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DOST websites defaced in new cyberattack | Victor Barreiro Jr. | 3/4/2024 13:11 | MANILA, Philippines – At least three websites or services connected to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) were defaced on Tuesday, April 2.
The affected links were https://helpdesk.dost.gov.ph, http://hta.dost.gov.ph, and https://sfu.dost.gov.ph.
Aside from the DOST’s help desk, its Health Technology Assessment division and its S&T Foundation Unit were the other defaced websites within the roster.
As with the case of an earlier attack on a number of company websites linked to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, these appear to have been done by the entity known as “ph1ns” as part of the supposed #opEDSA campaign.
The attacks were verified by way of archived pages of the sites on the Wayback Machine. The defaced DOST websites were also sporting the same #opEDSA messages from the attacked company websites linked to Romualdez, calling for an end to charter change and political dynasties.
The three websites remain offline and inaccessible as of posting time.
According to a Manila Bulletin report, sources at the Department of Information and Communications Technology said the hackers also deleted 25 terabytes of data. – Rappler.com
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How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/technology/department-science-technology-websites-cyberattack-april-2024/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0Cs7BCxNV5g0CMoAmctJH9BBzO2gs2GIgFchNpyXfv85UEgqi1wC33DOE_aem_KBVA4P7ohpEiIdzHNLcG5Q |
Results, team standings: UAAP Season 86 volleyball | Jasmine Payo | 5/5/2024 21:02 | ROARING. NU's Bella Belen (left) and Alyssa Solomon react in the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball finals
UAAP Season 86 Media Team
MANILA, Philippines – The UAAP Season 86 volleyball tournaments reach a tipping point with the men’s and women’s finals!
LOOK: UAAP volleyball championship schedule
Here are the results in the men’s and women’s divisions:
MAY 15
May 11
MAY 8
MAY 5
MAY 4
MAY 8
MAY 5
MAY 4
** – Twice-to-beat* – Final Fourx – Eliminated
APRIL 27
APRIL 24
APRIL 21
APRIL 20
APRIL 17
APRIL 14
APRIL 13
APRIL 10
APRIL 9
APRIL 4
APRIL 3
MARCH 24
MARCH 23
MARCH 20
First round
MARCH 17
MARCH 16
MARCH 13
MARCH 10
MARCH 9
MARCH 6
MARCH 3
MARCH 2
FEBRUARY 28
FEBRUARY 25
FEBRUARY 24
FEBRUARY 21
FEBRUARY 18
FEBRUARY 17
** – Twice-to-beat* – Final Fourx – Eliminated
APRIL 27
APRIL 24
APRIL 21
APRIL 20
APRIL 17
APRIL 14
APRIL 13
APRIL 10
APRIL 9
APRIL 4
APRIL 3
MARCH 24
MARCH 23
MARCH 20
First round
MARCH 17
MARCH 16
MARCH 13
MARCH 10
MARCH 9
MARCH 6
MARCH 3
MARCH 2
FEBRUARY 28
FEBRUARY 25
FEBRUARY 24
FEBRUARY 21
FEBRUARY 18
FEBRUARY 17
– Rappler.com
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FACT CHECK: No US, Ukraine aircraft carriers in PH | Lorenz Pasion | 3/4/2024 16:00 | Claim: Aircraft carriers from the US and Ukraine have arrived in the Philippines.
Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a Facebook reel video posted by a page with other dubious military-related content.
The video shows images of aircraft carriers along with the text “Ukraine/USA nasa Pilipinas na” (Ukraine/USA now in the Philippines). As of writing, the video has over 17,100 reactions, 982 comments, and 895 shares.
The facts: No official reports confirm the deployment of any warship or aircraft carrier from the US and Ukraine to the Philippines.
There have been no announcements from the defense departments of the US, Ukraine, or the Philippines regarding the supposed arrival of these aircraft carriers.
Not in PH: Using reverse image search, the ship shown in the video is the US Navy’s $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the world’s largest aircraft carrier. Commissioned in July 2017, it is the lead ship in the Ford-class of aircraft carriers and is one of the most technologically advanced aircraft carriers in the US Navy’s fleet, boasting features such as advanced arresting gear and an electromagnetic aircraft launch system.
Contrary to the video’s claim, the Gerald R. Ford is nowhere near the Philippines. It returned to its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk last January 17, 2024, following an eight-month deployment to the US Naval Forces Europe area of operations, according to a US Navy press release.
Old footage: The Facebook reel also uses old footage and does not show the aircraft carrier recently arriving in the Philippines. The clip of an explosion shown in the Facebook reel was taken from an August 2021 video posted on the US Navy’s official YouTube account showing the full ship shock trials of the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Atlantic Ocean.
Meanwhile, the clip shown at the start of the Facebook reel was originally from the 42-second mark of a November 2022 Naval News video. The original video showed news coverage of the inaugural deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford.
PH and US relations: The video was uploaded amid heightening tensions between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea. Last month, China Coast Guard vessels used water cannons against a Philippine vessel, damaging the boat and injuring Filipino crew members.
The US has vowed to support the Philippines amid China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the vast waterway. In March, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to its ally and stronger Philippine-US bilateral ties. US lawmakers and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also expressed support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights.
Beijing continues to assert its expansive maritime claim, rejecting a 2016 Hague ruling in favor of Manila. – Rappler.com
Jed Nykolle Harme is an associate editor at Eamigas Publication, and is a #FactsMatter Journalism Fellow for 2023-2024.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at [email protected]. You may also report dubious claims to the #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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Light it up! BGC to hold nature-inspired light festival in April | Steph Arnaldo | 3/4/2024 14:15 | BGC
MANILA, Philippines – Ready to light up your life this April? Bonifacio Global City (BGC) is holding a new light festival called Boni Viva Luci, happening from April 6 to 14!
Aptly translating to “wondrous life in light,” the festival promises a captivating display of nature-inspired art installations illuminated with various lighting techniques.
The free event is co-presented by the Bonifacio Art Foundation Inc. (BAFI) and Bonifacio High Street (BHS). The theme “Natural Life Echoed in Light” comes to life through a mix of new and existing public artworks transformed with dazzling light displays. The installations will be spread across various stations and locations in BGC, including Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio High Street South, Terra 28th Park, The Mind Museum, and the BGC Arts Center.
Among the festival’s highlights are illuminated versions of Philippine endemic species by Puppet Theater Manila, allowing visitors to see these creatures in a whole new light.
These include LuminiSense: Our Place in the Cosmos by Joyce Sahagun Garcia, Ohm David, and Arvy Dimaculangan, showcased through interactive video mapping; Olivia D’Aboville’s Giant Dandelions; The Abyss by Winter David and Ohm David; and Reimagined Chandeliers by Ohm David and Mark Choa, highlighting giant bioluminescent octopuses and chandeliers with LED tentacles.
Mythical creatures take center stage with Cheska Cartativo’s Entanglement: Adarna to Bakunawa on the Glass Bridge. Visitors can also delve into the unconventional portrayal of the goddess of fertility and death through Leeroy New’s Mebuyan Cradle, complemented by shadow play projections titled Into the Shadows are Heroes by Sigmund Pecho, Ohm David, and Arvy Dimaculangan.
With detailed visuals on LED screens, Isaiah Cacnio and Joyce Sahagun Garcia will showcase their artistic interpretations of Celestial Waltz and Behold the Eclipse, Behold the Light, respectively. Additionally, Camera Club of the Philippines members Fred del Rosario, Chito Viñas, and Mark Bautista will share their stunning nature photography through projected images.
Don’t miss the Purple Terra installation, where trees are bathed in a vibrant purple glow, illuminating the night sky.
On April 6, the festival will kick off its opening night at the BHS Amphitheatre with performances by vocalists Arman Ferrer, Bayang Barrios, and OJ Mariano, plus a dance performance by Galaw.Co Dance Theater and a musical performance by violinist Liz Besana.
There will also be a parade of giant illuminated puppets of Philippine indigenous animals by Puppet Theater Manila, and then a a grand finale parade with music composed by National Artist for Music, Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, specifically for Boni Viva Luci.
In August to October 2023, BGC hosted its inaugural Da Vinci AI exhibit, followed by the second installment of the immersive Van Gogh Alive exhibit in October 2023. – Rappler.com
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[WATCH] In the Public Square with John Nery: The Marcoses’ three-body problem | Nina Liu | 3/4/2024 15:54 | Is it really possible that there are three centers of political gravity inside the Marcos family?
House Speaker Martin Romualdez is behind two attempts to change the Constitution, but it is his cousin Senator Imee Marcos leading the effort to stop both in the Senate. Senator Marcos has become a principal defender of China in public debates, while her younger brother President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is deepening political and security ties with the United States.
President Marcos remains very friendly with Vice President Sara Duterte, but Speaker Romualdez is preparing the ground for a presidential campaign to compete with the Vice President.
Joining this episode of In the Public Square with John Nery to make sense of what is going on with the Marcos family are Professor Arjan Aguirre, professor of political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, and Sherwin De Vera, editor-in-chief of Baguio-based Northern Dispatch.
Watch the episode here on Wednesday, April 3, at 8 pm. – Rappler.com
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DOH advises public to take precautions vs extreme temperatures | Kaycee | 2/4/2024 19:40 | A regular train commuter rides a 'sikad' or trolley from Beata in Pandacan to Stop and Shop in Sta. Mesa in Manila as he returns for work after the holy week break, on April 1, 2024. The Philippine National Railways will cease operation for five years to give way to the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway. The closure affected an estimated 30,000 daily commuters.
Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – As some areas in the country suspend on-site classes due to high heat index levels, the Department of Health has advised the public to take precautions as these could also lead to heat-related illnesses.
Under the state weather bureau PAGASA’s recent heat index, multiple areas are expected to have a heat index not going below 40°C until Wednesday, April 3. These include Dumangas in Iloilo, Dagupan City in Pangasinan, and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
Temperatures ranging from 33°C to 41°C are classified under “extreme caution,” while 42°C anywhere up to 51°C is dangerous as heat exhaustion is likely and there’s a high possibility for heat stroke.
“The DOH is actively monitoring cases of heat-related illnesses,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a statement on Tuesday, April 2.
Here are tips and reminders from the DOH to help with the extreme weather:
If you are planning to head outdoors, wearing sunblock and choosing loose or lightweight clothes is advised. The department also recommended the public to use an umbrella or wear a hat to protect oneself from getting sunburnt.
With the country’s current heat index levels, the public may experience heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke.
According to John Hopkins Medicine, heat cramps are the “mildest form” of heat illness. Those who work out or exercise in heated environments can get painful muscle spasms.
Heat exhaustion, on the other hand, may manifest through fatigue, dizziness, vomiting, and lightheadedness. It happens when the body is not able to relieve itself from the heat, which can also lead to a heat stroke.
Heat stroke – considered a serious condition – may lead to a loss of consciousness, leave the person confused, or have seizures, which the DOH said “can be deadly if left untreated.”
The DOH advised the public to perform the following first aid measures if any heat-related illness symptom is observed:
– Rappler.com
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Results, team standings: UAAP Season 86 volleyball | Jasmine Payo | 5/5/2024 21:02 | ROARING. NU's Bella Belen (left) and Alyssa Solomon react in the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball finals
UAAP Season 86 Media Team
MANILA, Philippines – The UAAP Season 86 volleyball tournaments reach a tipping point with the men’s and women’s finals!
LOOK: UAAP volleyball championship schedule
Here are the results in the men’s and women’s divisions:
MAY 15
May 11
MAY 8
MAY 5
MAY 4
MAY 8
MAY 5
MAY 4
** – Twice-to-beat* – Final Fourx – Eliminated
APRIL 27
APRIL 24
APRIL 21
APRIL 20
APRIL 17
APRIL 14
APRIL 13
APRIL 10
APRIL 9
APRIL 4
APRIL 3
MARCH 24
MARCH 23
MARCH 20
First round
MARCH 17
MARCH 16
MARCH 13
MARCH 10
MARCH 9
MARCH 6
MARCH 3
MARCH 2
FEBRUARY 28
FEBRUARY 25
FEBRUARY 24
FEBRUARY 21
FEBRUARY 18
FEBRUARY 17
** – Twice-to-beat* – Final Fourx – Eliminated
APRIL 27
APRIL 24
APRIL 21
APRIL 20
APRIL 17
APRIL 14
APRIL 13
APRIL 10
APRIL 9
APRIL 4
APRIL 3
MARCH 24
MARCH 23
MARCH 20
First round
MARCH 17
MARCH 16
MARCH 13
MARCH 10
MARCH 9
MARCH 6
MARCH 3
MARCH 2
FEBRUARY 28
FEBRUARY 25
FEBRUARY 24
FEBRUARY 21
FEBRUARY 18
FEBRUARY 17
– Rappler.com
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[Rappler’s Best] All that drama at Camp Crame | lfangeles0309 | 2/4/2024 14:38 | Nico Villarete/Rappler
Happy Easter to you! I hope you had days of quiet during the Holy Week, which we all deserve in a world of too much chatter and too much strife. Despite problems, Christian churches nationwide prayed for Easter hope.
In Rappler, one unit did not get much rest the past few days. Our spirited faith cluster not only churned out stories on the Philippines’ Lenten activities but also chatted with our readers on the Rappler app. Readers spent the past week vigorously sharing stories, photos, experiences, prayers, ideas, and emojis in the faith channel on the app – giving life and color to our Holy Week traditions. If faith and spirituality is a topic close to your heart, go to the Community tab of the Rappler app, look for the “faith” channel and join the vibrant conversations there. Still don’t have the app and therefore missing a lot? Please download it on iOS or Android.
I surmise that it’s also been a week without rest for a few police generals who anxiously waited for a call from Malacañang that would signal that, yes, he’s the chosen one to replace Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Benjamin Acorda, whose extended term ended on March 31. After all, the President seemed to have already made up his mind on two things last week: to no longer extend the extended Acorda and to name his replacement.
On March 26, Malacañang sent an advisory to key officials and agencies about a March 27 turnover ceremony for the new PNP chief. This meant that Acorda was indeed going to turn over his post to somebody else – belying persistent speculation he’d get extended yet again. It also meant that the replacement was already known by March 26, for how could a ceremony be planned without a name to put on the President’s appointment order?
Well, something happened in the holiest of days in this Catholic country. On Easter Sunday, Malacañang decided to instead name an OIC – officer in charge – to take the helm at the PNP: Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta. Now why would the President still choose to name an OIC when he had three months – the extended term of Acorda – to choose a replacement? If Peralta can be OIC, why can’t he just be…the chief?
It turned out Peralta – and the PNP – was in for a big surprise; he was only OIC for barely 24 hours. On Monday, April 1, at the retirement ceremony for Acorda, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed the PNP’s comptroller, Francisco Marbil, as the new PNP chief.
What accounts for this unnerving presidential flip-flop on a critical institution?
And thus this happened at Camp Crame: an OIC on Sunday and then permanent PNP chief on Monday. Rappler reporter Jairo Bolledo noted that in December last year, a social media post about Marbil as the replacement of Acorda did the rounds, which the PNP branded as fake. Like Acorda, Marbil is a member of Class 1991 of the Philippine Military Academy; Speaker Martin Romualdez is their honorary member.
Why would a choice like this be made in such a haphazard, almost clandestine fashion? Rappler’s Thought Leader John Nery provides some context to this “chaos” in this piece, The Marcoses’ three-body problem. – Rappler.com
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General Emmanuel Peralta is the pitiful victim of President Marcos Jr.’s slow decision-making and sudden flip-flopping. After being OIC for a day, General Peralta was replaced by General Francisco Marbil. Although the former has a higher rank than the latter, the latter is connected to Speaker Martin Romualdez, the honorary member of the latter’s PMA Class 1991. The choice is “indeed haphazard, almost clandestine fashion,” following John Nery’s “The Marcoses’ three-body problem.”
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Cagayan de Oro’s pertussis scare: When an ‘outbreak’ isn’t really an outbreak | Herbie G | 3/4/2024 12:56 | SPEECH. Cagayan de Oro City Health Officer Rachel Dilla speaks during a family planning program activity.
Cagayan de Oro City Health Office
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The head of the Cagayan de Oro City Health Office has drawn criticism for announcing on Tuesday, April 2, that the city was seeing a pertussis outbreak, despite city hall documenting only one case and two suspected infections.
City Health Officer Rachel Dilla’s announcement quickly became the subject of viral posts, spreading rapidly on social media and causing alarm in the city.
Later, Dr. Dilla retracted her statement, explaining that her use of the word “outbreak” during an interview with local broadcaster Magnum Radio was not intended to convey a large-scale epidemic.
She earlier told the radio station, “Outbreak siya kay tungod na-control naman unta ni sya nga sakit through vaccination. So, whenever naay maski usa ka kaso o duha, amo nanang gitawag nga murag outbreak, kanang wala naman unta na siya.”
(We call it an outbreak because this disease was supposed to be under control through vaccination. So, whenever there is even one or two cases, we refer to it as an outbreak, since it should no longer be occurring.)
Dr. Ellenietta Herundina Maria Victoria Gamolo, assistant director of the Department of Health (DOH) in Northern Mindanao, said the situation in Cagayan de Oro cannot be considered an outbreak.
“Pertussis was never declared as eradicated or eliminated. It is under control since we have the vaccines for it. The ones who got sick in Region 10 were all unvaccinated,” Gamolo said.
The health department recorded six cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, throughout the region as of March 23, and only two are laboratory-confirmed.
Of the six cases, three are from Cagayan de Oro and one each from the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, and Misamis Occidental.
There was no pertussis case documented in the city or Northern Mindanao from January to March of 2023. The DOH, however, documented 63 cases in the succeeding months in the region last year.
Gamolo noted that Dilla used the word “maybe” in her controversial radio interview, implying that she was unsure about her outbreak declaration.
She said health officials can only declare an outbreak “if cases are higher than the expected number of cases, and deaths are observed.”
Dilla acknowledged her miscommunication, clarifying that the local health office had observed an “increase” in both confirmed and suspected cases of pertussis in Cagayan de Oro compared to the same period in 2023. This year’s cases involve infants from barangays Carmen, Gusa, and Macasandig.
“We, in the City Health Office, consider this not lightly. We really have to do more of what we are doing,” Dilla told Rappler on Tuesday.
However, her retraction came after her initial interview had already been widely disseminated on social media. The Facebook post by Magnum Radio alone garnered over 11,000 views and more than 500 shares as of posting time.
Ailyn Estillore, a mother from Barangay Carmen, expressed her disappointment over Dilla’s initial announcement, admitting to panic after encountering the social media posts, fearing for the safety of her two young children.
“Naka sink in sa ako huna-huna nga basin mas grabe pa ni sa COVID-19. Murag ana akong nabati nga kahadlok,” Estillore told Rappler.
(The thought that this could be worse than COVID-19 began to sink in. That’s how scared I was.)
A store manager in Barangay Kauswagan, Jennifer Generalao, said she became anxious as the radio interview with Dilla and the subsequent social media posts rekindled her traumatic memories of the worst period of the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak, which had severely impacted her career.
Dilla, meanwhile, said the uptick in confirmed and suspected pertussis cases in Cagayan de Oro could be linked to the city’s suboptimal routine immunization rates, which saw only 77% of children fully immunized in 2020. The figure slightly improved to 78% in 2021, reached 80% in 2022, and then 86% in 2023, with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting vaccination efforts.
In response, some 2,000 doses of the 5-in-1 pentavalent vaccine, which includes protection against pertussis, were distributed across all health centers in the city.
Local health officials said priority was being given to people in villages reporting instances of whooping cough to mitigate further spread of the disease.
The DOH said pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial respiratory infection that can be transmitted from person to person through coughing and sneezing. Health officials said this can be prevented by good hygiene, such as covering the mouth while coughing and sneezing using disposable tissues and wipes, or the elbow and upper arm, and frequent hand washing. – Rappler.com
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How does this make you feel? | Rappler | https://www.rappler.com/philippines/mindanao/cagayan-de-oro-pertussis-scare-no-outbreak-april-2-2024/ |
It’s hot and we need to save water. Here’s what you can do at home. | Iya Gozum | 3/4/2024 13:32 | Shutterstock
NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines – During the hot season, water consumption increases as people rely on water to stay cool and hydrated.
All the more that it’s important to conserve water, as supply may run out when people need it the most.
Despite having “sufficient water supply” from Angat Dam and other sources, the Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) of the environment department recently released Bulletin No. 003 urging Metro Manila villages and condominiums to conserve water as the country experiences the lingering effects of El Niño this April.
Alongside the reminder are some tips that residents can start practicing at home to save water.
So, what can you do?
Other hacks you can try:
Households combined have the highest expenses on water consumption, according to 2022 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), followed by energy-intensive industries like mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and construction.
The WRMO said in the bulletin, which was released jointly with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and the National Water Resources Board, that they “are working on a scenario of no major interruptions in water services from March to May.”
As of April 2, Angat Dam elevation was at 198.41 meters, or 13.59 meters below the normal level of 212 meters. Angat Dam supplies most of Metro Manila’s water needs. – Rappler.com
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Does Apollo Quiboloy have a choice not to appear before the Senate? | Jairo Bolledo | 3/4/2024 11:13 | PREACHER. Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church and a friend of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Quiboloy's Facebook page
Doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy is wanted in the United States for sexual trafficking, and has been charged in two Philippine courts also for trafficking and child abuse.
On Wednesday, April 3, a warrant obtained by Rappler showed that Presiding Judge Dante Baguio of Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 12 ordered Quiboloy’s arrest. On top of these, Quiboloy also faces another arrest and detention, courtesy of the Philippine Senate.
The Senate’s arrest order was issued after Quiboloy was held in contempt for snubbing the summons of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, led by opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros. The same committee has already heard testimonies of Quiboloy’s alleged abuses from former workers of his religious group, Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Still evading the Senate, one of Quiboloy’s lawyers told the Philippine Star that they had filed a petition before the Supreme Court to ask the High Court to stop the “unjust and unconstitutional” Senate warrant.
The Constitution empowers the Senate to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation. That is the legal basis for the Rules of the Senate, under which the Upper House can summon witnesses and ask them to bring documents to the inquiry.
Inquiries in aid of legislation have to be based on legislative intent, or hinged on a law or a measure that the Senate wants to strengthen or make more efficient. When former senator Antonio Trillanes IV wanted to investigate former solicitor general Jose Calida for the government contracts won by the latter’s family-owned company, the alleged lack of legislative intent prompted Calida to go to the Supreme Court to stop it. The investigation never pushed through.
If the Senate issues the subpoena to a person, “all those subpoenaed by the Senate or its Committees in aid of legislation have no choice but to appear before the Senate or its committees,” retired SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said in a statement.
The rules of the Senate also say that if the summoned person does not appear, he/she may be held in contempt and detained. That is why the Senate can issue the arrest warrant, even though under general rules, only judges of courts can issue warrants of arrest. The person may be detained under the custody of the Senate’s 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.”
This happened a couple of times, like when the Senate held in contempt and ordered the detention of some cops involved in the killing of 17-year-old Jemboy Baltazar. Some cops caused confusion and were uncooperative during one of the Senate hearings on Baltazar, which prompted Hontiveros to order their detention.
The Senate’s power to detain is not absolute, however. This mandate should be balanced with every person’s right to be free, “unless detained by a judge for a case that has gone through the rules of court.”
In several instances, the SC had reminded the Senate of its limited powers. In the hazing case of University of Santo Tomas law student Atio Castillo, the SC noted that the Senate can detain a person held in contempt only for as long as an inquiry was ongoing.
Quiboloy, in his SC petition, argued that the Senate probe violates his rights against self-incrimination.
Every person is protected by laws to avoid incriminating himself/herself by giving information that can be used against himself/herself. This is enshrined in article III, section 17, of the 1987 Constitution: “No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.”
But according to Carpio, a person may only raise his/her right against self-incrimination and refuse an incrimination question, only after a question was asked during a Senate inquiry. The retired SC senior magistrate said before a question is asked by the Senate or its committees, “there is no constitutional right that may be violated.”
Carpio said the jurisprudence or previous court rulings about the Senate’s power to subpoena and people’s rights against self-incrimination are “well-settled.” He cited Romero II v. Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources case, where the SC quoted Sabio v. Gordon.
In the said case, the SC said the right against self-incrimination may be invoked “only when theincriminating question is being asked, since they have no way of knowing in advance the nature or effect of the questions to be asked of them.”
“The unremitting obligation of every citizen is to respond to subpoena, to respect the dignity of the Congress and its Committees, and to testify fully with respect to matters within the realm of proper investigation,” the decision added.
Carpio also said that the Rules of the Senate also explain invocation of the right against self-incrimination. Under section 19, resolution 5, a “witness can invoke his right against self-incrimination only when a question which tends to elicit an answer that will incriminate him is propounded to him.”
“His/her invocation of such right does not by itself excuse him from his duty to give testimony,” the rules said. – Rappler.com
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So what happens now? How long shall we wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on the petition asking it to stop the “unjust and unconstitutional” Senate warrant? Meanwhile, what about the arrest warrant issued by the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 12? This shows what money, power, and influence can do to our Justice System.
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Court orders Quiboloy arrest | Chay Hofilena | 3/4/2024 7:09 | ARREST. Controversial Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is ordered arrested by a regional trial court.
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CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – A regional court has ordered the arrest of embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy and several others for child abuse and sexual abuse, a copy of the warrant obtained by Rappler on Wednesday, April 3, showed.
Judge Dante Baguio of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 in the Davao region issued the arrest warrant on March 14 against Quiboloy and five of his associates identified as Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada, and Sylvia Cemañes.
“Upon a judicious examination and perusal of the Information, the records of the preliminary investigation, including the affidavits and written statements, and other attachments to the Information, the Court finds probable cause to issue Warrant of Arrest,” the court order said.
Earlier on March 19, the Senate had ordered the arrest of Quiboloy for “unduly refusing to appear” at the upper chamber’s inquiry into his alleged human rights abuses.
The Senate committee on women children, family relations, and gender equality led by Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros conducted hearings into allegations of “large-scale human trafficking, rape, sexual abuse and violence, and child abuse” in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC).
