000,” Singh wrote in a statement posted on X.
Regarding the arrest of Pura Luka Vega today. To those who would like to help Luka for their bail and legal fees, NAIA @brianblack_ will handle the donation drive. #DragIsArt #DragIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/OirKIGl1G7
Pura Luka Vega is currently detained at the Sta. Cruz Police Station.
This comes just three days after Pura Luka Vega posted bail in Pasay City for six counts of violation of Article 201 “in relation to Section 6 of R.A. 10175” following the Kapisanan ng Social Media Broadcasters ng Pilipinas’ complaint.
Weeks after their video lip syncing to an “Ama Namin” remix while dressed as Jesus Christ went viral, the embattled drag artist was sued by Christian leaders from the PJM on July 31, 2023 for alleged violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Luka got arrested again today. Let’s not panic [because] we know that we can do something about it. For now antabay muna tayo sa (let’s wait) donation drive details for her bail,” drag queen NAIA Black – who organized the embattled drag artist’s fundraising event in October 2023 – later also posted on X.
okay luka got arrested again today. lets not panic bec we know that we can do something about it. for now antabay muna tayo sa donation drive details for her bail #dragisnotacrime
Pura Luka Vega was earlier arrested on October 4, 2023, after their alleged absence from the preliminary investigations of their criminal case in Manila. They later posted bail amounting to P72,000 on October 7, 2023. – Rappler.com
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The Duterte dynasty: Powered by guns | Lian Buan | 11/3/2024 15:38 | The Duterte dynasty: Powered by guns
(2nd UPDATE) Former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family have a combined total of 654 firearms in their possession, according to new information obtained by Rappler
REPUBLISHED MAR 11, 2024 3:38 PM PHTFIRST PUBLISHED MAR 1, 2024 2:30 PM PHTBY Lian Buan, Jairo Bolledo, Jodesz GavilanAll illustrations by Alejandro Edoria
There are already 654 guns in the combined vault of only five members of the powerful and ruling Duterte clan, made up of mostly the handy and easy-to-use pistols and a hundred rifles, documents obtained by Rappler show. (Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, we counted 477, to include only four members of the Duterte family. New information gathered allowed us to update our count.)
The patriarch, former president Rodrigo Duterte, has the most number of firearms in his collection, or 363 assorted weapons, which is five more than we earlier reported which was at the time based on records from October 2023. After our reporting, we obtained the most recent records.
His eldest, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte has about half the size of his father’s vault, or 172 newly-licensed firearms. His youngest son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte has 61, his son-in-law Manases Carpio has 30, and his daughter, Carpio’s wife, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, has 28. We were unable to verify if other members of the family, including the former president’s partner and children in-law, have any firearms.
These documents are in the records of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO), and were verified to be authentic by Rappler. These documents mean that the firearms in these records were licensed.
Former president Duterte passed a law on May 6, 2022 that extended the validity of a firearm to 10 years, when before a license was valid for only four years before it had to be renewed again. The former president benefitted from his own law because his 358 firearms were renewed afterwards, just weeks before he stepped down as president, and obtained 10-year licenses.
The new law he passed, RA 11766, also made it easier for him to obtain a permit to carry outside residence. Part of the amendments made to the old version, RA 10591, listed professions such as lawyers, businessmen, journalists, accountants, as having an assumed threat to their safety and thereby giving them an easier time applying for a permit. In the new law, Duterte added two: an elected official, both former and current such as himself, and retired and active law enforcement personnel.
His children also benefitted from this law because Sara and Sebastian are elected officials too: Sara was Davao City mayor before the 2022 elections, and Sebastian was Davao City vice mayor at the time.
In Sebastian’s vault of 66, there are 24 firearms with 10-year licenses or until 2033 or 2034. Paolo also has 24 firearms with 10-year licenses, because most of the firearms in his vault of 144 are expiring either this year, 2025, or 2026 – which means he can renew them by then and get a fresh 10-year license if he wishes. Sara has six firearms with 10-year licenses, and husband Manases has seven firearms with 10-year licenses expiring in the same period.
The most expensive guns in the vault, according to publicly available market pricing, are the pistols. Paolo’s Wilson Combat EDC X9S is worth P342,500, and Sebastian’s Les Baer 572 Hemi pistol is worth P300,000. The Kriss Vector SDP Gen II, one of which Rodrigo and Sebastian each own, is priced at P261,000.
The Philippines has an enduring problem of gun violence, notoriously committed by the private armies of powerful clans. Past attempts at cracking down, and abolishing the private armies have failed because of watered down legislations, such as not putting a ceiling on the number of guns an individual can own.
The law says an individual possessing at least 15 guns is already a gun collector, and can obtain a Type 5 license, provided she or he passes the required drug and psychological tests, plus a vault inspection.
Although the law does not impose a limit on the number of guns per person, the common gun collector follows regulations as guidance and usually keeps his or her collection to around 15, according to our industry sources. The more avid shooter can have more – for example, former tax commissioner and known gun enthusiast Kim Henares has 40.
Henares believes the law is right not to impose a limit on the number of guns one person can possess, but the former Cabinet member – and the late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s shooting buddy – said the regulators must be strict in the psychological test. Under FEO guidelines, the neuro-psychiatric examination and the drug test should be done by the PNP Health Service and the crime laboratory group, respectively.
“What you should regulate is making sure who holds those guns, right? Even if you allow one person to only have one gun, if he’s unstable, it’s the same thing,” said Henares in a mix of English and Filipino.
The Dutertes did not respond to Rappler’s requests for an interview or statement for this story. Separate requests were sent to the offices of Sara, Paolo, Sebastian, and Manases Carpio. We will update this story once they respond.
Rodrigo and Sara indirectly reacted to Rappler’s stories in separate statements. On March 7, the Vice President posted a video statement, saying the reporting about her guns is part of an “organized demolition job.” She said these allegations aim to tarnish her integrity and create an image that she is a “killer, corrupt, abusive, and a warlord.”
“Makikita natin ito sa pag-atake sa confidential funds, pagpapalaganap ng video sa Commonwealth traffic, paggawa ng issue sa pagtatag ng security para sa Opisina ng Bise Presidente, paglabas ng testigo na umano’y ako ay kaparte ng Davao Death Squad, sa malisyosong ulat tungkol sa aking mga baril, at ang pambabastos sa relasyon namin ng aking asawa,” the Vice President said.
(We can see this through the attack against confidential funds, the viral Commonwealth traffic video, making an issue of the creation of a security unit for the Office of the Vice President, a witness claiming that I am part of the Davao Death Squad, through a malicious report about my guns, and the disrespect for my relationship with my husband.)
On January 30 during a press conference in Davao City, Duterte took a swipe at Rappler’s earlier reporting on his gun collection and said that many of his guns were gifts when he was president, and that all of them are licensed anyway. According to Duterte, he knew that there were inquiries about his gun collection because a cop had tipped him off.
“Kinakalkal ‘yung firearms namin kung magkano, naririnig ko eh, tumawag ‘yung FEO…Lahat ng baril ko, pati maliit na baril, lisensiyado ‘yan. Kasi mahilig ako sa baril, pina-rehistro ko lahat sa Crame. Eh sila nagtanung-tanong, marami kang baril, eh putang-ina tanong mo sa Crame, regalo ‘yan,” said Duterte.
(They were looking into our firearms, how much they were, I heard because someone from the FEO called me…. All of my guns, even my small guns, are licensed. I am into guns, so I registered them all in Crame. But they were asking – you have so many guns, son of a bitch ask Crame, they are gifts.)
The PNP-FEO told Rappler in December 2023 that the rules are uniform for everyone and that a former president such as Duterte does not enjoy special privileges.
However, records bear out that each member of the Duterte clan owns Class-A light weapons, which under RA 10591 can be bought, owned, and licensed only by law enforcement personnel.
Class-A light weapons, under the law, include self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns not exceeding caliber 7.62 mm which have a fully automatic mode. Their FEO records explicitly say that Rodrigo Duterre has 38 Class-A light weapons, Paolo Duterte has 24, Sara Duterte has 3, Sebastian Duterte has 1, and Manases Carpio has 1.
How are they able to license Class-A light weapons, which should have been exclusive to the military, police, and other law enforcement agencies?
It could be because the law’s exception clause applied to them. Because RA 10591 was passed only in 2013, non-law enforcement individuals (like the Dutertes) who possessed Class-A light weapons before 2013 were allowed to continue ownership of such firearms and were only required to renew their licenses. We sought clarification from the FEO on February 20 and followed up on February 28, and again on March 5, but have not yet received a response as of March 11. We will update this story once we do.
We also asked on March 8 whether the PNP will retroactively apply its recently amended internal rules to include more types of firearms in the small arms group, but we got no clear response.
Based on estimates from market retail prices, the Duterte family’s weaponry is worth a total of P24 million. Former president Duterte’s collection is worth around P5.5 million, but his sons’ vaults, although much smaller collections, have more expensive firearms.
Paolo’s collection of 172 is worth P10.2 million – more expensive than his father’s P5.5 million – based on newer documents we obtained. Based on last year’s documents, Sebastian’s collection is worth P5.4 million, Manases Carpio’s collection is worth around P2 million, and Vice President Sara Duterte’s collection is worth around P1.04 million.
When speculations spread that an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was forthcoming, the former president said he would resist arrest and he threatened violence.
“Kapag puntahan nila ako, arestuhin nila ako dito, magkabarilan talaga ‘yan at uubusin ko ang mga putanginang ‘yan (If they come for me, if they arrest me here, there will be a shootout, I will finish all those sons of bitches),” said Duterte.
The ICC is investigating the six years of Duterte’s bloody drug war, and six years of his term as mayor and vice mayor of Davao City for the killings made by the alleged Davao Death Squad.
While the Philippine government still maintains that The Hague has lost jurisdiction over the Philippine case after Duterte withdrew membership from the Court, Prosecutor Karim Khan has successfully appealed to the ICC chamber to let him continue his investigation. The probe has reached a stage where Khan can request for summons or a warrant.
Duterte has also started pushing for a rehashed idea of a Mindanao secession, which he mentioned in a nasty public word war with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in January. Opposition leader and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Duterte’s staunch enemy, said the PNP must cancel his gun licenses if he is threatening to secede.
“Ito ay nag-incite to sedition/secession na. Malamang na gagamitin pa ang mga baril na ‘yan laban sa gobyerno (He is already inciting to sedition/secession. It’s possible he will use those firearms against the government),” Trillanes said.
A witness against Duterte’s friend and spiritual adviser, the controversial doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy, said he had once witnessed Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte leave the preacher’s compound with bags of guns. The witness said this during a Senate investigation into the violations of Quiboloy and his religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) which had been accused of sexual assault.
“Minsan po pumupunta doon si former president Rodrigo Duterte at former Davao mayor Sara Duterte. ‘Pag umalis na po sila sa Glory Mountain, dala na po nila ang mga bag na siya pong mga bag na nilalagyan po ng mga baril,” said the witness during a Senate hearing on February 19. (Sometimes former president Rodrigo Duterte and former Davao mayor Sara Duterte would visit. When they leave the Glory Mountain, they would carry with them bags of guns.)
Sara Duterte responded to this accusation by imputing political motivations. “Sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, naging kagawian na ang pag-atake at pagbato ng sari-saring isyu laban sa Bise Presidente. Marahil, sapagkat ang Bise Presidente ang tumatayong pangunahing hadlang sa mga nangangarap maging pangulo,” she said on February 21.
(In the history of the Philippines, it’s been a tradition to attack and throw issues against the vice president. Perhaps, because the Vice President is the primary obstacle to those who aspire to be president.)
Former president Duterte denied that Quiboloy gave him guns, telling journalists in Davao City on February 27 that: “Kami magtanggap ng baril kay Quiboloy? It is a very stupid proposition. Bakit naman si Pastor Quiboloy magbigay sa akin ng baril? Saan siya kukuha?” (We will get guns from Quiboloy? It is a very stupid proposition. Why would Pastor Quiboloy give me guns, where will he get them?)
INSPECTION. In 1997, then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte checks out an assault rifle after inspecting a crime scene in Davao city. Renato Lumawag/Reuters
SHOOTING RANGE. In the late 1980s, then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte inspects an assault rifle at a shooting range in Davao City. Renato Lumawag/Reuters
UZI. Former mayor Rodrigo Duterte poses with his Uzi submachine gun in the mid-1990s in the mountainous village of Carmen in the Baguio District of Davao City. Reuters
ANTI-TERRORISM. On June 28, 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte is seen with then-Chinese envoy Zhao Jianhua at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga. Rappler
TURNOVER. Former president Rodrigo Duterte hands over the marksman rifle from then-outgoing PNP director general Ronald dela Rosa to then-newly-installed PNP director general Oscar Albayalde during the PNP change of command ceremony on April 19, 2018. Malacañang photo
FROM CHINA. On June 28, 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga, during the turnover by China to the Philippine government of rifles and ammunition to help combat terrorism. Rappler
– with a report from Ferdinand Zuasola/Rappler.com
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Accordingly: “The PNP-FEO told Rappler that the rules are uniform for everyone and that a former president such as Duterte does not enjoy special privileges.” Of course, the PNP-FEO can say this because the new law, RA 11766, was passed by Former President Digong Duterte to have himself as the first beneficiary. Who needs so many firearms? Are they getting them for their private armies? That new law (RA 11766) should be amended based on social justice. But who would want to amend it? It is a law that benefits only a few Filipinos yet would remain unchanged because most of our politicians and businesspersons are its primary beneficiaries – so few yet so powerful.
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Coffee meets cacao as Manila Coffee Festival returns in March | Steph Arnaldo | 1/3/2024 17:36 | STORIES. A coffee farmer shares his farmu2019s online pages with festival-goers interested in his Qahwa Sug coffee from Sulu at the Manila Coffee Festival 2023.
STORIES. A coffee farmer shares his farmu2019s online pages with festival-goers interested in his Qahwa Sug coffee from Sulu at the Manila Coffee Festival 2023. Photo courtesy of Manila Coffee Festival
MANILA, Philippines – The Manila Coffee Festival will be brewing again this year!
The highly anticipated coffee festival will be back on March 15 to 17 at the MGBx Conventional Hall, Marriott Manila, Newport World Resorts in Pasay City, organized by The Coffee Heritage Project.
On its sixth year, the lifestyle event will add a new aspect to the experience: cacao. Called the coffee bean’s “sweet partner,” The Manila Coffee Festival will house a new “Cacao Alley,” which features locally processed single-origin cacao; authentic chocolates from Maranaw, Sarangani, Cotabato, and Batangas; and sustainable products using the popular bonbon.
The Single Origin Bar, which highlights Filipino coffee farmers’ single-origin coffees for guests to taste and enjoy, will still be around. An additional 10 new sources will be added to the roster. The event will showcase the stories behind each origin and even cultural performances by the local communities of these coffee farms.
Alcoholic coffee cocktails will also be served at the “Double Shot Bar,” using espresso shots of single-origin Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica beans.
Many more coffee-centric events are in store, such as workshops, talks, competitions, and hundreds of local exhibitors – from specialty roasters like Yardstick Coffee, brunch spot Maker and Made, sorbetes shop Papa Diddi’s, and more.
A Regular Pass costs P350, while the Espresso Pass costs P850, which offers the three-day experience of unlimited access to all events. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) are eligible for a discounted rate of P200. Tickets can be bought online.
The Manila Coffee Festival’s mission is to showcase that “coffee is more than just a commodity but a part of our cultural identity, which we commit to sustain.”
Prior to the 2023 run in the same location, its last edition was held in April 2022 at Intramuros, Manila, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Before that, it was held in March 2020, shortly before the start of lockdown, at Manila Hotel’s Tent City. – Rappler.com
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NAIAx Tramo access ramp in Pasay now open | lkyu0285 | 1/3/2024 17:36 | NOW OPEN. View from the newly opened Tramo access ramp of the NAIAx.
San Miguel Corporation
MANILA, Philippines – A new access ramp for the NAIA Expressway (NAIAx) has opened in Tramo, Pasay City.
The 800-meter access ramp will cater to southbound traffic in EDSA coming from Makati, or northbound traffic coming from Entertainment City, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), the conglomerate that operates NAIAx, said in a press statement.
“This Tramo access ramp provides another option for motorists heading to the airport, and other areas in Paranaque City and Cavite province. We believe it can help relieve overall traffic congestion in the area, and improve traffic flow within the vicinity of the airport,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said during the access ramp’s opening on Friday, March 1.
Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan also said that the government and SMC are looking into “further improvements” for NAIAx to cater to the growing passenger volume of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The NAIAx is an 11-kilometer elevated toll expressway that connects the Skyway System to the country’s main international airport. It also connects to Entertainment City, Macapagal Boulevard, Sucat Road, and roads leading to Cavite.
San Miguel won the rights to NAIAx after it offered an P11-billion cash bid in 2013, which was significantly higher than the P305-million bid by a Metro Pacific Investments Corporation subsidiary.
A San Miguel-led consortium earlier won the bid for the NAIA rehabilitation project after it offered a government revenue share that was more than double that of the next highest bidder. SMC’s group is expected to take over operations of the Philippines’ main airport within the next six months.
– Rappler.com
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[Ask The Tax Whiz] Are cross-border services taxed in the Philippines? | Mia Gonzalez | 1/3/2024 15:00 | Shutterstock
Yes. Cross-border services or International Service Provision is a service-based company which operates in various countries, providing services to clients where the source of income is determined by the location of where the services are performed.
For the other similar services, as long as the services that follow the same concept of being provided, processed, or performed overseas and then utilized, applied, executed, or consumed within the Philippines, this is still considered as international service provision.
Per RMC 5-2024, cross border transactions are subject to 25% Final Withholding Tax and 12% Final Withholding VAT. As the services are conducted or paid abroad but there are activities essential to be performed in the Philippines and the said services are utilized, applied, executed, or consumed within the Philippines, they shall be subject to the said taxes.
The reimbursable or allocable expense charged by the foreign corporation in the Philippines should contribute to the value or benefit since it is an additional payment made by the domestic corporation. Thus, the said charge to the domestic corporation reduces the foreign corporation’s expenses and shall be considered as a financial gain for the foreign corporation.
The 2024 International Tax and Investment Conference successfully concluded on February 27, 2024, at the Sheraton Manila Hotel. The International Tax and Investment Roadshow (ITIR) is scheduled to commence in March 2024. This initiative aims to promote investment and business activities in the Philippines across 15 states and countries through a series of events, starting with the East Asia Cluster. Visit www.acg.ph for more information.
If you have other tax issues or concerns, consult us.
– Rappler.com
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The ‘Dune: Part Two’ cast on costumes, politics, and veils | Steph Arnaldo | 1/3/2024 12:21 | FILE PHOTO: The cast attends the world premiere of the film "Dune: Part Two" at Leicester Square, in London, Britain, February 15, 2024.
REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
LOS ANGELES, USA – The sci-fi epic Dune saga, based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel and starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, returns for its second installment this week in Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed film adaption.
The Canadian director takes audiences back to the desert planet Arrakis for his follow-up to 2021’s Dune, with Chalamet’s Paul Atreides joining forces with Zendaya’s Chani and the Arrakis locals, known as the Fremen, to seek revenge against those who killed his father.
Reuters spoke to Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, who returns as Paul’s mother Jessica; Austin Butler, who plays villain Feyd-Rautha; and Florence Pugh, who portrays Princess Irulan, about the film.
Below are excerpts edited for clarity and length.
Q: Is the story reflective of society today?
Chalamet: “It’s sort of a warning against charismatic leaders. I think that was one of Frank Herbert’s thematic goals.”
Q: What was your reaction the first time you saw yourself in all the makeup?
Butler: “It’s such a gift when you look at yourself in the mirror and you’re not seeing you, and almost never more so have I felt that than on this … from those first makeup tests, it really started to shape the way that I felt as Feyd and it started to spark my imagination in different ways.”
Q: How did you feel about your extravagant costumes?
Pugh: “I knew that it was going to be something magical. I had no idea it was going to be any of the outfits that I wore and I was just so surprised. … They’re all very much inspired by Japanese kimonos and Japanese trousers and the shoes.”
Q: What was your daily routine like with your tattoos and costumes?
Ferguson (giving an anecdote): “I went to a costume fitting and (costume designer) Jacqueline (West) was like, ‘So Denis wants veils’… it (was) like veils upon veils, upon veils upon a chain mail and then veils. … So I had to call him and I was like ‘Dude, what is, what is this? And I was like, I’m taking it away. My ego is being crushed underneath this thing’.”
Q: Will there be another film?
Chalamet: “The dream is to do another one. Obviously, this film would have to have a certain … amount of success … to warrant a third one. But … everyone is super game. How could you not be?” – Rappler.com
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Punching incident mars FEU rout of UST in UAAP boys’ football finale | delfin.dioquino editor | 1/3/2024 14:25 | KICK. Bryan Villanueva in action for the FEU-Diliman Baby Tamaraws in the UAAP Season 86 high school boys' football tournament.
UAAP
MANILA, Philippines – A punching incident marred the FEU-Diliman Baby Tamaraws’ championship rout of the UST Junior Golden Booters in the UAAP Season 86 high school boys’ football tournament on Thursday, February 29.
UST goalkeeper Ben Sabuga punched FEU defender Bryan Villanueva after the Baby Tamaraws captured their 12th consecutive crown with a 3-0 demolition of the Junior Golden Booters at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
While the rest of his teammates were celebrating, Villanueva walked past the UST bench and appeared to shush fans in the crowd.
Sabuga then rushed from his place near the goal post and hit Villanueva at the back of the head.
Ben Sabuga attacks Bryan Ezekiel Villanueva for celebrating after winning the chip.pic.twitter.com/lJc7SOHPHK
Cooler heads prevailed, but not without Junior Golden Booters head coach Marjo Allado giving Sabuga an earful for his careless act.
The match gave the players a chance to showcase their wares as new Philippine men’s football team head coach Tom Saintfiet watched.
FEU star Theo Libarnes scored in the final for his seventh goal of the season to clinch the Golden Boot and Best Striker awards.
Baby Tamaraws senior Gian Carlo Lucha earned season MVP honors, while UST’s Edcel Lauron and Kent Laurenz dela Peña bagged the Best Goalkeeper and the Best Midfielder awards, respectively. – Rappler.com
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Smart leads with PH’s best 5G Coverage and Availability, Opensignal results show | gbarrientos0280 | 1/3/2024 15:16 | PLDT mobile services arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) delivers the best 5G Coverage and 5G Availability in the Philippines, according to independent analytics firm Opensignal.
5G refers to the latest global wireless standard characterized by fast data speeds, ultra-low latency, greater reliability, improved capacity, and efficiency for users.
Based on Opensignal’s latest Mobile Network Experience Report* covering July to September 2023, Smart dominated in five categories, including 5G Availability, 5G Coverage, 5G Download Speed, 5G Upload Speed, and Overall Download Speed.
“Smart remains unbeaten on 5G Availability – the operator has won every 5G Availability award outright since Opensignal’s first report on the Filipino 5G experience back in October 2021,” said Sam Fenwick, Opensignal Principal Analyst and author of the report.
“This recognition stems from our mission to provide Filipinos with the best mobile experience possible,” said Alex O. Caeg, Head of Smart Consumer Wireless Business.