Former members testified about alleged abuses of Quiboloy and his church associates before the committee in hearings that started in January.
Their testimonies – including that of two Ukrainian women – alleged that the KOJC pastor sexually abused them in the name of religion. These are consistent with, and corroborated by, other allegations also made by former KOJC members in the US against Quiboloy.
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 Davao-based preacher is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) most wanted list.
An FBI poster says that Quiboloy 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.
Hontiveros welcomed the issuance of a court arrest warrant and expressed optimism that Quiboloy would be arrested in time for the next hearing of the Senate committee.
“Bilang na ang masasayang araw ni Apollo Quiboloy. Halos lahat na ng institusyon sa Pilipinas ay gumagalaw para mapanagot siya,” she said.
(The happy days of Apollo Quiboloy are numbered. Almost all institutions in the Philippines are moving to hold him accountable.)
Hontiveros, addressing Quiboloy, urged the controversial preacher to face the accusations leveled at him, submit to legal processes, and “huwag nang mag-inarte (stop the theatrics).”
“Kung walang kasalanan, hindi kailangang magtago,” she added.
(If he’s innocent, then there’s no need for him to hide.)
The child and sexual abuse case against Quiboloy was filed in court after the Department of Justice (DOJ) reviewed and overturned a June 29, 2020 resolution by Davao City prosecutors that dismissed the alleged victim’s complaint. The Davao City Prosecutor’s Office also threw out her motion for reconsideration.
The alleged victim, a former KOJC worker, filed a petition for review the resolution and her complaints for rape, qualified human trafficking, and child abuse. Her petition gathered dust at the DOJ for four years.
The DOJ, in its resolution in early March, noted that the allegations of abuse date back to 2011, and that the alleged victim claimed to have been raped when she was still a minor in September 2014.
She also alleged to have suffered emotional and physical mistreatment, and forced labor without compensation, all in the name of religion.
Four years later, the justice department acted on the petition and ruled that “there exists probable cause against Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy for the crime of sexual abuse of a minor, under Section 5(b) of the Republic Act No. 7610, as well as against Quiboloy and co- respondents for qualified human trafficking and other acts of child abuse.”
In a March statement, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla noted that the petition for review “lingered unresolved for four long years.”
“Our foremost aim is to achieve justice within the Philippines, grounded firmly on the evidence presented and the statutes of our legal system…. This case represents a significant step towards addressing and rectifying injustices suffered by vulnerable members of our society, particularly children, and reinforces the legal framework protecting them from abuse and exploitation,” read part of Remulla’s statement. – Rappler.com
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It is the job of WCPC Mfu to arrest Quiboloy. I remember already in 2016 WCPC mfu was investigating lots of cyber sex dens popping up in Davao. They were also investigating an American called Jesse Y. He had fled Angeles City in 2007 after his arrest there by the CIDG. He was suspected of involvement in 3 cyber sex dens. Y. fled to Mindanao and started the same sex business in San Francisco, Agusan. Also there, Y. narrowly escaped arrest. After which he fled to Davao and started a restaurant and playground business there.
I appreciate Judge Dante Baguio of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 in the Davao region, who issued the arrest warrant on March 14 against Quiboloy and five associates. But why is this only known now? It took eleven (11) working days for the public to know via Rappler. How about the Davao City PNP? Do they know this? Our court needs to communicate better with the public and the PNP. Or is there an intent to slowly reveal this matter to protect the interest of the “powerful” appointed son of God?
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FACT CHECK: No P10,000 cash aid for all senior citizens from DSWD | Lorenz Pasion | 3/4/2024 13:40 | Claim: All senior citizens aged 60 years old and above can receive P10,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) upon presentation of their senior citizen IDs.
Why we fact-checked this: The video containing the claim was posted by the verified YouTube channel “Balitang Pinas” with 658,000 subscribers. As of writing, it has 32,523 views and 997 likes.
The thumbnail and title of the video bear the claim: “To all 60 yrs old & above! Basta may seniors ID ka! P10,000 one time cash aid, pirmado na!” (To all 60 years old and above! As long as you have a senior’s ID! P10,000 one-time cash aid, signed!)
The facts: In a public advisory released on February 29, the DSWD clarified that it does not offer a program providing P10,000 assistance to senior citizens upon presentation of their senior citizen IDs.
Similar posts about supposed cash gifts to senior citizens have also been previously debunked by the National Commission of Senior Citizens.
The misleading video used audio from a February 2024 interview with NCSC Commissioner Reymar Mansilungan, but he did not mention any P10,000 one-time cash aid for senior citizen ID bearers.
Conditions for cash aid: Social pensions and cash gifts are available to senior citizens but under certain conditions.
Under Republic Act (RA) No. 11916, which lapsed into law in 2022, only indigent seniors are eligible for a social pension. Implemented in 2024, the law doubled the monthly social pension for indigent seniors from P500 to P1,000 to support their necessities and medical expenses. Around 4 million senior citizens are expected to benefit from its implementation.
A more recent legislative development is RA 11982, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on February 26, 2024, which expands the Centenarians Act of 2016. Under this law, the government will provide a P10,000 cash gift to Filipinos reaching the age of 80, and another P10,000 every five years thereafter until they reach 95. (READ: Senior citizens aged 80 and up get cash gifts too under expanded law)
DSWD aid: The DSWD offers additional assistance to the elderly through its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program. The program supports those experiencing crises by providing aid for various expenses, including transportation, funeral, medical, food, and educational needs.
Debunked: Various versions of this claim have circulated on social media in recent weeks, citing different amounts and various government offices as the supposed source of the cash gifts. Rappler has debunked these claims:
Official news: For official updates on the social pension for indigent senior citizens and DSWD programs and services, refer to the official DSWD website and its social media accounts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. – Chinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza/Rappler.comChinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at [email protected]. You may also report dubious claims to the #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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Just kidding? Takoyaki shop draws flak for April Fools’ tattoo prank gone wrong | pfkahanap0307 | 2/4/2024 18:26 | MANILA, Philippines – Not all jokes are funny.
As different brands joined in on the April Fools’ Day fun with mock social media posts, netizens slammed a food chain after it refused to take responsibility for a prank post gone wrong.
A takoyaki restaurant called Taragis said in a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, April 1, that they would be giving P100,000 to the first person who had their shop’s logo tattooed on their forehead.
The words “April Fool’s” was written at the bottom of the photo used for the social media post. The phrase cannot be seen properly unless the user clicks on the photo itself.
Unfortunately, a social media user identified as Ramil Albano had taken the post seriously and shared a photo of his new forehead tattoo.
In another deleted post, Taragis said that they were “not accountable for the events that occurred,” and urged readers to remember “how important reading comprehension is.”
Carl Quion, Taragis’ owner, has since talked to Albano and given him the reward, as seen in a video posted on Tuesday, April 2. He also offered to shoulder the cost of the tattoo removal.
“Hindi natin alam na may mga taong gagawin ang lahat para sa pera, kaya iwasan nating gumawa ng mga bagay na makakaapekto sa kabuhayan nila,” Quion said.
(We don’t know how far people will go just for money, so let’s avoid doing things that could affect their livelihoods.)
Albano shared in the video that he had taken on the challenge so that he could have extra money for his children’s needs, especially for his youngest son who has Down syndrome.
After Taragis earlier denied responsibility for the incident, several brands from all over the country offered to give Albano cash rewards, hoping that these would help him and his family.
Netizens said that Taragis’ prank went a little too far, since many Filipinos may not be familiar with the concept of April Fools’ Day.
Hindi lahat ng followers nila ay alam ang April Fools day. At educated enough to read it with comprehension. Pag Pera ang pinag uusapan Lalo sa Pinas may kakagat talaga nyan. They should be accountable with their stupid post. Kainis!
naiinis ak s mga taong pinagtatawanan ung nagpatattoo ng taragis logo like can u not see it was an act of desperation na tattoo lang may 100k ka na of course if ure rly in need of money ud consider it 😅😅 april fools isnt a holiday that every1 knows especially in the philippines
The Philippines doesn't have an April Fool's culture, or else a long history of it. Lalo na sa mga hindi naman masyadong babad sa diskurso ng globalisasyon, malay ba nila? Mabuting tandaang hindi pantay-pantay ang pagintindi natin sa mundo. https://t.co/0pPyZvq2GU
Others also pointed out that some people, especially those like Albano who need financial assistance, could be tempted to take the restaurant’s “offer” amid the rising cost of living in the country.
The Philippines’ inflation rate rose to 3.4% in February, following an increase in food prices and utility costs during the month.
pranking the non privelaged masses like that, then painting them dumb and not taking accountability for it. taragis (whoever the fck they are) has a special place in hell. i hope someone files a case against them. https://t.co/XeC9g116WQ
Some individuals also said that Taragis’ responses to the issue were in bad taste, saying that they portrayed Albano as “dumb” for falling for an April Fools’ prank when he was only looking for ways to make ends meet.
Apaka out of touch na sisihin pa yung hindi nagbasa si kuya. May krisis naman kasi talaga comprehension dito sa pinas imbes na tulungan kahit papano kahit hindi 100k nagmock pa ang mga tao https://t.co/bPrBGxfFBR
exactly. tangina niyong mga walang puso sa taong nagbabakasakali lang. https://t.co/Lyr8BPvo2y
Should they be held accountable for their joke? Bernice Piñol-Rodriguez, a lawyer on TikTok, said that under the rules of the Department of Trade and Industry, Taragis should compensate Albano “for causing injury to another person and false advertising.”
She said that they could also be held liable under Article 21 of the Civil Code, which states that “any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.”
In the April 2 video, Quion has apologized to his critics and explained that he had no intention of hurting other people.
“Sa mga nagkaroon ng negatibong pananaw sa naging April Fools’ post namin, humihingi ako ng tawad. Sana magsilbing aral ito sa ating lahat, lalo na sa mga kapwa influencers ko o brand na nasa internet, na maging responsable tayo sa lahat ng inuupload natin,” he said.
(For those who disliked our April Fools’ post, I’m sorry. Let this be a lesson to all of us, especially to my fellow influencers and online brands, to be responsible for everything we upload.)
Some netizens have pointed out that Taragis’ prank may be scripted based on the appearance of Albano’s supposedly fresh tattoo.
According to several sources online, a tattoo may take around two to four weeks to heal, and may show dryness, redness, and oozing.
Hahahahahaa scripted. Where the fuck can you see a tattoo that can heal for 2 days that fast???? https://t.co/0s66psw9o1
A social media user who goes by Chonna Mae also called out Taragis for allegedly taking down her comment questioning the legitimacy of Albano’s tattoo.
“Sa totoo namang 3:36 pm kayo nag-post ng April Fool’s Joke ‘nyo tapos 4:04 pm, tapos na agad ‘yung tattoo niya at magaling agad,” she said in a post (It’s true that you posted your April Fool’s Joke at 3:36 pm and at 4:04 pm, his tattoo was done and healed). “Ay nako, mukhang nang-eeme lang ‘yang si Taragis, maniwala kayo sa ‘kin.” (Taragis seems to be kidding around, believe me.)
But regardless of the intent, Filipinos online said that at the end of the day, Albano is just a father who would do anything for his children.
What do you think of this issue? – with reports from Isabella Baldado/Rappler.com
Isabella Baldado is a Digital Communications volunteer at Rappler and a Speech Communication student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She often seeks energy boosts in the form of caffeine (both iced coffee and matcha!) and her favorite K-pop groups.
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Villagers evacuated, classes suspended as soldiers, rebels clash in Abra | Herbie G | 3/4/2024 10:02 | VIGAN, Philippines – Villagers evacuated and classes were disrupted after government forces battled it out with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in a town in Abra province on Tuesday, April 2.
The fierce clashes in the village of Nagcanasan in Pilar town, Abra forced the local government to suspend primary and secondary level classes starting on Wednesday.
“As a precautionary and proactive measure in anticipation of any untoward incidents in relation to the foregoing and to safeguard the learners and school personnel from physical danger, classes in primary and secondary levels both in public and private schools shall be suspended,” said Pilar Mayor Tyron Christopher Beroña in an executive order issued on Tuesday.
The Army’s 5th Infantry Division said soldiers from the 50th Infantry Battalion encountered members of the North Abra Guerrilla Front of the NPA’s Ilocos Cordillera Regional Committee just before noon.
It was the fifth documented clash between communist guerrillas and government forces in Abra this year.
Army Major Bryan Albano, civil-military operations officer of the 501st Infantry Brigade, told local broadcaster DWRS that the soldiers were on security patrol when they encountered the rebel group.
Albano said the fierce clashes lasted for hours, until around 7 pm, with clearing operations continuing afterward. Several videos uploaded on Facebook showed military airstrikes that lasted until sundown.
The military said a soldier was slightly hurt, and they were still finding out if the NPA suffered casualties.
Families living near the site of the encounter fled their homes, with some evacuating to a gymnasium located in the town center.
The town government said the evacuees included at least 21 families from Sitio Paring, Barangay Bababalasioan in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, near Nagcanasan.
The Ilocos Human Rights Alliance, meanwhile, called on the military and NPA to ensure the safety of civilians and uphold International Humanitarian Law, which guarantees that human rights are protected even in times of war. The group also appealed to the military to stop the airstrikes.
“Nananawagan rin kami sa AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) na itigil ang mga aerial bombing dahil sa malaking posibilidad na madamay ang mga sibilyan, alagang-hayop, at masira ang mga taniman at production area ng mga residente sa lugar,” the group said.
(We also call on the AFP to put a stop to the aerial bombings due to the high possibility of civilians, domestic animals, and residents’ crops and production areas being affected.)
The Philippine Red Cross has dispatched a group of workers to provide evacuees relief aid, child-friendly spaces, a first-aid station, and psychosocial support. – Rappler.com
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Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years kills 7, traps 77 | Victor Barreiro Jr. | 3/4/2024 9:13 | A view of a damaged apartment following an earthquake offshore, in New Taipei City, Taiwan April 3, 2024.
REUTERS/Fabian Hamacher
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed seven people on Wednesday, April 3, injuring more than 700, with 77 trapped in tunnels and collapsed buildings, authorities said, as rescuers used ladders to help some people descend to safety.
Television broadcast images of buildings tilted at precarious angles in the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien, near the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude quake, which struck just offshore at about 8 a. m. (0000GMT).
“It was very strong. It felt as if the house was going to topple,” said Chang Yu-lin, 60, a worker in a hospital in Taipei, the capital.
The quake hit at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), just as people were headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.
Video showed rescuers using ladders to help trapped people out of windows, while elsewhere there were massive landslides, as strong tremors in Taipei forced the subway system to close briefly, although most lines resumed service.
Fire authorities said about 60 of the roughly 77 trapped were caught in a tunnel just north of Hualien city, with two Germans among those trapped in another tunnel.
The government put the number of injured at 736.
President-elect Lai Ching-te, who is set to take office next month, will visit Hualien later in the day, his office said.
In Japan, the weather agency put the quake’s magnitude at 7.7, saying several small tsunami waves reached parts of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, while downgrading its tsunami warning to an advisory.
In the Philippines, seismology officials earlier warned coastal residents in several provinces telling them to move to higher ground, but later canceled the tsunami warning.
#TsunamiPHADVISORY: CANCELLATION OF TSUNAMI WARNINGTsunami Information No.2Date and Time: 03 Apr 2024 – 07:58 AMMagnitude = 7.5Depth = 011 kilometersLocation = 23.8 N, 121.7 E – Taiwan pic.twitter.com/gabe1UG8jR
Chinese state media said the quake was felt in the southeastern province of Fujian, while a Reuters witness said it was also felt in the commercial hub of Shanghai.
Aftershocks could still be felt in Taipei, with more than 50 recorded, weather officials said.
Most power has been restored after the quake, electricity utility Taipower said, with the island’s two nuclear power stations unaffected.
Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, although services would be delayed as it made inspections.
A major supplier of chips to Apple and Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it had evacuated some fabrication plants and safety systems were operating normally.
“To ensure the safety of personnel, some fabs were evacuated according to company procedure,” the semiconductor giant said in a statement, adding later that the employees had begun to return to work.
Taiwan’s benchmark share index closed down 0.6%, largely brushing off the quake’s impact, while TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares ended down 1.3%.
The official central news agency said the quake was the biggest since one of magnitude 7.6 in 1999 that killed about 2,400 people and damaged or destroyed 50,000 buildings.
Taiwan weather officials said the intensity of the earthquake in Hualien county was at the second-highest level of “Upper 6” on an intensity scale from 1 to 7.
Such a quake collapses walls unless they are made of reinforced concrete blocks, while people cannot stand upright and must crawl in order to move, Japan’s weather agency says. – Rappler.com
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16 Filipinos on Forbes 2024 list of world’s richest billionaires | gdecastro0289 | 3/4/2024 10:46 | Raffy de Guzman/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Sixteen Filipinos are on Forbes’ 2024 list of the world’s richest people which has 2,781 names.
Real estate magnate Manuel Villar, ports tycoon Enrique Razon, and food and beverage king Ramon Ang are the top 3 richest Filipinos on the latest Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List: The Richest in 2024.
Villar was 190th on the list with a net worth of $11 billion, Razon was 224th with a net worth of $10 billion, and Ang was 920nd with a net worth of $3.5 billion, as of writing.
They were followed by the following (world ranking and net worth):
1286. Hans Sy ($2.6 billion)
1330. Henry Sy Jr. ($2.5 billion)
1330. Herbert Sy ($2.5 billion)
1330. Lucio Tan ($2.5 billion)
1380. Harley Sy ($2.4 billion)
1438. Teresita Sy-Coson ($2.3 billion)
1545. Elizabeth Sy ($2.1 billion)
1623. Andrew Tan ($2 billion)
2152. Tony Tan Caktiong ($1.4 billion)
2410. Lucio Co ($1.2 billion)
2545. Susan Co ($1.1 billion)
2545. Lance Gokongwei ($1.1 billion)
2692. William Belo ($1 billion)
The Sy siblings own the SM group of companies, which includes SM Prime, SM Investments, SMDC, BDO, Chinabank, 2GO, Goldilocks, among others.
Lucio Tan is founder of the LT group, which includes Fortune Tobacco, Asia Brewery, Philippine National Bank, PAL, Eton Properties, among others.
Andrew Tan is head of Alliance Global Group, which includes Megaworld, Emperador Incorporated, McDonald’s Philippines, among others.
Tony Tan Caktiong is founder of Jollibee Foods Corporation.
Lucio and Susan Co are owners of Puregold Price Club.
Lance Gokongwei heads JG Summit Holdings, which includes Cebu Air or Cebu Pacific airlines, Robinsons Land, Universal Robina, among others.
William Belo is founder and chair emeritus of home improvement company Wilcon Depot.
Forbes said the US has the most number of billionaires on the list with 813, followed by China (plus Hong Kong) with 473, and India with 200.
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The richest person in the world is France’s Bernard Arnault and family, owner of luxury goods firm LVMH (Louis Vuitton) with a net worth of $222.4 billion. Next to the LVMH owner is Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($198.7 billion); Tesla/SpaceX’s Elon Musk ($190.2 billion); and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg ($174.4 billion), all from the US.
Pop star Taylor Swift made it to the list for the first time with a net worth of $1.1 billion, joining 13 other celebrities. Forbes said Swift’s Eras Tour grossed more than $1 billion from her first 60 shows alone.
Forbes says its “real-time billionaires rankings tracks the daily ups and downs of the world’s richest people.” It is based on net worth, and the value of the person’s public holdings is updated every 5 minutes when stock markets are open. Their net worths are updated once a day. – Rappler.com
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Congratulations to fellow Filipinos who made it to this list, especially Manny Villar. If he ever won the Presidency, we would have our first Forbes-listed Billionaire President. That is better than having a president who has billions of hidden wealth (either in pesos or dollars) and known wealth but with intentionally unpaid and evaded taxes. (Note: Assuming that Manny Villar correctly declares his wealth and prudently pays his taxes.)
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Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years kills 7, traps 77 | Victor Barreiro Jr. | 3/4/2024 9:13 | A view of a damaged apartment following an earthquake offshore, in New Taipei City, Taiwan April 3, 2024.
REUTERS/Fabian Hamacher
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed seven people on Wednesday, April 3, injuring more than 700, with 77 trapped in tunnels and collapsed buildings, authorities said, as rescuers used ladders to help some people descend to safety.
Television broadcast images of buildings tilted at precarious angles in the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien, near the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude quake, which struck just offshore at about 8 a. m. (0000GMT).
“It was very strong. It felt as if the house was going to topple,” said Chang Yu-lin, 60, a worker in a hospital in Taipei, the capital.
The quake hit at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), just as people were headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.
Video showed rescuers using ladders to help trapped people out of windows, while elsewhere there were massive landslides, as strong tremors in Taipei forced the subway system to close briefly, although most lines resumed service.
Fire authorities said about 60 of the roughly 77 trapped were caught in a tunnel just north of Hualien city, with two Germans among those trapped in another tunnel.
The government put the number of injured at 736.
President-elect Lai Ching-te, who is set to take office next month, will visit Hualien later in the day, his office said.
In Japan, the weather agency put the quake’s magnitude at 7.7, saying several small tsunami waves reached parts of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, while downgrading its tsunami warning to an advisory.
In the Philippines, seismology officials earlier warned coastal residents in several provinces telling them to move to higher ground, but later canceled the tsunami warning.
#TsunamiPHADVISORY: CANCELLATION OF TSUNAMI WARNINGTsunami Information No.2Date and Time: 03 Apr 2024 – 07:58 AMMagnitude = 7.5Depth = 011 kilometersLocation = 23.8 N, 121.7 E – Taiwan pic.twitter.com/gabe1UG8jR
Chinese state media said the quake was felt in the southeastern province of Fujian, while a Reuters witness said it was also felt in the commercial hub of Shanghai.
Aftershocks could still be felt in Taipei, with more than 50 recorded, weather officials said.
Most power has been restored after the quake, electricity utility Taipower said, with the island’s two nuclear power stations unaffected.
Taiwan’s high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, although services would be delayed as it made inspections.
A major supplier of chips to Apple and Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it had evacuated some fabrication plants and safety systems were operating normally.
“To ensure the safety of personnel, some fabs were evacuated according to company procedure,” the semiconductor giant said in a statement, adding later that the employees had begun to return to work.
Taiwan’s benchmark share index closed down 0.6%, largely brushing off the quake’s impact, while TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares ended down 1.3%.
The official central news agency said the quake was the biggest since one of magnitude 7.6 in 1999 that killed about 2,400 people and damaged or destroyed 50,000 buildings.
Taiwan weather officials said the intensity of the earthquake in Hualien county was at the second-highest level of “Upper 6” on an intensity scale from 1 to 7.
Such a quake collapses walls unless they are made of reinforced concrete blocks, while people cannot stand upright and must crawl in order to move, Japan’s weather agency says. – Rappler.com
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No KQ, no problem: Jonnel Policarpio stars anew as La Salle stays unbeaten in PBA D-League | Jasmine Payo | 3/4/2024 10:58 | STEP UP. La Salle’s Jonnel Policarpio in action against CEU’s Dave Bernabe in the PBA D-League.
PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines – EcoOil-La Salle forward Jonnel Policarpio continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the 2024 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup.
For the third consecutive contest, Policarpio delivered the goods for the Green Archers as they survived an early scare from the CEU Scorpions for an 89-61 beating at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig on Tuesday, April 2.
Policarpio stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks for EcoOil-La Salle, which extended its unbeaten record to 3-0.
With UAAP Season 86 MVP Kevin Quiambao not listed in EcoOil-La Salle’s Aspirants’ Cup roster, Policarpio has been leading the charge for the Green Archers early in the season, topscoring for the two-time defending champions in all their three matches.
The 6-foot-4 incoming sophomore put up a season-high 22 points against the CCI-Yengskivel Crusaders in their opening assignment, 17 markers versus the Go Torraku-St. Clare in their second outing, before dropping a game-high 18 on Tuesday.
For Policarpio, who almost left the Green Archers’ nest earlier this year following a title run in UAAP Season 86, it’s all about making the most of the opportunities given to him by the EcoOil-La Salle coaching staff led by deputy Caloy Garcia.
“I just give my best. I just grab the opportunities given to me by my coaches,” said the promising swingman Policarpio in Filipino.
With La Salle trailing by as many as 9 points early in the second quarter, 14-23, Policarpio took over and scattered 8 straight points in less than 2 minutes to pull the Green Archers back within just a single point, 22-23.
With the score knotted at 36-all at halftime, EcoOil-La Salle then pulled away from CEU with a furious 25-13 third-quarter blast, before finishing the game with its largest lead at 28 points.
EcoOil-La Salle’s foreign student-athlete Henry Agunanne backstopped Policarpio with 13 points and 9 rebounds, while do-it-all big man Michael Phillips posted 9 markers and 12 boards.
Jayson Puray topscored for the Scorpions in their Aspirants’ Cup debut with 12 points, while Justin Guevarra added 10.
In the opening game, CCI-Yengskivel notched its first win after taking down Keanzel Basketball, 80-73.
Victor Nuarin showed the way for the Crusaders with 19 points, while Castor Manipolo chipped in 13.
For Keanzel Basketball, Rudolfo Alota registered a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
CCI-Yengskivel hiked its record to 1-1 and handed Keanzel Basketball its second loss in as many games.
First Game
CCI-Yengskivel 80 – Nuarin 19, Manipolo 13, Tener 11, Buenaflor 11, Jawili 6, Galvez 5, Esguerra 5, Dela Cruz 5, Talagtag 3, Puzon 2, Verdadero 0, Guray 0, De Guzman 0.
Keanzel Basketball 73 – Alota 17, Gayosa 15, Ceniza 14, Wong 6, Villaflor 5, Sison 4, Calacalsada 4, Baclig 4, Villamor 5, Panlilio 0, Camay 0, Magpayo 0, Advincula 0.
Quarters: 38-15, 46-38, 60-48, 80-73.
Second Game
EcoOil-La Salle 89 – Policarpio 18, Agunanne 13, Phillips 9, Abadam 8, Cortez 7, Macalalag 7, Gollena 7, Austria 7, Marasigan 5, Rubico 4, Buensalida 2, Daja 2, David 0, Alian 0.
CEU 61 – Puray 12, Guevarra 10, Marcelo 9, Malicana 7, Santos 7, Gamboa 5, Bernabe 4, Olusesi 3, Serrano 2, Mendoza 2, De Guzman 0, Benitez 0.
Quarters: 14-21, 36-36, 61-49, 89-61.
– 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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Heat-induced ailments affect thousands of General Santos students | Herbie G | 2/4/2024 17:46 | Alejandro Edoria
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines – Education officials noted a surge in the number of students with ailments blamed on rising temperatures in General Santos City, prompting school authorities to either suspend classes or switch back to online learning methods starting Tuesday, April 2.
The Department of Education (DepEd) in General Santos City reported that, in recent days, at least 2,557 students have complained of severe headaches due to the high heat index, which measures how hot it feels when humidity is combined with the actual air temperature.
About 291 other students have experienced nosebleeds, a condition attributed to the intense heat, according to General Santos Schools Superintendent Isagani dela Cruz, citing reports gathered from various schools across the city.
The dry weather conditions and soaring temperatures prompted Dela Cruz to ask the city government to order the suspension of classes in General Santos.
Based on the DepEd recommendation, General Santos Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao issued Executive Order No. 19-2024, ordering the suspension of all face-to-face classes in all levels in both public and private schools in General Santos from April 2 to April 5 “unless otherwise extended or lifted earlier.”
The state-run Mindanao State University (MSU) in General Santos, however, said its classes would be held online to avoid a disruption.
Norman Ralph Isla, MSU-General Santos campus secretary, said the university’s classes will be held either synchronously or asynchronously and will be supervised by the heads of different academic departments.
Sarangani Governor Rogelio Pacquiao also ordered on Tuesday the suspension of face-to-face classes in all levels from April 3 to 19.
In South Cotabato province, the mayors of Banga and Tantangan towns opted to suspend afternoon face-to-face classes to protect students from the heat that typically worsens in the afternoon.
Tantangan Mayor Timee Torres-Gonzales said they have coordinated with the DepEd so their schools would revert to blended learning methods until April 15. Gonzales said the setup is meant not to disrupt the students’ learning schedules.
In Banga, Mayor Evangeline Palencia announced that afternoon classes would be suspended until April 30 to safeguard students’ health against the scorching heat.
The dry weather conditions and scorching heat have also been taking a toll on agriculture in the Soccsksargen region.
The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC) in Alabel, Sarangani province, for instance, recommended to the municipal council to declare the town as being in a state of calamity due to losses caused by the prevailing dry conditions and soaring temperatures.
The MDRRMC also adopted a motion to reprogram a trust fund amounting to almost P4 million to aid farmers affected by the dry spell.
Alabel Mayor Paul Salarda sought a comprehensive detailed report about the extent of the damage to crops such as corn, coconuts, and bananas, as well as livestock and poultry in the municipality.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Soccsksargen said they could not say exactly what the extent of the damage was in the region because they have yet to receive reports from local governments in the region.
DA Regional Director John Pascual said they have not even received requests for assistance. He downplayed the impact of the El Nino phenomenon on the agriculture sector in the Soccsksargen region, saying the damage was not severe and that mitigating measures were in place.
Soccsksargen, which consists of the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, and Kidapawan, has been seeing less rainfall amid dry weather conditions and intense heat.
On a national scale, the DA said the El Niño phenomenon has damaged at least P1.3 billion worth of agricultural crops, poultry, and livestock as of mid-March.
Meanwhile, environmentalists said the prevailing weather conditions should serve as a wake-up call for the government to do what is right for the environment.
Elizabeth Ramos, chairperson of the Maitum Advocates for Sustainable Environment (MASE), said, “We need some serious and dedicated efforts, not mere lip service or band-aid solutions.”
Another group, the Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia-Early Response Network (CCAA-ERN), said it has monitored the drying of wells and water sources in many villages and municipalities in Mindanao, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Central and Northern Mindanao.
“Farmers are now unable to grow essential crops and vegetables and are struggling to provide food for their families. In many major rice granaries in Northern Luzon and Western Visayas, farmers’ decisions for the planting season are being held back because of the lack of water,” read part of a March 22 statement of the CCAA-ERN.
The group called on the government to declare a state of calamity in many agricultural areas that are now reeling from the effects of El Niño and prioritize farmers and fisherfolk to prevent food insecurity.
CCAA-ERN also asked the government to direct the local disaster risk reduction management officers to closely monitor their areas, especially wells that are starting to dry up and set aside funds for emergency provisioning to avert hunger.
“It is useful to invest in water tankers as early as now for the immediate rationing of water when sources become exhausted…. Funds should be invested for the rehabilitation and building of new wells to ensure the adequate supply of water to communities,” it said.
CCAA-ERN stressed the need to protect wells and other sources of water that are still supplying and sustaining communities.
The group warned, “The drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon is fueling uncertainty and insecurity that is endangering the coping mechanisms and traditional social protection practices in communities. Most people claim it’s the drought, but we have monitored water resources, and the lack of it, and we have seen a major decline in the quality and quantity of water in the past years. The ongoing dry spell has only aggravated what is already a worsening situation brought about by climate change.” – Rappler.com
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Sandiganbayan bars Faeldon’s lawyer from representing him in graft cases | Dwight de Leon | 3/4/2024 7:51 | Lito Borras/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Anti-graft court Sandiganbayan prohibited the lawyer of former Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Nicanor Faeldon from representing him in court, citing the Local Government Code of 1991.
Faeldon’s legal counsel and wife Jelina Maree Magsuci is an incumbent councilor in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, which puts her in conflict with the law’s provision that bars any Sanggunian member who is a lawyer from “appearing as counsel in any criminal case wherein his or her client is a government official accused of an offense committed in relation to public office.”
The Office of the Ombudsman filed two counts of graft against Faeldon in 2021, in connection with the alleged smuggling of Vietnamese rice worth P34 million in Cagayan de Oro in 2017.
Then-senator Panfilo Lacson sued Faeldon in 2017 for supposedly illegally approving the release of the tens of thousands of bags of rice even though customs officers already confiscated them due to non-compliance with permits and non-payment of customs duties and taxes.
The court, in an 11-page resolution promulgated on March 7 but released only on Monday, April 1, essentially granted the prosecution’s motion for disqualification, but took no action on the request to slap sanctions against Magsuci.
The Sandiganbayan said it is up to “the proper authorities to take any action it may deem appropriate” against her.
Magsuci had argued that the disqualification effort against her was a sham pleading, since Faeldon was no longer tied to the BOC or any government agency when she began representing him in court and won for city council.
Faeldon left BOC in September 2019, then hired Magsuci in May 2021.
She also insisted that the intention of the Local Government Code is to prevent only an incumbent government official from using his resources to his advantage.
The court, however, rebuffed Magsuci.
“The Court cannot accept this contention. The plain text of the provision does not require such status on the part of the accused. It simply states that in a criminal case, ‘an officer or employee of the national or local government is accused of an offense committed in relation to his office’,” the ruling read.
It added that the prohibition is anchored on Canon III on Fidelity of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability, which bars lawyers in government service from representing “an interest adverse to the government.” – Rappler.com
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Good work, Anti-graft Court Sandiganbayan.
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Weightlifter John Ceniza books Paris Olympics ticket | jisaga0269 | 2/4/2024 20:31 | GOOD LIFT. Filipino weightlifter John Ceniza in action in the 2021 IWF World Championships.
Screenshot from IWF livestream
MANILA, Philippines – Cebuano weightlifter John Ceniza booked his ticket to the Paris Olympics after a strong performance in the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup men’s 61kg event in Phuket, Thailand, on Tuesday, April 2.
The 26-year-old rising star now joins six other elite Filipino athletes who secured their spot in the sport’s biggest stage set this July.
Ceniza, who failed in his third snatch attempt at 134kg to settle at 132kg, rebounded well in the clean and jerk, clearing 168kg in the third lift for an exact total of 300kg.
Only China’s Li Fabin (312kg), USA’s Hampton Morris (303kg), and North Korea’s Pak Myong Jin (301kg) finished ahead of Ceniza, putting the Filipino bet well within the IWF’s top 10 qualification cutoff.
At sixth place in the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) going into the World Cup, Ceniza climbed to No. 5 as he eclipsed the 298kg total lift he set in the IWF Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar in December.
The OQR ranks athletes – one per category and per country – with the highest total lift achieved in any of the Olympic qualification events.
Li (314kg), Morris (303kg), Italy’s Sergio Massidda (302kg), and Indonesia’s Eko Yuli Irawan (300kg) are ahead of Ceniza in the OQR.
The IWF will release the final and official OQR in May.
Other Filipino Olympians gunning for glory in Paris are pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan, and boxers Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio, and Aira Villegas.
More standout weightlifters aim to secure Paris berths, with Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz (59kg), Vanessa Sarno (71kg), Elreen Ando (59kg), and Kristel Macrohon (71kg) still waiting in the wings. – Rappler.com
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Family feud: Journalist Rico Hizon, siblings charged with estafa by brother | Joann Manabat - CMS | 2/4/2024 10:50 | SUED. Broadcast journalist Rico Hizon.
File photo
PAMPANGA, Philippines – Broadcast journalist Rico Hizon and his sisters are caught in a family dispute over an inheritance, with their brother filing an estafa case against them in Angeles City, Pampanga.
The eldest brother of the siblings, Ernesto, filed two counts of estafa involving more than P760 million against former anchor of the now-defunct CNN Philippines and his siblings Maria Belen Hizon and Bernadette Hizon-Deduque.
Judge Rodrigo del Rosario of the Regional Trial Court Branch 114 in Angeles City issued an arrest warrant on March 25, a copy of which Rappler obtained on Monday, April 1.
The court had set the bail bond at P120,000 each.
In a statement from Rico and his two co-accused siblings sent to Rappler , they said they posted bail on the same day they were ordered arrested, “and the court issued an order recalling the warrant of arrest.”
“We have an ongoing family dispute, which unfortunately has resulted in our brother, Ernesto Hizon, filing a criminal case against my two sisters and I. The dispute involves our inheritance in our aunt’s estate. Instead of sitting down with us to come up with a fair and just settlement, Ernesto has resorted to filing cases to harass us into getting his way,” they said.
The three said the criminal case was filed in court even before they received a resolution from the Office of the City Prosecutor.
“We, therefore, find it somewhat malicious that the warrant of arrest received by the office of Ernesto’s lawyer was furnished to the local media after this warrant was recalled,” they said.
“Despite all these irregularities, we are determined to defend our names and ensure that this case which is founded on unjust, baseless and hurtful claims made by Ernesto is dismissed.”
Based on the resolution from the city prosecutor’s office, Ernesto sued his siblings for alleged anomalous financial transactions in their family-owned company, Morlan Realty Corporation.
All four siblings own shares of 0.007% each, and the three respondents in the lawsuit are members of the company’s board of directors. Their deceased aunt owned 96% of the total shares.
Prosecutors said Ernesto flagged P60 million in advances issued to his three siblings in 2018 and P760 million in 2021.
The three siblings were indicted on March 20. The complaint was filed in November 2023.
“Complainant also discovered that based on the financial statements for 2018 secured from the Securities and Exchange Commission, that notwithstanding the income earned for 2018 in the amount of P968,780,768, no dividend was declared by the board of directors and management of the corporation composed of herein respondents, purportedly because they have reserved P803 million of the retained earnings for expansion,” the resolution read in part.
Ernesto alleged that his repeated demands were supposedly ignored, prompting him to file the case.
Prosecutors also said Rico and his two sisters were informed of the complaint against them and failed to submit controverting evidence. – Rappler.com
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Just kidding? Takoyaki shop draws flak for April Fools’ tattoo prank gone wrong | pfkahanap0307 | 2/4/2024 18:26 | MANILA, Philippines – Not all jokes are funny.
As different brands joined in on the April Fools’ Day fun with mock social media posts, netizens slammed a food chain after it refused to take responsibility for a prank post gone wrong.
A takoyaki restaurant called Taragis said in a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, April 1, that they would be giving P100,000 to the first person who had their shop’s logo tattooed on their forehead.
The words “April Fool’s” was written at the bottom of the photo used for the social media post. The phrase cannot be seen properly unless the user clicks on the photo itself.
Unfortunately, a social media user identified as Ramil Albano had taken the post seriously and shared a photo of his new forehead tattoo.
In another deleted post, Taragis said that they were “not accountable for the events that occurred,” and urged readers to remember “how important reading comprehension is.”
Carl Quion, Taragis’ owner, has since talked to Albano and given him the reward, as seen in a video posted on Tuesday, April 2. He also offered to shoulder the cost of the tattoo removal.
“Hindi natin alam na may mga taong gagawin ang lahat para sa pera, kaya iwasan nating gumawa ng mga bagay na makakaapekto sa kabuhayan nila,” Quion said.
(We don’t know how far people will go just for money, so let’s avoid doing things that could affect their livelihoods.)
Albano shared in the video that he had taken on the challenge so that he could have extra money for his children’s needs, especially for his youngest son who has Down syndrome.
After Taragis earlier denied responsibility for the incident, several brands from all over the country offered to give Albano cash rewards, hoping that these would help him and his family.
Netizens said that Taragis’ prank went a little too far, since many Filipinos may not be familiar with the concept of April Fools’ Day.
Hindi lahat ng followers nila ay alam ang April Fools day. At educated enough to read it with comprehension. Pag Pera ang pinag uusapan Lalo sa Pinas may kakagat talaga nyan. They should be accountable with their stupid post. Kainis!
naiinis ak s mga taong pinagtatawanan ung nagpatattoo ng taragis logo like can u not see it was an act of desperation na tattoo lang may 100k ka na of course if ure rly in need of money ud consider it 😅😅 april fools isnt a holiday that every1 knows especially in the philippines
The Philippines doesn't have an April Fool's culture, or else a long history of it. Lalo na sa mga hindi naman masyadong babad sa diskurso ng globalisasyon, malay ba nila? Mabuting tandaang hindi pantay-pantay ang pagintindi natin sa mundo. https://t.co/0pPyZvq2GU
Others also pointed out that some people, especially those like Albano who need financial assistance, could be tempted to take the restaurant’s “offer” amid the rising cost of living in the country.
The Philippines’ inflation rate rose to 3.4% in February, following an increase in food prices and utility costs during the month.
pranking the non privelaged masses like that, then painting them dumb and not taking accountability for it. taragis (whoever the fck they are) has a special place in hell. i hope someone files a case against them. https://t.co/XeC9g116WQ
Some individuals also said that Taragis’ responses to the issue were in bad taste, saying that they portrayed Albano as “dumb” for falling for an April Fools’ prank when he was only looking for ways to make ends meet.
Apaka out of touch na sisihin pa yung hindi nagbasa si kuya. May krisis naman kasi talaga comprehension dito sa pinas imbes na tulungan kahit papano kahit hindi 100k nagmock pa ang mga tao https://t.co/bPrBGxfFBR
exactly. tangina niyong mga walang puso sa taong nagbabakasakali lang. https://t.co/Lyr8BPvo2y
Should they be held accountable for their joke? Bernice Piñol-Rodriguez, a lawyer on TikTok, said that under the rules of the Department of Trade and Industry, Taragis should compensate Albano “for causing injury to another person and false advertising.”
She said that they could also be held liable under Article 21 of the Civil Code, which states that “any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.”
In the April 2 video, Quion has apologized to his critics and explained that he had no intention of hurting other people.
“Sa mga nagkaroon ng negatibong pananaw sa naging April Fools’ post namin, humihingi ako ng tawad. Sana magsilbing aral ito sa ating lahat, lalo na sa mga kapwa influencers ko o brand na nasa internet, na maging responsable tayo sa lahat ng inuupload natin,” he said.
(For those who disliked our April Fools’ post, I’m sorry. Let this be a lesson to all of us, especially to my fellow influencers and online brands, to be responsible for everything we upload.)
Some netizens have pointed out that Taragis’ prank may be scripted based on the appearance of Albano’s supposedly fresh tattoo.
According to several sources online, a tattoo may take around two to four weeks to heal, and may show dryness, redness, and oozing.
Hahahahahaa scripted. Where the fuck can you see a tattoo that can heal for 2 days that fast???? https://t.co/0s66psw9o1
A social media user who goes by Chonna Mae also called out Taragis for allegedly taking down her comment questioning the legitimacy of Albano’s tattoo.
“Sa totoo namang 3:36 pm kayo nag-post ng April Fool’s Joke ‘nyo tapos 4:04 pm, tapos na agad ‘yung tattoo niya at magaling agad,” she said in a post (It’s true that you posted your April Fool’s Joke at 3:36 pm and at 4:04 pm, his tattoo was done and healed). “Ay nako, mukhang nang-eeme lang ‘yang si Taragis, maniwala kayo sa ‘kin.” (Taragis seems to be kidding around, believe me.)
But regardless of the intent, Filipinos online said that at the end of the day, Albano is just a father who would do anything for his children.
What do you think of this issue? – with reports from Isabella Baldado/Rappler.com
Isabella Baldado is a Digital Communications volunteer at Rappler and a Speech Communication student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She often seeks energy boosts in the form of caffeine (both iced coffee and matcha!) and her favorite K-pop groups.
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EXPLAINER: The ‘permits’ debate on Chocolate Hills controversy | jsitchon0312 | 2/4/2024 22:15 | PERMIT. Besides an Environmental Compliance Certificate, project proponents who wish to construct buildings within protected areas must also secure a Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas.
Rappler
CEBU, Philippines – The controversy over Captain’s Peak Resort – an establishment built within the protected area of the Chocolate Hills – sparked multiple debates about accountability in the preservation of the nation’s protected areas. This accountability covers government agencies and private tourism site owners of Bohol and the whole Visayas region.
For starters, it was former president Fidel V. Ramos, through Proclamation No. 1037, s. 1997, who declared a “natural monument” around 1,776 chocolate hills and the areas within, around, and surrounding them.
These hills, identified in the towns of Carmen, Batuan, Sagbayan, Bilar, Valencia, and Sierra Bullones in Bohol, are to be protected and placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), in coordination with national agencies and local government units.
Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo amended Ramos’ proclamation via Proclamation No. 333 on February 26, 2003, excluding the “alienable and disposable flat lands” found near the hills but still maintaining the “buffer zones” found 20 meters from the base of each hill.
In the case of Captain’s Peak Resort in Sagbayan town, structures were built at the foot of three chocolate hills. Rappler visited the resort and saw that a pool was placed at the center of the hills.
As netizens, concerned citizens, and lawmakers got riled up in discussions about the violations committed by the resort owners, the debate eventually revolved around the issuance of a business permit and lack of certain requirements like the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
Julieta Sablas, the administrator of Captain’s Peak Resort, told Rappler on Thursday, March 14, that they were given a business permit by the Office of the Mayor of Sagbayan even without an ECC.
But what exactly is an ECC and why is it so important for any business operating near protected areas to have one?
Under Presidential Decree No. 1586, signed by former president Ferdinand E. Marcos on June 11, 1978, no person, partnership, or corporation is allowed to undertake or operate a declared environmentally critical project (ECP) or area without first securing an ECC.
Based on the Environmental Management Bureau’s (EMB) Memorandum Circular No. 2014-005, applicants looking to secure an ECC must comply with the requirements set forth by the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System declared in Presidential Decree No. 1586.
These requirements include an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report in the form of an EIS, Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) checklist report, Environmental Performance Report and Management Plan (EPRMP), and Programmatic EIS or Programmatic EPRMP.
The EIA is a process that evaluates the impact of the project on the environment where it will operate. Project proponents conduct the EIA with a consultant, EMB representatives, a review committee, and affected communities and stakeholders.
“It also includes designing appropriate preventive, mitigating and enhancement measures addressing these consequences to protect the environment and the community’s welfare,” the memorandum read.
The EIS is then formulated from the EIA study, following the Philippine EIS System guidelines and categorization of the projects that are ECPs.
As a natural monument, the Chocolate Hills fall under the first category of an environmentally critical area (ECA), which includes protected areas declared under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992.
Category B for ECPs include projects that are not declared as ECPs by past presidential proclamations but are deemed to significantly affect the quality of the environment of ECAs.
“Proponents of these projects implemented from 1982 onwards are required to secure an ECC,” the memorandum read.
New ECC applicants for ECPs can send their EIS to the EMB Central Office at the DENR compound in Quezon City. Processing can take up to 20 working days depending on whether or not the EIS matches EMB standards.
Based on the EMB Ilocos Region official website, these are the processing fees for the following requirements:
The EMB also has an online processing system that includes a longer list of 18 documentary requirements and an application fee of P5,055.
Besides an ECC, environmental lawyer Benjamin Cabrido Jr. told Rappler on Tuesday, April 2, that project proponents who want to operate in protected areas must acquire a Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA).
Under DENR Administrative Order No. 2007-17, one of the primary objectives of the SAPA is to provide access and economic opportunities to indigenous peoples, tenured migrant communities and other stakeholders to contribute in “the reduction of poverty incidence.”
The lawyer said that protected areas are given different classifications which each have their own designated limitations for human activity.
These categories of protected areas, under the NIPAS Act, include strict nature reserves, natural parks, natural monuments, wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes and seascapes, resource reserves, and natural biotic areas to name a few.
“This strict nature of protection applies in cases of areas where there is a predominance of wildlife. In those cases, no one is allowed there,” Cabrido said in a mix of English and Cebuano.
However, for those considered as tenured migrants or those with properties in protected areas, the environmental lawyer explained that the national government respects the tenured migrant’s ownership of the land but limits usage of the property.
The administrative order defines the SAPA as a binding instrument between the DENR through the Protected Areas Management Board (PAMB) and SAPA applicants.
One of the special uses allowed within the protected areas, subject to the issuance of an ECC and approval of the DENR secretary or his or her authorized representative, is “Ecotourism Facilities.”
The first PAMB Resolution endorsing Captain’s Peak Resort described the proposed establishment as an “Eco-Park Tourism” facility.
The matter of ECCs has long been riddled with questionable documentary issuances and opposition by both government officials and environmentalists.
Cabrido criticized the way ECCs are issued because, according to him, it is usually only DENR representatives who conduct the assessments and are paid to do so.
“ECC is not a permit. Let us remember that. It doesn’t mean that when you are issued an ECC, you already have a permit to construct whatever you want inside your lot…it should have been named environmental conditional certificate,” the lawyer told Rappler.
Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) managing trustee and environmental lawyer John Menguito told Rappler on Tuesday, March 26, that there have been multiple cases of projects that have been issued an ECC that are allegedly not compliant with environmental standards.
“What we usually do is challenge the issuance of the ECC via (studies) of third-party scientists…if it is compliant with legal standards, we look at science,” Menguito said.
The environmental lawyer said that the assessments for the ECC should also include environmental scientists and biologists, besides the mandated representatives and stakeholders.
On September 18, 2020, environmental experts in Cebu reported that marine life and corals were affected by mining operations in Alcoy town. These operations supplied dolomite sand to the controversial Manila Bay white sand project.
In a Rappler article dated September 25, 2020, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia said that the mining operations had “obvious violations [of] the ECC.”
Through the years, green advocacy groups called for the revocation of multiple ECCs of all reclamation projects in Manila Bay, claiming that the projects had adverse effects on natural resources.
In June 2023, the DENR began its “cumulative impact assessment” on these development projects, a majority of which were later suspended by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on August 7, 2023.
As of Tuesday, April 2, DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga announced that the agency had suspended the power of regional offices to approve ECC applications.
“All pending and future ECC applications for projects within protected areas processed at regional offices shall be submitted to the EMB Central Office for final review and approval,” the DENR secretary’s memorandum dated Tuesday, March 26 read. – Rappler.com
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Agree: “All pending and future ECC applications for projects within protected areas processed at regional offices shall be submitted to the EMB Central Office for final review and approval,” the DENR secretary’s memorandum dated Tuesday, March 26 read. So, were related applications not reviewed by the EMB Central Office in the past? Is this the cause of these abuses? Will this add another layer for those considering bribing DENR officials?
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DENR strips regional offices of power to grant ECC in protected areas | Iya Gozum | 2/4/2024 20:03 | DENR CHIEF. Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga visits Mt. Apo Natural Park on April 2, 2024.
DENR
MANILA, Philippines – Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga has stripped regional offices of the power to approve environmental compliance certificate (ECC) applications within protected areas until further notice.
In a memorandum dated March 26, 2024, addressed to top officials in the central and regional offices, Loyzaga ordered the conduct of an inventory and a comprehensive review of all existing structures within protected areas.
Applications will now be escalated to the Environmental Management Bureau at the Central Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Loyzaga announced this on Tuesday, April 2, during her visit to the Mount Apo Natural Park. Senator Raffy Tulfo had previously raised the issue of alleged illegal establishments inside the park following the controversy surrounding the resorts in Chocolate Hills.
According to the environment chief, they are now “looking at the processes also internally to see how we can make them more attuned to the reason why these areas were enrolled and actually legislated as protected areas in the first place.”
“The evaluations of all the known developments are ongoing,” Loyzaga said on Tuesday.
UPDATE. Regional offices’ power to approve environmental compliance certificate applications is suspended, DENR chief Toni Yulo-Loyzaga said on Tuesday, April 2.All ECC applications will now be approved by the Environment Management Bureau at the DENR Central Office. pic.twitter.com/Kdv2WwADZP
“We’ve already started to determine who has more or less completed documents and permits. That means they have PAMB clearance, ECC clearance, and Sapa. And then also from there [will] follow the different building permits they need to get for their own developments.”
A proponent who wants to conduct a project within a protected area has to secure a PAMB (Protected Area Management Board) clearance. This is a prerequisite before the DENR can issue an ECC.
Existing facilities and structures found compliant with the objectives of the management of a protected area still require a Sapa or a special use agreement in protected areas.