“As 5G gains more traction among Filipinos, our network is well-positioned to unlock all the game-changing benefits of 5G for our customers wherever and whenever they need it,” said Kristine A. Go, SVP for Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.
“Many people usually turn to their fiber connection at home for high-bandwidth activities. With Smart 5G, our subscribers can take this superior experience on the go for seamless connectivity – it’s like they never left their home,” Go added.
Smart’s widest 5G Coverage and Availability enable customers to instantly post photos, reels, or stories of their memorable travel adventures across the country; easily upload and share their epic concert and festival moments even in jampacked outdoor venues; have the edge on their peers while playing their favorite mobile games with 5G’s low-latency; and even work on live-selling or livestream content on the go without interruption.
According to Opensignal, Smart is the first operator in the Philippines to win the new 5G Coverage Experience award, which measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work, and travel.
“On the other hand, securing the 5G Availability award meant that Smart 5G users spent more time with an active 5G connection compared to subscribers of other networks,” said Eric S. Santiago, FVP for Network at PLDT and Smart.
Smart’s network performance is enabled by the PLDT Group’s integrated fixed and wireless networks. Smart’s mobile network, which covers 97% of the population, is supported by PLDT’s fiber infrastructure, which was at over 1.1 million kilometers as of end-September 2023.
Smart’s network initiatives are aligned with the PLDT Group’s endeavors to provide connectivity to all, and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) particularly on SDG No. 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure. These also reinforce the Group’s support for the Government’s overall digitalization thrust. – Rappler.com
PRESS RELEASE
*Opensignal Awards – Philippines: Mobile Network Experience Report October 2023, based on independent analysis of mobile measurements recorded during the period July 1– September 28, 2023 © 2024 Opensignal Limited.
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Spreading the culture of alaga: Jodi Sta. Maria wants us to #SayItWithIngat | gbarrientos0280 | 28/02/2024 18:13 | We all know this age-old phrase: Words have power. It only takes a second to say them, but their impact can spark strong emotions and even change perspectives for the rest of someone’s life. And in the age of social media, words are thrown out so much in posts, comments, or videos that strangers have lost care in wielding its power.
With the masks of online crowds and anonymity, negativity has been too easy to spread. Take it from actress Jodi Sta. Maria, who has her fair share of online bashers and haters. “Hindi ka magaling umarte, overrated ka. It’s really about my work,” said Jodi when asked what these people say. Yet, she still finds a way to give it a kinder spin. “Tawag ko nga sa kanila is confused fans.”
Her line of work as a public figure requires her to stay connected with her fans online through social media, for better or for worse. But in her many years of dabbling with these platforms, she’s found that the best way to respond with online hate is to use something even stronger – the Filipino culture of alaga and ingat.
Jodi wants to remind us that at the end of the day, social media is just a tool. “‘Yung social media platform, wala naman talaga siyang power to begin with. It’s just a platform, it’s just an app,” she said.
“Pero tayong mga tao ang may kapasidad kung ano ang magiging purpose ng social media [platform] mo. Are you going to use it para mag spread ng hate? Are you going to use it para mag spread ng encouragement or comfort? It’s really up to you.”
So, what’s a litmus test you can use to check if you’re saying things with ingat? Jodi recommends asking these questions first: “Is it something na kaya mong sabihin without hiding behind the egg icon? Are these the words na sasabihin mo sa sarili mo mismo?”
Jodi also recognizes that you can’t really control what others do. But what you can control is what you can do for yourself. She started doing regular social media detoxing years ago, because she feels it pulls focus from the parts of life that are truly important – like the present, and her loved ones around her.
She also uses this time to be more introspective about what haters say to her. “What I do when I get triggered by a comment is I acknowledge that a particular comment hurt me, or didn’t sit well with me. Then I read the comment again, and ask myself: What is it about this comment that pushed a button? Sometimes it becomes a window to the unhealed parts of me. So I [will] try to work on that.”
Jodi believes that hate is something cyclical, and we can begin breaking it by saying and doing things with ingat. As a recent psychology graduate, she shares about a research paper she wrote in 2019 on bullies’ motivations to be hateful. “I refused to believe na may mga tao na ipinanganak lang talaga sila para gumising every single day at intensyon nila gumising araw-araw ay para sabihing ibu-bully ko si [ganito], pahihirapan ko siya today.”
According to her research, she found that bullies are likely to be recipients of emotional, mental, or even physical abuse in their private lives, like in their home. They then find a target outside of that environment to project onto. “Life is hard and people have emotions – I guess ‘yan ang masasabi [ko] when it comes to being mindful of what we say,” said Jodi.
Now, Jodi’s a strong example and advocate for answering hate with alaga. She uses her platform and partnerships, like the #SayItWithIngat campaign with Paracetamol (Biogesic), to spread this message.
“I am really happy with this partnership with Paracetamol (Biogesic) on our advocacy [against] hate comments,” she said. “‘Yung alaga kasi, hindi lang pang sakit ng ulo at lagnat, but we also care for the emotional and mental well-being of others [through the #SayItWithIngat Campaign].”
To those who carry hurt from online hate, Jodi has this to say. “Just because a person has an opinion about you, it does not make it true. May you find the wisdom to know whether to engage or let go. And I hope that you heal from what hurt you. But always remember to those who know you and truly love you, you are enough.”
Even though it’s painful to receive hate online, we must remember that responding with kindness can be more powerful and impactful over time. Before you hit send on your posts, remember to take a deep breath, think about your words, and #SayItWithIngat.
To learn more about the movement, follow Paracetamol (Biogesic) on Facebook and listen to Jodi’s Paano Ba ‘To: The Podcast episode. – Rappler.com
If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
ASC U0050P022624B
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NAIA’s surot-infested rattan chairs, once its pride, are now gone | lkyu0285 | 1/3/2024 13:10 | RATTAN. Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, then-MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong, and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco walk beside the newly installed rattan chairs in NAIA Terminal 2.
Screenshot from the DOT Facebook video
After news broke out of passengers reportedly being bitten by bed bugs in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the airport’s operator has been quick to throw out what was once its pride: the rattan chairs that adorned NAIA Terminal 2.
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has now pulled out all of the rattan chairs in Terminal 2 after pest control service providers deemed them to be “prone to infestation,” MIAA Executive Assistant Chris Bendijo said in a Radyo5 interview on Friday, March 1.
The MIAA Media Affairs Division confirmed to Rappler that all rattan chairs have been removed “subject to disinfection.”
How did the chairs, which only arrived last year, go from a symbol of local culture to another bad mark on NAIA?
Earlier, MIAA issued a public apology after a passenger’s post about the bed bugs in the airport went viral. The passenger told Rappler that the bed bugs that bit them were particularly located in the rattan chairs of the arrival side of NAIA Terminal 2.
MIAA has reached out to the passenger and offered to compensate them for their medical expenses.
Those rattan chairs, which looked beautiful were it not for the creepy crawlers that they hid, are now gone. They were originally added as part of a “new and improved look” for NAIA Terminal 2.
Just last April 2023, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation set about renovating the terminal and adding Filipino-made solihiya lamps and panels, mini-gardens, and “enticing rattan chairs.”
#NAIATerminal2 gets a new look 🥰😍Relish the beauty of the Filipino-inspired look of NAIA T2, where solihiya lamps hang…
In a video by the Department of Tourism, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco is seen lounging around the rattan furniture, along with Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and then-MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong. A few days later, Frasco posted a photo of her and several children sitting on the rattan seats in Terminal 2 while waiting for their luggage to arrive.
“The craftsmanship and talent of our Filipino furniture makers is truly world class,” the tourism secretary said. “Maka-proud!”
Not even a year later, the same chairs – now infested with bugs – have been pulled out.
And it’s not just the rattan chairs that are problematic. In January 2023, a public video also showed bed bugs crawling and peeking out of the holes of the metal gang chairs at NAIA Terminal 3.
Bendijo said that they’ve already pulled out the gang chairs as well, which will be sprayed with chemical disinfectants.
“Kakaibang species ng surot ang kanilang nakita (They saw a unique kind of bed bug species),” Bendijo said about what their pest control service provider found.
Bendijo also said they’re studying the performance of their pest control and housekeeping service providers. Currently, pest control is done quarterly while housekeeping personnel disinfect chairs daily using alcohol-based disinfectant during the airport’s non-peak hours.
“Itong mga service agreement na ito, aaralin po natin kung kailangan bang mas dikit ‘yung interval … para sigurado pong wala po talagang infestation ng ating mga upuan,” he said in the Radyo5 interview.
(We’ll study these service agreements to see if we need to make them more frequent…to really prevent any infestation of our chairs.)
Before this incident, NAIA already suffered from congestion and a lack of seating. But Bendijo said that MIAA has taken steps to ensure that seats will still be available in the terminals even now that several chairs have been pulled out for disinfection. MIAA is also considering procuring more chairs to replace the rattan chairs.
The country’s ailing international airport is due to get a total rehabilitation soon. A consortium led by San Miguel is expected to take over as NAIA’s operator within the next three to six months while MIAA will remain as a regulator. – Rappler.com
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The Duterte dynasty: Powered by guns | Lian Buan | 11/3/2024 15:38 | The Duterte dynasty: Powered by guns
(2nd UPDATE) Former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family have a combined total of 654 firearms in their possession, according to new information obtained by Rappler
REPUBLISHED MAR 11, 2024 3:38 PM PHTFIRST PUBLISHED MAR 1, 2024 2:30 PM PHTBY Lian Buan, Jairo Bolledo, Jodesz GavilanAll illustrations by Alejandro Edoria
There are already 654 guns in the combined vault of only five members of the powerful and ruling Duterte clan, made up of mostly the handy and easy-to-use pistols and a hundred rifles, documents obtained by Rappler show. (Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, we counted 477, to include only four members of the Duterte family. New information gathered allowed us to update our count.)
The patriarch, former president Rodrigo Duterte, has the most number of firearms in his collection, or 363 assorted weapons, which is five more than we earlier reported which was at the time based on records from October 2023. After our reporting, we obtained the most recent records.
His eldest, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte has about half the size of his father’s vault, or 172 newly-licensed firearms. His youngest son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte has 61, his son-in-law Manases Carpio has 30, and his daughter, Carpio’s wife, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, has 28. We were unable to verify if other members of the family, including the former president’s partner and children in-law, have any firearms.
These documents are in the records of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO), and were verified to be authentic by Rappler. These documents mean that the firearms in these records were licensed.
Former president Duterte passed a law on May 6, 2022 that extended the validity of a firearm to 10 years, when before a license was valid for only four years before it had to be renewed again. The former president benefitted from his own law because his 358 firearms were renewed afterwards, just weeks before he stepped down as president, and obtained 10-year licenses.
The new law he passed, RA 11766, also made it easier for him to obtain a permit to carry outside residence. Part of the amendments made to the old version, RA 10591, listed professions such as lawyers, businessmen, journalists, accountants, as having an assumed threat to their safety and thereby giving them an easier time applying for a permit. In the new law, Duterte added two: an elected official, both former and current such as himself, and retired and active law enforcement personnel.
His children also benefitted from this law because Sara and Sebastian are elected officials too: Sara was Davao City mayor before the 2022 elections, and Sebastian was Davao City vice mayor at the time.
In Sebastian’s vault of 66, there are 24 firearms with 10-year licenses or until 2033 or 2034. Paolo also has 24 firearms with 10-year licenses, because most of the firearms in his vault of 144 are expiring either this year, 2025, or 2026 – which means he can renew them by then and get a fresh 10-year license if he wishes. Sara has six firearms with 10-year licenses, and husband Manases has seven firearms with 10-year licenses expiring in the same period.
The most expensive guns in the vault, according to publicly available market pricing, are the pistols. Paolo’s Wilson Combat EDC X9S is worth P342,500, and Sebastian’s Les Baer 572 Hemi pistol is worth P300,000. The Kriss Vector SDP Gen II, one of which Rodrigo and Sebastian each own, is priced at P261,000.
The Philippines has an enduring problem of gun violence, notoriously committed by the private armies of powerful clans. Past attempts at cracking down, and abolishing the private armies have failed because of watered down legislations, such as not putting a ceiling on the number of guns an individual can own.
The law says an individual possessing at least 15 guns is already a gun collector, and can obtain a Type 5 license, provided she or he passes the required drug and psychological tests, plus a vault inspection.
Although the law does not impose a limit on the number of guns per person, the common gun collector follows regulations as guidance and usually keeps his or her collection to around 15, according to our industry sources. The more avid shooter can have more – for example, former tax commissioner and known gun enthusiast Kim Henares has 40.
Henares believes the law is right not to impose a limit on the number of guns one person can possess, but the former Cabinet member – and the late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s shooting buddy – said the regulators must be strict in the psychological test. Under FEO guidelines, the neuro-psychiatric examination and the drug test should be done by the PNP Health Service and the crime laboratory group, respectively.
“What you should regulate is making sure who holds those guns, right? Even if you allow one person to only have one gun, if he’s unstable, it’s the same thing,” said Henares in a mix of English and Filipino.
The Dutertes did not respond to Rappler’s requests for an interview or statement for this story. Separate requests were sent to the offices of Sara, Paolo, Sebastian, and Manases Carpio. We will update this story once they respond.
Rodrigo and Sara indirectly reacted to Rappler’s stories in separate statements. On March 7, the Vice President posted a video statement, saying the reporting about her guns is part of an “organized demolition job.” She said these allegations aim to tarnish her integrity and create an image that she is a “killer, corrupt, abusive, and a warlord.”
“Makikita natin ito sa pag-atake sa confidential funds, pagpapalaganap ng video sa Commonwealth traffic, paggawa ng issue sa pagtatag ng security para sa Opisina ng Bise Presidente, paglabas ng testigo na umano’y ako ay kaparte ng Davao Death Squad, sa malisyosong ulat tungkol sa aking mga baril, at ang pambabastos sa relasyon namin ng aking asawa,” the Vice President said.
(We can see this through the attack against confidential funds, the viral Commonwealth traffic video, making an issue of the creation of a security unit for the Office of the Vice President, a witness claiming that I am part of the Davao Death Squad, through a malicious report about my guns, and the disrespect for my relationship with my husband.)
On January 30 during a press conference in Davao City, Duterte took a swipe at Rappler’s earlier reporting on his gun collection and said that many of his guns were gifts when he was president, and that all of them are licensed anyway. According to Duterte, he knew that there were inquiries about his gun collection because a cop had tipped him off.
“Kinakalkal ‘yung firearms namin kung magkano, naririnig ko eh, tumawag ‘yung FEO…Lahat ng baril ko, pati maliit na baril, lisensiyado ‘yan. Kasi mahilig ako sa baril, pina-rehistro ko lahat sa Crame. Eh sila nagtanung-tanong, marami kang baril, eh putang-ina tanong mo sa Crame, regalo ‘yan,” said Duterte.
(They were looking into our firearms, how much they were, I heard because someone from the FEO called me…. All of my guns, even my small guns, are licensed. I am into guns, so I registered them all in Crame. But they were asking – you have so many guns, son of a bitch ask Crame, they are gifts.)
The PNP-FEO told Rappler in December 2023 that the rules are uniform for everyone and that a former president such as Duterte does not enjoy special privileges.
However, records bear out that each member of the Duterte clan owns Class-A light weapons, which under RA 10591 can be bought, owned, and licensed only by law enforcement personnel.
Class-A light weapons, under the law, include self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns not exceeding caliber 7.62 mm which have a fully automatic mode. Their FEO records explicitly say that Rodrigo Duterre has 38 Class-A light weapons, Paolo Duterte has 24, Sara Duterte has 3, Sebastian Duterte has 1, and Manases Carpio has 1.
How are they able to license Class-A light weapons, which should have been exclusive to the military, police, and other law enforcement agencies?
It could be because the law’s exception clause applied to them. Because RA 10591 was passed only in 2013, non-law enforcement individuals (like the Dutertes) who possessed Class-A light weapons before 2013 were allowed to continue ownership of such firearms and were only required to renew their licenses. We sought clarification from the FEO on February 20 and followed up on February 28, and again on March 5, but have not yet received a response as of March 11. We will update this story once we do.
We also asked on March 8 whether the PNP will retroactively apply its recently amended internal rules to include more types of firearms in the small arms group, but we got no clear response.
Based on estimates from market retail prices, the Duterte family’s weaponry is worth a total of P24 million. Former president Duterte’s collection is worth around P5.5 million, but his sons’ vaults, although much smaller collections, have more expensive firearms.
Paolo’s collection of 172 is worth P10.2 million – more expensive than his father’s P5.5 million – based on newer documents we obtained. Based on last year’s documents, Sebastian’s collection is worth P5.4 million, Manases Carpio’s collection is worth around P2 million, and Vice President Sara Duterte’s collection is worth around P1.04 million.
When speculations spread that an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was forthcoming, the former president said he would resist arrest and he threatened violence.
“Kapag puntahan nila ako, arestuhin nila ako dito, magkabarilan talaga ‘yan at uubusin ko ang mga putanginang ‘yan (If they come for me, if they arrest me here, there will be a shootout, I will finish all those sons of bitches),” said Duterte.
The ICC is investigating the six years of Duterte’s bloody drug war, and six years of his term as mayor and vice mayor of Davao City for the killings made by the alleged Davao Death Squad.
While the Philippine government still maintains that The Hague has lost jurisdiction over the Philippine case after Duterte withdrew membership from the Court, Prosecutor Karim Khan has successfully appealed to the ICC chamber to let him continue his investigation. The probe has reached a stage where Khan can request for summons or a warrant.
Duterte has also started pushing for a rehashed idea of a Mindanao secession, which he mentioned in a nasty public word war with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in January. Opposition leader and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Duterte’s staunch enemy, said the PNP must cancel his gun licenses if he is threatening to secede.
“Ito ay nag-incite to sedition/secession na. Malamang na gagamitin pa ang mga baril na ‘yan laban sa gobyerno (He is already inciting to sedition/secession. It’s possible he will use those firearms against the government),” Trillanes said.
A witness against Duterte’s friend and spiritual adviser, the controversial doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy, said he had once witnessed Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte leave the preacher’s compound with bags of guns. The witness said this during a Senate investigation into the violations of Quiboloy and his religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) which had been accused of sexual assault.
“Minsan po pumupunta doon si former president Rodrigo Duterte at former Davao mayor Sara Duterte. ‘Pag umalis na po sila sa Glory Mountain, dala na po nila ang mga bag na siya pong mga bag na nilalagyan po ng mga baril,” said the witness during a Senate hearing on February 19. (Sometimes former president Rodrigo Duterte and former Davao mayor Sara Duterte would visit. When they leave the Glory Mountain, they would carry with them bags of guns.)
Sara Duterte responded to this accusation by imputing political motivations. “Sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, naging kagawian na ang pag-atake at pagbato ng sari-saring isyu laban sa Bise Presidente. Marahil, sapagkat ang Bise Presidente ang tumatayong pangunahing hadlang sa mga nangangarap maging pangulo,” she said on February 21.
(In the history of the Philippines, it’s been a tradition to attack and throw issues against the vice president. Perhaps, because the Vice President is the primary obstacle to those who aspire to be president.)
Former president Duterte denied that Quiboloy gave him guns, telling journalists in Davao City on February 27 that: “Kami magtanggap ng baril kay Quiboloy? It is a very stupid proposition. Bakit naman si Pastor Quiboloy magbigay sa akin ng baril? Saan siya kukuha?” (We will get guns from Quiboloy? It is a very stupid proposition. Why would Pastor Quiboloy give me guns, where will he get them?)
INSPECTION. In 1997, then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte checks out an assault rifle after inspecting a crime scene in Davao city. Renato Lumawag/Reuters
SHOOTING RANGE. In the late 1980s, then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte inspects an assault rifle at a shooting range in Davao City. Renato Lumawag/Reuters
UZI. Former mayor Rodrigo Duterte poses with his Uzi submachine gun in the mid-1990s in the mountainous village of Carmen in the Baguio District of Davao City. Reuters
ANTI-TERRORISM. On June 28, 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte is seen with then-Chinese envoy Zhao Jianhua at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga. Rappler
TURNOVER. Former president Rodrigo Duterte hands over the marksman rifle from then-outgoing PNP director general Ronald dela Rosa to then-newly-installed PNP director general Oscar Albayalde during the PNP change of command ceremony on April 19, 2018. Malacañang photo
FROM CHINA. On June 28, 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga, during the turnover by China to the Philippine government of rifles and ammunition to help combat terrorism. Rappler
– with a report from Ferdinand Zuasola/Rappler.com
Error.
Please abide by Rappler's commenting guidelines.
Accordingly: “The PNP-FEO told Rappler that the rules are uniform for everyone and that a former president such as Duterte does not enjoy special privileges.” Of course, the PNP-FEO can say this because the new law, RA 11766, was passed by Former President Digong Duterte to have himself as the first beneficiary. Who needs so many firearms? Are they getting them for their private armies? That new law (RA 11766) should be amended based on social justice. But who would want to amend it? It is a law that benefits only a few Filipinos yet would remain unchanged because most of our politicians and businesspersons are its primary beneficiaries – so few yet so powerful.
How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/duterte-dynasty-powered-by-guns/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3vTOPtQDwnBwXJfJlp983RKRG77rpw4IewgHTX4hx8QH18oy_pniz1_Fk_aem_Ufu--xi_c9JUIEsNAlgBcw |
The Duterte dynasty: Powered by guns | Lian Buan | 11/3/2024 15:38 | The Duterte dynasty: Powered by guns
(2nd UPDATE) Former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family have a combined total of 654 firearms in their possession, according to new information obtained by Rappler
REPUBLISHED MAR 11, 2024 3:38 PM PHTFIRST PUBLISHED MAR 1, 2024 2:30 PM PHTBY Lian Buan, Jairo Bolledo, Jodesz GavilanAll illustrations by Alejandro Edoria
There are already 654 guns in the combined vault of only five members of the powerful and ruling Duterte clan, made up of mostly the handy and easy-to-use pistols and a hundred rifles, documents obtained by Rappler show. (Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, we counted 477, to include only four members of the Duterte family. New information gathered allowed us to update our count.)
The patriarch, former president Rodrigo Duterte, has the most number of firearms in his collection, or 363 assorted weapons, which is five more than we earlier reported which was at the time based on records from October 2023. After our reporting, we obtained the most recent records.
His eldest, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte has about half the size of his father’s vault, or 172 newly-licensed firearms. His youngest son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte has 61, his son-in-law Manases Carpio has 30, and his daughter, Carpio’s wife, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, has 28. We were unable to verify if other members of the family, including the former president’s partner and children in-law, have any firearms.
These documents are in the records of the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO), and were verified to be authentic by Rappler. These documents mean that the firearms in these records were licensed.
Former president Duterte passed a law on May 6, 2022 that extended the validity of a firearm to 10 years, when before a license was valid for only four years before it had to be renewed again. The former president benefitted from his own law because his 358 firearms were renewed afterwards, just weeks before he stepped down as president, and obtained 10-year licenses.