Projects need to apply for ECCs to certify that they “will not bring about an unacceptable environment impact and that the proponent has complied with the requirements of the Environment Impact Statement (EIS) System,” according to DENR Administrative Order No. 21.
In October 2023, the DENR said they would suspend the issuance of tenurial instruments over protected areas after stories of abuse of a “cult” in Surigao del Norte, which used 300 hectares of protected area, came to light. – Rappler.com
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Raffy Tulfo, Sara Duterte top Pulse Asia’s 2028 presidential survey | Bonz Magsambol | 2/4/2024 20:25 | TOP CONTENDERS. Senator Raffy Tulfo and Vice President Sara Duterte are top choices for 2028 presidential race.
SENATE PRIB; ANGIE DE SIVA/RAPPLER
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Raffy Tulfo and Vice President Sara Duterte are the top contenders for the 2028 presidential race, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.
The poll conducted from March 6 to 10 showed that the two are statistically tied among potential candidates for the presidency, with the neophyte senator obtaining 35% voter preference and the Vice President receiving 34% support.
Former vice president Leni Robredo is trailing with 11% voter preference, followed by Senator Imee Marcos (5%), former senator Manny Pacquiao (3%), Senator Robin Padilla (2%), Senator Risa Hontiveros (1%), and House Speaker Martin Romualdez (0.5%).
Former president Rodrigo Duterte (0.2%) and former Manila mayor Isko Moreno were also mentioned by the respondents (0.1%).
The survey results first circulated online over the weekend. Pulse Asia on Tuesday, April 2, confirmed that this was part of its quarterly Ulat ng Bayan survey.
The rider question was: Some say that those who can run for the presidency in the 2028 elections are the following. Who would you vote for if the 2028 elections were held today? You may mention others not included in the list.
Pulse Asia said that its first quarter Ulat ng Bayan survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.8%.
Tulfo was able to catch up with the numbers of Duterte, who was seen as the frontrunner in the WR Numero’s survey conducted in December 2023. Duterte scored 36% voter preference while Tulfo had 23% voter support in the said poll.
The Vice President has been the subject of attacks in the past months. Political developments in the last year – from the removal of the confidential funds from her office, to the charter change push under the administration – have been interpreted by analysts as disadvantageous to her.
Despite her family’s attacks against the President and her own sentiments of being ganged up on by allies of the administration, Sara said she has no plans of leaving the Cabinet as education secretary.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe topped a list of possible contenders for the vice presidential race in 2028 with 35% voter preference.
Trailing her are Senator Imee (16%), Pacquiao (14%), and Padilla (14%), Zubiri (7%), Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro (4%), and Romualdez (1%).
– Rappler.com
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It is good that Senator Raffy Tulfo has tied up with VP Sara Duterte. The problem is that we need to know his stand on China’s bullying of our Navy in the West Philippine Sea. He might be equal to or more than VP Sara Duterte when it comes to putting above China’s interest over our nation’s in the West Philippine Sea.
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DOH advises public to take precautions vs extreme temperatures | Kaycee | 2/4/2024 19:40 | A regular train commuter rides a 'sikad' or trolley from Beata in Pandacan to Stop and Shop in Sta. Mesa in Manila as he returns for work after the holy week break, on April 1, 2024. The Philippine National Railways will cease operation for five years to give way to the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway. The closure affected an estimated 30,000 daily commuters.
Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – As some areas in the country suspend on-site classes due to high heat index levels, the Department of Health has advised the public to take precautions as these could also lead to heat-related illnesses.
Under the state weather bureau PAGASA’s recent heat index, multiple areas are expected to have a heat index not going below 40°C until Wednesday, April 3. These include Dumangas in Iloilo, Dagupan City in Pangasinan, and Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
Temperatures ranging from 33°C to 41°C are classified under “extreme caution,” while 42°C anywhere up to 51°C is dangerous as heat exhaustion is likely and there’s a high possibility for heat stroke.
“The DOH is actively monitoring cases of heat-related illnesses,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a statement on Tuesday, April 2.
Here are tips and reminders from the DOH to help with the extreme weather:
If you are planning to head outdoors, wearing sunblock and choosing loose or lightweight clothes is advised. The department also recommended the public to use an umbrella or wear a hat to protect oneself from getting sunburnt.
With the country’s current heat index levels, the public may experience heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke.
According to John Hopkins Medicine, heat cramps are the “mildest form” of heat illness. Those who work out or exercise in heated environments can get painful muscle spasms.
Heat exhaustion, on the other hand, may manifest through fatigue, dizziness, vomiting, and lightheadedness. It happens when the body is not able to relieve itself from the heat, which can also lead to a heat stroke.
Heat stroke – considered a serious condition – may lead to a loss of consciousness, leave the person confused, or have seizures, which the DOH said “can be deadly if left untreated.”
The DOH advised the public to perform the following first aid measures if any heat-related illness symptom is observed:
– Rappler.com
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Marcos’ trust rating in Mindanao drops by 32 points in March, says Pulse Asia | Dwight de Leon | 2/4/2024 19:45 | PHILIPPINE LEADER. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a departure speech as he heads to Tokyo for the Commemorative Summit on the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in December 2023.
PCO
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lost significant footing in Mindanao, after his trust rating dropped by 32 points in the region, based on the March survey of pollster Pulse Asia.
The percentage of people in Mindanao who trust him is now at 38%, down from the 70% he had in December 2023.
It is the first Pulse Asia survey conducted since (1) Marcos and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte engaged in a public word war by throwing drug-related accusations at each other, (2) since Duterte and his allies publicly opposed the charter change push by the current administration, and (3) since Duterte vaguely called for an independent Mindanao.
Marcos’ numbers also suffered across all key geographic areas, losing 21 percentage points in Metro Manila, 19 percentage points in the Visayas, and 5 percentage points in Luzon.
Marcos also did poorly among socioeconomic groupings, as his trust rating went down by 29 percentage points among Class E (poorest of the poor), 14 percentage points among Class D, and 8 points among Class ABC.
Because of this, his nationwide trust rating slid to 57% in March, from 73% in December, equivalent to a 16-percentage-point tumble.
The President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, was not spared, after his trust rating slid from 40% in December to 31% in March. The drop was attributed to significant losses in the Visayas (20-percentage-point decrease) and Mindanao (18-percentage-point decrease).
Vice President Sara Duterte’s trust rating also went down nationally by 7 percentage points, from 78% to 71%, but she remains the country’s most trusted leader.
Unlike Marcos and Romualdez, Duterte’s trust score in Mindanao hardly moved, although her numbers suffered double-digit drops in Metro Manila (down by 16 percentage points) and the Visayas (down by 11 percentage points).
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri was the only top government official unscathed in the latest survey, after his trust rating increased by 2 percentage points. The biggest gain was recorded in Mindanao (an 11-percentage-point rise).
See the full results here:
– Rappler.com
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Marcos’ Mindanao trust rating drops | The wRap | Nina Liu | 2/4/2024 22:01 | Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
A survey by Pulse Asia shows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lost significant ground in Mindanao. The pollster’s March survey reports a 32 point drop in the President’s trust rating in the region.
Cyberattacks defaced the websites for three businesses linked to House Speaker Martin Romualdez: Prime Media Holdings, Marcventures Holdings Inc., and Bright Kindle Resources & Investments, Inc.
Online voting will be the primary mode of casting ballots for overseas Filipinos in the 2025 midterm elections, except in countries with internet restrictions.
Israeli forces leave Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Monday, April 1, after a two-week operation by special forces who detained hundreds of suspected Hamas militants and left a wasteland of destroyed buildings.
A study finds dogs are able to understand that some words refer to objects in a way that is similar to humans. — Rappler.com
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FIRST LOOK: How Glorietta, Greenbelt, TriNoma, Ayala Center Cebu will be redesigned | Ralf Rivas | 15/02/2024 18:50 | FACELIFT. Artist rendition of Glorietta's new look.
Ayala Land
MANILA, Philippines – Ayala Malls is reinventing its iconic flagship malls to meet the new needs and tastes of consumers.
The company is spending P13 billion for the facelift of Glorietta and Greenbelt in Makati City, TriNoma in Quezon City, and Ayala Center Cebu.
Ayala Malls president Mariana Zobel de Ayala said mall-goers should expect a “fusion of contemporary elegance, marrying the functionality and seamless integration of outdoors and indoors and an enhanced cinema experience.”
Here are some renditions of the malls’ new designs:
Customers should expect Glorietta to have a more modern facade, as well as balconies with good views of the parks and lush greeneries.
The confusing layout of the mall will also be addressed.
“What to expect? Exterior and interior design improvements, to reflect a modern and fresh aesthetic, intuitive wayfinding and circulation, and an all-around more cohesive customer experience,” Zobel said.
The redevelopment of Glorietta has started in the first quarter of 2024, with parts of the mall being closed off. Completion of the revamp is expected by the end of 2026.
Glorietta 1 and 2 first opened in 1991, boasting 240,000 square meters of retail space. Glorietta 3 and 4 opened in 1992 and 1998, respectively, while Glorietta 5 was the last to open in 2009.
It is currently a four-level “super regional mall” with seven cinemas and two activity centers, and is also integrated with three hotels – Holiday Inn, Ascott, and Fairmont.
The parks of Glorietta 3 and 4 will be “refreshed” and integrated into the mall for a more cohesive customer experience and improved pedestrian connectivity.
Greenbelt 1 is set to blend luxury with sustainability.
The mall, designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin, will be torn down in April. The amount for the reconstruction is separate and will be costlier than the P13 billion allotted for the four malls, according to Zobel.
Greenbelt 1, which first opened in 1986, will have various energy-efficient features, including a direct cooling system, skylights to harness natural sunlight, and a rainwater collection system for garden irrigation and landscaping purposes.
“We need to minimize our carbon footprint…. The gardens are helping us to mitigate carbon emissions [and] increase biodiversity,” said Paul Birkett, Ayala Malls chief operating officer.
Greenbelt 1 is targeted to reopen by 2028.
TriNoma, Ayala Malls’ first mall in northern Metro Manila, will soon have an “expanded and elevated” dining portfolio, a more dynamic activity center, a giant LED wall with 3D capacity, and more multipurpose event spaces at its rooftop.
The facade facing North Avenue will have a fresh entrance and a landscaped garden.
TriNoma first opened its doors in 2007. Works for its improvement started in the first quarter of 2024, while target completion is by the fourth quarter of 2025.
A three-level expansion on the North Avenue side is slated to open in 2026.
Ayala Malls’ first mall outside Metro Manila and Luzon is also set to have a more modern look.
Ayala Center Cebu, which opened in 1994, will have a revitalized activity center featuring a four-floor LED wall. Its grand atrium will have architectural treatments on the ceiling.
Ayala Malls will tap Cebuano talent to incorporate local craft and culture in the overall design.
The mall will also be expanded to house more upscale brands and high-end restaurants.
It will link to Seda Hotel, Ayala Land Premier’s Park Point Residences and The Alcoves, and the 20-floor Ayala Center Cebu Corporate Center.
Zobel, who was recently named Ayala Malls president, said the redesigns were made amid changing habits and preferences post-pandemic.
“In redefining what we call third spaces – a place outside of your home, and work or school, where you would want to spend time – our ambition is to set a new standard in retail that resonates with both past and future generations,” she said.
Sections of the malls will be closed throughout the construction works. Despite these temporary closures, Zobel said Ayala Malls is maintaining its target to double its net income in the next five years.
When asked about how much rent would increase due to the new interiors, Birkett said the bump will come as a welcome development for both Ayala Malls and tenants.
“There’s a basic rent and then the element of rent that is paid according to how successful that unit is. It’s a revenue share, it is common practice, so the more successful that retailer becomes, the more their rent will increase. We constantly measure rent as a relationship to their overall revenue, that there are red and green signals, and all the mall operators do this,” Birkett explained.
“In terms of turnover rent, yes it may go up, but it will only go up because their sales have increased. So it’s a win-win for all of us.”
Ayala Malls executives said they are also looking at how the redevelopments will impact traffic.
“We’ve got to understand how [traffic] flows, how the urban traffic control works. The changing of the roads that we’re doing in front of Glorietta both benefits traffic flow and pedestrian access. We’re working hard with the teams to encourage…more utilization of public transport,” Birkett said. – Rappler.com
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Time to fly from Clark? Sunlight Air moves more flights to Clark airport | lkyu0285 | 1/4/2024 20:45 | GATEWAY. The Clark International Airport is an official laureate in the Prix Versailles Architecture and Design Awards.
LIPAD
PAMPANGA, Philippines – There are now more reasons to fly from the Clark International Airport (CRK) as domestic airline Sunlight Air continues to move more of its flights to the Pampanga gateway.
Sunlight Air launched its inaugural flight from Clark to Busuanga in Palawan – Flight 2R601 – at 2:10 pm on Monday, April 1.
The boutique airline, which has a fleet of three turboprop ATR-72-500s, also has daily flights from Clark to Siargao in Surigao del Norte, twice weekly flights to Boracay, and seasonal flights to San Vicente in Palawan.
Sunlight Air is soon launching more flights from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport too. Starting Wednesday, April 3, there will be daily flights from Cebu to Siargao in Surigao del Norte and Coron in Palawan. More flights from Cebu to Caticlan in Aklan will start in May, while flights from Cebu to destinations in Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro will follow in June.
Earlier in 2024, Sunlight Air also made a big decision to move its hub from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to CRK. Why the move? If you ask Sunlight Air chief executive officer Ryna Brito-Garcia, it’s because CRK offers a better customer experience compared to NAIA.
“It’s a lot more spacious. They have [an] innovative approach in doing things also. They have the self-check-in kiosk. They have the baggage drop. And I think that’s everything our airline stands for. That’s the reason why we chose Clark airport,” Garcia said on Monday.
Sunlight Air’s senior marketing manager John Christopher Bonifacio also explained how CRK’s innovations make for a “better travel experience” for passengers, pointing to streamlined check-in processes, automated systems, and smoother boarding procedures.
Over the years, NAIA has gained an infamous reputation – from being among the world’s worst airports, to suffering from bed bug infestations and power interruptions. CRK, which is operated by Luzon International Premiere Airport Development (LIPAD), has been named one of the world’s most beautiful airports and has been steadily growing its passenger count.
CRK has enough land space to support up to 80 million passengers annually once fully developed. But in the meantime, the volume of passengers at the airport was only about 1.9 million by end-2023 – around 50% below its pre-pandemic level.
The low passenger volume means that the airport can at times seem eerily empty. Some concessionaire stalls remain vacant too.
This is why LIPAD aims to bring in more airlines to establish routes in Clark. For instance, LIPAD CEO and president Noel Manankil believes Sunlight Air’s decision to move its hub and operate more flights out of CRK helped strengthen the airport’s position as a “key aviation hub in the region.”
“What makes people go in the airport are actually the destinations that are available,” Manankil said, adding that Sunlight Air’s domestic network “slowly completes the destination mix” offered by the Clark airport.
Besides the inaugural Sunlight Air route, Manankil said Jetstar will also resume its Singapore routes from Clark. Another undisclosed airline is also expected to expand to CRK soon.
“May effort naman ever since ang DOTr (There’s been an effort ever since by the Department of Transportation). That’s why they also created a technical working group to encourage airlines to look at Clark as an alternative to Manila. That’s still very active,” Manankil said.
Even with the upcoming rehabilitation of NAIA and the development of another international airport in Bulacan, the LIPAD head believes that CRK will still have a strong market of passengers from Central Luzon and Northern Manila.
“We are very confident…that Clark has its own catchment population,” he said. “And I think we’ve proven that as long as the flights are available, then passengers will come.”
For Manankil, the innovations in the airport can also bring a better experience for passengers regardless of where they come from. According to him, it only takes a maximum of 1 hour to go from check-in to boarding gate. – Rappler.com
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Back to the skies: PAL, Cebu Pacific earn big off revenge travel in 2023 | lkyu0285 | 2/4/2024 20:50 | AIRLINES. A Cebu Pacific Airbus A321 taxis in front of a Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Shutterstock
MANILA, Philippines – The post-pandemic revenge travel trend has made 2023 a profitable year for both full service carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and low-cost airline Cebu Pacific.
The past year was particularly successful for PAL, which saw its all-time strongest financial performance. The Philippine flag carrier ended 2023 with a record-high $379-million (P21 billion) net income in 2023 – almost double or 92% higher than the $197-million (P11 billion) net income it earned in 2022.
With pandemic restrictions loosened and travel appetite revived, PAL reported a “robust increase in operations and passenger traffic” for both international and domestic flights. In total, PAL operated 105,294 flights in 2023, 36% more than the number of flights it had in 2022.
More flights also meant more passengers, with PAL carrying a total of 14.7 million passengers in 2023 – 58% higher than 2022 figures – at a passenger load factor of 80.8%. As a result, passenger revenues soared to $2.9 billion (P160 billion) in 2023 from $2.1 billion (P114 billion) in 2022, a 37% increase. Total net revenues, which also includes cargo and ancillary revenues, reached $3.2 billion (P181 billion).
PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng acknowledged that the revenge travel trend boosted their revenues.
“Revenge travel, it’s hard to give a percentage. But that definitely helped. It’s still a factor,” Ng told Rappler on Tuesday, April 2. “The demand is still there. It’s still strong.”
Revenue growth aside, another key factor that boosted the airline’s bottom line was the restructuring initiated in 2021, which reduced the airline’s fleet and consequently its overhead costs.
“A big part of it is the surge in demand that was sort of contained because of the pandemic. But I would say also the profit has improved because of the restructuring done by PAL,” Anna Isabel Bengzon, PAL senior vice president and chief financial officer, told reporters on Tuesday.
“The top-line growth, a big part of it is because of revenge travel. But on its own, it may not give you this kind of results because the overhead cost had to come down when we took out the least profitable or losing routes and the heavy cost of having to maintain so much aircraft,” she added.
Overall, revenue growth outpaced costs as operating margins improved to 15% in 2023 from 12% in 2022. Total operating expenses rose to $2.7 billion (P153 billion), with fuel costs being the biggest, eating up 31% of revenues.
The Tan-owned airline said it would use 2023’s record profits to “strengthen its global and local network, upgrade its aircraft fleet, and introduce new and improved products and services.” Earlier in 2023, the flag carrier purchased nine Airbus A350-1000 jetliners capable of long-range flights, which are expected to be delivered in 2025.
“PAL’s corporate transformation continues – we are taking in new aircraft, retrofitting cabins of current aircraft, upgrading airport lounges, and introducing more product innovations to address our strategic, financial, and operational needs across all areas of our operations,” Ng said.
In 2023, PAL operated eight more domestic routes, including Manila to Tuguegarao flights and Cebu to Bicol, General Santos, and Ozamiz flights, among others. It also added several international routes, such as Manila to Perth, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Jinjiang, and Macau.
The strong appetite for travel cut across markets too as low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific also reported a return to full-year profitability after remaining in the red in 2022.
The Gokongwei-owned airline recorded a P7.9-billion net income in 2023. This was a remarkable turnaround from the P14-billion net loss it incurred in 2022, which was already an improvement from its P24.9-billion net loss in 2021. (READ: Revenge travel brings Cebu Pacific back to profitability in Q1)
In particular, Cebu Pacific had a strong fourth quarter in 2023 as it raked in P23.7 billion in revenue. That translated to a P2.9-billion net income for the period – a far cry from the P1.9-billion net loss that it suffered in Q4 2022.
Cebu Pacific likewise attributed the steep recovery to its resurgent passenger business, with revenue up 78% to P62.5 billion in 2023. Like PAL, the low-cost carrier also flew more flights and passengers in 2023 than the previous year – 41% and 30% higher, respectively. In total, the airline’s revenue reached P90.6 billion for 2023, 60% higher year-on-year.
Cebu Pacific also received 18 aircraft deliveries throughout 2023 as it prepared to mount more flights and open more routes.
“Moving forward, we are optimistic that Cebu Pacific’s solid 2023 financial results will set the foundation for a stronger financial performance in 2024,” Cebu Pacific chief finance officer Mark Cezar said in a press release.
The optimistic outlook is also shared by travel and experience app Klook. In its latest Travel Pulse study, Klook concluded that revenge travel is “still very much alive,” noting that consumers were not only traveling more but also spending more on their trips. – Rappler.com
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Back to the skies: PAL, Cebu Pacific earn big off revenge travel in 2023 | lkyu0285 | 2/4/2024 20:50 | AIRLINES. A Cebu Pacific Airbus A321 taxis in front of a Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Shutterstock
MANILA, Philippines – The post-pandemic revenge travel trend has made 2023 a profitable year for both full service carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and low-cost airline Cebu Pacific.
The past year was particularly successful for PAL, which saw its all-time strongest financial performance. The Philippine flag carrier ended 2023 with a record-high $379-million (P21 billion) net income in 2023 – almost double or 92% higher than the $197-million (P11 billion) net income it earned in 2022.
With pandemic restrictions loosened and travel appetite revived, PAL reported a “robust increase in operations and passenger traffic” for both international and domestic flights. In total, PAL operated 105,294 flights in 2023, 36% more than the number of flights it had in 2022.
More flights also meant more passengers, with PAL carrying a total of 14.7 million passengers in 2023 – 58% higher than 2022 figures – at a passenger load factor of 80.8%. As a result, passenger revenues soared to $2.9 billion (P160 billion) in 2023 from $2.1 billion (P114 billion) in 2022, a 37% increase. Total net revenues, which also includes cargo and ancillary revenues, reached $3.2 billion (P181 billion).
PAL president and chief operating officer Stanley Ng acknowledged that the revenge travel trend boosted their revenues.
“Revenge travel, it’s hard to give a percentage. But that definitely helped. It’s still a factor,” Ng told Rappler on Tuesday, April 2. “The demand is still there. It’s still strong.”
Revenue growth aside, another key factor that boosted the airline’s bottom line was the restructuring initiated in 2021, which reduced the airline’s fleet and consequently its overhead costs.
“A big part of it is the surge in demand that was sort of contained because of the pandemic. But I would say also the profit has improved because of the restructuring done by PAL,” Anna Isabel Bengzon, PAL senior vice president and chief financial officer, told reporters on Tuesday.
“The top-line growth, a big part of it is because of revenge travel. But on its own, it may not give you this kind of results because the overhead cost had to come down when we took out the least profitable or losing routes and the heavy cost of having to maintain so much aircraft,” she added.
Overall, revenue growth outpaced costs as operating margins improved to 15% in 2023 from 12% in 2022. Total operating expenses rose to $2.7 billion (P153 billion), with fuel costs being the biggest, eating up 31% of revenues.
The Tan-owned airline said it would use 2023’s record profits to “strengthen its global and local network, upgrade its aircraft fleet, and introduce new and improved products and services.” Earlier in 2023, the flag carrier purchased nine Airbus A350-1000 jetliners capable of long-range flights, which are expected to be delivered in 2025.
“PAL’s corporate transformation continues – we are taking in new aircraft, retrofitting cabins of current aircraft, upgrading airport lounges, and introducing more product innovations to address our strategic, financial, and operational needs across all areas of our operations,” Ng said.
In 2023, PAL operated eight more domestic routes, including Manila to Tuguegarao flights and Cebu to Bicol, General Santos, and Ozamiz flights, among others. It also added several international routes, such as Manila to Perth, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Jinjiang, and Macau.
The strong appetite for travel cut across markets too as low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific also reported a return to full-year profitability after remaining in the red in 2022.
The Gokongwei-owned airline recorded a P7.9-billion net income in 2023. This was a remarkable turnaround from the P14-billion net loss it incurred in 2022, which was already an improvement from its P24.9-billion net loss in 2021. (READ: Revenge travel brings Cebu Pacific back to profitability in Q1)
In particular, Cebu Pacific had a strong fourth quarter in 2023 as it raked in P23.7 billion in revenue. That translated to a P2.9-billion net income for the period – a far cry from the P1.9-billion net loss that it suffered in Q4 2022.
Cebu Pacific likewise attributed the steep recovery to its resurgent passenger business, with revenue up 78% to P62.5 billion in 2023. Like PAL, the low-cost carrier also flew more flights and passengers in 2023 than the previous year – 41% and 30% higher, respectively. In total, the airline’s revenue reached P90.6 billion for 2023, 60% higher year-on-year.
Cebu Pacific also received 18 aircraft deliveries throughout 2023 as it prepared to mount more flights and open more routes.
“Moving forward, we are optimistic that Cebu Pacific’s solid 2023 financial results will set the foundation for a stronger financial performance in 2024,” Cebu Pacific chief finance officer Mark Cezar said in a press release.
The optimistic outlook is also shared by travel and experience app Klook. In its latest Travel Pulse study, Klook concluded that revenge travel is “still very much alive,” noting that consumers were not only traveling more but also spending more on their trips. – Rappler.com
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Rodel Canino: Daughter Angel ‘doing fine’ amid grim rumors, awaits DLSU statement | jisaga0269 | 2/4/2024 19:37 | STELLAR. Rookie standout Angel Canino vies to lead the La Salle Lady Spikers anew.
UAAP
MANILA, Philippines – The La Salle Lady Spikers may have a bit of trouble ahead as the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament resumes on Wednesday, April 3.
Despite the defending champions currently holding a 7-1 record in second place, fans online have stirred ominous speculations regarding the well-being of reigning MVP Angel Canino – that her playing status for the rest of the crucial second-round stretch may suddenly be in doubt.
Pursued for comment on Tuesday, April 2, Angel’s father Rodel respectfully declined to divulge the exact nature of the issue.
While he did not deny the existence of the apparent problem, he insisted on reassuring fans that his daughter “is doing fine” as of the moment.
The elder Canino, currently an Akari assistant coach in the PVL, also said that La Salle will issue a statement in the near future and that he did not want to preempt the team’s approach on the sensitive matter.
Canino’s true playing status will be confirmed as the Lady Spikers return to action on Thursday, April 4, against the UP Fighting Maroons.
If the rookie MVP will not be able to take the court, La Salle will be forced to lean more heavily on other potent weapons like spikers Alleiah Malaluan and Shevana Laput, and middle blockers Thea Gagate and Amie Provido.