The new law he passed, RA 11766, also made it easier for him to obtain a permit to carry outside residence. Part of the amendments made to the old version, RA 10591, listed professions such as lawyers, businessmen, journalists, accountants, as having an assumed threat to their safety and thereby giving them an easier time applying for a permit. In the new law, Duterte added two: an elected official, both former and current such as himself, and retired and active law enforcement personnel.
His children also benefitted from this law because Sara and Sebastian are elected officials too: Sara was Davao City mayor before the 2022 elections, and Sebastian was Davao City vice mayor at the time.
In Sebastian’s vault of 66, there are 24 firearms with 10-year licenses or until 2033 or 2034. Paolo also has 24 firearms with 10-year licenses, because most of the firearms in his vault of 144 are expiring either this year, 2025, or 2026 – which means he can renew them by then and get a fresh 10-year license if he wishes. Sara has six firearms with 10-year licenses, and husband Manases has seven firearms with 10-year licenses expiring in the same period.
The most expensive guns in the vault, according to publicly available market pricing, are the pistols. Paolo’s Wilson Combat EDC X9S is worth P342,500, and Sebastian’s Les Baer 572 Hemi pistol is worth P300,000. The Kriss Vector SDP Gen II, one of which Rodrigo and Sebastian each own, is priced at P261,000.
The Philippines has an enduring problem of gun violence, notoriously committed by the private armies of powerful clans. Past attempts at cracking down, and abolishing the private armies have failed because of watered down legislations, such as not putting a ceiling on the number of guns an individual can own.
The law says an individual possessing at least 15 guns is already a gun collector, and can obtain a Type 5 license, provided she or he passes the required drug and psychological tests, plus a vault inspection.
Although the law does not impose a limit on the number of guns per person, the common gun collector follows regulations as guidance and usually keeps his or her collection to around 15, according to our industry sources. The more avid shooter can have more – for example, former tax commissioner and known gun enthusiast Kim Henares has 40.
Henares believes the law is right not to impose a limit on the number of guns one person can possess, but the former Cabinet member – and the late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s shooting buddy – said the regulators must be strict in the psychological test. Under FEO guidelines, the neuro-psychiatric examination and the drug test should be done by the PNP Health Service and the crime laboratory group, respectively.
“What you should regulate is making sure who holds those guns, right? Even if you allow one person to only have one gun, if he’s unstable, it’s the same thing,” said Henares in a mix of English and Filipino.
The Dutertes did not respond to Rappler’s requests for an interview or statement for this story. Separate requests were sent to the offices of Sara, Paolo, Sebastian, and Manases Carpio. We will update this story once they respond.
Rodrigo and Sara indirectly reacted to Rappler’s stories in separate statements. On March 7, the Vice President posted a video statement, saying the reporting about her guns is part of an “organized demolition job.” She said these allegations aim to tarnish her integrity and create an image that she is a “killer, corrupt, abusive, and a warlord.”
“Makikita natin ito sa pag-atake sa confidential funds, pagpapalaganap ng video sa Commonwealth traffic, paggawa ng issue sa pagtatag ng security para sa Opisina ng Bise Presidente, paglabas ng testigo na umano’y ako ay kaparte ng Davao Death Squad, sa malisyosong ulat tungkol sa aking mga baril, at ang pambabastos sa relasyon namin ng aking asawa,” the Vice President said.
(We can see this through the attack against confidential funds, the viral Commonwealth traffic video, making an issue of the creation of a security unit for the Office of the Vice President, a witness claiming that I am part of the Davao Death Squad, through a malicious report about my guns, and the disrespect for my relationship with my husband.)
On January 30 during a press conference in Davao City, Duterte took a swipe at Rappler’s earlier reporting on his gun collection and said that many of his guns were gifts when he was president, and that all of them are licensed anyway. According to Duterte, he knew that there were inquiries about his gun collection because a cop had tipped him off.
“Kinakalkal ‘yung firearms namin kung magkano, naririnig ko eh, tumawag ‘yung FEO…Lahat ng baril ko, pati maliit na baril, lisensiyado ‘yan. Kasi mahilig ako sa baril, pina-rehistro ko lahat sa Crame. Eh sila nagtanung-tanong, marami kang baril, eh putang-ina tanong mo sa Crame, regalo ‘yan,” said Duterte.
(They were looking into our firearms, how much they were, I heard because someone from the FEO called me…. All of my guns, even my small guns, are licensed. I am into guns, so I registered them all in Crame. But they were asking – you have so many guns, son of a bitch ask Crame, they are gifts.)
The PNP-FEO told Rappler in December 2023 that the rules are uniform for everyone and that a former president such as Duterte does not enjoy special privileges.
However, records bear out that each member of the Duterte clan owns Class-A light weapons, which under RA 10591 can be bought, owned, and licensed only by law enforcement personnel.
Class-A light weapons, under the law, include self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns not exceeding caliber 7.62 mm which have a fully automatic mode. Their FEO records explicitly say that Rodrigo Duterre has 38 Class-A light weapons, Paolo Duterte has 24, Sara Duterte has 3, Sebastian Duterte has 1, and Manases Carpio has 1.
How are they able to license Class-A light weapons, which should have been exclusive to the military, police, and other law enforcement agencies?
It could be because the law’s exception clause applied to them. Because RA 10591 was passed only in 2013, non-law enforcement individuals (like the Dutertes) who possessed Class-A light weapons before 2013 were allowed to continue ownership of such firearms and were only required to renew their licenses. We sought clarification from the FEO on February 20 and followed up on February 28, and again on March 5, but have not yet received a response as of March 11. We will update this story once we do.
We also asked on March 8 whether the PNP will retroactively apply its recently amended internal rules to include more types of firearms in the small arms group, but we got no clear response.
Based on estimates from market retail prices, the Duterte family’s weaponry is worth a total of P24 million. Former president Duterte’s collection is worth around P5.5 million, but his sons’ vaults, although much smaller collections, have more expensive firearms.
Paolo’s collection of 172 is worth P10.2 million – more expensive than his father’s P5.5 million – based on newer documents we obtained. Based on last year’s documents, Sebastian’s collection is worth P5.4 million, Manases Carpio’s collection is worth around P2 million, and Vice President Sara Duterte’s collection is worth around P1.04 million.
When speculations spread that an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was forthcoming, the former president said he would resist arrest and he threatened violence.
“Kapag puntahan nila ako, arestuhin nila ako dito, magkabarilan talaga ‘yan at uubusin ko ang mga putanginang ‘yan (If they come for me, if they arrest me here, there will be a shootout, I will finish all those sons of bitches),” said Duterte.
The ICC is investigating the six years of Duterte’s bloody drug war, and six years of his term as mayor and vice mayor of Davao City for the killings made by the alleged Davao Death Squad.
While the Philippine government still maintains that The Hague has lost jurisdiction over the Philippine case after Duterte withdrew membership from the Court, Prosecutor Karim Khan has successfully appealed to the ICC chamber to let him continue his investigation. The probe has reached a stage where Khan can request for summons or a warrant.
Duterte has also started pushing for a rehashed idea of a Mindanao secession, which he mentioned in a nasty public word war with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in January. Opposition leader and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Duterte’s staunch enemy, said the PNP must cancel his gun licenses if he is threatening to secede.
“Ito ay nag-incite to sedition/secession na. Malamang na gagamitin pa ang mga baril na ‘yan laban sa gobyerno (He is already inciting to sedition/secession. It’s possible he will use those firearms against the government),” Trillanes said.
A witness against Duterte’s friend and spiritual adviser, the controversial doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy, said he had once witnessed Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte leave the preacher’s compound with bags of guns. The witness said this during a Senate investigation into the violations of Quiboloy and his religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) which had been accused of sexual assault.
“Minsan po pumupunta doon si former president Rodrigo Duterte at former Davao mayor Sara Duterte. ‘Pag umalis na po sila sa Glory Mountain, dala na po nila ang mga bag na siya pong mga bag na nilalagyan po ng mga baril,” said the witness during a Senate hearing on February 19. (Sometimes former president Rodrigo Duterte and former Davao mayor Sara Duterte would visit. When they leave the Glory Mountain, they would carry with them bags of guns.)
Sara Duterte responded to this accusation by imputing political motivations. “Sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, naging kagawian na ang pag-atake at pagbato ng sari-saring isyu laban sa Bise Presidente. Marahil, sapagkat ang Bise Presidente ang tumatayong pangunahing hadlang sa mga nangangarap maging pangulo,” she said on February 21.
(In the history of the Philippines, it’s been a tradition to attack and throw issues against the vice president. Perhaps, because the Vice President is the primary obstacle to those who aspire to be president.)
Former president Duterte denied that Quiboloy gave him guns, telling journalists in Davao City on February 27 that: “Kami magtanggap ng baril kay Quiboloy? It is a very stupid proposition. Bakit naman si Pastor Quiboloy magbigay sa akin ng baril? Saan siya kukuha?” (We will get guns from Quiboloy? It is a very stupid proposition. Why would Pastor Quiboloy give me guns, where will he get them?)
INSPECTION. In 1997, then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte checks out an assault rifle after inspecting a crime scene in Davao city. Renato Lumawag/Reuters
SHOOTING RANGE. In the late 1980s, then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte inspects an assault rifle at a shooting range in Davao City. Renato Lumawag/Reuters
UZI. Former mayor Rodrigo Duterte poses with his Uzi submachine gun in the mid-1990s in the mountainous village of Carmen in the Baguio District of Davao City. Reuters
ANTI-TERRORISM. On June 28, 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte is seen with then-Chinese envoy Zhao Jianhua at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga. Rappler
TURNOVER. Former president Rodrigo Duterte hands over the marksman rifle from then-outgoing PNP director general Ronald dela Rosa to then-newly-installed PNP director general Oscar Albayalde during the PNP change of command ceremony on April 19, 2018. Malacañang photo
FROM CHINA. On June 28, 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga, during the turnover by China to the Philippine government of rifles and ammunition to help combat terrorism. Rappler
– with a report from Ferdinand Zuasola/Rappler.com
Error.
Please abide by Rappler's commenting guidelines.
Accordingly: “The PNP-FEO told Rappler that the rules are uniform for everyone and that a former president such as Duterte does not enjoy special privileges.” Of course, the PNP-FEO can say this because the new law, RA 11766, was passed by Former President Digong Duterte to have himself as the first beneficiary. Who needs so many firearms? Are they getting them for their private armies? That new law (RA 11766) should be amended based on social justice. But who would want to amend it? It is a law that benefits only a few Filipinos yet would remain unchanged because most of our politicians and businesspersons are its primary beneficiaries – so few yet so powerful.
How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/duterte-dynasty-powered-by-guns/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1TmRr_vPNGb84QLA7fe8iW8zrPcTdvYioWgiUFUunUXJrInBpLz9biKFM_aem_xwYU7Rs3PGU1_Xa8oZnQHw |
Filipino hog farmers set Guinness World Record for most variety of pork dishes on display | Iya Gozum | 1/3/2024 14:36 | An official adjudicator from the Guinness World Records check the display of more than 300 pork dishes in Quezon City on Friday, March 1.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Local hog farmers set the first Guinness World Record for the most variety of pork dishes on display on Friday, March 1, during the launch of the five-day National Hog Festival 2024 in Gateway Mall 2 in Quezon City.
There were 313 pork dishes on display, from an initial 341 dishes; 28 were disqualified for not meeting Guinness’ guidelines. An official adjudicator from the Guinness World Records, along with industry experts, went around the display to evaluate the dishes.
“Our organization aims to promote the interests of the local and agricultural sector by promoting food security, food safety, and food sovereignty,” said Alfred Ng, vice chairman of the the National Federation of Hog Farmers (NatFed).
“With the hog festival, we also hope to boost our country’s tourism by highlighting our rich culinary tradition of serving pork dishes.”
Among the dishes displayed were lechon, pork barbecue, char siu, pork ribs, and pork belly.
Senator Cynthia Villar, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, and members of NatFed, opened the pork festival on Friday with a ceremonial lechon chopping.
The celebration proves the hog industry is thriving despite setbacks, said Jayson Cainglet, executive director of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura.
“Despite our struggles with the African Swine Fever (ASF), pork smuggling and unlimited importation, the local hog industry remains vibrant, positive, and will continue to produce clean, safe, and wholesome food that will cater to our pork-loving Filipino consumers,” Cainglet said in a statement.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel also graced the event and was on stage when the adjudicator presented the certificate of the world record.
He said that the Department of Agriculture continues to monitor and respond to new ASF cases.
“Our immediate focus involves reinforcing biosecurity measures, enhancing quarantine protocols, and implementing robust sanitation practices in hog farms nationwide to prevent further outbreaks,” said the agriculture secretary.
The first three days of the festival will take place in Araneta City, featuring pop-up bazaars and a regional pork feast of a nine-course meal crafted by celebrated chefs.
A backyard congress will take place on March 5 at the Marikina Convention Center.
– Rappler.com
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How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/philippines/filipino-hog-farmers-set-guinness-world-record-most-variety-pork-dishes/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2zZzz9qn631C3tShbn6mW7RHXijD6XMTQNNLh7_LPqV663I_ZERGfxZy8_aem_iV4i9D1P8VdlWr5SqiZysA |
Filipino hog farmers set Guinness World Record for most variety of pork dishes on display | Iya Gozum | 1/3/2024 14:36 | An official adjudicator from the Guinness World Records check the display of more than 300 pork dishes in Quezon City on Friday, March 1.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Local hog farmers set the first Guinness World Record for the most variety of pork dishes on display on Friday, March 1, during the launch of the five-day National Hog Festival 2024 in Gateway Mall 2 in Quezon City.
There were 313 pork dishes on display, from an initial 341 dishes; 28 were disqualified for not meeting Guinness’ guidelines. An official adjudicator from the Guinness World Records, along with industry experts, went around the display to evaluate the dishes.
“Our organization aims to promote the interests of the local and agricultural sector by promoting food security, food safety, and food sovereignty,” said Alfred Ng, vice chairman of the the National Federation of Hog Farmers (NatFed).
“With the hog festival, we also hope to boost our country’s tourism by highlighting our rich culinary tradition of serving pork dishes.”
Among the dishes displayed were lechon, pork barbecue, char siu, pork ribs, and pork belly.
Senator Cynthia Villar, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, and members of NatFed, opened the pork festival on Friday with a ceremonial lechon chopping.
The celebration proves the hog industry is thriving despite setbacks, said Jayson Cainglet, executive director of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura.
“Despite our struggles with the African Swine Fever (ASF), pork smuggling and unlimited importation, the local hog industry remains vibrant, positive, and will continue to produce clean, safe, and wholesome food that will cater to our pork-loving Filipino consumers,” Cainglet said in a statement.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel also graced the event and was on stage when the adjudicator presented the certificate of the world record.
He said that the Department of Agriculture continues to monitor and respond to new ASF cases.
“Our immediate focus involves reinforcing biosecurity measures, enhancing quarantine protocols, and implementing robust sanitation practices in hog farms nationwide to prevent further outbreaks,” said the agriculture secretary.
The first three days of the festival will take place in Araneta City, featuring pop-up bazaars and a regional pork feast of a nine-course meal crafted by celebrated chefs.
A backyard congress will take place on March 5 at the Marikina Convention Center.
– Rappler.com
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GAME SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball | jisaga0269 | 8/5/2024 20:35 | It’s down to the last two teams standing as the University of Santo Tomas and National University battle for the UAAP volleyball championship in both the women’s and men’s divisions!
The league’s best separate themselves from the pack as the Final Four showdown kicks off! Here’s the schedule:
UAAP Season 86 volleyball action intensifies as the second round of the men’s and women’s divisions begins on Wednesday, March 20.
The contenders will separate themselves from the pack, with each game determining which teams will make the Final Four. Here’s the schedule:
Volleyball action is back in the UAAP!
Stars from both men’s and women’s divisions are set to ply their growing skill sets once again in front of thousands of fans, beginning on Saturday, February 17 and Sunday, February 18, both at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Here are the first-round schedules for both divisions:
*The March 13 games will be played at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Notable matches include women’s champion La Salle’s debut against contending Adamson on Saturday, 4 pm, at MOA, while men’s three-time defending titlist NU rolls into an immediate finals rematch with UST on Sunday, 12 pm, also at the same venue.
La Salle and NU – finalists in the last two women’s tournaments with one title won each – will wrap up their first-round schedule on March 16, 2 pm at Araneta. – Rappler.com
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[DOCUMENTARY] Marcos Jr. and Hawaii: Dictator’s son returns to land of his exile | Dwight de Leon | 28/02/2024 16:00 | MANILA, Philippines – It was a triumphant homecoming for the dictator’s son.
During the 38th anniversary month of the EDSA People Power Revolution, Rappler revisits President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s return to Hawaii in November 2023, more than three decades since his family’s exile in the island-state as a result of the uprising.
Rappler’s political reporter Dwight de Leon met with longtime anti-Marcos community leaders and diehard loyalists, to better understand how a family ousted by bloodless revolt sought refuge for years on an island that is over 5,000 miles away from the Philippines.
He also sat down with younger generations of Filipino immigrants who, in their small ways, continue to resist, despite being overwhelmed in numbers by a large group of pro-Marcos supporters in Hawaii.
Ang Muling Pagtapak ni Marcos Jr. sa Hawaii (Marcos Jr.’s Return to Hawaii) features interviews with the following people:
Nearly four decades since the People Power Revolution, the question remains: Will Filipinos ever learn to rise above myths? – Rappler.com
Reporter/Writer: Dwight de LeonProducers: Cara Angeline Oliver, JC GotingaVideographer: Jeff DigmaVideo Editors: Jen Agbuya, Jaene ZaplanAnimation: Guia AbogadoGraphic Artists: Nico Villarete, Alyssa ArizabalSupervising Producer: Beth Frondoso
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LISTEN: On My Playlist – March 2024 | Cara Angeline Oliver | 31/03/2024 13:47 | On My Playlist is a monthly playlist of songs from Rappler’s Live Jam artists.
This month’s playlist include song recommendations from O SIDE MAFIA, HEY JUNE!, and the cast of Sandbox’s ‘Spelling Bee’ musical.
The hip-hop trio composed of Costa Cashman, Madman Stan, and Gee Exclsv will be performing their latest catchy, percussion-heavy track “Get Low” – which debuted in December last year – as well as other songs “My Thang (Go Getta 2) and “O Getta.”
O SIDE MAFIA comes from the nickname “O Side,” which is a street in Malate, Manila close to their hearts. The group began releasing videos in 2020, and proceeded to explore their different musical styles throughout the pandemic. Eventually, O SIDE MAFIA solidified their Bay Area-inspired music with an “angsty vibe,” utilizing “ominous bells, growling bass, and grimy vocal delivery.” They describe their trap metal style as similar to New York’s City Morgue.
The young musicians are celebrating the release of their debut album Curiosity Killed the Cat, which brings a fresh and youthful sound to the OPM scene, paired with relatable lyrics about life and their emotions that they want to “acknowledge and release.” Through their music, they want explore their anger, confusion, frustrations, and hope for the future.
The rock-pop trio was formed in 2021, and is composed of Jim Mase (vocals, guitars, and synth), Coey Ballesteros (bass and backup vocals), and Aci Fodra (drums). They performed four songs: “Biglang Taob,” “Lasik,” “Asan Ang Gana Ko”, and “Panahon.”
The talented and young cast of The Sandbox Collective’s one-of-a-kind interactive comedy musical will be performing a series of songs from the hit musical, which tackles the joys and pains of growing up and healing your inner child.
The Spelling Bee cast members AC Bonifacio, who plays Marcy Park; Ron Balgos, who plays William Barfée; Krystal Brimner, who plays Olive Ostrovsky; and Jordan Andrews, who plays Mitch Mahoney performed songs from the musical.
— Rappler.com
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Queer counter-mapping in EKSENA!’s short film program | Marguerite de Leon | 31/03/2024 14:07 | Still from Samantha Lee’s 'IT WAS A LOVE STORY (AFTER ALL).'
Queer cinema, like the scale of experiences it draws from, is hard to fit into a singular mold and mode. If anything, its fluidity is the very thing that excites both its maker and viewer, well aware that queerness behaves that way — spontaneous, fraught, raw, suffused with mess and color — despite many attempts to contain it into a cinematic canon. Like cinema at large, it continues to evolve. It finds, if not carves out, new spaces through which new ways of framing prosper. Within queer cinema, possibilities are boundless. There is pushback and insistence, because how else can one grapple with the incoherence of marginality?
In its first iteration, EKSENA!’s short film program gestures toward this effort of centering queer realities by curating seven Filipino-made short films spanning four decades: Raul Sarmienta’s Honey (1983), Allan Brocka’s Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in the World (2000), Paolo Villaluna’s Palugid (2001), Keana Trasporte’s Ang High School at Si Olive (2016), Beverly Ramos’s Dory (2017), Mark Felix Ebreo’s This is Not a Coming Out Story (2022), and Samantha Lee’s It Was A Love Story (After All) (2022).
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“We wanted to kind of posit this idea that queer filmmakers [are] still in the periphery of making movies,” says program co-curator Petersen Vargas, after the first screening at Sine Pop, Cubao. “We always had to find our own ways…like we’re not in the mainstream or no one’s gonna fund [our] projects immediately. So we wanted to tell that story through the program na parang paano siya ginawa nung ’80s (the way we did it in the ’80s) and then the ’90s, and it’s like all these modes of production na feeling ko (which I feel are) DIY in a way. And it’s encouraging that we’ve survived through those modes of production.”
But the showcase not only tracks how queer film practice has evolved over time. More than anything, it excavates the rich yet cruel history that has shaped, if not eroded, Filipino queer lives, a counter-mapping of some sort. And each work in the lineup might affect the viewer to varying degrees. One is more refined than the other. One towers over the rest for its filmic daring. Another tugs at the heart. Some are saved by sheer nostalgia. All of them vary in form and approach. Yet, when stitched together, the whole thing makes sense in capturing the “representations of wayward queer desire and longing,” as co-curator Kaj Palanca puts it, informed by the temporal and cultural distance between each film.
“Whereas once there could have only been self-abasing confessions of desire, now no apologia for queer romance is needed. At turns sincere then ironic, sober then deeply decadent, these films testify to a queer Filipino cinema that will not merely survive, but persist and flourish against all odds,” Palanca writes in the curatorial notes.
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While the program tours the audience around the alternative sights of Filipino queer cinema, it equally foregrounds the material conditions that relegate queer populations to the margins, arguing that queer issues inevitably point to human rights issues, which is also among the integral points raised in the talk complementing the program moderated by Jade Castro, featuring National Artist Ricky Lee, JP Habac, and Samantha Lee.
“Dahil aktibista ako noong panahon ng Martial Law, nung ginawa ko ‘yung mga pelikula noon, ang concern ko eh maging writer na nagbibigay ng boses sa mga walang boses, sa mga dispossessed, sa mga tinanggalan ng human rights, which would include OFWs, prostitutes, gays, lesbians, and so on. Mas ‘yun ‘yung sakop ng mga pelikula ko kaya hindi ko kinunsider na nakapokus lang ako sa gays or lesbians,” says Ricky Lee of this intersectionality.
(Since I was an activist during Martial Law, my concern when I was making those films was to be a writer who gave a voice to the dispossessed, to those who’ve been stripped of their human rights, which would include OFWs, prostitutes, gays, lesbians, and so on. My films covered all of those more, so I didn’t consider them simply gay or lesbian films.)