In eight games so far in the season, Canino is averaging stellar numbers of 16.3 points, 5.8 excellent receptions, and 4.8 excellent digs. – Rappler.com
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Another day, another antic: PBA summons Calvin Abueva over dirty finger gesture | jisaga0269 | 2/4/2024 15:17 | THE BEAST. Calvin Abueva in action for the Magnolia Hotshots in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner's' Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – It seems that Calvin Abueva just cannot help getting into trouble.
Already one of the most controversial stars in Philippine basketball history, the Magnolia veteran is once again in hot water after being caught on camera waving the middle finger to a fan during the Hotshots’ latest Manila Clasico encounter with rival Barangay Ginebra on Easter Sunday, March 31.
PBA deputy commissioner Eric Castro confirmed that the league has issued fresh summons for Abueva on Wednesday, April 2, but declined to indicate what punishment lies ahead.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, who has previously warned the mercurial forward of stiffer penalties and a possible ban for further offenses, has not replied as of posting.
Abueva recently made national headlines after being a major figure in a postgame shouting match involving his wife and San Miguel center Mo Tautuaa and his spouse during the 2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals.
Following a P100,000 fine due to a separate disability mocking incident with San Miguel head coach Jorge Gallent, the 36-year-old Abueva has since shied away from any major issue, at least until now.
Apart from the middle finger incident late in the first quarter of Magnolia’s eventual 77-87 loss to Ginebra, Abueva played out the rest of his 20-minute appearance without incident and tallied 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists for the Hotshots. – Rappler.com
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Just kidding? Takoyaki shop draws flak for April Fools’ tattoo prank gone wrong | pfkahanap0307 | 2/4/2024 18:26 | MANILA, Philippines – Not all jokes are funny.
As different brands joined in on the April Fools’ Day fun with mock social media posts, netizens slammed a food chain after it refused to take responsibility for a prank post gone wrong.
A takoyaki restaurant called Taragis said in a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, April 1, that they would be giving P100,000 to the first person who had their shop’s logo tattooed on their forehead.
The words “April Fool’s” was written at the bottom of the photo used for the social media post. The phrase cannot be seen properly unless the user clicks on the photo itself.
Unfortunately, a social media user identified as Ramil Albano had taken the post seriously and shared a photo of his new forehead tattoo.
In another deleted post, Taragis said that they were “not accountable for the events that occurred,” and urged readers to remember “how important reading comprehension is.”
Carl Quion, Taragis’ owner, has since talked to Albano and given him the reward, as seen in a video posted on Tuesday, April 2. He also offered to shoulder the cost of the tattoo removal.
“Hindi natin alam na may mga taong gagawin ang lahat para sa pera, kaya iwasan nating gumawa ng mga bagay na makakaapekto sa kabuhayan nila,” Quion said.
(We don’t know how far people will go just for money, so let’s avoid doing things that could affect their livelihoods.)
Albano shared in the video that he had taken on the challenge so that he could have extra money for his children’s needs, especially for his youngest son who has Down syndrome.
After Taragis earlier denied responsibility for the incident, several brands from all over the country offered to give Albano cash rewards, hoping that these would help him and his family.
Netizens said that Taragis’ prank went a little too far, since many Filipinos may not be familiar with the concept of April Fools’ Day.
Hindi lahat ng followers nila ay alam ang April Fools day. At educated enough to read it with comprehension. Pag Pera ang pinag uusapan Lalo sa Pinas may kakagat talaga nyan. They should be accountable with their stupid post. Kainis!
naiinis ak s mga taong pinagtatawanan ung nagpatattoo ng taragis logo like can u not see it was an act of desperation na tattoo lang may 100k ka na of course if ure rly in need of money ud consider it 😅😅 april fools isnt a holiday that every1 knows especially in the philippines
The Philippines doesn't have an April Fool's culture, or else a long history of it. Lalo na sa mga hindi naman masyadong babad sa diskurso ng globalisasyon, malay ba nila? Mabuting tandaang hindi pantay-pantay ang pagintindi natin sa mundo. https://t.co/0pPyZvq2GU
Others also pointed out that some people, especially those like Albano who need financial assistance, could be tempted to take the restaurant’s “offer” amid the rising cost of living in the country.
The Philippines’ inflation rate rose to 3.4% in February, following an increase in food prices and utility costs during the month.
pranking the non privelaged masses like that, then painting them dumb and not taking accountability for it. taragis (whoever the fck they are) has a special place in hell. i hope someone files a case against them. https://t.co/XeC9g116WQ
Some individuals also said that Taragis’ responses to the issue were in bad taste, saying that they portrayed Albano as “dumb” for falling for an April Fools’ prank when he was only looking for ways to make ends meet.
Apaka out of touch na sisihin pa yung hindi nagbasa si kuya. May krisis naman kasi talaga comprehension dito sa pinas imbes na tulungan kahit papano kahit hindi 100k nagmock pa ang mga tao https://t.co/bPrBGxfFBR
exactly. tangina niyong mga walang puso sa taong nagbabakasakali lang. https://t.co/Lyr8BPvo2y
Should they be held accountable for their joke? Bernice Piñol-Rodriguez, a lawyer on TikTok, said that under the rules of the Department of Trade and Industry, Taragis should compensate Albano “for causing injury to another person and false advertising.”
She said that they could also be held liable under Article 21 of the Civil Code, which states that “any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.”
In the April 2 video, Quion has apologized to his critics and explained that he had no intention of hurting other people.
“Sa mga nagkaroon ng negatibong pananaw sa naging April Fools’ post namin, humihingi ako ng tawad. Sana magsilbing aral ito sa ating lahat, lalo na sa mga kapwa influencers ko o brand na nasa internet, na maging responsable tayo sa lahat ng inuupload natin,” he said.
(For those who disliked our April Fools’ post, I’m sorry. Let this be a lesson to all of us, especially to my fellow influencers and online brands, to be responsible for everything we upload.)
Some netizens have pointed out that Taragis’ prank may be scripted based on the appearance of Albano’s supposedly fresh tattoo.
According to several sources online, a tattoo may take around two to four weeks to heal, and may show dryness, redness, and oozing.
Hahahahahaa scripted. Where the fuck can you see a tattoo that can heal for 2 days that fast???? https://t.co/0s66psw9o1
A social media user who goes by Chonna Mae also called out Taragis for allegedly taking down her comment questioning the legitimacy of Albano’s tattoo.
“Sa totoo namang 3:36 pm kayo nag-post ng April Fool’s Joke ‘nyo tapos 4:04 pm, tapos na agad ‘yung tattoo niya at magaling agad,” she said in a post (It’s true that you posted your April Fool’s Joke at 3:36 pm and at 4:04 pm, his tattoo was done and healed). “Ay nako, mukhang nang-eeme lang ‘yang si Taragis, maniwala kayo sa ‘kin.” (Taragis seems to be kidding around, believe me.)
But regardless of the intent, Filipinos online said that at the end of the day, Albano is just a father who would do anything for his children.
What do you think of this issue? – with reports from Isabella Baldado/Rappler.com
Isabella Baldado is a Digital Communications volunteer at Rappler and a Speech Communication student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She often seeks energy boosts in the form of caffeine (both iced coffee and matcha!) and her favorite K-pop groups.
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Heat-induced ailments affect thousands of General Santos students | Herbie G | 2/4/2024 17:46 | Alejandro Edoria
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines – Education officials noted a surge in the number of students with ailments blamed on rising temperatures in General Santos City, prompting school authorities to either suspend classes or switch back to online learning methods starting Tuesday, April 2.
The Department of Education (DepEd) in General Santos City reported that, in recent days, at least 2,557 students have complained of severe headaches due to the high heat index, which measures how hot it feels when humidity is combined with the actual air temperature.
About 291 other students have experienced nosebleeds, a condition attributed to the intense heat, according to General Santos Schools Superintendent Isagani dela Cruz, citing reports gathered from various schools across the city.
The dry weather conditions and soaring temperatures prompted Dela Cruz to ask the city government to order the suspension of classes in General Santos.
Based on the DepEd recommendation, General Santos Mayor Lorelie Pacquiao issued Executive Order No. 19-2024, ordering the suspension of all face-to-face classes in all levels in both public and private schools in General Santos from April 2 to April 5 “unless otherwise extended or lifted earlier.”
The state-run Mindanao State University (MSU) in General Santos, however, said its classes would be held online to avoid a disruption.
Norman Ralph Isla, MSU-General Santos campus secretary, said the university’s classes will be held either synchronously or asynchronously and will be supervised by the heads of different academic departments.
Sarangani Governor Rogelio Pacquiao also ordered on Tuesday the suspension of face-to-face classes in all levels from April 3 to 19.
In South Cotabato province, the mayors of Banga and Tantangan towns opted to suspend afternoon face-to-face classes to protect students from the heat that typically worsens in the afternoon.
Tantangan Mayor Timee Torres-Gonzales said they have coordinated with the DepEd so their schools would revert to blended learning methods until April 15. Gonzales said the setup is meant not to disrupt the students’ learning schedules.
In Banga, Mayor Evangeline Palencia announced that afternoon classes would be suspended until April 30 to safeguard students’ health against the scorching heat.
The dry weather conditions and scorching heat have also been taking a toll on agriculture in the Soccsksargen region.
The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC) in Alabel, Sarangani province, for instance, recommended to the municipal council to declare the town as being in a state of calamity due to losses caused by the prevailing dry conditions and soaring temperatures.
The MDRRMC also adopted a motion to reprogram a trust fund amounting to almost P4 million to aid farmers affected by the dry spell.
Alabel Mayor Paul Salarda sought a comprehensive detailed report about the extent of the damage to crops such as corn, coconuts, and bananas, as well as livestock and poultry in the municipality.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Soccsksargen said they could not say exactly what the extent of the damage was in the region because they have yet to receive reports from local governments in the region.
DA Regional Director John Pascual said they have not even received requests for assistance. He downplayed the impact of the El Nino phenomenon on the agriculture sector in the Soccsksargen region, saying the damage was not severe and that mitigating measures were in place.
Soccsksargen, which consists of the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, and Kidapawan, has been seeing less rainfall amid dry weather conditions and intense heat.
On a national scale, the DA said the El Niño phenomenon has damaged at least P1.3 billion worth of agricultural crops, poultry, and livestock as of mid-March.
Meanwhile, environmentalists said the prevailing weather conditions should serve as a wake-up call for the government to do what is right for the environment.
Elizabeth Ramos, chairperson of the Maitum Advocates for Sustainable Environment (MASE), said, “We need some serious and dedicated efforts, not mere lip service or band-aid solutions.”
Another group, the Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia-Early Response Network (CCAA-ERN), said it has monitored the drying of wells and water sources in many villages and municipalities in Mindanao, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Central and Northern Mindanao.
“Farmers are now unable to grow essential crops and vegetables and are struggling to provide food for their families. In many major rice granaries in Northern Luzon and Western Visayas, farmers’ decisions for the planting season are being held back because of the lack of water,” read part of a March 22 statement of the CCAA-ERN.
The group called on the government to declare a state of calamity in many agricultural areas that are now reeling from the effects of El Niño and prioritize farmers and fisherfolk to prevent food insecurity.
CCAA-ERN also asked the government to direct the local disaster risk reduction management officers to closely monitor their areas, especially wells that are starting to dry up and set aside funds for emergency provisioning to avert hunger.
“It is useful to invest in water tankers as early as now for the immediate rationing of water when sources become exhausted…. Funds should be invested for the rehabilitation and building of new wells to ensure the adequate supply of water to communities,” it said.
CCAA-ERN stressed the need to protect wells and other sources of water that are still supplying and sustaining communities.
The group warned, “The drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon is fueling uncertainty and insecurity that is endangering the coping mechanisms and traditional social protection practices in communities. Most people claim it’s the drought, but we have monitored water resources, and the lack of it, and we have seen a major decline in the quality and quantity of water in the past years. The ongoing dry spell has only aggravated what is already a worsening situation brought about by climate change.” – Rappler.com
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Just kidding? Takoyaki shop draws flak for April Fools’ tattoo prank gone wrong | pfkahanap0307 | 2/4/2024 18:26 | MANILA, Philippines – Not all jokes are funny.
As different brands joined in on the April Fools’ Day fun with mock social media posts, netizens slammed a food chain after it refused to take responsibility for a prank post gone wrong.
A takoyaki restaurant called Taragis said in a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, April 1, that they would be giving P100,000 to the first person who had their shop’s logo tattooed on their forehead.
The words “April Fool’s” was written at the bottom of the photo used for the social media post. The phrase cannot be seen properly unless the user clicks on the photo itself.
Unfortunately, a social media user identified as Ramil Albano had taken the post seriously and shared a photo of his new forehead tattoo.
In another deleted post, Taragis said that they were “not accountable for the events that occurred,” and urged readers to remember “how important reading comprehension is.”
Carl Quion, Taragis’ owner, has since talked to Albano and given him the reward, as seen in a video posted on Tuesday, April 2. He also offered to shoulder the cost of the tattoo removal.
“Hindi natin alam na may mga taong gagawin ang lahat para sa pera, kaya iwasan nating gumawa ng mga bagay na makakaapekto sa kabuhayan nila,” Quion said.
(We don’t know how far people will go just for money, so let’s avoid doing things that could affect their livelihoods.)
Albano shared in the video that he had taken on the challenge so that he could have extra money for his children’s needs, especially for his youngest son who has Down syndrome.
After Taragis earlier denied responsibility for the incident, several brands from all over the country offered to give Albano cash rewards, hoping that these would help him and his family.
Netizens said that Taragis’ prank went a little too far, since many Filipinos may not be familiar with the concept of April Fools’ Day.
Hindi lahat ng followers nila ay alam ang April Fools day. At educated enough to read it with comprehension. Pag Pera ang pinag uusapan Lalo sa Pinas may kakagat talaga nyan. They should be accountable with their stupid post. Kainis!
naiinis ak s mga taong pinagtatawanan ung nagpatattoo ng taragis logo like can u not see it was an act of desperation na tattoo lang may 100k ka na of course if ure rly in need of money ud consider it 😅😅 april fools isnt a holiday that every1 knows especially in the philippines
The Philippines doesn't have an April Fool's culture, or else a long history of it. Lalo na sa mga hindi naman masyadong babad sa diskurso ng globalisasyon, malay ba nila? Mabuting tandaang hindi pantay-pantay ang pagintindi natin sa mundo. https://t.co/0pPyZvq2GU
Others also pointed out that some people, especially those like Albano who need financial assistance, could be tempted to take the restaurant’s “offer” amid the rising cost of living in the country.
The Philippines’ inflation rate rose to 3.4% in February, following an increase in food prices and utility costs during the month.
pranking the non privelaged masses like that, then painting them dumb and not taking accountability for it. taragis (whoever the fck they are) has a special place in hell. i hope someone files a case against them. https://t.co/XeC9g116WQ
Some individuals also said that Taragis’ responses to the issue were in bad taste, saying that they portrayed Albano as “dumb” for falling for an April Fools’ prank when he was only looking for ways to make ends meet.
Apaka out of touch na sisihin pa yung hindi nagbasa si kuya. May krisis naman kasi talaga comprehension dito sa pinas imbes na tulungan kahit papano kahit hindi 100k nagmock pa ang mga tao https://t.co/bPrBGxfFBR
exactly. tangina niyong mga walang puso sa taong nagbabakasakali lang. https://t.co/Lyr8BPvo2y
Should they be held accountable for their joke? Bernice Piñol-Rodriguez, a lawyer on TikTok, said that under the rules of the Department of Trade and Industry, Taragis should compensate Albano “for causing injury to another person and false advertising.”
She said that they could also be held liable under Article 21 of the Civil Code, which states that “any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.”
In the April 2 video, Quion has apologized to his critics and explained that he had no intention of hurting other people.
“Sa mga nagkaroon ng negatibong pananaw sa naging April Fools’ post namin, humihingi ako ng tawad. Sana magsilbing aral ito sa ating lahat, lalo na sa mga kapwa influencers ko o brand na nasa internet, na maging responsable tayo sa lahat ng inuupload natin,” he said.
(For those who disliked our April Fools’ post, I’m sorry. Let this be a lesson to all of us, especially to my fellow influencers and online brands, to be responsible for everything we upload.)
Some netizens have pointed out that Taragis’ prank may be scripted based on the appearance of Albano’s supposedly fresh tattoo.
According to several sources online, a tattoo may take around two to four weeks to heal, and may show dryness, redness, and oozing.
Hahahahahaa scripted. Where the fuck can you see a tattoo that can heal for 2 days that fast???? https://t.co/0s66psw9o1
A social media user who goes by Chonna Mae also called out Taragis for allegedly taking down her comment questioning the legitimacy of Albano’s tattoo.
“Sa totoo namang 3:36 pm kayo nag-post ng April Fool’s Joke ‘nyo tapos 4:04 pm, tapos na agad ‘yung tattoo niya at magaling agad,” she said in a post (It’s true that you posted your April Fool’s Joke at 3:36 pm and at 4:04 pm, his tattoo was done and healed). “Ay nako, mukhang nang-eeme lang ‘yang si Taragis, maniwala kayo sa ‘kin.” (Taragis seems to be kidding around, believe me.)
But regardless of the intent, Filipinos online said that at the end of the day, Albano is just a father who would do anything for his children.
What do you think of this issue? – with reports from Isabella Baldado/Rappler.com
Isabella Baldado is a Digital Communications volunteer at Rappler and a Speech Communication student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She often seeks energy boosts in the form of caffeine (both iced coffee and matcha!) and her favorite K-pop groups.
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Just kidding? Takoyaki shop draws flak for April Fools’ tattoo prank gone wrong | pfkahanap0307 | 2/4/2024 18:26 | MANILA, Philippines – Not all jokes are funny.
As different brands joined in on the April Fools’ Day fun with mock social media posts, netizens slammed a food chain after it refused to take responsibility for a prank post gone wrong.
A takoyaki restaurant called Taragis said in a now-deleted Facebook post on Monday, April 1, that they would be giving P100,000 to the first person who had their shop’s logo tattooed on their forehead.
The words “April Fool’s” was written at the bottom of the photo used for the social media post. The phrase cannot be seen properly unless the user clicks on the photo itself.
Unfortunately, a social media user identified as Ramil Albano had taken the post seriously and shared a photo of his new forehead tattoo.
In another deleted post, Taragis said that they were “not accountable for the events that occurred,” and urged readers to remember “how important reading comprehension is.”
Carl Quion, Taragis’ owner, has since talked to Albano and given him the reward, as seen in a video posted on Tuesday, April 2. He also offered to shoulder the cost of the tattoo removal.
“Hindi natin alam na may mga taong gagawin ang lahat para sa pera, kaya iwasan nating gumawa ng mga bagay na makakaapekto sa kabuhayan nila,” Quion said.
(We don’t know how far people will go just for money, so let’s avoid doing things that could affect their livelihoods.)
Albano shared in the video that he had taken on the challenge so that he could have extra money for his children’s needs, especially for his youngest son who has Down syndrome.
After Taragis earlier denied responsibility for the incident, several brands from all over the country offered to give Albano cash rewards, hoping that these would help him and his family.
Netizens said that Taragis’ prank went a little too far, since many Filipinos may not be familiar with the concept of April Fools’ Day.
Hindi lahat ng followers nila ay alam ang April Fools day. At educated enough to read it with comprehension. Pag Pera ang pinag uusapan Lalo sa Pinas may kakagat talaga nyan. They should be accountable with their stupid post. Kainis!
naiinis ak s mga taong pinagtatawanan ung nagpatattoo ng taragis logo like can u not see it was an act of desperation na tattoo lang may 100k ka na of course if ure rly in need of money ud consider it 😅😅 april fools isnt a holiday that every1 knows especially in the philippines
The Philippines doesn't have an April Fool's culture, or else a long history of it. Lalo na sa mga hindi naman masyadong babad sa diskurso ng globalisasyon, malay ba nila? Mabuting tandaang hindi pantay-pantay ang pagintindi natin sa mundo. https://t.co/0pPyZvq2GU
Others also pointed out that some people, especially those like Albano who need financial assistance, could be tempted to take the restaurant’s “offer” amid the rising cost of living in the country.
The Philippines’ inflation rate rose to 3.4% in February, following an increase in food prices and utility costs during the month.
pranking the non privelaged masses like that, then painting them dumb and not taking accountability for it. taragis (whoever the fck they are) has a special place in hell. i hope someone files a case against them. https://t.co/XeC9g116WQ
Some individuals also said that Taragis’ responses to the issue were in bad taste, saying that they portrayed Albano as “dumb” for falling for an April Fools’ prank when he was only looking for ways to make ends meet.
Apaka out of touch na sisihin pa yung hindi nagbasa si kuya. May krisis naman kasi talaga comprehension dito sa pinas imbes na tulungan kahit papano kahit hindi 100k nagmock pa ang mga tao https://t.co/bPrBGxfFBR
exactly. tangina niyong mga walang puso sa taong nagbabakasakali lang. https://t.co/Lyr8BPvo2y
Should they be held accountable for their joke? Bernice Piñol-Rodriguez, a lawyer on TikTok, said that under the rules of the Department of Trade and Industry, Taragis should compensate Albano “for causing injury to another person and false advertising.”
She said that they could also be held liable under Article 21 of the Civil Code, which states that “any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.”
In the April 2 video, Quion has apologized to his critics and explained that he had no intention of hurting other people.
“Sa mga nagkaroon ng negatibong pananaw sa naging April Fools’ post namin, humihingi ako ng tawad. Sana magsilbing aral ito sa ating lahat, lalo na sa mga kapwa influencers ko o brand na nasa internet, na maging responsable tayo sa lahat ng inuupload natin,” he said.
(For those who disliked our April Fools’ post, I’m sorry. Let this be a lesson to all of us, especially to my fellow influencers and online brands, to be responsible for everything we upload.)
Some netizens have pointed out that Taragis’ prank may be scripted based on the appearance of Albano’s supposedly fresh tattoo.
According to several sources online, a tattoo may take around two to four weeks to heal, and may show dryness, redness, and oozing.
Hahahahahaa scripted. Where the fuck can you see a tattoo that can heal for 2 days that fast???? https://t.co/0s66psw9o1
A social media user who goes by Chonna Mae also called out Taragis for allegedly taking down her comment questioning the legitimacy of Albano’s tattoo.
“Sa totoo namang 3:36 pm kayo nag-post ng April Fool’s Joke ‘nyo tapos 4:04 pm, tapos na agad ‘yung tattoo niya at magaling agad,” she said in a post (It’s true that you posted your April Fool’s Joke at 3:36 pm and at 4:04 pm, his tattoo was done and healed). “Ay nako, mukhang nang-eeme lang ‘yang si Taragis, maniwala kayo sa ‘kin.” (Taragis seems to be kidding around, believe me.)
But regardless of the intent, Filipinos online said that at the end of the day, Albano is just a father who would do anything for his children.
What do you think of this issue? – with reports from Isabella Baldado/Rappler.com
Isabella Baldado is a Digital Communications volunteer at Rappler and a Speech Communication student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She often seeks energy boosts in the form of caffeine (both iced coffee and matcha!) and her favorite K-pop groups.
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#WalangPasok: Class suspensions, Wednesday, April 3, 2024 | Acor Arceo | 2/4/2024 18:05 | MANILA, Philippines – Some areas suspended face-to-face classes for Wednesday, April 3, due to high heat index levels.
The heat index is measured using the air temperature and the relative humidity in a place at a given time. It is also called the feels-like temperature, and it typically soars during the Philippines’ warm and dry season from March to May.
This list will be updated once local or national authorities make announcements.
– Rappler.com
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[EDITORIAL] Filipino journalists to China: Yes, we are trouble | Lilibeth Frondoso | 1/4/2024 11:26 | Nico Villarete
Bago matapos ang Marso, pinabilib tayo ng Beijing sa pinakabago nitong kapal ng mukha at pagbabaliktad ng katotohanan. Ayon sa foreign ministry ng Tsina, ang mga mamamahayag daw na sumasama sa mga resupply mission sa Ayungin Shoal ay “troublemakers.”
Sabi pa ni foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, tuwing nag-de-deliver daw ng suplay ang Pilipinas sa grounded warship sa West Philippine Sea, “they had many journalists on board, and had them manipulate the videos they recorded to make sensational news and project the Philippines as a victim.”
Uulitin namin ang nasambit ng isang sundalong humaharap sa water cannon ng mga Tsino, “Tama na, Lord.” Isa itong panalangin na hindi lang bagay na bagay sa isang bansang katatapos lang mag-ayuno, bagay na bagay rin ito sa bansang laging humaharap sa Goliath na makinarya ng propaganda ng Tsina.
Sabi nga ng Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), isa itong “barefaced lie.” (BASAHIN: Journalists in Manila slam China’s manipulation claims: ‘Barefaced lie’)
Sabi naman ng National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), “hatid ng mga mamamahayag ang on-site reports of incidents” sa karagatan ng WPS, madalas “sa harap ng malaking panganib sa kanila.”
Dagdag pa ng NUJP, maliban sa mga bagay na may epekto sa “operational and national security considerations,” “walang pakialam ang state forces sa produksyon at editoryal na mga desisiyon ng mga report na inilalabas” ng mga journalist. Underline sa “walang pakialam.”
Nakakatawa, sa totoo lang. Gaano mo man baliktarin ang kuwento, hindi mapagkakaila ang aggression sa harap ng overwhelming documentary evidence ng mga eyewitness at mga video. Hindi mapagkakaila ang pambabastos sa karapatan ng Pilipinas sa West Philippine Sea na pinagtibay ng korte sa Hague.
Pero bakit ganito ang asal ng Tsina? Ito’y nangyayari sa buong mundo at hindi lang sa karagatan ng Pilipinas. Halimbawa, sa coast ng West Africa, normal na ang daan-daang Chinese industrial fishing boats na nag-i-invade ng territorial waters at inaagawan ang mga mangingisda roon.
Ang Tsina ang may pinakamalaking fishing fleet sa buong mundo, at ayon sa dokumentaryo ng Outlaw Ocean Project, mayroon itong 7,000 barko na nangingisda at 90 major ports sa buong mundo na nagpoproseso ng seafood.