He adds, “At the onset, ‘pag nagsusulat ako, iniisip ko agad na political lahat ng ginagawa ko. When I say political, hindi siya personal. Hopefully, it will affect people. It will affect social situations, social conditions. In that sense, political siya.”
(At the onset, when I write, I immediately assume that what I’m doing is political. When I say political, it’s not personal. Hopefully, it will affect people. It will affect social situations, social conditions. In that sense, it’s political.)
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The national artist also notes how existing heteronormative forces continue to deny the personhood of queer people on and beyond the screen, which largely factor into the heightened hostility towards them and why the SOGIE equality bill has been languishing in Congress for over two decades now. “Hindi sila nagiging buong tao, ang daming nagtatanggal ng pagkatao nila. So ang ipinaglalaban natin ay human rights para maging pantay lahat.”
(They’re kept from being fully-formed humans, so much of their humanity is stripped away. So we’re fighting for human rights to provide equality for all.)
Even if queer narratives break through the noise, considering the stream of content relentlessly produced by big studios and online platforms, meaningful depictions of such narratives are still often up for debate. Sadly, the lack of inclusive and thoughtful representation is a common fixture in Filipino queer cinema.
“Well, noong panahong ‘yun, wala kang mapapanood na tamang representation ng gays or lesbians, at iba pa. Ang mga gays noon, pampatawa, mga Jack and Jill type, o ‘di kaya may sakit na kailangang gamutin, o biktima, o ‘di kaya mare-reform at magiging lalaki, o magiging babae si lesbian. Halos lahat ganoon at mahirap mag-pitch ng project na ‘yung tamang representation,” Ricky Lee points out. “So hindi nila papayagan in the real sense, ilulusot mo lang noong panahon namin.”
(Back then, you wouldn’t be able to see gays, lesbians, and others properly depicted. Gays were just comic relief, the Jack and Jill type, or had an illness that needed healing, or was a victim, or would be reformed and become straight. That’s how things were then and it was hard to pitch projects that depicted proper representation.)
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For JP Habac, of romantic comedy I’m Drunk, I Love You, this remains to be the case, despite the passage of time and the progress that the queer community has achieved since. “Ako ‘yung goal ko kasi parang sana makakita ako ng…like kunwari, every Valentine’s Day of every year parang sana nakakakita tayo ng romcom na queer characters ‘yung nasa big screen…. And I think para ma-achieve mo ‘yung dream na ‘yun, you have to be really rebellious about your scripts, about your stories. Kasi kung panay ‘yung compromise, at wala namang masama sa pagko-compromise, pero kung palagi na lang nagko-compromise, hindi mo maa-achieve ‘yung dream na ‘yun.”
(My goal is, for example, that every Valentine’s Day, we could see romcoms with queer characters. And I think that in order to achieve that dream, you have to be really rebellious with your scripts, your stories. Because if we keep compromising – and there’s nothing wrong with compromising – but if we always do that every single time, you won’t be able to achieve that dream.)
The problem also extends to casting queer actors in queer roles. And when they do land these roles, the next dilemma is whether they’d get new offers or none at all, as in the case of Zar Donato, an out queer actor who starred in Samantha Lee’s coming-of-age drama Billie and Emma.
“After Billie and Emma, sobrang hirap na hirap siyang makahanap ng follow-up roles,” shares the director. “So as a filmmaker na nag-cast sa kanya, I feel bad din kasi parang, oh binigyan kita ng lead role for your first film, tapos after that wala nang sumalo sa iyo, so feeling ko problem pa rin ‘yung pagiging out na actor sa industry.”
(After Billie and Emma, she had such a hard time finding follow-up roles. So as the filmmaker who cast her, I felt bad too, because I gave you the lead role in your first film, and then nobody hired you after that, so I feel like being an out actor in the industry is still a problem.)
“So the hope is not to be the avatar for representation. It’s actually to…sana mapadali ‘yung buhay ng ibang tao (make life easier for other people),” she adds.
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Acknowledging these cracks in the current terrain of Philippine cinema, Ricky Lee points out that the overhaul must be done collectively, beginning with elevating the sensibilities of the audience.
“Halimbawa, kung ang consciousness ng mga manonood natin ay very progressive na gaya nang pag-iisip natin, walang magagawa ang producers except sumunod. Actually, ang purchasing power, nasa audience, sila ang magdidikta kung anong gagawin ng producers. Kaya lang, hindi pa natin namumulat totally ‘yung audience natin para ‘yun ang puntahan. So anywhere na puntahan ng audience, pupuntahan ng producers, pati ‘yung mga artista na takot na [tumanggap ng queer roles].”
(For instance, if our viewers are progressive and like-minded, producers have no choice but to relent. The audience has the purchasing power, they’re the ones who get to tell the producers what to do. The thing is, however, we haven’t educated the audience enough to steer them in that direction. So wherever the audience goes, that’s where producers go to, as well as the artists who are afraid to take on queer roles.)
The veteran screenwriter adds, “It’s an overall problem, which becomes our problem kasi I think it’s our problem na tumulong na mag-raise ng consciousness sa lahat ng mga tao sa paligid natin para maging safe na lugar sa paggawa ng mga pelikula, material, at kuwentong gusto natin. Tayo ang magki-create nung dagat na ‘yun. At hindi natin magagawa ‘yun sa paisa-isang pelikula lang o isang tao. Tulong-tulong tayo lahat.”
(I think we need to raise the consciousness of everyone around us in order to create a safe space to make the films, material, and stories we want. We are the ones who will create that space. But we can’t do it with just one film every now and then, or through just one person. We need to work together.)
EKSENA!, in a sense, contributes to this collective, and certainly protracted, effort. With each picture it highlights, it stakes that defiance, no matter how granular, is possible in a reactionary industry. It forces us to look at the screen with different vantage points, to fixate on these obscured lives, to those who have learned to take comfort in the fringes, to see queerness as something real, lived, and meaningful, and not an abstract concept to be forsaken, to be shamed. Above anything, it is a document of where we came from, where we are now, and where we can go. – Rappler.com
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PhilDec 2.0: Experts discuss digital rights and democracy, advocate for AI use and literacy | Victor Barreiro Jr. | 31/03/2024 11:13 | Recognizing the evolving digital landscape shaped by technical advancements and socio-technical realities, professionals discussed the impact of digital advancements on Philippine democracy and rights in the Philippine Declaration of Internet Rights and Principles (PhilDec 2.0).
The plenary session of the Digital Rights Conference, held at Ateneo de Manila University last Thursday, March 21, also featured discussions on several key points, including artificial intelligence (AI), human rights, gender, environmental sustainability, and the post-pandemic digital ecosystems.
Alan Alegre, former executive director of the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), along with other information and communications technology (ICT), media and human rights experts, stressed the need for an updated declaration. It addresses challenges made more difficult by the digital economy, such as the digital divide, hijacked democracies, disinformation, and the post-pandemic effects on digital rights and health.
“The digital economy as we were looking at it in 2015 has changed so much, both from what is developed technologically but also politically,” Alegre said.
In a 14-page draft, Alegre highlighted several newly added principles: addressing disinformation and harmful content to mitigate the harms to democracy and the digital public sphere; the sustainable use of the internet and ICTs amid the climate emergency; addressing power imbalances in digital societies through regulation, content moderation, and transparency; promoting more effective and equitable e-health systems; ICT systems and electoral integrity; and challenges posed by AI.
PhilDec 2.0 also included revisions from the initial declaration from 2015, emphasizing: open access to scientific, research, and academic content; addressing gender-based violence online through concrete programs and mechanisms to foster a transformative and safe internet space; and promoting human capital development through education, digital literacy, and e-learning including AI literacy.
Alegre expressed hope that PhilDec 2.0 would become a “strategic reference” for various stakeholders, guiding its use in public education, policy development, social and political advocacy, and efforts related to gender and AI.
Discussing AI literacy, Alegre said the education system is “broken,” calling it a challenge that needs to be addressed. Online learning, he added, exacerbated the challenges, revealing disparities in internet access as people share gadgets in barangays and schools.
The Philippines scored among the lowest in the December 2023 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 rankings, placing 77th out of 81 countries. Filipino students continued to struggle in reading, mathematics, and science, positioning the nation near the bottom in these key subjects.
“It’s a challenge, (but) we have to start somewhere, and the specific area of digital is important to build capacity strategically on all levels [such as] literacy, life-long learning, higher education, etc.,” Alegre said.
For Dominic Ligot, founder of CirroLytix and Data Ethics PH, AI needs to “become real and tangible to everyone” as it represents the next evolution of the internet, particularly generative AI.
Ligot advocated the use of AI “for good” by starting with risk management. This included recommendations for a discussion on the harms versus benefits of AI, its compliance with laws, and moral principles and guidelines governing the development and deployment of the use of AI technologies.
“Ethics talaga ang bottomline. (Ethics really is the bottomline), Ligot said. “Is it fair, is it transparent, and who is accountable? If we can cover those three bases, maybe we can make a difference.” he added.
Alegre addressed AI’s potential perils across economic, political, social, and environmental spheres, including job displacement, algorithmic bias, discrimination, privacy erosion, and the weaponization of AI, especially concerning elections, privacy, and gender issues. This underscores the necessity of a “human-centered approach” in AI development and deployment for its promised “innovation.”
Despite concerns about AI, Alegre explained that there should be adoption of AI, but with “stricter development and deployment guidelines.”
“We cannot allow AI to steer itself and to steer us. There has to be a human-centered approach,” he stressed.
To achieve a human-centered approach, Alegre advocates for mitigating discrimination and bias, along with increased transparency, data protection, and a robust framework for certification, compliance audits, and accountability.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Lallana, chief executive of IdeaCorp Inc., warned of “anthropomorphism”, emphasizing that AI is “not about creating a human being,” but rather examining its models and algorithms.
“If you first understand the technology, then we’ll probably be in a better world,” Lallana said. – with reports from Angelica Paller/Rappler.com
Editor’s note: A previous version of the current article named Alan Alegre as the current executive director of the Foundation for Media Alternatives. He is the former executive director. This has been corrected.
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LISTEN: On My Playlist – March 2024 | Cara Angeline Oliver | 31/03/2024 13:47 | On My Playlist is a monthly playlist of songs from Rappler’s Live Jam artists.
This month’s playlist include song recommendations from O SIDE MAFIA, HEY JUNE!, and the cast of Sandbox’s ‘Spelling Bee’ musical.
The hip-hop trio composed of Costa Cashman, Madman Stan, and Gee Exclsv will be performing their latest catchy, percussion-heavy track “Get Low” – which debuted in December last year – as well as other songs “My Thang (Go Getta 2) and “O Getta.”
O SIDE MAFIA comes from the nickname “O Side,” which is a street in Malate, Manila close to their hearts. The group began releasing videos in 2020, and proceeded to explore their different musical styles throughout the pandemic. Eventually, O SIDE MAFIA solidified their Bay Area-inspired music with an “angsty vibe,” utilizing “ominous bells, growling bass, and grimy vocal delivery.” They describe their trap metal style as similar to New York’s City Morgue.
The young musicians are celebrating the release of their debut album Curiosity Killed the Cat, which brings a fresh and youthful sound to the OPM scene, paired with relatable lyrics about life and their emotions that they want to “acknowledge and release.” Through their music, they want explore their anger, confusion, frustrations, and hope for the future.
The rock-pop trio was formed in 2021, and is composed of Jim Mase (vocals, guitars, and synth), Coey Ballesteros (bass and backup vocals), and Aci Fodra (drums). They performed four songs: “Biglang Taob,” “Lasik,” “Asan Ang Gana Ko”, and “Panahon.”
The talented and young cast of The Sandbox Collective’s one-of-a-kind interactive comedy musical will be performing a series of songs from the hit musical, which tackles the joys and pains of growing up and healing your inner child.
The Spelling Bee cast members AC Bonifacio, who plays Marcy Park; Ron Balgos, who plays William Barfée; Krystal Brimner, who plays Olive Ostrovsky; and Jordan Andrews, who plays Mitch Mahoney performed songs from the musical.
— Rappler.com
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GAME SCHEDULE: 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference | jisaga0269 | 27/04/2024 22:53 | PVL Images
The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) heads to another title showdown between the league’s top sister teams!
Defending champion Creamline and sister squad Choco Mucho dispute the PVL All-Filipino championship for the second straight conference in a best-of-three series. Here’s the schedule:
It’s all even again for the top four teams.
The semifinalists of the 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) All-Filipino Conference battle in a single round-robin, where the top two teams will advance to the best-of-three finals. Here’s the schedule:
Near-daily volleyball is back to satisfy fans’ hunger for action as the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) releases its 2024 All-Filipino Conference schedule, starting on February 20.
The development comes after the UAAP also released its Season 86 men’s and women’s volleyball tournament schedules on a Wednesday-Saturday-Sunday rotation.
The PVL, meanwhile, stays in its usual Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday slate, kicking off Tuesday, February 20, at the PhilSports Arena with a double-header featuring newcomers Strong Group Athletics and Capital1 taking on contenders Petro Gazz and Chery Tiggo, respectively.
Capping off the conference’s first week is an appearance at the Araneta Coliseum, with reloaded Farm Fresh challenging the Creamline dynasty in the 6 pm triple-header main event.
Fans outside NCR, however, will have fewer chances to see their favorite PVL stars live unlike the past conference, as only the Ynares Center in Antipolo, Rizal and the Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna are the announced venues away from Metro Manila.
The season-starting All-Filipino Conference is scheduled to run for three months until May 14 at the maximum, unless plans change.
Other notable elimination round matches are Choco Mucho vs. Petro Gazz on February 27, Petro Gazz vs Creamline on April 6, PLDT vs Chery Tiggo featuring multiple former F2 Logistics veterans on April 16, and the Creamline-Choco Mucho finals rematch on April 18.
Here is the entire conference schedule, as of Wednesday, February 14:
– Rappler.com
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LTO releases renewal schedule for plastic card driver’s license | lkyu0285 | 26/03/2024 17:32 | MANILA, Philippines – Good news, motorists! Those renewing their driver’s license soon may finally get plastic-printed license cards after the Land Transportation Office (LTO) grappled with a months-long shortage of plastic cards.
Here is the renewal schedule for motorists with expiring driver’s licenses:
Motorists who fail to renew their driver’s license within the prescribed schedule will have their licenses rendered as expired.
Those that renew on the following dates will receive a plastic card driver’s license, although the LTO has yet to clarify when motorists will receive the plastic-printed cards.
LTO Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II hopes for motorists to start claiming their plastic card driver’s license the week after the Holy Week break.
“I have already instructed our officials down to the regional level to prepare this list of schedules and finish it before Maundy Thursday. Our goal is to start the distribution process of the plastic-printed driver’s license next week,” Mendoza said in a press release on Tuesday, March 26.
The LTO received at least one million pieces of plastic cards at its central office on Monday, March 25, after the Court of Appeals lifted an injunction order that has been in place since August 2023. This order – secured by Allcard, a losing bidder for the supply of plastic cards – halted the delivery of 3.2 million cards.
Even before the injunction order, the LTO had been grappling with a shortage of plastic cards that forced it to rely on paper or electronic licenses (READ: Driver’s license shortage exposes messy transitions between LTO heads).
The backlog of plastic card driver’s licenses is set to reach 4.1 million by the end of March. Mendoza said that the backlog could be addressed by the second half of 2024. – Rappler.com
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LIST: Filipino athletes who qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics | jisaga0269 | 12/3/2024 21:31 | CHAMPION. The Philippines' EJ Obiena celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's pole vault in the 19th Asian Games.
Dylan Martinez/REUTERS
MANILA, Philippines – The clock is ticking for the world’s best athletes to punch their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and so far, the Philippines is on track to once again be well-represented in the top quadrennial multi-sport showpiece.
Several Filipino standouts have already qualified to fly the flag in Paris, with many more in the wings waiting for their shot at ultimate sporting glory.
The Philippines will have a lot to prove in the 2024 Olympics after a historic 2021 run in Tokyo, where living legend Hidilyn Diaz won the country’s first-ever gold through a masterful weightlifting display.
Additionally, the 19-strong Filipino delegation also secured the nation’s biggest medal haul ever in a single Olympics, with Diaz’s gold topping a big four-medal tally, boosted by two silvers and one bronze from boxers Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio, and Eumir Marcial, respectively.
Here is the updated list of athletes hoping to make more history for the Philippines in Paris, in chronological order of qualification:
First on the list is one of the Philippines’ best hopes for a 2024 Olympics medal, pole vaulting superstar EJ Obiena.
Ranked No. 2 in the world just behind reigning Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis, the 28-year-old is looking to capitalize on a monumental 2023 season highlighted by notching a new personal and Asian record 6-meter jump on June 10, 2023 and an early Paris qualification on July 3, 2023.
Looking to prove doubters wrong after a controversial split with his old coach, artistic gymnastics phenom Carlos Yulo punched his Olympic ticket on October 1, 2023, and has continuously trained to perfect his craft just in time for Paris.
At just 24 years old, the two-time world champion, six-time Asian champion, and nine-time Southeast Asian (SEA) Games champion is gunning for his first Olympic gold, particularly in his floor exercise pet event.
Prior to even stepping foot in Paris, Aleah Finnegan is already a history maker for Philippine gymnastics, as her qualification on October 3, 2023, marked the first time a Filipina gymnast qualified for the Olympics since 1964.
Only representing the Philippines for two years so far since her 2022 SEA Games debut, the 21-year-old prodigy is out to make herself a household name with a stellar Olympics debut, and perhaps, win even more hearts with her first medal.
Another familiar face in the upcoming Olympics, boxing star Eumir Marcial is up for another round (or two, or three) with the world’s best, and is looking for a better shine to his 2021 bronze medal.
Qualified for Paris on October 4, 2023, the 28-year-old veteran makes a forced jump to the men’s 80kg class after his favored 75kg division was scrapped for the 2024 Games and is now out to prove himself and the world that he can still bring his best foot forward in the ring even in uncharted territory.
One of the Philippines’ best female boxers today, 31-year-old Nesthy Petecio is right in the middle of her athletic prime, and now has a golden opportunity to improve on her historic 2021 Olympic silver with a return trip to the sport’s biggest stage.
After qualifying on March 12, 2024, Petecio returns to the women’s 57kg event in Paris, where she has a chance to make more history for Filipina boxing.
Making her Olympics debut in July, Aira Villegas joins Petecio as the other Filipina boxer who will give the Philippines a much-needed extra medal chance, this time at the women’s 50kg class after also booking her spot on March 12, 2024.
At 29 years old, the Leyte native already has significant experience under her belt to make her go toe-to-toe with other world-class sluggers and possibly snag an Olympic medal in just her first try.
Weightlifter John Ceniza looks all set for an Olympic debut after securing his Paris Games spot after a strong performance in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup men’s 61kg event in Phuket, Thailand, on April 2, 2024.
The 26-year-old rising Cebuano star stayed well inside the qualification cutoff as only the top 10 in each weight category will compete in the sport’s biggest stage.
Elreen Ando sealed her Olympic return after a solid showing in the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand on April 3, 2024 to secure her place in the women’s 59kg division of the Paris Games.
The 25-year-old Cebuana weightlifter, though, had to do it at the expense of Hidilyn Diaz – the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist – as only one weightlifter per country per weight category will advance to Paris. She bested Diaz with a total lift of 228kg in the World Cup to stay inside the top 10 qualification cutoff.
Ando, who shattered the Southeast Asian Games record last year, aims to surpass her Olympic debut performance where she finished seventh in the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Reigning Southeast Asian Games champion Vanessa Sarno secured a spot in the Paris Games on April 7, 2024, paving the way for the Philippines to have its biggest weightlifting contingent in the Olympics in nearly four decades.
The 20-year-old pride of Bohol stayed inside the top 10 of the women’s 71kg class in the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking after an impressive stint in the World Cup where she shattered her own national record in the snatch event.
Far from the Olympic radar, Levi Jung-Ruivivar pulled off the improbable to become the Philippines’ third gymnastic bet in the Paris Games.
The Filipino-American teen, who narrowly reached the final as the last qualifier, captured a silver in the women’s uneven bars of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Doha, Qatar on April 19, 2024.
With her medal breakthrough, Jung-Ruivivar hiked her qualification points to become the country’s 10th Olympian in Paris.
Joanie Delgaco became the Philippines’ first female rower to qualify for the Olympics on April 21, 2024 after a strong performance in the women’s single sculls of the World Rowing Asian and Oceanian Olympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.
Delgaco finished fourth in the 2,000-meter event, staying in the top five to earn her ticket to Paris.
Philippine fencing booked a return trip to the Olympic stage after three decades as Samantha Catantan topped the continental Paris Games qualifiers.
A former UAAP standout, Catantan ruled the women’s foil category in the Asia-Oceania Zonal Olympic Qualifier in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates on April 27, 2024 to become the first Filipino fencer to earn an Olympic spot since Walter Torres competed in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
A fourth gymnast joined the Philippines’ Olympic cast as Filipino-American Emma Malabuyo sealed her bid with a medal-winning performance in the qualifiers.
Malabuyo, a varsity member of the University of California, Los Angeles, claimed her spot in the Paris Games after bagging a bronze in the individual all-around of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships on May 24, 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam made sure to book a return trip to the sport’s biggest stage.
Although the Cagayan de Oro boxer took a longer route after falling short in the two previous qualifiers, Paalam did so convincingly this time, winning all of his five bouts in the the men’s 57kg of the World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand to claim his Paris Games ticket on June 1, 2024.
Paalam, who had a thrilling debut run in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before settling for silver, hiked Philippine boxing’s Olympic contingent to four.
Make that five Filipino boxers in the Paris Games.
Hergie Bacyadan made Philippine boxing the biggest contingent for the country in this year’s Olympics after earning her spot in the women’s 75kg.
A former world champion in the combat sport vovinam, Bacyadan earned a unanimous decision win over Venezuela’s Maryelis Yriza in the World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand on June 2, 2024 to book her ticket to Paris.
Earning another trip to the Olympics, golfer Bianca Pagdanganan completed the 60-women field after making the Paris Games cut-off in the world rankings released on June 25, 2024.
But the 26-year-old Pagdanganan aims for a better showing this time after finishing 43rd in the Tokyo edition in 2021.
Golfer Dottie Ardina reached the quadrennial showpiece for the first time after making the the 60-women cut-off for the Paris Games released on June 25, 2024.
The 30-year-old Ardina competed in just two LPGA events this year, but looks to rebound in Paris after a tough season.
Filipina-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe secured a second consecutive Olympic stint after clinching one of the two continental quotas reserved for Asia in the women’s -63kg category on June 25, 2024.
The 27-year-old bet targets a better showing in the Paris Olympics after a first-round exit in the Tokyo Games.
Lauren Hoffman earned her Paris Olympics spot via the world rankings in the women’s 400m hurdles on July 2, 2024.
Hoffman – the Filipino-American who holds the national record in the women’s 100m hurdles – accomplished the feat by the skin of her teeth as she made the 40-entry cutoff at the 39th spot, collecting just enough points to advance.