Ayon din sa dokumentaryo, sobrang laki ng fishing industry ng Tsina na ito’y “10 times bigger than the next competitor.” At araw-araw, hinihigop ng fishing fleet nito ang “unsustainable amounts” ng seafood mula sa karagatan ng planeta.
Sa totoo lang, dahil sa overfishing, “one-third of the world’s fish stocks have collapsed or are on the verge,” sabi ng Outlaw Ocean Project, bagay na kolektibong pananagutan ng maraming bansa, pero malaking bahagi ng kargo de konsiyensiya ay sa Tsina. (PANOORIN: China: The Superpower of Seafood)
Ang hindi sustainable na diskarte ng Tsina sa karagatan ay itinutulak ng higanteng populasyon nitong nakadepende sa seafood. Sa katotohanan, nalampasan na ng seafood ang pork bilang preferred protein source ng middle class sa China.
Kaya’t hindi lang pangte-trespass sa bakuran ng may bakuran ang kasalanan ng Tsina, unti-unti nitong dinadala ang buong mundo sa bingit ng food insecurity. At sino nga pala ang isa sa pinakamalaking importer ng seafood mula sa Tsina? Ang Estados Unidos. Magkakakabit ang mga bituka at vested interest ng mga superpower, apparently. (But that’s another editorial.)
At dahil isa na itong superpower, sabi ni Ronald Llamas sa isang panel discussion sa West Philippine Sea, “It is acting like a superpower.” Just because it can.
Pero mabalik tayo sa mga propagandista ng Tsina. Unsolicited advice sa inyo: iba ang ecosystem ng pamamahayag sa Pilipinas kumpara sa Tsina. We do not go gently into the night.
Mayroon man kaming mga kabaro na napatahimik o nabili ng estado lalo na noong panahon ng dating presidenteng si Rodrigo Duterte – buhay na buhay pa rin ang dangal sa hanapbuhay lalo na sa mga kasapi ng FOCAP at NUJP na araw-araw nakikibaka laban sa censorship at pambubusal sa malayang pamamahayag.
May water hose din ang mga mamamahayag, at ‘yan ay ang puwersa ng katotohanan. Kaya’t sa mga opisyal ng Tsina na tinatawag kaming mga “troublemakers,” tumpak. Asahan ninyong magiging tinik kami sa inyong lalamunan habang dinedeliver namin ang hindi binuburdahang katotohanan. – Rappler.com
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Beyond Siargao: Six other must-visit Caraga destinations | Herbie G | 2/4/2024 14:56 | PICTURE PERFECT. Tourists enjoy the scenic view of Bega Falls in Barangay Mabuhay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.
Department of Tourism-Caraga
BUTUAN, Philippines – With the start of the dry season, it’s the perfect time to seek out places to beat the heat, and the Caraga region boasts some of these ideal summer destinations.
While Siargao Island is unquestionably the premiere tourist destination in the region, Caraga has much more to offer beyond its surfing capital’s famed shores. From uninhabited islands, enchanting rivers, and stunning waterfalls, Caraga is a treasure trove just waiting to be explored.
Here are some destinations where you can venture off the beaten track this season and find some of the most fascinating spots that highlight the region’s natural beauty:
Nestled on Pangabangan Island in the town of Libjo, Dinagat Island, this tidal pool got its name ‘Blue Lagoon’ due to its crystal-clear waters, which boast rich shades of blue when viewed from afar.
Surrounded by towering karst formations, the Blue Lagoon is a perfect place for sunbathing, seaside relaxation, and tranquil swimming experiences. There’s a floating cottage available for those who wish to soak up the scenery, or a bamboo raft for exploration.
For those seeking adventure, one can climb a large karst formation that offers a panoramic perspective of the Blue Lagoon and its surrounding waters. Though the climb may be a bit steep and slightly risky, the breathtaking view from the top makes it all worthwhile.
Tourists can opt to spend the night by setting up camp under the coconut trees.
The Tinuy-an Falls Eco Park features a majestic waterfall, with its curtain of water cascading down a four-tier drop that spans 95 meters wide and 55 meters high. Tourists often liken Tinuy-an Falls to a mini-version of Canada’s Niagara Falls.
Found in Barangay Burboanan, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur, about 16 kilometers from the city center, the entire area is filled with tall trees, which adds to its appeal.
The water basin on the second tier, the tallest of the four layers, is an attraction in and of itself.
Visitors can swim, take photos, and ride a bamboo raft to come up close to the waterfall and feel the water cascading down like a soothing massage.
As soon as you catch sight of the river tucked away in the coastal town of Hinatuan in Surigao del Sur, you’ll find yourself utterly enchanted.
Situated in the Barangay of Cambatong, about 14 kilometers from the town center, the Hinatuan Enchanted River offers a visual feast of greenish-blue crystal-clear waters.
The river traverses the boundaries of the villages of Talisay and Cambatong and flows out of Hinatuan Bay, facing the Pacific Ocean.
Upon arrival at the spot, you’ll be welcomed by a stunning blue lagoon. Although the enticing color of the water may tempt you to jump right in, it’s reserved solely for sightseeing. The designated area where tourists can take a plunge or swim is situated some 10 meters away from the lagoon and is secured with ropes and floaters.
According to local folklore, the river earned its name due to the “engkantos” (Philippine mythical creatures or spirits) believed to inhabit its waters, with legends also suggesting that supernatural beings act as its guardian.
If you’re seeking an island adventure, Britania Island is definitely the destination for you.
With its clear turquoise waters, pristine white sand beaches, and delectable seafood offerings, this group of islets comprising Britania Islands in San Agustin, Surigao del Sur promises to captivate all who visit.
Located along Lianga Bay, facing the Pacific Ocean, the Britania Islands consist of approximately 20 to 25 islands and islets, their numbers depending on the tides.
Among these islands, four are prominent stops on the island-hopping tour packages that have become popular with tourists: Boslon, Hagonoy, Hiyor-hiyoran, and Naked Island.
Visitors can also enjoy a variety of recreational water activities such as jet skiing, snorkeling, banana boating, and flying fish rides.
While Agusan del Sur, the only landlocked province in the region, may lack the sandy shores found in other provinces with coastlines, it compensates with breathtaking waterfalls, among them is the Bega Falls.
Located in Purok 5 of Barangay Mabuhay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, approximately 16 kilometers from the town center, Bega Falls stands as a natural wonder boasting three tiers of cascading water within the Bega River system, originating from the source at Sitio Ugnop Cave.
Each level of Bega Falls has its unique charm, with clear water flowing gently over moss-covered rocks. Surrounded by lush greenery, Bega Falls welcomes visitors to experience its layered beauty and enjoy the peacefulness of nature.
On Surigao City’s western side lies a one-of-a-kind beach experience: Mabua Pebble Beach.
Unlike the typical sandy stretches, you might expect, this shoreline is made up of multi-sized pebbles, which sets it apart from most of the beaches in the Philippines.
This pebble beach, named after Barangay Mabua where it is located, offers crystal-clear waters.
Even when the water reaches chest-deep, you can still see your feet clearly beneath the surface.
And those pebbles? They’re not just for looks. Walking barefoot on them is therapeutic too, as it’s like giving your feet a mini-massage while you explore.
For sunset lovers, Mabua Pebble Beach offers a showstopping view. It’s one of the best spots in the Caraga region to catch the sky changing its colors to a mesmerizing orange hue. – 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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Philippines transitions to online voting for most overseas Filipinos in 2025 | Dwight de Leon | 2/4/2024 13:26 | Seniors and PWDs are accommodated in open spaces of the Rizal Elementary School in Taguig City for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30, 2023, and made to sign waiver forms to ensure their official ballot are cast by election officers.
Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Online voting will be the primary mode of casting ballots for overseas Filipinos in the 2025 midterm elections, except in countries with internet restrictions.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman Rex Laudiangco said mail-in and physical voting will likely be implemented in only around 17 posts across a dozen countries, namely:
Details of the exact technology that the Comelec will use are not immediately clear, but the poll body is eyeing the use of a mobile application with identity authentication features that overseas Filipinos may download on their devices.
“We can assure you that the system being procured by Comelec has authentication and enrollment features. It will confirm and audit and record not only one’s registration and enrollment, but also the casting, counting, and canvassing of votes,” Laudiangco said in Filipino on Tuesday, April 2.
“Our system is capable of printing the votes in the consulates and embassies, even here in the Philippines, and these will remain secure and confidential. If you can trust financial and banking institutions with your money, you can also trust the system that the Comelec will procure because security and auditability will be our priority,” he added.
The poll body said the move will save the Comelec hundreds of millions of pesos since it would no longer have to ship voting machines in many countries.
It also targets to improve voter turnout among overseas Filipinos, after the 2022 Philippine elections saw a still dismal 38% turnout abroad, despite being the highest in history.
The Comelec said in July 2023 that internet voting would only be optional for overseas voters in 2025.
After a failed bidding in February, the Comelec on Tuesday opened the second round of bidding for the procurement of online voting technology, with one joint venture besting three other participants.
The joint venture of US-based company Sequent Tech and local firm SMS Global Technologies advanced to the post-qualification stage of the procurement process after submitting a bid worth P112 million, undercutting the next lowest bidder, Voatz and its local partners, which offered their services for P435 million.
The Comelec’s maximum budget for the contract is P465.8 million.
The Comelec under previous leaderships tiptoed on adopting online voting, citing the Overseas Voting Act of 2013 that provided that a new law was necessary in order for internet voting to materialize.
The 2013 law, says the Comelec, is authorized to explore other ways – such as internet-based technology – to make overseas voting more efficient, but results of its evaluation must be submitted to Congress.
When veteran lawyer George Garcia took helm of the Comelec, he insisted that no legislation or prior approval from Congress is needed to shift to online voting, arguing that Congress yields to the expertise of the commission in understanding the peculiarities of overseas voting. – Rappler.com
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Angeles City files child abuse complaint vs parents of boy mimicking flagellation | Joann Manabat - CMS | 2/4/2024 17:08 | YOUNG. The blood at the back of the two-year old boy was smeared from his uncle's as he participate in self-flagellation last Maundy Thursday, March 28.
Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
ANGELES CITY, Philippines – The Angeles City local government, upon orders of Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr., has filed a child abuse complaint against the parents of the young boy mimicking flagellation during the Holy Week activities in Pampanga.
The Angeles City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) filed the complaint against the parents of the two-year-old boy on Friday, March 29, for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
The parents of the young boy have been detained at the Angeles City Police Station 2 in Barangay Sta. Teresita since late afternoon of Friday. Their son has been under the care of his grandmother.
The complaint, which was filed before the city prosecutor’s office, stemmed from a video uploaded by Rappler on its social media platforms on Thursday, March 28, showing the boy mimicking flagellants.
CSWDO chief Edna Duaso said the exposure of the child to such acts may result in negative influence. The situation has become a lesson on the responsibility of the parents to protect their children, she said.
“’Yun kasing pag-expose nila doon sa bata, sa mga ganoong gawain, supposed to be hindi naman nila papayagan bilang mga magulang. I-pro-protect natin ang mga bata,” Duaso told Rappler on Monday, April 1.
(Parents are not supposed to allow their children to be exposed to those kinds of activities. We should protect children.)
“Yung violation ng parents, hinayaan nila na ma-expose sa ganoong gawain ‘yung bata na puwedeng magdevelop ng negative na ano sa kanya. Hindi ‘yan laro. Dapat ‘yung isang tao na gumagawa ng ganoon eh naiintindihan niya kung ano ‘yung ginagawa niya. Puwede kasing mag-inflict ng harm sa kanya ‘yung mga ganoon just in case mailakas niya ‘yung palo niya,” she added.
(The violation of the parents is that they allowed their child be exposed in those acts that could possibly develop a negative influence on the child. It’s not a game. A person who is doing something like that must understand what he’s doing. It can inflict harm on him in case he hit himself too hard.)
Duaso also said they are looking for the parents of other children who were seen taking part in beating the flagellants and that they will also file appropriate complaints against them
– Rappler.com
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Court of Appeals reverses Ombudsman order dismissing ex-MIAA officials | Jairo Bolledo | 2/4/2024 15:40 | FORMER HEAD. In this file photo, Cesar Chiong, then-Manila International Airport Authority General Manager, attends the senate inquiry on the alleged human trafficking at the NAIA, on March 20, 2023.
Angie de Silva/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) has reversed the dismissal of former Manila International Airport Authority officials who had been sanctioned by the Office of the Ombudsman.
In a 13-page decision dated March 21, the CA overturned the Ombudsman order, which found former MIAA general manager Cesar Chiong and former assistant manager Irene Montalbo guilty of grave misconduct, abuse of authority or oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
NEWS UPDATE: The Court of Appeals reverses the dismissal of MIAA general manager Cesar Chiong imposed by the Ombudsman. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/Efq1mXy0b5
The Ombudsman order imposed the penalty of dismissal from service with forfeiture of all retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification to reenter government service against Chiong and Montalbo.
“WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant petition is hereby GRANTED. The 01 August 2023 Decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in OMB-C-A-APR-23-0061 is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Accordingly, the Complaint for Grave Abuse of Authority, Misconduct, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service is DISMISSED for lack of merit,” said the decision penned by Associate Justice Eleuterio Bathan, with concurrences from Associate Justice Zenaida Galapate-Laguilles and Associate Justice Alfred Ampuan.
Chiong and Montalbo’s case stemmed from a complaint filed by “anonymous MIAA officials” with the Ombudsman. The complaint was in relation to the reassignment of around 285 MIAA employees within a year, after Chiong’s designation as MIAA chief. The complaint also cited Montalbo’s appointment despite her “unsatisfactory rating in 2020.”
Chiong and Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista explained that the reassignment was crucial for the improvement of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (NAIA) operations and finances.
The former MIAA head earlier explained that over 200 reassigned personnel were transferred to the airport police unit to address the security needs of NAIA. He said this was based on the recommendation of the Airport Police Department chief and Assistant General Manager for Security and Emergency Services.
Chiong added that his predecessors “reassigned even larger numbers of personnel without facing any legal repercussion,” citing former MIAA head Jose Angel Honrado who reassigned 646 employees; and Eddie Monreal who reassigned 397 employees.
The Ombudsman, in an order dated April 28, 2023, placed the two officials under preventive suspension, prompting them to file an urgent motion to lift the preventive suspension and their respective counter-affidavits. When the Ombudsman had yet to act on Chiong and Montalbo’s petition after a month, they filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with the appellate court.
Certiorari is a legal remedy used to review a decision or order of another body, or grave abuse of discretion. But while the Ombudsman moved for the extension to file its comment on the CA petition, it already issued Chiong and Montalbo’s dismissal.
In their CA petition, Chiong and Montalbo argued that the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over reassignments in the civil service. The appellate court said it sustained and affirmed the petitioner’s position, based on the Supreme Court decision in Reyes Jr. v. Belisario.
According to the said ruling, “the CSC (Civil Service Commission) has the authority to determine the validity of the appointments and movements of civil service personnel.” The CA said in its decision that there was no definitive ruling from the CSC that the reassignment was not valid “nor at least a referral of the case to the CSC for such prior determination.”
The appellate court also noted that the allegations against the petitioners were acts involving human resource movement in the civil service, so the Ombudsman should have referred the complaint to the CSC.
“Consequently, when the OMB assumed jurisdiction over the complaint and proceeded to rule on the case without the prior ruling of the CSC, the assailed decision should be struck down for prematurity and lack of factual and legal bases. On this ground alone, we resolve to grant the instant petition,” the CA said.
The CA said the Ombudsman decision finding Chiong and Montalbo guilty lacked factual basis and substantial support in evidence. The appellate court explained that an administrative decision becomes valid if it has “something to support itself,” among others.
But in the former MIAA officials’ case, the CA said the Ombudsman “merely made a general statement” that the reassignment and designation of MIAA employees “were exercised with clear intent to violate the law, or flagrant disregard of established rules which characterized unlawful behavior and contradicts the very purpose of the reassignment and designation.”
However, the CA said the basis of the said finding came from four out of the 285 cases of employees reassigned. – Rappler.com
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TIMELINE: The Chocolate Hills resort controversy | jsitchon0312 | 18/03/2024 21:45 | RESORT. The Captain's Peak Resort officially closes down on March 13, 2024.
John Sitchon/Rappler
CEBU, Philippines – Vlogger Renmark Nisnisan, also known as “Ren The Adventurer,” posted what seemed to be an innocent travel video of a resort built in the middle of three Chocolate Hills on Wednesday, March 6.
The video, which the resort’s property owner, Edgar Buton, thanked the vlogger for, exploded with numerous remarks from netizens all over the country who were enraged by the apparent encroachment of the structures on the country’s national treasure.
As of Monday, March 18, the video posted on social media platform Facebook has over 16 million views, 58,000 comments, and over 413,000 reactions. At least 173,000 of the total reactions are “angry”.
The controversy eventually caught the attention of public officials in both the local and national levels. On March 13, Senator Nancy Binay filed Philippine Senate (PS) Resolution No. 967 seeking a probe, in aid of legislation, into the construction of all structures within the vicinity of the Chocolate Hills.
How did a small resort cause a nation-wide investigation of this scale? Here’s a timeline of the events leading up to the resort’s closure.
December 3, 2007
Transfer Certificate Title No. 37139 officially declares Edgar Buton the owner of a parcel of land with Lot No. 3555, CAD 959-D, Case No. 10, situated in the Barrio of Canmano, Municipality of Sagbayan, Bohol.
The document states that the original owner of the land was a member of the Amores clan that was granted the lot on August 14, 1996.
Through the years, the land would be used by Buton’s family as a private recreation area and a camping ground for close friends and travelers passing by their residence.
February 15, 2018
Local officials of Barangay Canmano, including tourism officer Perfecto Bambe, and Buton’s sister, Julieta Sablas, attend a special meeting of the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (CHNM)-Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) at Reyna’s the Haven and Gardens in Tagbilaran City to discuss the proposal to build the Captain’s Peak Garden Eco-Park.
The proposed project includes the establishment of a function hall, landmark, photo booth, swimming pool, cottages, zip line, shower and dressing room, parking area, coconut garden, flower garden, and water fountain.
Officials, through PAMB Resolution No. 1, s. 2018, resolve to endorse the proposal under the following conditions:
DENR Central Visayas Director Gilbert Gonzales III signs the resolution as chairman of the PAMB, signifying the government agency’s approval of the project.
January 2019 to 2020
Captain’s Peak owner Buton and administrator Sablas get their official business permit from the office of the mayor of Sagbayan. The mayor at the time is Ricardo Suarez.
The management of Captain’s Peak doesn’t have an ECC but begins operating as a resort, welcoming guests.
The management also creates an official Facebook page on January 12, 2019, and posts photos of guests posing by built structures on January 19, 2019.
Some time in 2020, the management gets their first building permit for the resort’s expansion operations.
July 13, 2021
The DENR, through its counterpart in Tagbilaran City, conducts a projection and ground verification of Buton’s land which spans 10,068 square meters.
Buton receives the DENR certification for Land Classification Status. The land is classified as Alienable and Disposable, which means that private persons like Buton can legally claim possession over it.
Elena Suarez, the OIC of the City Environment & Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Tagbilaran, signs and approves the certification.
July 12, 2022
Representatives of the CHNM PAMB Committee on Biodiversity Conservation and Monitoring conducts an inspection of the Captain’s Peak Resort development areas.
July 13, 2022
The CHNM PAMB Committee on Biodiversity Conservation and Monitoring informs DENR in Central Visayas, through the Bohol Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), of the plan of the resort’s management to transfer the development of certain parts to different areas.
“The swimming pools were situated on the flatland while the four cottages were situated on the side of the hills surrounding the area,” the memorandum, attached with location map and geotagged photos, reads.
July 14, 2022
The CHNM-PAMB holds another meeting with Canmano officials and Captain’s Peak management regarding a proposal to transfer the development of amenities and facilities such as the swimming pool, cottages and function hall from its initial project sites near the Chocolate Hills protected zone to the resort’s parking area.
DENR Central Visayas Director Paquito Melicor Jr. signs Resolution No. 21, s. 2022, endorsing the development of Captain’s Peak Resort within the CHNM.
“Whereas, the project area is located at the flat portion and it is within the Multiple Use Zone of CHNM Protected Area per proposed zoning. The area is a titled property owned by Edgar Buton,” the document reads.
The resolution reiterates that the project proponents must secure necessary permits, clearance from the local government unit (LGU) and other government entities.
Another condition in the resolution reads: “No development in areas which the PAMB does not allow based on the plan of the CHNM Protected Area.”
February 3, 2023
The Sangguniang Barangay of Canmano passes Resolution No. 2, s. 2023, requesting Sagbayan Mayor Restituto Suarez III to repair the Canmano-Libertad Norte access road going to Captain’s Peak.
Some residents express their concern about the apparent “cutting” of the feet of two Chocolate Hills in the area for the road widening.
August 14, 2023
The Freeman, a member of the Philippine Star Media Group and the longest-running newspaper in Cebu, publishes the first part of an in-depth report by Caecent No-ot Magsumbol about projects that are “ruining Chocolate Hills.”
Bohol provincial board member Nathaniel Binlod finds out about Captain’s Peak through the report.
August 15, 2023
In the second part of The Freeman report, Sagbayan municipal engineer, Alan Dinoy, says that he was surprised to find out about the “excavation” between the two hills for the access road near Captain’s Peak.
“it did not pass through his office although he said, they had a site visit before in the area,” the report reads.
Binlod in a privilege speech during the session on Tuesday, August 15, urges the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to investigate the “defacement” of the Chocolate Hills.
August 18, 2023
The board members, through the committees on tourism and environmental protection, survey the resort and find the cottages and water slides built at the foot of three hills.
August 23, 2023
Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado orders the Bohol Environment and Management Office (BEMO), PENRO, and the Central Visayas regional office of DENR to investigate the alleged destruction of Chocolate Hills.
He and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan request the DENR to furnish them a copy of the results of the investigation.
September 6, 2023
The DENR issues a temporary closure order (TCO) against Captain’s Peak Resort. It is unclear if a copy of the TCO was given to local authorities, especially the governor.
The resort still operates while completing important documents like the ECC at this point.
January 9, 2024
Suarez signs and approves the renewal of the business permit of Captain’s Peak Resort. The Mayor’s Permit Number is BP-2024-00096-0. The amount paid for the permit is P13,932.40
January 22, 2024
DENR sends Captain’s Peak management a Notice of Violation for operating without an ECC. It is unclear if a copy of the notice was given to local authorities.
February 16 to 18, 2024
The Department of Education (DepEd) in Bohol holds the provincial athletic meet for the swimming category of boys and girls at Captain’s Peak Resort. The event is one of the DepEd’s main activities before the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) meet.
The Bohol Tourist Police Unit posts photos with student athletes during the event on their official Facebook page.
March 6, 2024
Vlogger Ren the Adventurer posts a drone shot video of Captain’s Peak Resort, catching the attention of numerous netizens who claim that the resort has “destroyed” the Chocolate Hills.
Media outlets pick up the story about the controversial Bohol resort.
March 13, 2024
The Bohol governor says that they already addressed the issue about Captain’s Peak Resort, contrary to claims by netizens about negligence on the part of the LGU.
He adds that the province will be elevating the issue to DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga for guidance and direction.
DENR Central Visayas issues a memorandum directing PENRO to create a team that will inspect the resort for compliance with the TCO.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) also says in their statement that the resort is not an accredited tourism establishment under the agency’s accreditation system. “There is no pending application for accreditation for the same,” the statement reads.
Under the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9593, “Primary Tourism Enterprises” (PTEs) such as hotels, resorts, inns, and other accommodation establishments are required to secure accreditation from the DOT.
Binay, who chairs the Senate tourism committee, files Senate Resolution No. 967 seeking a probe, in aid of legislation, into the construction of all structures within the vicinity of the Chocolate Hills.
In a social media post, Captain’s Peak announces its closure for maintenance and environmental preservation efforts.
March 14, 2024
The LGU of Sagbayan serves the revocation of the resort’s business permit.
“Unless they can provide us the ECC from the DENR in Central Visayas, then we cannot renew their permit. They can reapply, so to speak, but until then, we cannot renew,” Sagbayan executive secretary to the mayor Felito Pon says. Pon adds that it was only on March 15 that the Sagbayan LGU learned about the TCO and Notice of Violation.
In a social media post, Captain’s Peak Resort informs the public about the revocation of their permit and expresses disappointment about the situation.
– Rappler.com
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Last August 14-15, 2023, The Freeman, a member of the Philippine Star Media Group and the longest-running newspaper in Cebu, published the first and second parts of an in-depth report by Caecent No-ot Magsumbol about projects that are “ruining Chocolate Hills.” Yet only on March 13, 2024, and March 14, 2024, did the Provincial Government of Bohol and the Municipal Government of Sagbayan take action, respectively. The gap is around seven (7) months from such publication. But the gap between the controversial social media posting (March 6, 2024) to the March 13, 2024, Provincial Government action and the March 14, 2024, Sagbayan LGU action is five working days (for the Bohol LGU) and six working days (for the Sagbayan LGU). The speed in which these LGUs have acted should be based on the August 14-15, 2023 dates and not on the March 6, 2024 date.
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Key PNP movements: One-day OIC then new chief Marbil | Jairo Bolledo | 2/4/2024 14:57 | NEW CHIEF. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Interior chief Benhur Abalos lead the induction of Police General Rommel Marbil as the new PNP chief on April 1, 2024.
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Following Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Benjamin Acorda Jr.’s retirement from police service, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new chief of the 232,000-strong police force.
Marbil’s appointment came as quite a surprise announcement during the change of command and Acorda’s retirement ceremony on Monday, April 1.
Acorda already reached the mandatory retirement age of 56, and was supposed to retire in December 2023, but Marcos extended his term until the end of March this year. Acorda served for almost a year – he was appointed in late April 2023.