Another hurdler made it to the Paris Olympics via the world rankings as John Cabang Tolentino qualified on July 2, 2024.
Tolentino, a Filipino residing in Spain, finished 30th out of 40 qualifiers in the men’s 110m hurdles, just a couple of months after setting the Philippine record in the same event.
Swimmer Kayla Sanchez advanced to the Olympics for the second straight edition as she qualified via universality on July 3, 2024.
Helping Canada win a silver and a bronze in the Tokyo Games, Sanchez will represent the Philippines this time a year after her citizenship switch as she is set to see action in the women’s 100m freestyle.
Like Kayla Sanchez, Jarod Hatch formalized his Olympic entry via universality on July 3, 2024.
Hatch, who won three medals in the previous Southeast Asian Games, will compete in the men’s 100m butterfly. – Rappler.com
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[OPINION] Motherhood aside, Marina Summers won ‘Drag Race’ without winning the crown | Jairo Bolledo | 31/03/2024 10:34 | The Philippines’ very own Marina Summers ended her “Drag Race UK versus the World” (UKvsTW)’ journey as a finalist, after losing to Australia’s Hannah Conda during the second season’s top 4 lip sync smackdown for the crown.
Marina consistently annihilated the competition and showed the world the excellence of Filipino drag with three challenge wins under her belt (talent show, Rusical, dance). For winning the lip syncs against her fellow winning queens, she earned three Golden RuPeter badges – the most for any contestant in the season.
With this amazing feat, the “Filipina Winnah” was thought to be the one to beat by the rest of the contestants. Despite this, she fell short of winning the crown again.
Many fans, especially Filipino viewers, were disappointed with the results. They thought Marina would break the “Filipino curse” in Drag Race as no Filipina has ever won a United States or international franchise of RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR).
She is the latest drag queen of Filipino descent who came close to the most-coveted crown, after Manila Luzon (RPDR 3 and All Stars 4), Jaremi Carey (formerly Phi Phi O’Hara, RPDR 4), Anetra (RPDR 15), and Kimmy Couture (Canada’s Drag Race 3).
Marina, the gracious drag queen that she is, accepted the results with her head held high: “We might have not liked my ending, but I had the best time with my lovely @dragraceukbbc girls! I am so so so damn honored to be part of this amazing show!”
“Philippines, Asia, World, thank you so much for giving this little Filipina a BIG chance to win your hearts. This was such a magical run for me and I couldn’t be any more prouder! I will always and forever be your Filipina Winnah,” she added in a post on X.
I think I’ve seen this film before… 😅We might have not liked my ending, but I had the best time with my lovely @dragraceukbbc girls! I am so so so damn honored to be part of this amazing show! 🙏🏽Philippines, Asia, World, thank you so much for giving this little Filipina a… pic.twitter.com/7oeqZFQ8eA
Had Marina won, she would have been named the winner of UKvsTW 2 and the latest queen of the mothertucking world, on top of £50,000 (around P3.5 million), a crown, and a scepter. Sounds regrettable, yes, but not really.
Marina cemented herself as an excellent drag queen – RuPaul herself told her that she is born to do drag. The queen of drag only gave those words to remarkable queens like RPDR UK 3 winner Krystal Versace, Anetra who finished runner-up to RPDR 16 winner Sasha Colby, and Jorgeous, an established RPDR 14 queen who starred in RPDR Live in Las Vegas.
Not only that, Marina was also well-loved by her fellow queens, and most importantly by fans. As a result, many opportunities will open for her.
She could be invited to RuPaul’s Drag Con, usually held in the United States or United Kingdom, where she will have her own booth where fans can meet her personally. She may also be invited as a guest lip sync assassin in the RPDR All Stars season or better yet, as a contestant like All Stars 8 winner Jimbo, who first competed in UKvsTW 1.
If RuPaul and the World of Wonder production desired, Marina could star in her own show, like Pangina who hosts “Toung Thai’d.” Similar to Marina, Pangina was the frontrunner and fan favorite during UKvsTW 1, but unfortunately did not win the crown.
Like other Drag Race alumni, Marina could also be invited to RPDR Live as a resident performer, tour the world and perform in various drag shows and clubs, and collaborate with other established drag queens in their respective projects.
Locally, Marina can secure more endorsements and media landings, such as covers for various magazines and the like.
But most importantly, Marina has opened the doors for Filipina drag queens from the Drag Race Philippines franchise. Since she showed how a Filipina drag queen slays the competition down the house boots, more and more queens could be invited to star in the show.
Like Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, Marina showed how a Filipina queen competes with the rest of the Philippines’ behind her back. Drag Race would not think twice to invite another Filipina drag queen, knowing that Filipino fans are the wildest and most supportive of all.
Marina won’t need the crown and scepter to achieve all of these. Having already proved her name and brand, she is free to reign the world like the drag queen she was born to be.
Mabu-hey, Filipina Winnah! – Rappler.com
£1 pound = P70.90
The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Rappler.
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GAME SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 86 volleyball | jisaga0269 | 8/5/2024 20:35 | It’s down to the last two teams standing as the University of Santo Tomas and National University battle for the UAAP volleyball championship in both the women’s and men’s divisions!
The league’s best separate themselves from the pack as the Final Four showdown kicks off! Here’s the schedule:
UAAP Season 86 volleyball action intensifies as the second round of the men’s and women’s divisions begins on Wednesday, March 20.
The contenders will separate themselves from the pack, with each game determining which teams will make the Final Four. Here’s the schedule:
Volleyball action is back in the UAAP!
Stars from both men’s and women’s divisions are set to ply their growing skill sets once again in front of thousands of fans, beginning on Saturday, February 17 and Sunday, February 18, both at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Here are the first-round schedules for both divisions:
*The March 13 games will be played at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Notable matches include women’s champion La Salle’s debut against contending Adamson on Saturday, 4 pm, at MOA, while men’s three-time defending titlist NU rolls into an immediate finals rematch with UST on Sunday, 12 pm, also at the same venue.
La Salle and NU – finalists in the last two women’s tournaments with one title won each – will wrap up their first-round schedule on March 16, 2 pm at Araneta. – Rappler.com
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LIST: Cities, provinces that have declared a whooping cough outbreak | Kaycee | 26/03/2024 21:02 | Following reports of high cases of Pertussis or whooping cough in Metro Manila, particularly in Quezon City, as a preventive measure, teachers at the Rafael Palma Elementary School in Manila distributed face masks to students during class, on March 22, 2024.
Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – With the rise of whooping cough or pertussis cases in the country, some local government units have declared an outbreak in their areas.
Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that can be spread through droplets by sneezing or coughing.
The Department of Health (DOH) has attributed the rise in whooping cough cases and other preventable diseases such as measles to the country’s need to catch up with vaccination, especially for children and infants.
There have so far been over 450 pertussis cases reported in the Philippines in 2024, a steep rise from the 23 cases logged in 2023.
Here are the areas that have declared a pertussis outbreak, as of March 26:
On March 21, Mayor Joy Belmonte declared a pertussis outbreak in Quezon City after logging 25 cases since 2024 began. The cases included five pertussis-related deaths, all of whom were infants aged 22 to 60 days old.
The city will administer prophylaxis for the “probable cases” or those who were exposed to those with pertussis. Meanwhile, Quezon City is also seeking to procure more pentavalent vaccines.
In a Rappler Communities Chat on March 22, Quezon City epidemiology and disease surveillance unit chief Dr. Rolly Cruz said most of their affected patients are children with incomplete vaccinations. But because the local government only has a limited supply of the vaccines, it is currently prioritizing those who are up for a follow-up dose of their pentavalent vaccine.
Quezon City is hopeful that they can get specific timelines for the delivery of pentavalent vaccine doses by this week, Cruz said. The DOH, meanwhile, said it is expecting three million more doses of the vaccine to arrive “at the soonest possible time.”
Iloilo CIty declared a pertussis outbreak on March 25, and its local government put the city under a state of calamity status on March 26. The announcements came after the city recorded seven confirmed cases of pertussis, out of the 16 patients suspected of having the disease.
The city is eyeing to mobilize a P16-million fund to implement measures to address the outbreak. On Monday, the LGU said in a statement that most of the funding would be spent on getting medicine and vaccines.
Iloilo is eyeing to inoculate 26,000 children from the districts of Jaro, Molo, Arevalo, and Lapuz.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Wednesday, March 27, put the entire Cavite province under a state of calamity because of the pertussis outbreak. There are now 36 whooping cough cases in the province, including six deaths (1 recorded from Bacoor, 2 deaths from General Trias, 1 death in Carmona, 1 death in Imus, and 1 death from General Emilio Aguinaldo).
Pertussis patients are from Bacoor City (6), Trece Martires (6), General Trias (5), General Mariano Alvarez (4), Carmona (3), Silang (3), Dasmariñas (2), Kawit (2), Imus (2), Cavite City (1), Tagaytay City (1), General Emilio Aguinaldo (1).
The province plans to mobilize P40 million from the 2024 Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Fund to finance its outbreak response.
Meanwhile, other areas in the country have also reported whooping cases. These include:
While pertussis is contagious, the DOH said it does not expect the country to go on lockdown the way it did when the COVID-19 pandemic broke. However, health authorities hope that Filipinos will apply the same measures they had taken to protect themselves from catching COVID-19. – Rappler.com
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Melvin Jerusalem, Jake Amparo seek world crowns against Shigeoka brothers in Nagoya | jisaga0269 | 30/03/2024 19:08 | NEW CHAMPION. Filipino fighter Melvin Jerusalem celebrates his breakthrough world title.
Sanman Boxing
MANILA, Philippines – Melvin Jerusalem and Jake Amparo tangle with unbeaten brothers Yudai and Ginjiro Shigeoka, respectively, in their bids for world titles on Sunday, March 31, at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.
Of the two Filipino warriors, Jerusalem is given a better chance of ending the Filipinos’ woeful stints in Japan as he has the edge in experience over the 26-year-old Yudai, who holds an 8-0 record with five knockouts.
Amparo is less prepared, being a last-minute replacement for compatriot ArAr Andales, the top challenger who was forced to withdraw due to medical concerns.
With a 14-5-1 card and only 3 knockouts to show, Amparo will be the huge underdog, given less than 10% winning chances by Japanese bookmakers, against Ginjiro, who has decked 8 of 10 opponents thus far.
Jerusalem, one of the stalwarts of the SanMan stable headed by JC Manangquil, is 21-3 with 12 knockouts and has prepared long and hard under trainer Michael Domingo.
Adhering to a strict diet, Jerusalem checked in at a light 104 pounds during the official weigh-in on Saturday, March 30, against the 104.9 pounds of Yudai, less than 24 hours before their battle for the World Boxing Council minimumweight belt.
Despite Jerusalem being a huge +640 underdog, Manangquil believes his ward has a good shot of upstaging Yudai, having seen him during training in General Santos City.
Amparo and Ginjiro will dispute the International Boxing Federation version of the 105-pound crown.
Marlon Tapales, Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan suffered knockout losses in Japan last December and February, sending the Filipino boxers’ stocks plunging. – Rappler.com
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Behind bars, giving a mother’s touch isn’t easy | Michelle Abad | 31/03/2024 8:25 | TOGETHER. A person deprived of liberty in the Correctional Institution for Women tends to her five-month-old baby inside the facility’s mothers’ ward on March 14, 2024.
Michelle Abad/Rappler
Last of 2 parts
Part 1 | In prison, mother and baby share P85 a day for food, medicine
Editor’s Note: This story is based on an original submission by Ateneo de Manila students Angeline Braganza, Allison Co, and Iana Padilla for their investigative journalism class.
When overseas Filipino worker Rose* took a vacation to the Philippines in 2003, she had every intention of returning to Dubai. She had already worked almost two decades as a house maid, but her children still had dreams to fulfill.
With three kids she needed to get through school, Rose took on some side hustles in an office and a hospital. They graduated college by the time she went on that vacation, and later on one became a dentist, another, a physical therapist, and the third, a computer engineer.
But Rose never got to return to Dubai, nor was she able to see her college graduates turn into professionals. Today, she is an elderly person deprived of liberty (PDL) taking care of the women and babies in the mothers’ ward of the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW). But she remembers all too well the events that led to her life sentence in prison.
It was around 1 am on November 20, 2003, she said, when cops entered her house in Pasig looking for her husband. He apparently became known to law enforcement as a drug dependent.
“Why are you looking for my husband, sir?” she recalled asking them.
As soon as the cops spotted her, they turned towards her.
The police arrested her for a charge which turned out to be connivance in drug usage. “What did they mean, connivance? I didn’t have any drugs on me. I also turned out negative on my drug test. Well, it just so happened that it was my house [that my husband was using].”
“My grandchild and adopted son just happened to be there. They were crying, but I could not bring myself to cry, because I was in shock…. I fought the police. Sad to say, the police harmed me. And I hated that my adopted son saw the police hurt me,” she said.
Rose’s husband was home, asleep. But they were both arrested and taken to a Pasig jail.
Two years later, both were convicted to life in prison. Her husband went to the New Bilibid Prison, while she went to CIW, full of resentment towards him. Her role as a mother was snatched from her, never to be returned.
“What hurts is how long I was away from [my children’s] side. And now, I’ve been in prison for another 20 years. I’ve been away from them for 40 years now,” she said.
Rose has learned to live with peace in her heart. Her resentment towards her now-deceased husband has subsided, and she is proud of her kids who had grown up to live their lives in Dubai together with their own children.
The family she now has is found in the CIW mothers’ ward. She plays a vital role there, where she has been assisting in the care of both PDLs and babies since 2010 due to the lack of medical personnel who can monitor them at all times.
The women tell her that their babies are her “grandchildren.”
Along with the toys for these “grandchildren” on a shelf of the mothers’ ward is a purple, polka-dotted go-bag with baby garments that don’t belong to any one baby. They are worn by the infants who come and go. The bag is there for any woman in the mothers’ ward who has to be rushed to the hospital to give birth. It is Rose who packs it.
Rose has it ready all the time because pregnant women who enter the prison often aren’t prepared with the clothes their babies will wear. It was also Rose who loaned Maria* the P3,000 she needed for her ultrasound from the extra money she had in her pharmacy deposit.
The women in the mothers’ ward at the CIW have the option to keep their newborn babies with them. This is somewhat of a privilege, compared to what some incarcerated mothers have to go through, like Reina Mae Nasino.
When mothers in prison have such an option, the assumption is that they’d prefer to maximize that time with their babies as much as possible. But with an uncertain future and feelings of being ill-equipped to care for their babies, some mothers choose to let their babies out early.
CIW rules say that when a PDL under their care gives birth, the babies may stay with the mothers for a maximum period of one year. But according to lone resident doctor and Corrections Technical Chief Superintendent Maria Lourdes Razon, at least in her past year working at CIW, there are no babies who have celebrated their birthdays in the facility.
Rita*, 32, is one of the four mothers – three with newborns and one still pregnant – housed in the CIW’s mothers’ ward as of mid-March. She has the tiniest and youngest of the three babies, but Rita knows that she is set to give her up soon.
Her family has decided that her uncle, who is based in the US, would take her baby when she is three months old with hopes she will live a better life in America. She has around two months left before that happens.
“I already have three children, and this is my fourth. My brother has been taking care of my first three and sending them to school. But he told me that he cannot handle a fourth,” said Rita.
“It’s painful. I was expecting my partner to take her. But unfortunately, he’s already found someone else to be with in the outside world,” she added.
Rita is only starting her eight-year sentence in prison for drug-related charges. She hopes that one day she will be able to visit her child in the US.
“They told me that they will still raise her knowing that I am her mother,” she said.
The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, also known as the Bangkok Rules, is a set of 70 rules focused on the treatment of female prisoners, including pregnant PDLs. Under these requirements, the mother and the child’s time together must be “made in the best interests of the child.”
In Malaysia, prisons’ regulations provide that a child under the age of three may be admitted with his or her mother and the child should be provided with basic necessities and care by the director general.
Meanwhile, in Thailand, specifically the Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Lat Yao, there is not only a mothers’ ward but also a designated nursery for newborn babies. The babies are taken care of by the nurses of the facility.
Lawyer Gian Taruc from the Visitorial Division of the Commission on Human Rights pointed out the disparity among the Philippines’ regional members.
“In other countries that are equally Third World countries too, like Malaysia and Bangkok, they are able to implement these programs. They have policies that allow them to give proper care for female PDLs. So why not in the Philippines?” he said.
The deficiency of mental support for mother PDLs is a persisting reality even beyond the walls of CIW. Nasino also cited similar psychological harassment inside the Manila City Jail where she was detained.
“From my experience [in Manila City Jail] when I gave birth, there was this condemnation from the guards blaming me for the situation of my baby. They would tell me: ‘It was you who got yourself imprisoned, so why should you rely on us for your pregnancy?’ This is why other PDLs who feel unwell would opt not to say anything instead,” she said.
In a study conducted by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, 15.6% of Filipino women experience depression during pregnancy and 19.8% after childbirth.
Rose does not allow the women under her care to mingle with the general, congested population. It’s a precaution to keep the mothers and babies healthy. Most of the time, the babies do not have access to vaccines.
The unavailability of vaccines was the very first reason Maria cited why she did not plan to keep her baby in the facility for up to a year. Maria also eyed transitioning her baby from breastfeeding to bottle feeding so that her family outside wouldn’t have a difficult time feeding him. Health experts have long cited breast milk as best for healthy infants.
With some solitude in the mothers’ ward, the women have time to reflect on what they plan to tell their babies about themselves as they grow older. For them, accountability for their crimes lies with them, and their babies need not worry about their mothers’ past mistakes. Women at the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor)-supervised CIW are convicted with sentences no less than three years and a day.
“I will not be ashamed to tell my child what happened to me,” said Maria, who also faces drug-related charges. “I’ll tell him the truth, that I had him here with me. I’d rather he finds out from me than anyone else. I gave birth to him [while detained], he met so many people here, and he was a Baby BuCor.”
Rita had similar sentiments about not being ashamed to tell her daughter one day. “It was not them who made the mistakes, but us.”
Jasmin*, the only pregnant PDL at the ward, wants to wait until her children are mature enough to understand what she had gone through. Apart from the baby she was carrying in her womb, she also has a three-year-old with her family.
“I will wait until they’re old enough. It will be difficult for me to explain when they might not understand. My three-year-old doesn’t know that I’m here, and thinks that I’m just working,” said Jasmin, who is serving a sentence for theft.
In the House of Representatives, the Makabayan bloc filed House Bill No. 570, or the Parents in Jail bill.
Nasino’s case is particularly cited in the bill’s explanatory note. It highlights the need to provide prisoners, especially mothers, the necessary mechanisms and facilities to enjoy their parental rights and ensure that the needs of their children are attended to while they are incarcerated.
HB No. 570 stresses that facilities must strictly comply with Republic Act No. 11148, or the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act, which covers nutritional needs of both mother and child, as well as the availability of prenatal and postnatal care for mothers and other medical needs of the child.
The bill also proposes “child-friendly visitation programs” that mandate the establishment of special visitation rooms in prison facilities for solo parents and their children.
Budget increases would be crucial for the better treatment of mothers, and the medical needs of PDLs in general at the CIW, according to Razon.
If the CIW had their way, each PDL would have a minimum P100-medicine budget per day, Razon said.
More could be done for the mothers at CIW, who already have decent living conditions – and more so for mothers in jails who don’t even have that shelf of dusty toys, or their own ward.
While Rose is happy to take care of her “grandchildren,” questions remain if she would have been assigned there if there were enough medical personnel to tend to them.
“In any case, I’m here. I’m here to supervise, to help, in any way I can,” she said. – with reports from Angeline Braganza, Allison Co, and Iana Padilla/Rappler.com
*Names have been changed.
All quotes have been translated into English.
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This traditional grating tool is vanishing from Filipino kitchens | Mia Gonzalez | 30/03/2024 10:08 | DISCARDED. A wooden kaguran sits on a pile of dusty discards as most people now prefer other options like the ready-to-use coconut milk in packs.
Rommel Rebollido
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines – An old Visayan riddle goes, “Kabayo ni Adan, dili mokaon kon dili kabay-an (Adan’s horse, won’t eat unless you ride it).”
The riddle refers to a traditional Filipino household tool called by many names – kaguran or kudkuran in Mindanao and the Visayas, kayuran among Tagalogs, pangudkuran in Batanes, and igad or pagigadan among Ilocanos.
In English, the names simply translate to coconut grater or scraper, a wooden bench with a sharp, serrated rounded steel tip on one end.
Benjamin Almeda Sr., known as the “Father of Filipino inventors,” introduced the contraption to his fellow Filipinos in the early 1950s. Almeda is credited for the invention of various food processing machines that are commonly used to this day.
To use the kaguran, one has to mount the bench to manually grate coconut on its rounded blade. It is used to grate the meat of mature coconut or niyog.
A well known process among Filipinos and other Southeast Asians, it is done for easy extraction of coconut milk that is locally called gata, which is produced by squeezing the grated coconut with one’s hands. Gata is mixed in many Filipino dishes and delicacies.
“You cannot have gata without the kaguran unless you masticate the coconut,” jested retired government employee Bobby Catubig who is fond of cooking the famous binignit, a popular Holy Week staple that consists of sticky rice, jackfruit, tubers, and tapioca pearls cooked in coconut milk.
When there are festivities and important celebrations, the kaguran takes prominence in its role in delectable creamy food preparations.
During Holy Week, when most Filipinos cook popular native delicacies with coconut milk, kaguran or igad takes center stage.
Households without the traditional tool and rely on their neighbors’ kaguran usually become the butt of jokes in the neighborhood.
A favorite anecdotal alibi of those who did not prepare food during Holy Week or Halloween is that “the neighbor failed to return their kaguran” or “the neighbor did not lend their kaguran.”
With the advent of technology, the manually-operated household grater is slowly fading from the kitchen of many Filipinos.
The kaguran has also become scarce in most stores. Some online shops sell it but relatively expensive at more than a thousand pesos, beyond the means of an ordinary individual.
Instead of buying a kaguran, many residents have resorted to having their coconuts grated by enterprising vendors who also provide motor-driven coconut grating and grain grinding services.
In Palawan, some shops that offer the motorized grating service retain the shell and coconut pulp to be sold as feed, retired development worker and craftsperson Aveen Acuña-Gulo told Rappler on Saturday, March 30.
Gulo said she buys coconuts from these shops but opts to “take home the coconut pulp for my compost, the coconut water to be made into vinegar, and the shell as firewood.”
The most practical option is to buy ready-to-use coconut cream and milk sold in packs, though this is more expensive than buying coconut and having it grated.
The cost of a coconut, to include grating, is P30 while a 200ml pack of pour coconut milk costs P35. The P30-grated coconut yields double that of the 200ml pack.
Thirteen-year-old Gio Rebollido recalled that the kaguran provided bonding time with his father whenever the family prepared food for a celebration. “We are happy and when we’re happy, the food becomes delicious,” he said.
Gio would ride the kaguran in tandem with his father while grating coconut. The laughter and noise created by horsing around on the kaguran would add to the joyful atmosphere during celebrations, he said.
“When you are happy preparing food, that happiness flows into the food, making it delicious and satisfying,” Catubig said.