Marbil is Marcos’ third PNP chief, after Rodolfo Azurin Jr. and Acorda, and is the 30th national police head since the PNP’s inception in 1991. The 55-year-old police general will retire on February 7, 2025 after he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will be around three months before the midterm senatorial and local elections in May next year.
In his first speech as the new top cop, Marbil listed down things that he said the PNP needs to accomplish to increase its effectiveness:
The new PNP chief noted in his speech that the PNP needs personnel and officers with critical thinking and problem-solving skills. He added that under his term, the national police’s infrastructure and membership will be examined to identify ways to improve their effectiveness.
“We need officers who can communicate with the public well, display empathy and conduct themselves at all times responsibly, ethically, and morally. We need officers who recognize that it is simply not enough to act decisively, relentlessly and fast in the war against crimes but that there must also be accountability and transparency on our end and most importantly, we will nurture police officers to whom a human approach to law enforcement is a given,” Marbil added.
Like his predecessor Acorda, Marbil’s appointment was announced only on the day of the turnover ceremony. But what made Marbil’s designation extremely surprising was that Marcos had appointed an officer-in-charge (OIC) the day before the change of command ceremony.
On Sunday, March 31, Malacañang appointed Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta as the PNP’s OIC. Marbil’s appointment overwrote Peralta’s appointment, since the latter’s designation was effective “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise directed by this [Malacañang] office,” and made him an acting PNP chief for less than 24 hours.
There was an expectation that Peralta would serve at least for months, like previous PNP OICs.
His extremely short term was quite unusual since the last two PNP OICs – retired police generals Archie Gamboa and Vicente Danao – served for at least several months. Gamboa was OIC for around three months and then was eventually appointed PNP chief by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He served for almost a year before retiring in September 2020.
Danao, meanwhile, served for over three months. He was designated OIC on May 5, 2022, or a few days before the 2022 elections, and remained in the post until Marcos appointed Azurin as his first PNP chief in August 2022.
“Except probably for making history as the shortest serving OIC of the PNP, there are no implications, good or bad either to PNP or to himself [Peralta],” former senator and PNP chief Panfilo “Ping” Lacson told Rappler.
Lacson, along with former senator and retired military officer Antonio Trillanes IV, reiterated that Peralta’s appointment has no effect on his benefits as a police officer. Lacson said that the pension or retirement benefits of a retired PNP office is based on his/her rank, and not on position. So OIC or not, Peralta will still get the same benefits.
In addition, Peralta will still enjoy the benefits of a four-star general, even though he will retire as a three-star general, because the law provides that police and military officers are entitled to one rank higher upon retirement.
“With that said, OIC PNP PLtGen Peralta will be receiving the same retirement benefits as newly retired PGen Acorda when he retires whether or not he was designated as OIC,” Lacson added.
As early as last year, Marbil’s name was already part of the roster of Acorda’s possible successors. In December 2023, a photo that showed Marbil would replace Acorda made the rounds on social media. This prompted the PNP to issue a statement denying it.
Prior to his appointment, Marbil was the head of the PNP’s Directorate for Comptrollership. He also served as the head of the Eastern Visayas regional police and the PNP Highway Patrol Group.
Marbil is Acorda’s classmate – they both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sambisig Class of 1991. Incidentally, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin, is an honorary member of the said PMA class.
Marcos seems to be following the pattern of his predecessor in appointing his PNP chiefs. Duterte was known for picking “Davao boys” or police generals who have ties with Davao, and Marcos did the same with his first two appointments. Both Azurin and Acorda have ties with Ilocos, the President’s home turf.
Although Marbil has no known Ilocos ties, he was once police regional director of Eastern Visayas, which is Romualdez’s turf.
As the new PNP chief, Marbil now heads the government unit mandated to enforce laws, and prevent and control crime. The PNP also has the task to observe peace and order in the country, ensure public safety, and to protect the internal security of the Philippines with the help of communities. (READ: What are the mandates of the Philippine National Police under the law?)
Aside from these mandates provided by laws, Marbil now has the task to regain the trust of the people since police continue to be embroiled in various controversies.
“He needs to improve the PNP’s internal mechanisms for accountability, including ensuring that cops implicated in drug war killings are investigated thoroughly and charged if evidence warrants. He needs to dispel the notion that the PNP as an institution does not care about accountability and only wants to protect its members,” Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde said.
Among the biggest and most recent police-related controversies was the death of 17-year-old Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar, who was killed by cops in Navotas in August 2023. Although the case reached a decision, the Baltazar family was not entirely happy with the outcome since the cops in the case only received lighter penalties.
The six cops in the case, including two of their supervisors, were ordered dismissed from the police service, but the dismissal has yet to be made final because the dismissal order is still under appeal.
As to the drug war, Marcos said his administration will adopt a “slightly different” approach to it, but drug-related killings continue to persist. According to the tally of the Dahas Project of the University of the Philippines Diliman’s Third World Studies Center, there were at least 593 drug-related killings under the current administration, as of March 26.
Under Duterte’s drug war, around 30,000 people were killed, if vigilante-style killings are included, according to several human rights groups. The drug war killings, including the Davao Death Squad killings when Duterte was still Davao City mayor, are at the center of the probe led by the International Criminal Court.
“He also needs to show that the drug war is indeed different under Marcos and that means adhering to due process,” Conde added.
On top of all these, Marbil also now has the duty to cleanse the ranks of the police, like what his predecessors had done.
The latest attempt to cleanse the PNP was in 2023, when Interior chief Benhur Abalos asked colonels and generals to submit courtesy resignations to rid the ranks of police officers who have alleged drug links. Abalos said in January 2023 that resignations of those with proven links to illegal drug trade will be accepted.
Months later, in July 2023, Marcos announced that he accepted the resignation of three police generals and 15 colonels over their alleged drug links. Amid the resignation controversy, none other than the interior department also revealed that some high-ranking cops allegedly covered up the arrest of a cop during a buy-bust operation in 2022. (READ: Who are the high-ranking police tagged in P6.7-B shabu mess?) – Rappler.com
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The new PNP Chief General, Rommel Francisco Marbil, delivered an inspiring speech. But can he pass the Marcos government’s litmus test? (Ref.: Val Villanueva’s “The untouchable Quiboloy.”) Can he arrest Pastor Quiboloy?
I have to disagree with former PNP Chief Ping Lacson when he said: “Except probably for making history as the shortest serving OIC of the PNP, there are no implications, good or bad either to PNP or to himself [Peralta].” The incident speaks of President Marcos Jr.’s decision-making ability as a leader, which will more likely adversely affect the PNP as an organization. It also makes General Peralta a pitiful victim of such decision-making, and consequently, he must hide his anger and frustration.
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[Vantage Point] The ‘untouchable’ Quiboloy | Glenda Gloria | 2/4/2024 8:14 | Will self-proclaimed “Son of God” Apollo Quiboloy violently resist if and when the Senate serves its arrest order against the flamboyant cult leader?
On March 20, the upper chamber finally decided to cite the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader for contempt after snubbing the Senate investigation into his alleged predatory sexual exploits.
The arrest order was signed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality. The Senate was probing assertions of years of exploitation and abuse perpetuated against former KOJC workers by preacher Quiboloy and his associates.
In a parallel move, the Department of Justice (DOJ) also ordered the filing of cases of child abuse and human trafficking against Quiboloy and five of his associates. Many are speculating that the DOJ move could be related to the extradition of the cult leader to the United States where he is on the most-wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
In November 2021, a superseding federal indictment in the Central District of California was unsealed, charging Quiboloy and two church administrators with conspiring in a sex trafficking operation between 2002 and 2018, where girls and women, aged between 12 and 25, were recruited to work as the pastor’s personal assistants.
It is a fair question to ask if Quiboloy would go quietly. Quiboloy’s lair in Davao is suspected of harboring several munitions, some of which are believed to be carried locked and loaded by his loyal servants. In fact, a witness, alias “Rene,” alleged during the Senate investigation that Vice President (VP) and Education Secretary Sara and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, had left Quiboloy’s vast property in Davao City with bags of assorted firearms.
The VP did not confirm nor deny the allegation. But several witnesses saw them leaving the Glory Mountain with bags of guns. Quiboloy’s mountain den is a vast property nestling on the ramps of Mount Apo, in Barangay Tamayo in Davao City’s Calinan District. Ms. Duterte could only say that all these allegations are politically motivated.
On June 20, 2002, at least 23 people died during a night fraught with violence as policemen and soldiers were to serve the arrest warrant to the late Ruben Ecleo Jr., who, just like Quiboloy, was politically well-connected. Ecleo was the leader of the cultist group Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA).
A joint team of Philippine National Police (PNP) and soldiers of the Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion – with air support from two MG-520 helicopters – were met with bullets when they tried to serve Ecleo a warrant of arrest for the murder of his wife, fourth-year medical student Alona Bacolod Ecleo, in Cebu City on January 6, 2002. Ecleo finally surrendered after a night of blood shedding, but eventually jumped bail while he was on trial. He had been on the run with a P2-million bounty on his head since 2011 and was finally re-arrested on July 2020. He died from various heart complications on April 25, 2021, while serving prison time.
Quiboloy has many sympathizers, among them, the Duterte father and daughter, on whom the pastor is said to be leaning to bolster his innocence. These die-hard supporters have in fact participated in organized prayer rallies in support of Quiboloy, along with the Dutertes and some cabinet secretaries of the former president. Recent rallies for the embattled cult leader turned into anti-Marcos Jr. assemblies, where chants calling for the resignation of the President loudly rang out.
It is from this base support that Quiboloy draws his confidence and belief that he is untouchable. Quiboloy’s case, from my Vantage Point, is also a litmus test for the government. Would the Marcos Jr. administration really execute its lawful duty to hale Quiboloy into court?
How could President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allow his VP to lend her presence to a crowd that her father was agitating to clamor for his ouster? One of the reasons former VP Leni Robredo was fired from her post as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) was that then President Rodrigo Duterte suspected her of conniving with the opposition in undermining his administration.
A reader wrote that she is perplexed as to why Ms. Duterte issued a statement during Women’s Month no less that she is supporting Quiboloy who is allegedly a rapist. “Wasn’t she a victim of rape too?”
When presidential candidate Duterte was onstage at a campaign rally for the 2016 elections, he narrated a rape incident about Australian lay missioner Jacqueline who was also killed during the 1989 hostage-taking at the Davao Penal Colony. Duterte said he felt angry because it was a waste that, as then city mayor, he should have been “first in line” when Hamill was raped because “she was as beautiful as an American actress.” The former president said later that he was just joking.
In her Instagram account, VP Sara posted that she was not offended by her father’s comments about Hamill, although she claimed that she too was a rape victim: “Not a joke. I am a rape victim … I am just saying I went through it and I do not feel offended by the rape joke. I do not want to talk about the details of my experience. It is embarrassing.”
Mr. Duterte later dismissed his daughter’s confession by describing her as a drama queen: “She can’t be raped – she carries a gun.”
Since the Dutertes look like they are twisting themselves into a pretzel in defending Quiboloy, some people suspect that they are doing so because they expect something big in return.
Is it the promise of block votes from Pastor Quiboloy who claims to have millions of devoted followers? Pray tell, the size of Quiboloy’s congregation, notwithstanding his claims, is not even a fraction of that of, say, the Iglesia ni Cristo.
Political pundits believe that it is not for the votes. The flighty Ms. Duterte, they say, is executing a calculated political move for the most ignoble reason. It could be for the protection of the family’s political war chest. She needs billions of pesos to finance her coming campaign for the presidency.
The compelling motivation is dark money. While other politicians can expect only crumbs, the father and daughter may get the lion’s share of the KOJC’s wealth.
Mr. Duterte’s appointment, announced by Quiboloy himself, as caretaker of the vast religious empire, does nothing to dispel that suspicion. He actually owns, people believe, houses in the US and Canada, found to have been registered in the names of KOJC operatives in those countries. The real estate properties cost millions of dollars each.
However much Quiboloy squeezes them, his members can only deliver so much by way of tithing. Most of them are dirt-poor, living on the fringes of society.
To finance his lavish lifestyle (with a jet plane and a fleet of helicopters and luxury cars), the pastor sends out an army of brainwashed young men and women every day in Metro Manila, with instructions to sell rice cakes, ballpoint pens, and other knickknacks and pretend they are poor students trying to earn tuition money. In spite of their best efforts, however, they could only make a few hundred pesos each to remit to their handlers.
He deploys members to major cities in the US and Canada to beg for alms, supposedly to benefit calamity victims in the Philippines. They are brought there carrying religious visas, for which Quiboloy and his associates have been charged with fraud, among other offenses, by the FBI.
The Dutertes did not hesitate at raising the communist bogeyman in an effort to get Congress to appropriate billions, even trillions, of pesos that they to date have not been accounted for.
As it has now become apparent, the P125 million that President Marcos Jr. granted to Ms. Duterte before the Uniteam unraveled was spent in just 11 days is only the tip of the iceberg. The amount is “loose change,” compared to what she felt she was entitled to. VP Sara wanted Congress to allocate P100 billion and put that money at her disposal.
Unfortunately for Ms. Duterte and Mr. Duterte, Quiboloy’s religious empire is collapsing under its own weight. Just recently, District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. of California ordered that the warrants against KOJC founder Quiboloy unsealed. That, according to legal observers, is the first step towards the filing of a request for the extradition of Quiboloy from the Philippines to the United States.
Coming on the heels of that development was the announcement made by the Pasig Prosecutors Office that it had approved a resolution charging the self-proclaimed messiah with human trafficking and child abuse. No bail was recommended, which means the accused will have to stay in the hot, overcrowded, vermin infested city jail pending resolution of the cases. Give Quiboloy a few days in that hellhole, and he’ll long for the comfort of a California detention facility, into which the FBI or the US Marshal plans to consign him after his extradition.
The man flatters himself when he claims the Central Intelligence Agency is preparing to subject him to the infamous rendition process. Under the arrangement, the US deep state, as it is called, subjected to waterboarding and other forms of torture suspected terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to extract information from them regarding the whereabouts of Usama bin Ladin, the Al-Queda leader who planned the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
Why Guantanamo Bay? A writ of habeas corpus, which compels authorities to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his detention, cannot be enforced there, which is beyond the reach of the US judicial system.
It’s funny because Quiboloy does not have the guts and the smarts required of a terrorist. He is wanted by the FBI for the common but very serious crimes of rape of minors, human trafficking, and cash bulk smuggling, in addition to the aforementioned fraud charges. The CIA, the US spy organization ranged against the Russian Federation’s KGB, is not interested in a common criminal like him. It has bigger fish to fry. – Rappler.com
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I agree: “Quiboloy’s case is a litmus test for the Marcos government.” It is a test of President Marcos Jr.’s concern about Quiboloy’s victims, and the latter’s still unaware, denying, or brainwashed members (except its officers). In the background, this is a contest of who has the better political savvy: President Marcos Jr. or Former President Digong Duterte. President Marcos Jr. should not underestimate the significance of this contest because it will directly affect the chances of his cousin Martin’s quest for the Presidency in the 2028 national elections.
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Key PNP movements: One-day OIC then new chief Marbil | Jairo Bolledo | 2/4/2024 14:57 | NEW CHIEF. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Interior chief Benhur Abalos lead the induction of Police General Rommel Marbil as the new PNP chief on April 1, 2024.
RTVM
Following Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Benjamin Acorda Jr.’s retirement from police service, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new chief of the 232,000-strong police force.
Marbil’s appointment came as quite a surprise announcement during the change of command and Acorda’s retirement ceremony on Monday, April 1.
Acorda already reached the mandatory retirement age of 56, and was supposed to retire in December 2023, but Marcos extended his term until the end of March this year. Acorda served for almost a year – he was appointed in late April 2023.
Marbil is Marcos’ third PNP chief, after Rodolfo Azurin Jr. and Acorda, and is the 30th national police head since the PNP’s inception in 1991. The 55-year-old police general will retire on February 7, 2025 after he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will be around three months before the midterm senatorial and local elections in May next year.
In his first speech as the new top cop, Marbil listed down things that he said the PNP needs to accomplish to increase its effectiveness:
The new PNP chief noted in his speech that the PNP needs personnel and officers with critical thinking and problem-solving skills. He added that under his term, the national police’s infrastructure and membership will be examined to identify ways to improve their effectiveness.
“We need officers who can communicate with the public well, display empathy and conduct themselves at all times responsibly, ethically, and morally. We need officers who recognize that it is simply not enough to act decisively, relentlessly and fast in the war against crimes but that there must also be accountability and transparency on our end and most importantly, we will nurture police officers to whom a human approach to law enforcement is a given,” Marbil added.
Like his predecessor Acorda, Marbil’s appointment was announced only on the day of the turnover ceremony. But what made Marbil’s designation extremely surprising was that Marcos had appointed an officer-in-charge (OIC) the day before the change of command ceremony.
On Sunday, March 31, Malacañang appointed Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta as the PNP’s OIC. Marbil’s appointment overwrote Peralta’s appointment, since the latter’s designation was effective “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise directed by this [Malacañang] office,” and made him an acting PNP chief for less than 24 hours.
There was an expectation that Peralta would serve at least for months, like previous PNP OICs.
His extremely short term was quite unusual since the last two PNP OICs – retired police generals Archie Gamboa and Vicente Danao – served for at least several months. Gamboa was OIC for around three months and then was eventually appointed PNP chief by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He served for almost a year before retiring in September 2020.
Danao, meanwhile, served for over three months. He was designated OIC on May 5, 2022, or a few days before the 2022 elections, and remained in the post until Marcos appointed Azurin as his first PNP chief in August 2022.
“Except probably for making history as the shortest serving OIC of the PNP, there are no implications, good or bad either to PNP or to himself [Peralta],” former senator and PNP chief Panfilo “Ping” Lacson told Rappler.
Lacson, along with former senator and retired military officer Antonio Trillanes IV, reiterated that Peralta’s appointment has no effect on his benefits as a police officer. Lacson said that the pension or retirement benefits of a retired PNP office is based on his/her rank, and not on position. So OIC or not, Peralta will still get the same benefits.
In addition, Peralta will still enjoy the benefits of a four-star general, even though he will retire as a three-star general, because the law provides that police and military officers are entitled to one rank higher upon retirement.
“With that said, OIC PNP PLtGen Peralta will be receiving the same retirement benefits as newly retired PGen Acorda when he retires whether or not he was designated as OIC,” Lacson added.
As early as last year, Marbil’s name was already part of the roster of Acorda’s possible successors. In December 2023, a photo that showed Marbil would replace Acorda made the rounds on social media. This prompted the PNP to issue a statement denying it.
Prior to his appointment, Marbil was the head of the PNP’s Directorate for Comptrollership. He also served as the head of the Eastern Visayas regional police and the PNP Highway Patrol Group.
Marbil is Acorda’s classmate – they both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sambisig Class of 1991. Incidentally, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin, is an honorary member of the said PMA class.
Marcos seems to be following the pattern of his predecessor in appointing his PNP chiefs. Duterte was known for picking “Davao boys” or police generals who have ties with Davao, and Marcos did the same with his first two appointments. Both Azurin and Acorda have ties with Ilocos, the President’s home turf.
Although Marbil has no known Ilocos ties, he was once police regional director of Eastern Visayas, which is Romualdez’s turf.
As the new PNP chief, Marbil now heads the government unit mandated to enforce laws, and prevent and control crime. The PNP also has the task to observe peace and order in the country, ensure public safety, and to protect the internal security of the Philippines with the help of communities. (READ: What are the mandates of the Philippine National Police under the law?)
Aside from these mandates provided by laws, Marbil now has the task to regain the trust of the people since police continue to be embroiled in various controversies.
“He needs to improve the PNP’s internal mechanisms for accountability, including ensuring that cops implicated in drug war killings are investigated thoroughly and charged if evidence warrants. He needs to dispel the notion that the PNP as an institution does not care about accountability and only wants to protect its members,” Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde said.
Among the biggest and most recent police-related controversies was the death of 17-year-old Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar, who was killed by cops in Navotas in August 2023. Although the case reached a decision, the Baltazar family was not entirely happy with the outcome since the cops in the case only received lighter penalties.
The six cops in the case, including two of their supervisors, were ordered dismissed from the police service, but the dismissal has yet to be made final because the dismissal order is still under appeal.
As to the drug war, Marcos said his administration will adopt a “slightly different” approach to it, but drug-related killings continue to persist. According to the tally of the Dahas Project of the University of the Philippines Diliman’s Third World Studies Center, there were at least 593 drug-related killings under the current administration, as of March 26.
Under Duterte’s drug war, around 30,000 people were killed, if vigilante-style killings are included, according to several human rights groups. The drug war killings, including the Davao Death Squad killings when Duterte was still Davao City mayor, are at the center of the probe led by the International Criminal Court.
“He also needs to show that the drug war is indeed different under Marcos and that means adhering to due process,” Conde added.
On top of all these, Marbil also now has the duty to cleanse the ranks of the police, like what his predecessors had done.
The latest attempt to cleanse the PNP was in 2023, when Interior chief Benhur Abalos asked colonels and generals to submit courtesy resignations to rid the ranks of police officers who have alleged drug links. Abalos said in January 2023 that resignations of those with proven links to illegal drug trade will be accepted.
Months later, in July 2023, Marcos announced that he accepted the resignation of three police generals and 15 colonels over their alleged drug links. Amid the resignation controversy, none other than the interior department also revealed that some high-ranking cops allegedly covered up the arrest of a cop during a buy-bust operation in 2022. (READ: Who are the high-ranking police tagged in P6.7-B shabu mess?) – Rappler.com
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The new PNP Chief General, Rommel Francisco Marbil, delivered an inspiring speech. But can he pass the Marcos government’s litmus test? (Ref.: Val Villanueva’s “The untouchable Quiboloy.”) Can he arrest Pastor Quiboloy?
I have to disagree with former PNP Chief Ping Lacson when he said: “Except probably for making history as the shortest serving OIC of the PNP, there are no implications, good or bad either to PNP or to himself [Peralta].” The incident speaks of President Marcos Jr.’s decision-making ability as a leader, which will more likely adversely affect the PNP as an organization. It also makes General Peralta a pitiful victim of such decision-making, and consequently, he must hide his anger and frustration.
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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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Jerusalem resurrects PH boxing for the 2nd time | delfin.dioquino editor | 1/4/2024 22:48 | CHAMPION. Melvin Jerusalem (middle) captures the WBC minimumweight belt.
Sanman Boxing Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Melvin Jerusalem saved Philippine boxing from winding up without a world champion in January 2023, when he stopped Japanese Masataka Taniguchi in two rounds to clinch the World Boxing Organization mini-flyweight crown in Osaka.
On March 31, Jerusalem repeated the feat, resurrecting the country’s fading ring hopes with a split decision win over Japanese Yudai Shigeoka that made him the World Boxing Council minimumweight champion in Nagoya.
The 30-year-old pride of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon stands as the only reigning Filipino world champion so far.
Having lost his first world crown in just four months, Jerusalem swore he would give all his powers to keep it longer this time.
“The WBC belt is the most beautiful among the four belts because it has all the flags of the nations of the world represented here,” said Jerusalem, clutching a replica of the WBC strap he won less than a day earlier in Japan, told a throng of Manila media on Monday, April 1.
“I will do my best to keep this title for a long time,” added Jerusalem, who was accompanied by his promoter and Sanman Promotions head JC Manangquil and chief trainer Michael Domingo.
“We borrowed it (belt) from another former WBC champion,” said Manangquil, adding it would take some time before the Mexico-based WBC could deliver Jerusalem’s real belt.
According to Manangquil, Jerusalem is mandated to make two title defenses before being allowed to choose his next championship opponent.
For Jerusalem, however, it hardly mattered as he’s prepared to defend it against whoever is picked to challenge him.
Manangquil agreed and said he’s giving Jerusalem and Domingo the time to celebrate first before charting their next moves. – Rappler.com
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Philippines transitions to online voting for most overseas Filipinos in 2025 | Dwight de Leon | 2/4/2024 13:26 | Seniors and PWDs are accommodated in open spaces of the Rizal Elementary School in Taguig City for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30, 2023, and made to sign waiver forms to ensure their official ballot are cast by election officers.
Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Online voting will be the primary mode of casting ballots for overseas Filipinos in the 2025 midterm elections, except in countries with internet restrictions.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman Rex Laudiangco said mail-in and physical voting will likely be implemented in only around 17 posts across a dozen countries, namely:
Details of the exact technology that the Comelec will use are not immediately clear, but the poll body is eyeing the use of a mobile application with identity authentication features that overseas Filipinos may download on their devices.
“We can assure you that the system being procured by Comelec has authentication and enrollment features. It will confirm and audit and record not only one’s registration and enrollment, but also the casting, counting, and canvassing of votes,” Laudiangco said in Filipino on Tuesday, April 2.
“Our system is capable of printing the votes in the consulates and embassies, even here in the Philippines, and these will remain secure and confidential. If you can trust financial and banking institutions with your money, you can also trust the system that the Comelec will procure because security and auditability will be our priority,” he added.
The poll body said the move will save the Comelec hundreds of millions of pesos since it would no longer have to ship voting machines in many countries.
It also targets to improve voter turnout among overseas Filipinos, after the 2022 Philippine elections saw a still dismal 38% turnout abroad, despite being the highest in history.
The Comelec said in July 2023 that internet voting would only be optional for overseas voters in 2025.
After a failed bidding in February, the Comelec on Tuesday opened the second round of bidding for the procurement of online voting technology, with one joint venture besting three other participants.
The joint venture of US-based company Sequent Tech and local firm SMS Global Technologies advanced to the post-qualification stage of the procurement process after submitting a bid worth P112 million, undercutting the next lowest bidder, Voatz and its local partners, which offered their services for P435 million.
The Comelec’s maximum budget for the contract is P465.8 million.
The Comelec under previous leaderships tiptoed on adopting online voting, citing the Overseas Voting Act of 2013 that provided that a new law was necessary in order for internet voting to materialize.
The 2013 law, says the Comelec, is authorized to explore other ways – such as internet-based technology – to make overseas voting more efficient, but results of its evaluation must be submitted to Congress.