But, such a practice is about to vanish and will soon just be a thing of the past amont younger generations, he said. – Rappler.com
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Marina Summers finishes as finalist on ‘Drag Race: UK vs The World’ | Steph Arnaldo | 30/03/2024 8:54 | Marina Summers' Instagram
MANILA, Philippines – She made Philippine herstory! Filipino drag queen Marina Summers finished as a finalist during the finale episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs The World season 2, representing the Philippines as part of the top four.
The results were announced on Friday, March 29 (Saturday, March 30 in Manila), after the top four battled in a “lip sync smackdown for the crown.”
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story reported that Marina finished as a runner-up in the competition. This has been corrected.
Marina thanked her fans in a X post.
Maraming salamat, world 🌎 We fought hard on this one ✊🏽🇵🇭
Marina walked down the “Finale Eleganza Extravaganza” runway in a black, blue, and gold ensemble, donned with coral and pearl elements. She explained that the dress was inspired by the Philippines’ rich marine biodiversity – the culmination of her second Drag Race journey.
A post shared by Marina Summers (@marinaxsummers)
During final critiques, the Filipina drag queen was praised for her performance during the season. Michelle Visage even said Marina is a “drag queen’s drag queen.”
“Drag touches people’s lives. I can attest to that because drag saved my life. Growing up in a very small town, I never thought that drag existed. This is the kind of person I wanted to be when I was young, but I did not know it was possible,” Marina said when RuPaul asked why the world needs drag now more than ever.
Marina picked Australia’s Hannah Conda to lip sync to Anastacia’s “I’m Outta Love” for the first round of the lip sync smackdown, with the Australian drag queen winning the battle.
United Kingdom’s Tia Kofi was crowned the season’s “Queen of the Mothertucking World.” She won £50,000, which was the first time a cash prize was awarded in a Drag Race UK series.
France’s La Grande Dame was also among the finalists. Spain’s Arantxa Castilla-La Mancha was named the season’s Miss Congeniality.
Marina’s journey during the international competition was nothing short of gag-worthy, filled with jaw-dropping looks and fierce performances.
Her latest look was a breathtaking traditional Yakan wedding ceremony attire, stunning the judges. Marina’s homage to Philippine cultural diversity and strong performance secured her the top 4 spot.
In the season’s first episode, Marina captivated the judges with her rendition of “AMAFILIPINA,” a reimagined version of Maymay Entrata’s “AMAKABOGERA,” during the talent show.
She later faced off with La Grande Dame in a lip sync battle, with Livin’ Joy’s “Dreamer” as the chosen track, and won her first gold RuPeter badge.
She earned her second RuPeter badge in the Rusical episode, with RuPaul praising the drag queen as being “born to do drag” during critiques.
During the Rusical episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World” in early March, Marina Summers became the fourth queen to be told by RuPaul that she was born to do drag. #DragRaceUK #TeamMarinaRELATED: https://t.co/UjK3gURgfY pic.twitter.com/1pTVbFNgNp
She received her third RuPeter badge with a makeshift karaoke designer piece by Neric Beltran during the “Business in the Front, Party in the Back” runway. Marina is the only contestant to earn three badges during the season.
She was also hailed for donning a beautiful volcano outer dress made by fashion designer Job Dacon, and for her glowed up “Terno She Better Don’t” look, inspired by the national fish of the Philippines, the bangus or milkfish.
Marina, who finished first runner-up in Drag Race Philippines season one, is the first drag queen from the Philippines to join an international franchise. – Rappler.com
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LIST: Train schedules during Holy Week 2024 | lkyu0285 | 15/03/2024 13:00 | MANILA, Philippines – Railways will have adjusted operating hours during Holy Week to make way for annual maintenance activities.
Here are the schedules released by train operators:
Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1) operations will be suspended from Holy Wednesday, March 27, to Easter Sunday, March 31. Normal operations will resume on April 1.
Heads up, mga ka-riles!Reminder on the 2024 Holy Week schedule of LRT-1.LRT-1 operations will be TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED from March 27 (Holy Wednesday) to March 31 (Easter Sunday).NORMAL OPERATIONS of LRT-1 will RESUME on April 1 (Monday).Salamat po sa pag-unawa. pic.twitter.com/BdJ5FBatuq
As the LRT1 halts operations for Holy Week, more passenger buses will be deployed to ply the route from Edsa-Taft to Monumento. Starting 4 am on March 28, these buses will stop along Taft Avenue at Edsa-Taft, Gil Puyat, Doroteo Jose, Carriedo, and Monumento
Four buses from MMDA and 50 buses from LTFRB will augment the regular daily buses plying this route while the LRT1 conducts its maintenance works and preparations for the opening of the LRT1 Cavite Extension. Normal operations resume April 1.
Shortened operating hours will be implemented for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT2) on Holy Wednesday. The first train will depart from Recto Station and Antipolo Station at 5 am, while the last train will depart at 7 pm for both stations.
The LRT2 will have no operations from Maundy Thursday, March 28, to Easter Sunday. Regular operations will resume on April 1.
The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) will observe regular operating hours on Holy Wednesday, with the last train trips at 9:30 pm from North Avenue Station, and 10:09 pm from Taft Avenue Station.
Train operations will be suspended from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday. Normal operations will resume on April 1.
The Philippine National Railways (PNR) will be stopping its operations for the next five years starting Maundy Thursday. Its last trips from Governor Pascual to Tutuban and Tutuban to Alabang will be on Holy Wednesday. (READ: PNR will stop operations on March 28 for five years) – Rappler.com
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Plant-based beef rendang! NutriAsia, Green Rebel launch new meatless Asian items in PH | Steph Arnaldo | 30/03/2024 15:10 | MANILA, Philippines –The plant-based movement in the Philippines continues to grow, as another major food manufacturing company joins the meatless train!
NutriAsia announced that it will be the first and only local distributor of Indonesian food tech brand Green Rebel, which specializes in Asian-inspired, ready-to-eat, shelf-stable, and frozen plant-based products since 2020.
“Dare to be limeatless,” is the new partnership’s tagline, offering many plant-based possibilities for vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians looking to add more protein in their daily diet.
Green Rebel’s plant-based shelf-stable products (they’re found at the canned goods aisle and can be stored in your pantry) include the flavorful Indonesian Rendang Curry, Blackpepper Steak Bites, Korean-style BBQ Slices, and Thai Green Curry, which will be available in select Robinsons, Landmark, and The Marketplace branches.
Green Rebel’s frozen products – Steak, Beefless Bites, Crispy Fried Chick’n, and Rybs – will be available soon through NutriAsia’s online channels.
No MSG, 50% less saturated fat, 30% less calories, no cholesterol, high protein, and high fiber – Green Rebel prioritizes healthy and sustainable dining through its whole-cut plant-based meats.
Primarily a food technology company, Green Rebel’s expertise lies in food processing using its proprietary Rebel Emulsion Technology, which recreates the essential mouthfeel and texture of meat with a unique emulsion of coconut oil, water, and natural vegan seasoning. The result is a fibrous texture, with the chewy and “juicy” quality of meat – sans the meat.
Green Rebel’s products are specifically made to absorb marinades and flavors, so they can blend nicely with any kind of sauce, which is a crucial element of Asian and Filipino cooking (the saucier, the better). They are also optimized to be used in many Asian cooking methods – stir-fry, sate, soups, hotpot, steam, wok-fry, grill, and more.
Green Rebel’s “beef” products are made from non-GMO soy and shitake mushrooms, while the “chicken” is made from non-GMO soy, king oyster, and champignon mushrooms. Green Rebel’s cheddar and truffle dairy-free cheeses that melt (they taste good too) are made from potato.
Green Rebel sources the mushrooms as local as possible from over 1,000 farmers in Asia.
Texture-wise and taste-wise, Green Rebel’s versatile products are a worthy and promising addition to the country’s burgeoning plant-based market. The authentic Padang-Style Rendang Curry is packed with Indonesian spices, herbs, and flavors (plus a nice subtle heat), making it a deliciously saucy accompaniment to steamed white rice. The beef chunks are fibrous, stringy, and substantially chewy.
The Korean-style BBQ Slices taste similar to bulgogi, which you can also upgrade at home with additional marinades, sauces, and garnishes like spring onions and sesame seeds, served with a side of kimchi or pickled vegetables.
You can eat it as is – all you have to do is warm it up in a pan or the microwave – or add your choice of extra vegetables and protein. The cuts are also easy enough to turn into smaller pieces if needed.
Green Rebel is also known for its culinary expertise, having lent its plant-based prowess to major chains in Indonesia like Ikea, Starbucks, Domino’s, and AirAsia. The company is also present in Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Aside from catering to consumers, NutriAsia is set on bringing Green Rebel B2B to restaurants, food businesses, and hotels. As of March 2024, Bonifacio Global City’s Aparment 1B is serving new plant-based dishes using Green Rebel’s products.
The company also said that Filipino Green Rebel recipes are in the pipeline.
Green Rebel’s products will soon be available on NutriAsia’s Lazada and Shopee stores as well. – Rappler.com
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From watchdogs to mouthpieces: PR redefines news coverage in Cagayan de Oro | Herbie G | 30/03/2024 19:55 | EDIT. Mindanao Gold Star Daily editor-in-chief Cong Corrales works from home in Cagayan de Oro City. Gold Star Daily now only prints copies thrice a week following a steady drop in ad revenues the past five years.
JB Deveza/Rappler
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Communications consultants and political strategists here are now defining how news is covered by the community press, putting local politicians in a better position to push their narratives and agenda.
Former journalist and now public relations practitioner Bencyrus Ellorin said their work had at times become boring after social media boxed out the community press in influencing the community.
Ellorin, a communications consultant of Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy, said PR agents, through press releases and social media campaigns, now control at least 90% of how the local government is covered.
He said the press’ watchdog role has been largely diluted and the community press – especially local newspapers which have over the years seen their sources of revenue dry up – has become press release-dependent and polarized into competing political interests.
Journalists usually pick up some portions of their stories from press releases. By nature, press releases are framed through the perspective of clients who commissioned them and are, therefore, largely propaganda material. Because of this, most journalists often use PRs only to get official statements which are then verified and validated with other sources.
But this is no longer the case, according to Ellorin who said he now sees journalists, especially print journalists, taking their spins hook, line, and sinker most of the time.
In this sense, the Cagayan de Oro City information office (CIO), the communications arm of the local government, as well as the different communications departments of various government agencies, are now functioning more as news outlets instead of just sources of news, he said.
“Mas kapoy ang trabaho sa PR kay kabalo ka naman nga I-print word for word so maghimo ka daghan version (The PR’s job now is more tiring because you have to make many versions because you know it gets printed word for word),” he said.
Ellorin said there has, on the part of politicians, always been a conscious effort to influence the news agenda but the dominance of social media and problems in the community press have made it easier for them to push their clients’ narratives.
Ellorin said the PR industry has also indirectly benefited from the lack of opportunities in the media industry. He said hiring people with journalism backgrounds is a plus factor because journalists already possess good communication skills essential in PR work.
It matters, too, that PR work, including those in government, pays way better than journalism.
Journalists have always struggled with low pay and lack of benefits, a condition belabored by a March 2021 survey made by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
The NUJP is an organization of journalists with chapters all over the country, including Cagayan de Oro City.
According to the NUJP survey of more than 200 respondents in March 2021, 44% of journalists and media workers receive a monthly salary of P15,000 and below. About 15%, mostly journalists based in the provinces, get P5,000 and below.
Half of the respondents of the NUJP survey said they are not entitled to holiday pay, hazard pay, and insurance, even when given dangerous assignments out of town.
The survey results also showed 55% of the respondents saying they were not given overtime pay and nearly 40% do not have health cards.
Given these atrocious conditions, it is not surprising that many journalists leave the industry. A former journalist who now does PR full time said he used to take home about P50,000 as an editor in one of the now defunct regional newspapers. His previous income now comprises only 30% of what he earns through PR work.
Also among those who left journalism for better pay is Abigail Malalis who is now a CIO staff member.
Malalis said she left journalism in 2013 because her salary as a local reporter was no longer sufficient to cope with the rising costs of living. She said she now earns about four times what she used to as a reporter. She had worked for more than 10 years as a local reporter.
Malalis is one of four former journalists who now work for the CIO. Six other former and part-time reporters and broadcasters are with other city hall departments or are serving as consultants of the city government.
Three others are now with regional offices of government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), PhilHealth, and the Bureau of Customs (BoC).
Meanwhile, a practicing journalist who moonlights as a consultant of the city government said he does so to augment his income.
The journalist, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted to receiving P21,000 a month from city hall as a communications consultant. As editor-reporter of one of the city’s publications, he makes about P15,000 a month.
“Pang maintenance lang gud kay apikhan gud kaayo ko ron (I did that for my maintenance medicines because I am on a tight budget right now),” he said.
The journalist has been in and out of hospitals of late because of a medical condition, and colleagues have had to pitch in and help, a common occurrence when journalists get into unexpected, financially draining circumstances.
Former journalists with communications skills honed by years of journalistic practice have certainly contributed to making better press releases for the city government.
Ellorin said the PRs they now put out read like news stories – well-written and with coherent narratives, ready for publication. He added that nine out of 10 press releases they produce appear in community newspapers with barely any changes. These are then often picked up and amplified by others in the community press.
Cagayan de Oro City’s media community is composed of two community newspapers, at least five weeklies, and some 20 AM and FM stations.
“Nahimo na gyud ping-pong table ang media (The media has become like a ping-pong table),” said Ellorin, adding that political opponents of his client employ PR agents too.
Aside from hiring PR agents, politicians often also buy “blocktime” or airtime on radio, and have their programs streamed online, often with journalists or former journalists serving as hosts and co-hosts.
Former Cagayan de Oro mayor Oscar Moreno has his Overtime with Oca Moreno, with some 48,000 followers on Facebook. Uy, Moreno’s successor, has Inyong Alagad, Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy, which airs both on Magnum Radio 99.9 and through Facebook Live. Former Misamis Oriental governor and now the province’s 2nd District Representative, Yevgeny Vincente Emano, and incumbent Governor Peter Unabia have similar radio programs.
It was not always this way. As late as five years ago, the city had three local dailies – Mindanao Gold Star Daily, SunStar-Cagayan de Oro, and Mindanao Daily, aside from a host of weeklies that covered and commented on the local political scene.
But elsewhere worldwide, this all changed as more and more people turned to social media not only for entertainment or for socializing with family and friends, but also for information and news.
Local newspapers, many of which only had marginal profitability in the first place, became especially vulnerable to the prospect of closure or downsizing as tech giants like Google and Meta began cornering even local revenue streams.
Among the first to fold due to declining revenues was SunStar-Cagayan de Oro, which shuttered its print edition on June 30, 2020. The community newspaper, a local affiliate of the Cebu-based SunStar group of community newspapers, had long struggled with profitability issues before repeated COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns forced it to cease print operations.
SunStar-Cagayan de Oro at one point employed some 25 editors, reporters, and other media workers.
Established in 1995, SunStar-Cagayan de Oro was unique in the local media landscape as it was the only community newspaper then that employed the most number of full-time staff members. Because full-time employment, especially in the community press, had always been rare and often, newspapers would source their content from freelancers or correspondents who were paid per story published.
To augment their incomes, journalists from many community newspapers are allowed or even encouraged by media owners to solicit ads so they can earn commissions. Local politicians, heads of regional government offices, and local businesses often not only become news sources, but sources of income as well.
Meanwhile, the remaining dailies in the city that have managed to survive have drastically scaled down operations.
Cong Corrales, editor-in-chief of the Mindanao Gold Star Daily, said the paper had a daily circulation of some 60,000 copies 10 years ago. Now his newspaper prints about 2,000, and only when ads warrant the printing of copies. Gold Star still publishes daily online, however.
When the pandemic struck, Corrales said, they had to whittle down the newspaper to the bare bones.
“Shrinking workforces mean more work for those who remain and less time spent per story,” Corrales said.
This is also part of the reason why, he said, well-written stories crafted by former journalists are finding their way to the pages not just of his newspaper, but also in others.
Corrales, however, said that while he uses press releases 80% of the time, he makes sure to label them as such for transparency.
Former journalist Carlos Conde, who was SunStar-Cagayan de Oro’s first editor-in-chief and who is now a senior researcher at the Asia division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) covering the Philippines, said he is not surprised that politicians and other interest groups find it easy to influence or, worse, control Cagayan de Oro’s media outfits.
“They’ve been doing it for decades and the advent of social media made things a lot easier for them to do this: today, they not only control the media by the traditional means – they are able to directly control the narrative and push their propaganda and agenda almost unfiltered by the press,” Conde said.
However, Conde said that the prevalence of press releases dominating the content of media outlets is true elsewhere, not just in Cagayan de Oro.
“If you are a media outlet or journalist struggling to make ends meet, your options to do honest, meaningful journalism work is severely limited,” Conde said.
The influence of PRs shaping the news narrative is a concern for Luz Rimban, a journalism educator at the Ateneo de Manila University and the executive director of the Asian Center for Journalism, both located at Ateneo.
“PR people don’t really tell you the real story. They exist to make their clients look good. In fact, some studies have shown that it is the bad actors in the PR industry that are responsible for disinformation on social media,” Rimban said in an e-mail to Rappler.
“The audience needs to be aware of the motives and agenda of sources of their stories. A government official owning a news outlet or having a social media account? Social media users should be aware that politicians are there on social media (or their own news outlets) more for self-promotion. They’re trying to influence the news agenda so that their misdeeds and wrongdoing are kept hidden,” Rimban said.
The effect of PR-dominated reportage has severely polarized the community media into rival political camps with directly opposing narratives.
Maricel Casino-Rivera, who ran the city hall’s information office during the Moreno administration, said this doesn’t seem to bother many local journalists these days.
“Dili parehas sa una nga mahadlok pud bitaw ta nga ma brand ta nga tao ni so-and-so (Unlike before when journalists did not like being branded as lackeys of certain politicians),” Rivera said.
Rivera, who worked for years as a journalist before joining Moreno’s group, said the media should revisit its role as a watchdog, as well as seize social media space, to continue to remain relevant.
Veteran journalist Froilan Gallardo, the new president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC), called on the city’s journalists to maintain their independence from interest groups, especially politicians.
During the COPC’s 73rd induction of officers on March 17, Gallardo said, “We cannot rely on dole-outs and remain at the mercy of the politicians. If we continue doing that, we – the industry itself – would become irrelevant and eventually lose the game [because] the public would know that we are (sic) already bought and [have] become mouthpieces of every politician.”
The local press club, which counts 100 members from the broadcast, print, and online media, is the oldest and premier news media organization in the city.
The poor state of the media is making even those aspiring to become journalists think twice.
For instance, graduating Development Communications students Anthony Fornillos and Neil Culta said they were considering careers in journalism, but that salary is a major concern.
“Mangitag asa makapanginabuhi nga makabuhi jud (I’ll look for a job that can provide decent income), Fornillos said.
Dr. Shiella Balbutin, an assistant professor at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan’s Department of Development Communication, said the local media appears to be losing their influence on the community such that interest groups now dominate public discourse.
“If this continues, it can lead to biased information dissemination and will prevent participatory dialogue from happening,” Balbutin said. This is why, Balbutin said, academics need to do better at promoting critical thinking and should continue to strengthen media literacy initiatives.
Getting out of the morass of perennially regurgitating content pushed by political and other vested interest groups, however, may not be this easy.
“As a long-time journalist myself, before I plunged into the world of human rights advocacy, I know only too well the challenges many of my colleagues and friends face these days. But there is hope and the situation can improve,” Conde said.
“This is why I think the future of community journalism is nonprofit journalism. Media outlets need to get funding from sources within the community (through donations and like-minded patrons, but mindful of ethical issues) but also explore outside funders such as nonprofit organizations whose advocacy matches with the missions of the community press. In other words, the Cagayan de Oro media need to get out of the grip of politicians and interest groups,” he said.
“Easier said than done, of course,” Conde said. “But I can’t see any other way.” – Rappler.com
JB Deveza, a communications teacher at Xavier University and former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct SunStar-Cagayan de Oro, is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow for 20223-2024.
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This is the sad reality of journalism in our country and perhaps throughout the world. If this is not effectively addressed, we will live in a world ruled by Disinformation.
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For the love of art! Metro Manila art events to attend this April | jreyes0314 | 30/03/2024 15:23 | Poster by @jpellustrates via Komiket's X
MANILA, Philippines – Everybody needs an art fix from time to time, whether you’re viewing it in a gallery, purchasing merch from local artists, or making art yourself. Luckily, there are a ton of different art events lined up this April around Metro Manila!
Scheduled throughout the month are art exhibits, art markets, pottery workshops, and even a journaling event – so it’s safe to say that there’s something for every kind of art lover out there. Take your pick from the list below.
Quezon City art gallery Gravity Art Space has three solo exhibits each slated to run from April 2 to April 27: Julieanne Ng’s More | Less, Aze Ong’s Transformation, and Dano Tingcungco’s Extasis Forever.
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All solo exhibits will open on April 2 at 6 pm at Gravity Art Space. The gallery is located along Mother Ignacia Avenue in Quezon City and is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 1 pm to 7 pm.
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Artists, this one’s for you! Makers & Friends, Makers Festa’s first-ever community event, will feature a variety of fun activities to allow artists to get to know each other through their shared love of art. Attendees can expect to participate in an artist bingo and art trades, and even exercise their creativity at the journaling and origami stations!
Makers & Friends will be held on April 6 from 1 pm to 4 pm at Wabi Sabi Studio in Hallare Building, Kapitolyo, Pasig City. For RSVP details, visit the link in Makers Festa’s Instagram bio.
In Bonifacio Global City’s upcoming festival titled Boni Viva Luci, nature comes to life with the help of art and light. Illuminated art pieces and installations by artists and organizations like Isaiah Cacnio, Leeroy New, Puppet Theater Manila, and members of Camera Club of the Philippines, among others, will take center stage at the week-long event.
On Boni Viva Luci’s opening night on Saturday, April 6 at 7 pm, attendees will be treated to a series of live performances by music acts OJ Mariano, Arman Ferrer, Bayang Barrios, and violinist Liz Besana, along with a dance performance by Galaw.Co Dance Theater.
Boni Viva Luci will run from April 6 to 14 at the Bonifacio High Street Amphitheater in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Entrance is free of charge.
SUGAR, WE’RE GOING DOWN SOUTH! Buckle up for an awaited trip with us to Komiket South at Robinsons Las Piñas, April 12-14, 10am to 8pm. Head on over to where we are that weekend and find another awesome mix of komiks, arts &crafts, stickers, prints and merch! Entrance is FREE! 😎 pic.twitter.com/uPSzpRCNs2
Fresh off Komiket March held at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, the famed comics and art market is heading to Las Piñas! Southies now will be able to cop merch from a great pool of local artists, as well as get their hands on a wide selection of Filipino komiks.
Komiket South will happen from April 12 to 14 at Robinsons Las Piñas. Gates open at 10 am and close at 8 pm on all days. Entrance is free.
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Pottery studio Bumi and Ashe is set to hold a two-day event that will allow you to live out your rug and pottery dreams! On Day 1, you can tuft your very own rug, while on Day 2, you can create and paint your own mug and even make other ceramics like vases, plates, or bowls.
Pottery in Aguirre will happen on April 13 and 14 at Hungrysans in BF Homes, Parañaque City. Prices start at P2,800.
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Southies, this is your sign to finally take that pottery class! Potherese will be holding a basic handbuilding pottery workshop perfect for beginners. You will be given stoneware clay to create up to two ceramic pieces, access to pottery tools and aprons, paint, access to the glazing and firing service, as well as a beginner-friendly pottery lesson and handbuilding demo.
Potherese’s workshop will be held at Group & Boiler Coffee, Company at the Molito Complex in Alabang, Muntinlupa City on April 14 from 9 am to 12 pm. The workshop is priced at P2,700 for early bird registrants and P2,800 for regular registrants, both inclusive of pottery materials, one drink, and a 10% discount on any food item.
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In celebration of its first anniversary, art collective Star Anik will hold “In Bituin: 1 Year of Star Anik,” an art market and a night of live music performances in one event. A total of 19 local artists will be selling their stickers, art prints, and other merch at Paper Lantern on the second floor, while live performances by eight different music acts will happen at Mow’s.
In Bituin will be held at Mow’s and Paper Lantern on April 14. Gates open at 2 pm for the art market, while the live show will kick off at 4 pm. Art market tickets cost P50, while limited walk-in tickets for both the live gig and art market are priced at P400.
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Missed the first Journal Tambay in January? Fear not, as the memory-keeping event is returning for a second edition in April with a bigger set of artists, different activities, and workshops! Journal Tambay is an all-in-one event where you can buy merch from artists to use for your journal spreads, participate in four different journaling workshops, and journal alongside other attendees.
The artists who will be selling their merch and/or holding workshops for the second Journal Tambay include Art of Our Life, Ella Lama, Marie Lama, Sunny Stoic Studio, Louise Ramos, Nica Cosio, Alfajone, Aireescreates, Everyday Explorers Co., MabuhayDIY, and Eden Street. Practical Magic will also be there to do tarot readings.
Journal Tambay will be held at Odd Café in Makati City on April 20, from 11 am to 6 pm. Access to the pop-up is free, while access to the journaling area costs P50. Each workshop is priced at P200. As of this writing, all slots are currently full, but the organizers have opened up a waitlist form should they be able to accommodate more attendees.
If you’ve ever resonated with the reverse of the saying, “Ang sticker, dinidikit, hindi tinatago (Stickers are meant to be stuck, not kept),” Sticky Expo is the place to be. The arts and crafts event’s April edition will have a big lineup of artists selling stickers, original fan art, art prints, pins, keychains, and numerous other handicrafts!
Sticky Expo will happen at the activity center on the ground floor of Ayala Malls Manila Bay from April 20 to April 21 from 10 am to 8 pm. Entrance is free on both days.
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Unable to go to the pottery workshops scheduled earlier? Bumi and Ashe will also be holding a pottery workshop at Greenbelt 3 from April 20 to 21! A beginner-friendly event, the workshop’s participants will be able to create one mug for the mug-making segment, and three of any kind of ceramic piece for the handbuilding one.
You may book your slot at Bumi and Ashe’s website.
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Artist Naburok will be having a solo exhibition at Galerie Stephanie in the month of April. Marked by vibrant pastel colors and geometric shapes, Naburok’s art sees her blue-haired main character – also named Naburok – at the center of her works, both digital and traditional.
Galerie Stephanie is located on the 6th floor of Shangri-La Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City. As of writing, an exact exhibition date has yet to be announced. – Rappler.com
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IN PHOTOS: Coast Guard brings doctors, nurses, teachers to Pag-asa Island | Bea Cupin | 30/03/2024 12:13 | PAG-ASA MISSION. The PCG sends doctors, nurses, and teachers to Pag-asa Island.
Coast Guard District Palawan
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Palawan deployed to Pag-asa Island a team of doctors, nurses, and teachers.
“This initiative marks a significant stride in advancing the well-being and educational prospects of residents inhabiting Pagasa Island and neighboring areas,” said Coast Guard District in a Facebook post on Friday, March 29.
Pag-asa is an island in the Spratlys, an archipelago in the South China Sea with overlapping claims. It’s the farthest island territory of the Philippines and is located beyond the country’s exclusive economic zone or more than 200 nautical miles from its territorial baseline.
“Pag-asa Island represents a vital frontier for Philippine sovereignty and community welfare,” said the Coast Guard District Palawan in its post.
Pag-asa Island hosts a small community of Filipinos, including soldiers and PCG personnel. – Rappler.com
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Pope skips Good Friday procession ‘to preserve his health’ | lkyu0285 | 30/03/2024 9:21 | SERVICE. Pope Francis presides over the Good Friday Passion of the Lord service in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, March 29, 2024.
REUTERS
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis cancelled at the last minute his attendance at the Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum, in what the Vatican described as a bid “to preserve his health” ahead of more Easter week engagements.
Francis’ agenda for the next two days consists of an Easter Vigil service on Saturday evening, March 30, and an Easter Mass and the twice-annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) message and blessing on Sunday morning, March 31.
The 87-year-old’s sudden no show is likely to renew concerns about his declining strength. Francis uses a cane or a wheelchair to move around due to a knee ailment, and suffers from repeated bouts of bronchitis and influenza.
Good Friday leads on Sunday to Easter, the most important and joyous date in the Church’s liturgical calendar – commemorating the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead.
The Vatican announced the pope’s absence from the “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) procession just as it was about to start, saying in a statement he would follow it remotely from his Vatican residence.
Francis, who had looked fitter this week after weeks in which he struggled to speak in public and cancelled some meetings, also missed the procession last year, after recovering from a four-day hospital stay for bronchitis. (READ: Pope, looking well, visits female prison for foot-washing ritual)
The Via Crucis at the Colosseum is a re-enactment of Jesus’ death by crucifixion, in which participants take turns in holding the cross as they walk in and around the ancient Roman arena, stopping to pray and hear meditations.
Nuns, priests, a hermit, charity workers, migrants and disabled people were among those who took part in the service, held in a landmark monument believed to have been a place of martyrdom for early Christians.
Francis personally wrote the meditations for this year, a first in his 11-year papacy. They included praises for meekness and forgiveness in response to acts of evil, and prayers for persecuted Christians and war victims.
The pope, who has called for the Church to become less male-dominated, also hailed the women who helped Jesus while he carried the cross, and pleaded for “those (women) who in our own day are exploited and endure injustice and indignity”.
In another sign of his focus on women, Francis on Thursday, March 28, performed the foot-washing ritual, which recalls Jesus’ gesture of humility to his apostles at the Last Supper, in a women’s prison in Rome.
Earlier on Friday, March 29, the pope joined cardinals and bishops for the Passion of the Lord service in St. Peter’s Basilica, which featured chants in Latin recounting events from Jesus’ arrest to his burial.
In previous years, Francis would start the service prostrating himself on the floor of the basilica, but his frail state no longer allows him to do so. Instead, he arrived in a wheelchair and prayed silently in front of the main altar. – Rappler.com
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Jalen Green stays red-hot as Rockets near Warriors, Lakers spots off 11th straight win | jisaga0269 | 30/03/2024 20:00 | RED-HOT. Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) tries to get to the basket during the second half against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
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Jalen Green scored 34 points, including 30 in the second half, and Fred VanVleet added 22 as the red-hot Houston Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz 101-100 on Friday (Saturday, March 30, Manila time) in Salt Lake City for their 11th consecutive victory.
Amen Thompson contributed 18 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in 14 points to help Houston match its longest winning streak since late in the 2017-18 season.
With the win, Houston (38-35) remained a game behind the Golden State Warriors, who beat the Charlotte Hornets earlier Friday, for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
John Collins contributed 30 points and 11 rebounds and Collin Sexton had 29 points for Utah (29-45), which lost its eighth straight. Injured veterans Lauri Markkanen (shoulder) and Jordan Clarkson (back) didn’t play.
Green, who had 20 points in the third quarter, and VanVleet combined for just nine points in the first half but exploded to score 47 in the second half.
VanVleet scored 14 in the fourth, including a clutch shot to give the Rockets a four-point lead with 15 seconds remaining. Utah had just trimmed Houston’s seven-point fourth-quarter lead to one.
After Johnny Juzang scored to cut the lead to two with 6.4 seconds remaining, Green hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to seal the win.
Taylor Hendricks hit a last-second 3-pointer to narrow the deficit.
Green scored 14 points in the first five-plus minutes of the third quarter to help the Rockets during a 20-7 surge, turning a 47-41 halftime deficit into a 61-54 lead. He later hit a 3 to increase the lead to 67-58.
The Jazz closed out the quarter with a 14-2 run to reclaim a 72-69 advantage.
Utah led by four when VanVleet ignited a 14-3 run with a 3 and a floater as Houston went up 92-85. Green capped that surge with a 3-pointer to end a possession in which the Rockets had four offensive rebounds.
Utah made a late push to get within one but the rally fell short. – Rappler.com
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Melvin Jerusalem, Jake Amparo seek world crowns against Shigeoka brothers in Nagoya | jisaga0269 | 30/03/2024 19:08 | NEW CHAMPION. Filipino fighter Melvin Jerusalem celebrates his breakthrough world title.
Sanman Boxing
MANILA, Philippines – Melvin Jerusalem and Jake Amparo tangle with unbeaten brothers Yudai and Ginjiro Shigeoka, respectively, in their bids for world titles on Sunday, March 31, at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.
Of the two Filipino warriors, Jerusalem is given a better chance of ending the Filipinos’ woeful stints in Japan as he has the edge in experience over the 26-year-old Yudai, who holds an 8-0 record with five knockouts.
Amparo is less prepared, being a last-minute replacement for compatriot ArAr Andales, the top challenger who was forced to withdraw due to medical concerns.
With a 14-5-1 card and only 3 knockouts to show, Amparo will be the huge underdog, given less than 10% winning chances by Japanese bookmakers, against Ginjiro, who has decked 8 of 10 opponents thus far.
Jerusalem, one of the stalwarts of the SanMan stable headed by JC Manangquil, is 21-3 with 12 knockouts and has prepared long and hard under trainer Michael Domingo.
Adhering to a strict diet, Jerusalem checked in at a light 104 pounds during the official weigh-in on Saturday, March 30, against the 104.9 pounds of Yudai, less than 24 hours before their battle for the World Boxing Council minimumweight belt.
Despite Jerusalem being a huge +640 underdog, Manangquil believes his ward has a good shot of upstaging Yudai, having seen him during training in General Santos City.
Amparo and Ginjiro will dispute the International Boxing Federation version of the 105-pound crown.
Marlon Tapales, Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan suffered knockout losses in Japan last December and February, sending the Filipino boxers’ stocks plunging. – Rappler.com
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‘Still in the war’: PH men’s football eyes more ‘options’ in next qualifiers | Jasmine Payo | 27/03/2024 19:07 | ALL OUT. Jarvey Gayoso of the Philippine men's football team in action against Iraq.
PHILIPPINE FOOTBALL FEDERATION
MANILA, Philippines – After a home match where the Philippine men’s football team got totally demolished by Iraq, new head coach Tom Saintfiet plans to do another roster shakeup.
Saintfiet pointed out that they are “still in the war” even after a 5-0 whipping last Tuesday, March 26, as the Philippines holds a slim chance of advancing to the next round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualifiers.
“We got an uppercut, we are very down, I’m frustrated, I can tell you that,” said Saintfiet. “But it doesn’t bring anything to stay in your frustration. You have to use the weaknesses and strengths to grow as a team, as a person, as everyone in [the next qualifiers in] June. We have to be ready for the next two battles.”
The home loss was a stark contrast to the 139th-ranked Filipinos’ fighting form in a 1-0 loss to host Iraq last Friday, March 22, in Basra.
With the next qualifying window just three months away, Saintfiet shared he is in contact with numerous eligible players to come and play for the rejigged national team.
“We also had contact, in the last months, with a lot of foreign-based, foreign-born players who play on very high level,” said Saintfiet, noting potential recruits from leagues in the United States, Norway, Sweden, and Belgium.
“We have already the confirmation of six of these players that they are ready to play in June for us,” he said.
“The passports are issued, so within two months, I expect that I have several options more – the guys who I mentioned now, who are playing abroad, but also the guys within the [local] league.”
“I saw the guys from Kaya [FC-Iloilo], and I saw Manila Diggers,” added Saintfiet. “And I saw some games in preseason in Taguig, but I didn’t see all the games, but I like to see all teams play because every Filipino player has the opportunity to play.”
Before the next qualifiers, the 50-year-old Saintfiet said he plans to hold a national team training camp in May, possibly in Dubai, and organize friendly matches if feasible.
“We will analyze the performance in training and in both matches of the players [against Iraq] who are now in camp,” said Saintfiet.
“And then we will make the right decision which ones will be on board for the future – it’s connected to the performance, but also to the age because we’re building a team for the future.”
The Philippines currently sits dead last in a four-team Group F with 1 point and a -8 goal difference. Only the top two teams in each group will advance to the third round of the joint qualifiers.
Teams advancing to the third round of the joint qualifiers will claim an automatic berth in the AFC Asian Cup 2027, and from there, the 18 remaining teams will be divided into three groups of six as they battle it out for a direct qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Philippine team captain Neil Etheridge admitted the 5-0 loss to world No. 59 Iraq will serve as a “learning curve” for the squad as they move on to the crucial clashes against Vietnam and Indonesia.
“I do think that we will move forward and learn from the mistakes that we made… and we’ve shown that the heart and spirit we gave over in Iraq that we have it, it needs to come out more often,” said the 34-year-old goalkeeper.
“I believe in this group and I think we have to come out fighting strategically, not just stupidly.”
Jarvey Gayoso felt the team “could’ve done more” in their home game against Iraq despite having a massive gap based on the official FIFA world rankings.
“Given the outcome, we always wanted to do more, so we take a lot of lessons from this and just move forward, we continue to stay positive,” said the 27-year-old forward.
The former Ateneo standout thanked the fans as well for the support and encouraged them to remain optimistic as the national team moves on to the next window under the new management.
“I hope you all stay positive as well ‘cause we’re looking positive and we’re looking to be a more competitive team especially when it comes to the next two away games,” said Gayoso. – Rappler.com
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Rappler Talk: Leila de Lima, a woman of faith | Paterno Esmaquel II | 28/03/2024 19:30 | Bookmark and refresh this page to watch this Holy Week episode of Rappler Talk at 8 pm (Manila time) on Maundy Thursday, March 28
MANILA, Philippines – She lost her freedom but found her faith.
In this Holy Week episode of Rappler Talk, former senator Leila de Lima opens up about her relationship with God which, in her words, became “intense” when she was detained for six years, eight months, and 21 days.
How did her time in jail strengthen her faith?
What are her views on forgiveness and revenge? In previous interviews, De Lima said she has not forgiven her “chief oppressor,” Rodrigo Duterte, but she is praying for the grace to be able to forgive the former president. What does she mean? And why does De Lima, vilified as a senator and as a woman during Duterte’s presidency, see the need to forgive?
De Lima also talks about the five cats, out of around 20, whom she brought home from her detention facility – Avatar, Doll, Lily, Otto, and Duchess – as well as two new kittens, Shogun and Golda. In this Rappler Talk interview, recorded on March 22, the former senator says she believes God sent these animals not only to keep her company, but also to make her “more human.”
Watch De Lima’s interview with Rappler senior multimedia reporter Paterno Esmaquel II, at 8 pm (Manila time) on Maundy Thursday, March 28. – Rappler.com
How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/philippines/interview-leila-de-lima-woman-faith/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0QYqPBaBrH2HT_KCOseohXer2jjstYyvMpEBVQDiPo5WKv7gaZYZyUUII_aem_VS3xsFjxPoqcLIG6juzkjg |
‘You are limitless’: She Talks Asia Summit 2024 champions breaking stereotypes | jreyes0314 | 22/03/2024 16:59 | Point Zero Productions
MANILA, Philippines – Founded by Iza Calzado, Lynn Pinugu, Bianca Gonzalez, Victoria Herrera, and Sarah Meier, She Talks Asia has been organizing annual summits led by notable women, for women since its inception in 2017. For its 8th edition, held at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on March 16, the She Talks Asia Summit took on the theme of “Breaking Stereotypes.”
The event champions the notion that rather than allowing yourself to remain boxed into the stereotypes attributed to women that have been passed on from generation to generation, you must step up to write your own narrative.
“Why is it important to break these stereotypes and rewrite your narrative, even? Because it’s the only way you can truly believe what you are capable of – and that is anything and everything, because you are limitless,” Calzado said in her opening remarks.
The She Talks Asia Summit featured Karen Davila, Leni Robredo, Shaira Luna, Abi Marquez, Larra Lasam, and Eugene Domingo, among others, as speakers. With this impressive roster of women who each had their own thought-provoking stories to tell, it was a day that proved to be nothing short of inspirational for all the other women in attendance.
In her speech, keynote speaker and She Talks Asia co-chair Karen Davila emphasized that oftentimes, it is women themselves who end up committing acts that prove to be harmful to other women – circumstances that come with living in a patriarchal society. It then becomes imperative that women work to challenge these biases, and in turn, unlearn them.
Davila spoke about how the princesses that little girls look up to are all rescued by men at the end of their stories, which are rife with stereotypes about how women should be.
“These stereotypes are collective ideas of who we believe we are and we had nothing to do with it. It’s just ingrained in you and passed through generations. There’s only one hero during that period in time who didn’t need a man to rescue her, and that’s Alice in Wonderland. And yet no woman relates to Alice…. It is a challenge to get out of that thinking,” Davila said.
Robredo also took the stage for a Fireside Chat, where select members of the audience were given the opportunity to ask her questions about motherhood and leadership in a male-dominated government.
Robredo shared that she had already practiced how not to react impulsively when derogatory comments came her way, which happened frequently when she was vice president and during her 2022 presidential bid. She said while this “superpower” was what helped her clear her mind, she acknowledges that not “offering an alternative narrative” was what allowed critics to push their own narrative of her.
“When I was vice president, it was both good and bad. Good in the sense na sa sarili ko, hindi ako apektado, pero (that I wasn’t personally affected, but) bad in the sense that I wasn’t able to respond in the manner that I should have…. Because when you did not offer an [alternative] narrative, pinaniniwalaan ‘yung narrative nila (people believe their own narrative), and then you realize that that was the case, it was too late already,” Robredo said.
Different women excelling in their respective fields then shared their insights on the She Talks Asia stage.
Shaira Luna – known by many as the gifted child from the milk formula commercial – opened up about the judgment she was initially subjected to when she decided to drop out of medicine to pursue photography and fashion.
Luna was joined by food content creator Abi Marquez, who was also ridiculed for deciding to continue her content creation despite finishing her hotel and restaurant management degree with Latin honors.
Nonetheless, these women continue to shine in the paths they have chosen to take, with each of them managing to eventually establish themselves as big, respected names in their fields.
But with excellence comes passion for your craft. Thus, the She Talks Asia Summit 2024 also gathered women who have found what they unapologetically love to do – be it hosting, pursuing a career in the Esports industry, or even operating a “tita” fan club for a K-pop group.
“You owe it to yourself to be truly passionate about something, and that’s when your authentic self comes out,” said Denise Oyog.
Burn survivor and motivational speaker Larra Lasam then detailed her story of survival, and how she broke free from the “victim mindset” to eventually empower herself. After the fatal accident that had left her with burn scars all over her face and body, Lasam had spent several years covering herself up – often wearing face masks and cardigans.
But as a sudden wave of gratitude suddenly poured in one night, Lasam began to realize that she is more than her scars, more than societal norms, more than gender roles, and more than what people think of her.
“Sure, we may have unfair circumstances that happened to us. But when viewed from the perspective we get to choose, these unfair experiences can become unfair advantages that will leave us with wisdom, transformation, and light, that only we get to have the experience of having,” Lasam said in her speech, emphasizing that she is not a victim, but a victor.
Veteran actress and comedienne Eugene Domingo also shared the humorous yet heartwarming story behind finding love in her 40s. Domingo had met her husband Danilo Bottoni at an Italian film festival in 2014, at a time when she believed that she would be single forever.
Bottoni, a film critic, had interviewed Domingo regarding her film Barber’s Tales. Domingo drew laughs from the crowd when she shared that she had been taken aback when Bottoni had asked her if she was currently in love, only to find out later that he had actually meant, “What do you love to do?”
Enchanted by Bottoni’s knowledge on the Philippine film industry, the Becky and Badette actress had set out to find the film critic after their interview had ended, but to no avail. The pair eventually reconnected through email and Instagram, not knowing that they would later tie the knot and live a happy, married life together.
The She Talks Asia Summit 2024 had truly proven to send its attendees off with rich insights from women of all walks of life. Its founders had said that it was the most ambitious summit to date – with the biggest speakers lined up but with the shortest amount of time to prepare. However, as Bianca Gonzalez-Intal said at the end of the event, “Today was a testament that we can do incredible things together.” – Rappler.com
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IN PHOTOS: How Filipinos observed Good Friday 2024 | Russell Ku | 29/03/2024 23:02 | GOOD FRIDAY. Devotees in Barangay Lourdes Northwest in Angeles City, Pampanga, reenact the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, March 29, 2024.
Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos observing the Holy Week marked Good Friday, March 29, with solemn prayers, reflection, and local traditions, such as flagellation and the reenactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, among others.
Holy Week commemorations reach their climax on Good Friday, when the faithful remember Jesus’ crucifixion and death at Calvary.
Here are some scenes from this year’s Good Friday commemorations:
Do you have Holy Week photos or reflections from your communities? Share them in the faith chat room of the Rappler Communities app. – Rappler.com
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IN PHOTOS: How Filipinos observed Good Friday 2024 | Russell Ku | 29/03/2024 23:02 | GOOD FRIDAY. Devotees in Barangay Lourdes Northwest in Angeles City, Pampanga, reenact the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, March 29, 2024.
Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos observing the Holy Week marked Good Friday, March 29, with solemn prayers, reflection, and local traditions, such as flagellation and the reenactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, among others.
Holy Week commemorations reach their climax on Good Friday, when the faithful remember Jesus’ crucifixion and death at Calvary.
Here are some scenes from this year’s Good Friday commemorations:
Do you have Holy Week photos or reflections from your communities? Share them in the faith chat room of the Rappler Communities app. – Rappler.com
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Emotional Alyssa Valdez wishes good health to old coach Roger Gorayeb after PVL reunion | jisaga0269 | 21/03/2024 22:56 | INSEPARABLE. Creamline spiker Alyssa Valdez and Capital1 coach Roger Gorayeb in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference
PVL Images
MANILA, Philippines – Volleyball phenom Alyssa Valdez has been under many coaches in her illustrious career, but one in particular will always have a special place in her heart: the legendary Roger Gorayeb.
Valdez’s mentor in her formative career years with the champion Ateneo Lady Eagles, the multi-titled Gorayeb has scaled stiff personal mountains in the last few years regarding his health, but has since recovered and is back in the PVL with the upstart Capital1 Solar Spikers.
After three years away from each other, Valdez and Gorayeb finally crossed paths again on the taraflex as Creamline swept Capital1, 25-18, 25-14, 25-15, on Thursday, March 21, at the Araneta Coliseum.
Asked about their interaction after the Cool Smashers’ bounce-back win, Valdez went through a wave of emotions, first cracking a wide smile before her voice cracked and gave away a heavier feeling beneath.
“It’s always nice to go up against your former coaches because you want to show them how you improved,” she said in Filipino. “For me, being able to go up against coach Roger in today’s game, it’s overwhelming because I know what he has gone through to get back here.”
“I’m very, very excited to see where else his team can go and how far coach Roger can still go in the volleyball community as one of the longest tenured coaches we have. Coach, stay strong and stay healthy.”
Ever the heated competitor, Gorayeb needed a moment to cool down from the Solar Spikers’ fifth loss before indulging an interview and returning her star ward’s kind words.
“I’m happy even though I don’t really want to keep thinking about my old players. I’m happy for them that they are hustling still in their careers,” he said in Filipino.
“I greeted my old players (Valdez, Ella de Jesus) before the game. They told me, ‘Coach, don’t be stressed, that’s bad for you.’ So I told them, ‘Don’t play then!'” Gorayeb joked. “But I’m happy that’s all. We keep moving on.”
Safe to say, the Philippine volleyball community is united in hoping Gorayeb continues to fire up more generations of players for years to come.
Without a Roger Gorayeb, there would be no Alyssa Valdez to usher the game’s golden age in the country, plain and simple. – Rappler.com
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Rappler Talk: Leila de Lima, a woman of faith | Paterno Esmaquel II | 28/03/2024 19:30 | Bookmark and refresh this page to watch this Holy Week episode of Rappler Talk at 8 pm (Manila time) on Maundy Thursday, March 28
MANILA, Philippines – She lost her freedom but found her faith.
In this Holy Week episode of Rappler Talk, former senator Leila de Lima opens up about her relationship with God which, in her words, became “intense” when she was detained for six years, eight months, and 21 days.
How did her time in jail strengthen her faith?
What are her views on forgiveness and revenge? In previous interviews, De Lima said she has not forgiven her “chief oppressor,” Rodrigo Duterte, but she is praying for the grace to be able to forgive the former president. What does she mean? And why does De Lima, vilified as a senator and as a woman during Duterte’s presidency, see the need to forgive?
De Lima also talks about the five cats, out of around 20, whom she brought home from her detention facility – Avatar, Doll, Lily, Otto, and Duchess – as well as two new kittens, Shogun and Golda. In this Rappler Talk interview, recorded on March 22, the former senator says she believes God sent these animals not only to keep her company, but also to make her “more human.”
Watch De Lima’s interview with Rappler senior multimedia reporter Paterno Esmaquel II, at 8 pm (Manila time) on Maundy Thursday, March 28. – Rappler.com
How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/philippines/interview-leila-de-lima-woman-faith/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3WuM8YNOkIatqhgXycYPF1egDY_CDExIMNACfVQ8l3xNeimhF5HpH3ZTU_aem_PZU5pcna_zjlI7Fq10czTg |
In prison, mother and baby share P85 a day for food, medicine | Michelle Abad | 30/03/2024 9:16 | MOTHER'S WARD. Persons deprived of liberty tending to their babies at the Correctional Institution for Women's mothers' ward on March 14, 2024.
Michelle Abad/Rappler
First of 2 parts
Editor’s Note: This story is based on an original submission by Ateneo de Manila students Angeline Braganza, Allison Co, and Iana Padilla for their investigative journalism class.
In October 2020, activist Reina Mae Nasino, surrounded by cops, wrapped up in full protective gear, and wearing handcuffs, attended her baby’s funeral.
Nasino and her baby River became icons of injustice, not just of the crackdown on dissent during the Duterte administration, but of the conditions of detained mothers who simply want to care for their newborn babies. Baby River was separated from Nasino at birth, and died when she was only three months old.
“I would randomly wake up, tears welling in my eyes. And then, I would find myself embracing the last shirt my baby wore,” Nasino said in a recent interview. In 2023, she was acquitted of charges pertaining to illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Nasino, who spent most of her pregnancy in the Manila City Jail, is just one of the countless mothers in the Philippines who enter prison with a baby in their wombs. Over in Mandaluyong, there is a 21-square-meter room in the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) called the mothers’ ward.
Here stay persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) who are pregnant, or had just given birth. The mothers’ ward consists of six beds, a shared bathroom with curtains serving as a door, a meager pantry, faded stickers of cartoon characters on the walls, and a shelf of dusty toys.
Maria*, 34, was once among the expectant mothers – she entered CIW eight months pregnant in September 2023. The following month, she gave birth to a baby boy. While she felt delighted to welcome this little drop of joy into her life, she couldn’t cope with the storm of financial demands that assaulted her. Maria had to borrow money from a fellow PDL to cover her ultrasound sessions, check-ups, and laboratory fees.
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has a measly P15-medicine budget per PDL, per day. According to lone resident doctor and Corrections Technical Chief Superintendent Maria Lourdes Razon, this already accounts for everything medical – from medicines to medical supplies like cotton balls and alcohol, and even period products. There’s no separate budget for a PDL who is pregnant or ill.
In CIW, according to Razon, PDLs who have prescription medicines have to deposit in the pharmacy whatever money is provided by their families. The pharmacy then deducts from the fund whatever medicines PDLs avail of.
When needed, and especially for births, CIW’s pregnant PDLs are referred to the Mandaluyong City Medical Center (MCMC), a stone’s throw from the prison. Razon claimed that the PDLs who need procedures need not shell out any money, as it is a public hospital. But such does not seem to be the case – if Maria’s experience is any indication.
Maria was lucky that her fellow PDL had an extra P3,000 she could spare from the money deposited in the pharmacy.
A shortage of resources and medical staff compromises the quality and accessibility of healthcare services, particularly in terms of prenatal and postnatal care. This situation forces pregnant PDLs to bear the financial burden of medical expenses, as Maria herself experienced.
As of March 2024, the CIW has a population of around 3,100, but, according to Dr. Razon, the facility is meant to house only 1,000.
Besides Razon, there are only 13 nurses to tend to the over 3,000 PDLs in CIW, translating to one nurse for every 231 women, with no obstetricians, gynecologists (OB-GYN), nor midwives.
The CIW shares a line item with the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in the BuCor’s budget. From the P5.2 billion budget the NBP and CIW shared in 2023, their budget was cut down to P4.72 billion in 2024. But NBP likely takes a significant share. The notoriously overcrowded men’s prison housed around 30,000 by end-November 2023 – 10 times as many as the population in CIW.
If one were to assume that CIW takes 10% of the budget, that leaves just P472 million for the CIW in 2024. This already accounts for administrative and operational costs.
The National Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), which oversees local city and municipal jails that exclude the BuCor-supervised CIW, recorded more than 1,600 pregnant detainees and 485 births in the past two years.
On the rare times that specialists who are part of medical missions organized by non-government organizations are able to visit, pregnant PDLs get to be examined. But more often than not, they have to make do with the little that’s available.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said that only 37 out of 84 women’s dormitories are equipped with a breastfeeding room, again indicating very limited access to maternal health services.
According to Dr. Jonelle Baloloy, chief resident of the MCMC OB-GYN ward, PDLs who come to the hospital for maternal services are treated no differently from other patients, but when they need services that don’t require admission, they are prioritized in the queue since they only have limited time outside prison.
After securing permits to leave the facility, PDLs from CIW are accompanied by an escort and a nurse. There have been reported issues, however, according to Baloloy, of PDLs “having difficulties in securing permits to leave the facility.”
For example, for OB patients, she said, “their follow-up appointments are fixed, so those are easy. But since the hospital or local government unit pays for laboratory fees, the PDLs still have to go through the LGU for those appointments.”
Both CIW and MCMC assert that PDLs don’t have to shell out any money for their procedures, and if ever they do, fees are minimal, or the hospital finds a way to get the local social welfare office to pay for them. Yet women PDLs still say that what they need help the most with is still financial support.
It doesn’t help that the P15-medical budget covers the mothers only. Babies, who have their own needs like diapers, clothes, and hygiene products, are not PDLs and are excluded from the budget. While there is a separate P70-food allocation per day, or just P23.33 for a meal, pregnant PDLs and breastfeeding mothers need more because they also require special nutrition, like increased fluid intake.
“Most of the time, our food doesn’t have soup. We need more food, because we have increased appetites. Every time our children breastfeed, we go hungry,” said Maria.
The infirmary may not always be prepared to handle swift births as well.
“As much as possible, we really refer [births] to the nearest government hospital, MCMC. We are not equipped to deliver babies. Although there was one who went into labor quickly, and we weren’t able to bring her to the hospital on time. We were able to guide her through her labor. But we worry sometimes [about sudden births] since I’m not here 24/7, or if there’s a problem with the baby. We’re not equipped, because we are just an infirmary,” said Razon.
For Imelda Duras of the CHR Prevention Cluster Visitorial Division, prison medical staff should be equipped with multidisciplinary, and not just custodial, skills. Some of these skills include being able to provide psychological and social support for PDLs.
“So there should be health [personnel] – nurses and doctors – and we should have mental health professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers,” said Duras.
Karen Bantang from the CHR Gender Division also cited the alarming concern about postpartum depression among mother PDLs. A study conducted by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development found that 15.6% of Filipino women experience depression during pregnancy and 19.8% after childbirth. The pregnant PDLs of CIW aren’t any different.
With resources already at the bare minimum for women in the mothers’ ward, they also deal with the mental anguish of possibly not being able to live out the duties of motherhood. (To be concluded) – with reports from Angeline Braganza, Allison Co, and Iana Padilla/Rappler.com
*Names have been changed.
All quotes have been translated into English.
NEXT: Part 2 | Behind bars, giving a mother’s touch isn’t easy
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100 and counting: Ginebra turns back Magnolia for Clasico milestone | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/03/2024 22:37 | PHYSICALITY. Christian Standhardinger in action for Barangay Ginebra in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – At long last, Barangay Ginebra breached the century mark in wins in its storied Clasico rivalry with Magnolia.
Heroes were aplenty as the Gin Kings notched their 100th victory against the Hotshots, 87-77, to get back on track in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Easter Sunday, March 31.
Stanley Pringle fired a season-high 17 points, Japeth Aguilar posted a near-double-double of 16 points and 9 rebounds, while Maverick Ahanmisi chimed in 16 points and 4 assists to help Ginebra improve to a 3-1 record.
Christian Standhardinger (11 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists) and Jamie Malonzo (11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals) also delivered as all of the Gin Kings’ starters scored in double figures.
“It is great to finally get that one. [Magnolia] handled us pretty well so it is really sweet to come out and get this one and get that 100th,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
The Gin Kings’ 100th win in Clasico matches took over a year in the making since they clinched victory No. 99 when they disposed of the Hotshots, 99-84, to advance to the finals of the Commissioner’s Cup in December 2022.
Magnolia owned the last two Clasico encounters, crushing Ginebra in a 118-88 blowout in the Governors’ Cup last season and completing a sensational 93-91 comeback from 26 points down in the Commissioner’s Cup this season.
A third straight loss seemed imminent when the Gin Kings trailed 53-47 midway through the third quarter before they hit their stride, ending the period on a 13-3 run highlighted by a booming LA Tenorio triple for a 60-56 lead.
The starters put the finishing touches, with Ahanmisi nailing a three-pointer left to make it 84-75 and Standhardinger sealing the deal with a free throw and a layup inside the final 40 seconds.
“I just want to say I liked what our guys did. We came from that tough loss against Meralco. We were kind of embarrassed out there and they really showed that they care,” said Cone.
“They care about their fans, they care about their performance, and they came in here and I thought they were really locked in. This is the way we expect to play and hope to play all the time.”
Ian Sangalang topscored for the Hotshots with 17 points, Jio Jalalon netted 15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, while Paul Lee tallied 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Mark Barroca and Abu Tratter added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Magnolia, which slipped to 1-1 but still holds the upper hand in Clasico battles with 104 victories.
Barangay Ginebra 87 – Pringle 17, M. Ahanmisi 16, J.Aguilar 16, Malonzo 11, Standhardinger 11, Onwubere 8, Tenorio 5, Pinto 3, David 0.
Magnolia 77 – Sangalang 17, Jalalon 15, Lee 12, Barroca 11, Tratter 10, Abueva 4, Mendoza 3, Corpuz 3, Laput 2, Escoto 0, Ahanmisi 0, Reavis 0, Eriobu 0.
Quarters: 17-18, 37-40, 60-56, 87-77.
– Rappler.com
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Si K! Ang kaibigan ko: Bulalakaw, Umuulan? | lfangeles0309 | 17/03/2024 19:10 | Panahon Na!/University of the Philippines Resilience Institute
Story and image concept courtesy of Panahon Na!An AI tool was used in creating the illustrations.
– Rappler.com
Ang Panahon Naǃ ay programa ng UP Resilience Institute at ng UP NOAH na nagpapalaganap ng praktikal na impormasyon sa usaping pangklima at malikhaing industriya.
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Champ again: Alex Eala claims 2nd career doubles title in France | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/03/2024 19:12 | EYES ON THE PRIZE. Alex Eala readies to return a shot in pro tour action.
ALEX EALA FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala capped off a week of in sync tennis with French partner Estelle Cascino, which saw the pair take out the top two seeds of the competition.
The unseeded Eala and Cascino thumped No. 1 seeds Jessika Ponchet of France and Maia Lumsden of Great Britain, 7-5, 7-6(4) on Saturday, March 30, to clinch the doubles title of the ITF W75 Open 3C de Seine et Marne in Croissy-Beaubourg, France.
Doubles No. 305 Eala and No. 146 Cascino fended off wave after wave of rallies from Ponchet, a regular in the French Open doubles main draw, and Lumsden, a doubles quarterfinalist in last year’s Wimbledon and currently ranked 77th in the world.
Eala and Cascino jumpstarted the match with an early service break to go up 3-0 before Ponchet and Lumsen showed they were no easy pickings, winning five of the next six games for a 5-4 lead.
But that proved to be their last turn at the driver’s seat, with Eala and Cascino shutting them out in the next three games to claim the first set.
The second set ended up being closer.
From a 4-2 lead, Eala and Cascino found themselves trailing anew at 4-5. The duo managed to maintain their composure to eventually extend the set to a tiebreak.
From a 3-3 deadlock, Eala and Cascino surged ahead to 5-3, creating just enough separation to win the set and crown themselves champions.
The unseeded Eala and Cascino were on a tear all tournament long.
They opened their campaign with a thrilling come-from-behind win over the higher ranked Celine Naef of Switzerland and Prarthana Thombare of India, 5-7, 6-2, 10-6, and followed it up with a dominant 6-4, 6-0 quarterfinal triumph over second seeds Emily Appleton of Great Britain and Isabelle Haverlag of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-0.
Eala and Cascino scored another straight-set victory in the semifinals over Kira Pavlova of Russia and Marie Weckerle of Luxembourg, 6-3, 6-3.
Just two months ago, Eala claimed her first doubles title in the pro tour when she and Darja Semenistaja of Latvia emerged champions in the ITF W50 Pune in India. – Rappler.com
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New career high: Kai Sotto erupts for 28, but Yokohama falls to Tokyo | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/03/2024 20:28 | KAIJU. Kai Sotto in action for the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the Japan B. League.
Yokohama B-Corsairs Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – After seeing his eight-game streak of double-digit scoring performances snapped, Kai Sotto bounced back big and delivered his finest game yet in the Japan B. League.
Pitted against one of the top teams in the league, the 7-foot-3 Gilas Pilipinas big man stepped up to the plate and erupted for a new career-high 28 points on an ultra-efficient 12-of-15 field goal clip on Saturday, March 30.
His high-scoring explosion, however, wasn’t enough as the Yokohama B-Corsairs suffered an 81-75 loss to the Alvark Tokyo.
Coming off a lackluster 7-point outing in their 80-64 loss to the Fighting Eagles Nagoya last Wednesday, March 27, Sotto went to work for the B-Corsairs early and quickly poured in 8 of his 12 first half points in just the first seven minutes of the ball game.
1Q🔥#カイ・ソット のダンク💪💥⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯📡#バスケットLIVE で配信中！https://t.co/1xTGUAyuUN#ビーコル #FlyTheFlag #Bリーグ#KaiSotto #bcor #Bleague pic.twitter.com/aBlFBKbKvf
With Yokohama trailing 33-39 at halftime, Sotto once again took over in the third period and unloaded 8 more points to give the B-Corsairs a 51-47 lead with 2:03 remaining in the quarter.
3Q🔥#河村勇輝 & #カイ・ソット のホットラインで逆転❤️🔥⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯📡#バスケットLIVE で配信中！https://t.co/1xTGUAyuUN#ビーコル #FlyTheFlag #Bリーグ#KaiSotto #bcor #Bleague pic.twitter.com/2o4jTWUQGD
It was a tight battle between the two teams in the early goings of the final frame, and with Yokohama up 66-65 with 4:17 left to play, Tokyo suddenly went on a decisive 8-0 blast to pull away from the B-Corsairs and hand them their 26th loss in 47 matches.
Sotto, who eclipsed his previous career-high of 26 points, also tallied a team-best 6 rebounds and a +/- of +8 in close to 28 minutes of action as Yokohama’s starting center.
Like Sotto, Dwight Ramos saw his efficient performance go down the drain as the Levanga Hokkaido fell to the Osaka Evessa, 96-74.
Ramos connected on 7 of his 10 attempts from the field to wind up with 17 points, along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.
Matthew Wright and RJ Abarrientos likewise scored in double figures, but their respective teams fell.
Wright recorded 13 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists in the Kyoto Hannaryz’s 64-56 loss to the Saga Ballooners, while Abarrientos came up with 10 markers, 1 board, 3 dimes, and 1 steal in the Shinshu Brave Warriors’ 76-69 defeat at the hands of the Fighting Eagles Nagoya.
Thirdy Ravena, meanwhile, had a forgettable outing for the San-En NeoPhoenix as they bowed to the Sendai 89ers, 82-75.
Thirdy finished with just 3 points on a dismal 1-of-8 shooting with 1 rebound and 5 assists in the loss.
Ray Parks was the only Filipino import in Division 1 to score a victory on Saturday as the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins got the better of the AJ Edu-less Toyama Grouses, 102-85.
Parks produced 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal in the dominant win.
Over in Division 2, Kiefer Ravena’s Shiga Lakes and Roosevelt Adams’ Yamagata Wyverns both emerged triumphant on Saturday.
Kiefer put up 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists in Shiga’s 78-70 win over the Bambitious Nara.
Adams, meanwhile, registered 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in Yamagata’s 93-86 victory against the Koshigaya Alphas. – Rappler.com
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Brimming with confidence after All-Star onslaught, Perez flaunts range in San Miguel rout | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/03/2024 20:17 | ATTACK. CJ Perez in action for the San Miguel Beermen in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
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MANILA, Philippines – A sterling performance in the PBA All-Star Game has CJ Perez convinced he can also do damage from beyond the arc.
Known as a fierce slasher, Perez flaunted his range on the way to a season-high 32 points as San Miguel stayed unbeaten in the PBA Philippine Cup following a 116-102 win over Phoenix at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, March 31.
Perez drained a season 4 three-pointers and added 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in an all-around effort that powered the Beermen to a 3-0 start in the prestigious All-Filipino tournament.
It was an impressive follow-up to his outstanding showing in the All-Star Game, where Perez erupted for 39 points after going 7-of-11 from four-point distance – a gimmick that the league added to the midseason spectacle.
“He realized that he is a shooter after the All-Star Game. I guess the four-point shots gave him the confidence to shoot threes now,” said San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent.
“Definitely, he is a slasher. He is quick and everything. But the only thing he needs is confidence in his three-point shot, which is here already. He is going to be a hard guy to stop.”
Perez did not take long to heat up from three-point country, draining a pair of triples and finishing with 10 points in the opening quarter as the Beermen grabbed a 27-23 lead.
Brimming with confidence, Perez scattered 12 points – including his last three-pointer – in the final period to help San Miguel pull away for good.
“I get my rhythm when I attack the rim. But just like coach said, I should just be confident when I shoot threes. Now, they’re falling. Hopefully in the coming games, I’ll make them again,” said Perez.
Jericho Cruz and Terrence Romeo backstopped Perez in scoring with 17 and 16 points, respectively, while June Mar Fajardo put up 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th straight double-double and 14th overall this season.
Don Trollano chimed in 10 points and 5 rebounds in the win.
Jayjay Alejandro and seldom-used rookie Matthew Daves fired 13 points apiece to pace the Fuel Masters, who fell to 1-4 as they hobbled with injuries.
Already without star guard Tyler Tio (ankle) and big man Raul Soyud (hamstring), Phoenix missed the contributions of veteran RR Garcia, who saw action for just under a minute after dislocating his shoulder.
Jason Perkins tallied 11 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists in the losing effort, while Javee Mocon (12), Kent Salado (10), and Ricci Rivero (10) all scored in twin digits.
San Miguel 116 – Perez 32, Cruz 17, Romeo 16, Trollano 10, Tautuaa 8, Lassiter 6, Brondial 6, manuel 4, Enciso 3, Teng 1, Ross 0.
Phoenix 102 – Alejandro 13, Daves 13, Mocon 12, Perkins 11, Salado 10, Rivero 10, Tuffin 9, Muyang 6, Jazul 5, Verano 5, Manganti 4, Camaco 2, Lalata 2, Garcia 0.
Quarters: 27-23, 49-45, 86-75, 116-102.
– Rappler.com
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Jerusalem wrests WBC minimumweight crown from Shigeoka in Japan | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/03/2024 20:55 | CHAMPION. Melvin Jerusalem wins the WBC minimumweight belt.
Sanman Boxing Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Melvin Jerusalem knocked down Yudai Shigeoka twice and escaped with a split decision to become the new World Boxing Council minimumweight champion on Sunday, March 31, at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan.
Using counter rights, Jerusalem decked Shigeoka in the second round and again in the sixth to earn the nod of two judges who both scored the 12-rounder 114-112 and negated the 113-114 decision handed out by the third judge.
Trailing, 73-77, after eight rounds, Shigeoka worked hard behind combinations to take the next three.
Although tiring in the last round, Jerusalem wisely used snappy shots and held on to Shigeoka to raise his record to 22-3 with 12 knockouts and end the Filipinos’ string of defeats in Japan, including those of Marlon Tapales in December and Jerwin Ancajas and Jonas Sultan in February.
Shigeoka tasted his first defeat after eight wins spiked by five knockouts.
Well-prepared by trainer Michael Domingo, Jerusalem also came through with body shots that stopped Shigeoka’s repeated assaults in the third and fourth rounds.
The 30-year-old Jerusalem, pride of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, is one of the stalwarts of Sanman Promotions headed by JC Manangquil, who predicted that his ward would upstage Shigeoka.
Earlier, Jake Amparo failed in his first world title crack when he got floored by Ginjiro Shigeoka with a wicked body shot in the second round.
Amparo, a last-minute replacement for compatriot ArAr Andales, dropped to 14-6-1 with 3 knockouts.
In retaining the International Boxing Federation minimum crown, Ginjiro climbed to 11-0 with 9 knockouts. – Rappler.com
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