When veteran lawyer George Garcia took helm of the Comelec, he insisted that no legislation or prior approval from Congress is needed to shift to online voting, arguing that Congress yields to the expertise of the commission in understanding the peculiarities of overseas voting. – Rappler.com
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Cone all praises for Boatwright as SBP initiates naturalization talks | delfin.dioquino editor | 1/4/2024 20:35 | LAYUP. Bennie Boatwright in action for the San Miguel Beermen in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner's Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – Tim Cone did not have to look far to find Gilas Pilipinas’ next candidate for naturalization.
Cone handpicked Bennie Boatwright as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) initiated talks for the San Miguel import to become a naturalized player and suit up for the national team.
“I was the one who asked for him. I think he’s a tremendous talent. He’s got great size and he can play in and out. He’s very versatile,” said Cone on Sunday, March 31.
Boatwright took the PBA by storm when he came in as a replacement import for the Beermen in the last Commissioner’s Cup, steering the legendary franchise to a record-extending 29th championship.
A stocky forward with a soft touch from long range, Boatwright gave Cone headaches as he and San Miguel swept Barangay Ginebra in the semifinals, where he averaged 29 points, 11.3 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks.
It marked the first time the Gin Kings got swept in a best-of-five affair under the tutelage of Cone.
Boatwright and the Beermen then completed a six-game conquest of Magnolia in the finals to lift the Commissioner’s Cup trophy.
The 27-year-old gunner finished the conference with averages of 30.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 13 games.
Cone said Boatwright resembles resident Ginebra import and current Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Justin Brownlee.
“He kind of reminds me of a young Justin, just like three or four inches taller. We’ll see. He’s a young guy,” said Cone.
Cone, though, made it clear Brownlee will continue to don the national colors as the Philippines competes in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, in July.
“[W]ithout a doubt, and this is written in stone right now, Justin is our guy. And Bennie is going to be his backup,” said Cone.
After his San Miguel stint, Boatwright took his act to the Chinese Basketball Association, where he currently plays for the Shanxi Loongs.
The SBP said on Monday that Boatwright expressed his desire to return to the PBA “as soon as possible since he has developed a strong connection with the Philippines.”
If his naturalization pushes through, Boatwright will join a pool of naturalized players that also includes NBA player Jordan Clarkson and big man Ange Kouame.
“Boatwright is currently 27 years of age, making him a solid choice for naturalization as the SBP seeks to secure the future of the national team alongside working on its current goals,” said the federation. – Rappler.com
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FIRST LOOK: How Glorietta, Greenbelt, TriNoma, Ayala Center Cebu will be redesigned | Ralf Rivas | 15/02/2024 18:50 | FACELIFT. Artist rendition of Glorietta's new look.
Ayala Land
MANILA, Philippines – Ayala Malls is reinventing its iconic flagship malls to meet the new needs and tastes of consumers.
The company is spending P13 billion for the facelift of Glorietta and Greenbelt in Makati City, TriNoma in Quezon City, and Ayala Center Cebu.
Ayala Malls president Mariana Zobel de Ayala said mall-goers should expect a “fusion of contemporary elegance, marrying the functionality and seamless integration of outdoors and indoors and an enhanced cinema experience.”
Here are some renditions of the malls’ new designs:
Customers should expect Glorietta to have a more modern facade, as well as balconies with good views of the parks and lush greeneries.
The confusing layout of the mall will also be addressed.
“What to expect? Exterior and interior design improvements, to reflect a modern and fresh aesthetic, intuitive wayfinding and circulation, and an all-around more cohesive customer experience,” Zobel said.
The redevelopment of Glorietta has started in the first quarter of 2024, with parts of the mall being closed off. Completion of the revamp is expected by the end of 2026.
Glorietta 1 and 2 first opened in 1991, boasting 240,000 square meters of retail space. Glorietta 3 and 4 opened in 1992 and 1998, respectively, while Glorietta 5 was the last to open in 2009.
It is currently a four-level “super regional mall” with seven cinemas and two activity centers, and is also integrated with three hotels – Holiday Inn, Ascott, and Fairmont.
The parks of Glorietta 3 and 4 will be “refreshed” and integrated into the mall for a more cohesive customer experience and improved pedestrian connectivity.
Greenbelt 1 is set to blend luxury with sustainability.
The mall, designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin, will be torn down in April. The amount for the reconstruction is separate and will be costlier than the P13 billion allotted for the four malls, according to Zobel.
Greenbelt 1, which first opened in 1986, will have various energy-efficient features, including a direct cooling system, skylights to harness natural sunlight, and a rainwater collection system for garden irrigation and landscaping purposes.
“We need to minimize our carbon footprint…. The gardens are helping us to mitigate carbon emissions [and] increase biodiversity,” said Paul Birkett, Ayala Malls chief operating officer.
Greenbelt 1 is targeted to reopen by 2028.
TriNoma, Ayala Malls’ first mall in northern Metro Manila, will soon have an “expanded and elevated” dining portfolio, a more dynamic activity center, a giant LED wall with 3D capacity, and more multipurpose event spaces at its rooftop.
The facade facing North Avenue will have a fresh entrance and a landscaped garden.
TriNoma first opened its doors in 2007. Works for its improvement started in the first quarter of 2024, while target completion is by the fourth quarter of 2025.
A three-level expansion on the North Avenue side is slated to open in 2026.
Ayala Malls’ first mall outside Metro Manila and Luzon is also set to have a more modern look.
Ayala Center Cebu, which opened in 1994, will have a revitalized activity center featuring a four-floor LED wall. Its grand atrium will have architectural treatments on the ceiling.
Ayala Malls will tap Cebuano talent to incorporate local craft and culture in the overall design.
The mall will also be expanded to house more upscale brands and high-end restaurants.
It will link to Seda Hotel, Ayala Land Premier’s Park Point Residences and The Alcoves, and the 20-floor Ayala Center Cebu Corporate Center.
Zobel, who was recently named Ayala Malls president, said the redesigns were made amid changing habits and preferences post-pandemic.
“In redefining what we call third spaces – a place outside of your home, and work or school, where you would want to spend time – our ambition is to set a new standard in retail that resonates with both past and future generations,” she said.
Sections of the malls will be closed throughout the construction works. Despite these temporary closures, Zobel said Ayala Malls is maintaining its target to double its net income in the next five years.
When asked about how much rent would increase due to the new interiors, Birkett said the bump will come as a welcome development for both Ayala Malls and tenants.
“There’s a basic rent and then the element of rent that is paid according to how successful that unit is. It’s a revenue share, it is common practice, so the more successful that retailer becomes, the more their rent will increase. We constantly measure rent as a relationship to their overall revenue, that there are red and green signals, and all the mall operators do this,” Birkett explained.
“In terms of turnover rent, yes it may go up, but it will only go up because their sales have increased. So it’s a win-win for all of us.”
Ayala Malls executives said they are also looking at how the redevelopments will impact traffic.
“We’ve got to understand how [traffic] flows, how the urban traffic control works. The changing of the roads that we’re doing in front of Glorietta both benefits traffic flow and pedestrian access. We’re working hard with the teams to encourage…more utilization of public transport,” Birkett said. – 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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History made: Fil-Am guard Ethan Alvano bags Korean Basketball League MVP | delfin.dioquino editor | 1/4/2024 21:11 | SHOT. Ethan Alvano in action for the Wonju DB Promy in the Korean Basketball League.
Wonju DB Promy Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American guard Ethan Alvano just made history in the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
Alvano, who plays for the league-leading Wonju DB Promy as an Asian Quota import, was named as the domestic MVP of the 2023-2024 KBL Season on Monday, April 1, becoming the first non-Korean player to capture the top individual award.
In 54 games played this regular season, the 27-year-old Alvano averaged 15.9 points, 6.6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals to steer Wonju to an impressive 41-13 record.
Alvano, who is in his sophomore year in the Land of the Morning Calm, is one of 11 Filipino imports to suit up in the KBL this season, along with Rhenz Abando, SJ Belangel, Juan Gomez de Liaño, Dave Ildefonso, Justin Gutang, Migs Oczon, Alex Cabagnot, Joshua Torralba, and Filipino-Canadians Calvin Epistola and Avan Nava.
Prior to his stint with Wonju, Alvano had seen action for the San Miguel Alab Pilipinas in the now-defunct ASEAN Basketball League, Hi-Tech Bangkok City in the Thailand Basketball Super League, and Eisbären Bremerhaven in Germany.
Aside from Alvano, another Wonju player took home an individual award this season as American import Dedric Lawson got hailed foreign MVP.
Wonju will take on the winner of the quarterfinal series between the Seoul SK Knights and the Busan KCC Egis in the semifinals. – Rappler.com
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Cone all praises for Boatwright as SBP initiates naturalization talks | delfin.dioquino editor | 1/4/2024 20:35 | LAYUP. Bennie Boatwright in action for the San Miguel Beermen in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner's Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – Tim Cone did not have to look far to find Gilas Pilipinas’ next candidate for naturalization.
Cone handpicked Bennie Boatwright as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) initiated talks for the San Miguel import to become a naturalized player and suit up for the national team.
“I was the one who asked for him. I think he’s a tremendous talent. He’s got great size and he can play in and out. He’s very versatile,” said Cone on Sunday, March 31.
Boatwright took the PBA by storm when he came in as a replacement import for the Beermen in the last Commissioner’s Cup, steering the legendary franchise to a record-extending 29th championship.
A stocky forward with a soft touch from long range, Boatwright gave Cone headaches as he and San Miguel swept Barangay Ginebra in the semifinals, where he averaged 29 points, 11.3 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks.
It marked the first time the Gin Kings got swept in a best-of-five affair under the tutelage of Cone.
Boatwright and the Beermen then completed a six-game conquest of Magnolia in the finals to lift the Commissioner’s Cup trophy.
The 27-year-old gunner finished the conference with averages of 30.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 13 games.
Cone said Boatwright resembles resident Ginebra import and current Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Justin Brownlee.
“He kind of reminds me of a young Justin, just like three or four inches taller. We’ll see. He’s a young guy,” said Cone.
Cone, though, made it clear Brownlee will continue to don the national colors as the Philippines competes in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, in July.
“[W]ithout a doubt, and this is written in stone right now, Justin is our guy. And Bennie is going to be his backup,” said Cone.
After his San Miguel stint, Boatwright took his act to the Chinese Basketball Association, where he currently plays for the Shanxi Loongs.
The SBP said on Monday that Boatwright expressed his desire to return to the PBA “as soon as possible since he has developed a strong connection with the Philippines.”
If his naturalization pushes through, Boatwright will join a pool of naturalized players that also includes NBA player Jordan Clarkson and big man Ange Kouame.
“Boatwright is currently 27 years of age, making him a solid choice for naturalization as the SBP seeks to secure the future of the national team alongside working on its current goals,” said the federation. – Rappler.com
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Cebu Capitol to file case vs National Museum officials over ‘stolen’ church panels | Dwight de Leon | 1/4/2024 20:45 | HISTORY. The controversial early 19th-century panels depicting the founder of the Augustinian Order displayed at the National Museum of the Philippines.
National Museum of the Philippines
CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu provincial government is preparing a case against officials of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) on the issue concerning four pulpit panels that were allegedly stolen from the heritage church of Boljoon in southern Cebu.
The provincial board approved via a unanimous vote in its regular session on Monday afternoon, April 1, the authorization for Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to file the “appropriate case” against NMP officials and “any person who kept the said panels after it was stolen.”
The resolution said the NMP officials refused to return the objects to the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santisima Church in Boljoon.
There is no information yet on the nature of the case and how many will be filed but sources indicated that the Capitol will be holding a press conference to share more details.
The resolution introduced by Board Member Andrei Duterte said Governor Garcia sent a letter to the NMP on February 26, “urgently requesting for the return” of the panels. The NMP never responded to that letter, according to the resolution.
Officials of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) led by Chairman Ino Manalo met with Governor Garcia at the Capitol on March 13. Jose Eleazar Bersales, the provincial government’s consultant on museums and heritage, told Garcia during that meeting there was a commitment to return the panels.
Manalo, however, told Garcia that the final decision will be made by the NMP.
NMP Board of Trustees Chairman Andoni Aboitiz is scheduled to meet with Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma in the middle of April to discuss the panels.
Aboitiz, who met with Governor Garcia on February 27 at the Capitol, told Rappler they wanted to look into how the panels were lost from the church and ended up in the hands of private collectors Edwin and Aileen Bautista.
The Bautistas donated the panels to NMP, and its exhibition as a “Gift to the Nation” triggered appeals from local officials to have the the items returned to Boljoon.
Garcia told NCCA officials during the March 13 meeting that the panels were stolen because they belong to the church.
“So any stolen item, even though years may have passed and these are eventually officially donated, are still stolen items,” she said.
Archbishop Palma also asserted those were not works of art but sacred objects of the church. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate this action by the Provincial Government of Cebu under the leadership of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia. The appropriate case should be filed against buyers of stolen artwork to discourage future buyers of similar items.
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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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FACT CHECK: Link for DepEd scholarship program application is fake | Lorenz Pasion | 1/4/2024 19:30 | Claim: The Department of Education (DepEd) released an online application link for students to apply for scholarship allowances of up to P10,000.
Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a post on the Facebook group “Landbank 4Ps update all region,” boasting of over 705,200 members. As of writing, the post has garnered 660 reactions, 1,100 comments, and 84 shares.
According to the post, the DepEd scholarship program allegedly provides a P7,000 allowance for elementary students, P9,000 for high school students, and P10,000 for college students. Interested applicants are instructed to prepare their school IDs and report cards, and submit their applications through links provided in the post.
While the post mentions a deadline of March 10, it continues to receive comments and inquiries from prospective applicants.
The facts: The supposed scholarship program is fake. On March 18, the education department released an advisory warning the public against fake DepEd scholarship programs circulating online.
“These posts are illegally using the DepEd seal and the photo of the Vice President and Secretary of Education Sara Z. Duterte to scam people. Parents and guardians are strongly advised not to give out their children’s school information and identification to these kinds of hideous posts so as not to compromise their security,” the post read.
DepEd assistance: In a previous Rappler fact check debunking a similar claim, DepEd said that there are no scholarships for public school students since education in public schools is free.
Furthermore, contrary to the post’s claim that the supposed scholarship program is available to college students, the DepEd’s mandate is limited to primary and secondary education. For tertiary students, the Commission on Higher Education serves as the governing body.
DepEd offers various programs designed to support students, such as the Education Contracting Service program for junior high school students, the Senior High School Voucher program, and the Joint Delivery Voucher program for senior high school students pursuing technical-vocational tracks.
These programs do not offer scholarships of P7,000, P9,000, or P10,000 but instead provide subsidies for students’ tuition.
Data privacy: The link for the supposed application does not redirect users to the official DepEd website or any Philippine government website, but to a blog site.
Users who provide their personal information, such as their school IDs, through the fake application link may be exposed to potential phishing scams and the risk of identity theft. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)
Fact-checked: Rappler has already debunked several false claims on supposed scholarship programs from various government agencies:
For official updates on DepEd programs and services, refer to its official website and social media accounts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube. – Chinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza/Rappler.comChinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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Marcos appoints Rommel Francisco Marbil as new PNP chief | Jairo Bolledo | 1/4/2024 9:43 | Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil
Screenshot
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, a day after he named an officer-in-charge (OIC) to take the place of retired police general Benjamin Acorda Jr.
As announced during the change of command and Acorda’s retirement ceremony on Monday, April 1, Marbil will be the new head of the 232,000-strong police force. Prior to his appointment, Marbil was the head of the PNP’s Directorate for Comptrollership.
Marbil, 55, will retire on February 7, 2025 after he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will be barely three months before the mid-term senatorial and local elections.
Marbil is Acorda’s classmate; they both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sambisig Class of 1991.
Marbil once headed the Eastern Visayas regional police – the home turf of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin. Incidentally, Romualdez is an honorary member of PMA Class 1991.
The new PNP chief also served as head of the PNP Highway Patrol Group. In December last year, a photo stating that Marbil will replace Acorda made the rounds of social media. This prompted the PNP to issue a statement dispelling the information.
Marbil is Marcos’ third PNP chief and the 30th top cop since the national police’s inception in 1991.
The announcement surprised not a few. On Sunday, March 31, Malacañang appointed Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta as acting PNP chief. Marbil’s appointment thus overwrote Peralta’s appointment, since the latter’s designation was effective “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise directed by this [Malacañang] office.”
There was an expectation that Peralta would serve at least for months, like previous PNP OICs. However, Peralta served as acting PNP chief for less than 24 hours. This was quite unusual since the last two PNP OICs – retired police generals Archie Gamboa and Vicente Danao – served at least for several months.
Gamboa was OIC for around three months and was eventually appointed PNP chief by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He served for almost a year before retiring in September 2020.
Danao, meanwhile, served for over three months. He was designated OIC on May 5, 2022 or a few days before the 2022 elections, and remained in the post until Marcos appointed retired police general Rodolfo Azurin Jr. as his first PNP chief in August 2022. – Rappler.com
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Congratulations to Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief. He has two huge problems to solve: 1) the capture of Pastor Quiboloy and 2) the discipline of police officials who did not follow the anti-drug policy of PBBM. Good luck, General Rommel Francisco.
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#WalangPasok: Class suspensions, Tuesday, April 2, 2024 | Acor Arceo | 1/4/2024 14:20 | MANILA, Philippines – Some areas suspended face-to-face classes for Tuesday, April 2, due to high heat index levels.
The heat index is measured using the air temperature and the relative humidity in a place at a given time. It is also called the feels-like temperature, and it typically soars during the Philippines’ warm and dry season from March to May.
This list will be updated once local or national authorities make announcements.
– Rappler.com
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View from Manila: How to counter China the Marcos and Aquino way | Bea Cupin | 1/4/2024 14:00 | WATER CANNONS IN AYUNGIN. Two China Coast Guard ships train their water cannons onto the Unaizah May 4 (between the two Chinese ships), a wooden boat used to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre. Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos was on board the Unaizah May during this mission.
Screenshot from PCG video
MANILA, Philippines – On Maundy Thursday, March 28, as Catholics all over the Philippines were practicing their penance and braving the unforgiving heat of the dry season, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced “a response and countermeasure package” given China’s “attacks” in the West Philippine Sea.
“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience,” said the Philippine President in his statement.
A week prior, Marcos also signed Executive Order 57, which renamed and reorganized the National Coast Watch Council (NCWC) into the National Maritime Council (NMC). The same EO created the Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns.
A key difference between the NCWC and the new NMC is the inclusion of the National Security Adviser as the representative of the National Security Council, the Solicitor General, and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. The National Security Adviser, retired military chief Eduardo Año, is also the chairperson of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.
The restructuring, in effect, strengthens a council that was created by the late former president, Benigno Aquino III.
Aquino and Marcos couldn’t be any more different. The late Aquino was the son of democracy icons who led the painful re-establishment of democracy in the Philippines. The current president is the son and namesake of the dictator whose horrible regime Aquino’s parents fought against.
Yet, as chief occupants of Malacañang nearly a decade apart, they find themselves in the same situation when it comes to dealing with our superpower Asian neighbor. How can Manila manage Beijing’s bullying in the South China Sea – particularly in the West Philippine Sea, where Filipino should be able to exercise their sovereign rights?
It was under Aquino that Manila took Beijing to court – a case that was decided on in 2016, just as Rodrigo Duterte promised a “pivot” to China. Many expected Marcos to continue Duterte’s pro-China policy (Who could blame them? The candidate Bongbong was painfully vague about his plans in 2022) but two years in, he’s done the exact opposite: bring Manila closer to Washington and other partners.
Marcos flexed the defense and security ties he’s built on and cultivated in his March 28 statement.
“I have also been in constant communication with representatives of relevant allies, partners, and friends in the international community. They have offered to help us on what the Philippines requires to protect and secure our Sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction while ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” said the President.
He added: “I have given them our requirements and we have been assured that they will be addressed.”
What will these countermeasures entail? Defense officials are understandably tight-lipped. Military officers have also yet to expound on these measures, and frankly, we don’t expect them to.
But remember the “new” National Maritime Council and the mention of “representatives of relevant allies, partners, and friends in the international community” in the aftermath of what is possibly the worst Chinese attack in the West Philippine Sea to date.
The March 23 resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal left the Unaizah May 4 worse for wear. The China Coast Guard’s water cannons injured three Navy personnel, including one soldier whose body was thrown against the wooden walls of the Unaizah May 4 from the impact of the water cannons.
An earlier mission on March 5, during which the Unaizah May 4’s wind shield was shattered, only saw one supply ship (the Unaizah May 1) making it to BRP Sierra Madre. On March 23, the Navy was able to rotate troops and bring only “essential supplies” via rubber boat to the grounded World War II ship.
Ayungin Shoal is an important feature; nearby is Recto Bank, believed to be bountiful in gas and oil deposits. It’s also crucial for the Philippines to maintain control of it because of how close Mischief Reef is to the Philippine mainland.
When China talks about the West Philippine Sea, they always bring up a couple of things: that it is theirs (it is not) and that the Philippines has failed to fulfill its promises. There are at least two promises that Manila has supposedly reneged on: a promise to tow the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal (who made that promise and when it was made, nobody can or is willing to say) and a promise not to bring construction supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre so no harassment would befall Filipino sailors.
Marcos has already denied the existence of a tow promise and said that if any agreement does exist, he officially rescinds it.
The second promise was apparently made under then-president Rodrigo Duterte. Rappler’s community head Pia Ranada, then Malacañang reporter, reported China’s promise “not to block the Philippine military’s delivery of food and humanitarian supplies”
“China, however, draws the line when it comes to delivery of construction supplies to Ayungin Shoal. Fearing Philippine construction of a lighthouse or similar structure, Chinese officials have said they will react to the sending of these types of materials,” reads her August 2019 report, summarizing West Philippine Sea deals brokered under Duterte.
But Manila can’t seem to find any documentation of this promise, and neither has Beijing produced evidence.
Retired associate justice Antonio Carpio, among the country’s foremost experts on the West Philippine Sea, said that the supposed Duterte-era deal was “lopsided” and a “disguised surrendered” of the Philippines’ sovereign rights over Ayungin Shoal, a low-tide elevation.
“Duterte knew that without repairs the BRP Sierra Madre would collapse and thus end our presence in Ayungin Shoal…. Duterte’s ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ was lopsided in favor of China which under the Arbitral Award had no right to erect any structure on Ayungin Shoal and had no right to stop the Phil from erecting any structure on Ayungin Shoal, much less any right to stop the Philippines from repairing the Sierra Madre,” he said.
Besides, as another West Philippine Sea expert, Jay Batongbacal pointed out, China has no moral ascendancy in insisting on keeping promises. Back in the late 90s, Beijing wrote that its construction in Mischief Reef was just a fisherman’s shelter. It was not, and it rapidly turned into a military outpost.
The developments in Mischief Reef is why the BRP Sierra Madre was run aground in the first place.
If a few weeks ago, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) seethed over the Chinese Embassy’s anonymous disclosure of confidential discussions to media, Beijing has been seething everywhere, everything, at all once it seems.
It lashed out too against… the Philippine media. This is nothing new. China has also bristled over the presence of journalists during Philippine missions to another feature, Bajo de Masinloc.
Three organizations – the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Defense Press Corps – issued separate statements denouncing China’s ministry of foreign affairs and its embassy in Manila.
Beijing has also been busy fuming at Seoul after its Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said they were “gravely concerned about the recent and repeated use of water cannons in the South China Sea” in a March 26 briefing.
“We are gravely concerned about the recent and repeated use of water cannons in the South China Sea,” Seoul’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lim Soo-suk, told a briefing.
“The ROK is not a party to the South China Sea issue. What the ROK has done lately does not contribute to peace and stability in the South China Sea, still less to China-ROK relations. We urge the ROK to stay prudent when it comes to the South China Sea issue,” said China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Lin Jian, in a March 28 briefing.
South Korea is among the countries that have only recently expressed support for the Philippines and concern over China’s actions in the South China Sea.
Another major country in the Indo-Pacific, India, also recently reiterated support for the Philippines. During a quick visit to Manila, India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar emphasized the importance of adherence to the “rules based order” as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“We are convinced that the progress and prosperity of this region Is best served by staunch adherence to a rules-based order, the UNCLOS. It is particularly important in that regard as it is the constitution of the seas. All parties must adhere to it in its entirety both in letter and in spirit,” said Jaishankar.
Of course, Beijing is sure to seethe over the upcoming leaders’ trilateral meeting between the US, Japan, and the Philippines in Washington, DC. Politico is reporting that a joint sail in the South China is in the works for the three countries. – Rappler.com
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I agree: “What will these countermeasures entail? Defense officials are understandably tight-lipped. Military officers have also yet to expound on these measures, and frankly, we don’t expect them to.” Even if this is against the Principle of Transparency, National Security should take precedence at this point in time. I hope that PBBM has checked the loyalty of each National Maritime Council (NMC) member and the Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns. We know there are many pro-China government officials, even though some are silent about it and some deny it, too. Perhaps the Office of the Vice-President and the Senate are offices to look into.
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Environmentalists oppose construction of capitol building on Cebu mountain | jsitchon0312 | 1/4/2024 16:43 | SHAVED. Netizen Wiley Yray's drone shot view of the deforested area of a mountain in Balamban gained numerous mixed reactions on March 18.
Wiley Yray
CEBU, Philippines – A coalition of concerned citizens and environmentalists started a petition on Monday, April 1, opposing the construction of the Cebu provincial government’s capitol building on a mountain in Balamban town.
In a petition on change.org, the Save Cebu Movement alleged that the civil works, located along the slope of a mountain in Barangay Cambuhawe, Balamban, risked the geological formation’s capacity to protect critical watersheds and defend against natural disasters.
“This project poses a grave threat to the mountain ecosystem and a possible irreversible damage to the environment,” the petition read.
To recall, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia announced in November 5, 2020, plans to relocate the provincial capitol from Cebu City to Balamban town with the aim of making government services more accessible to the public and spur development in the area.
Initially, P550 million were earmarked for land acquisition and construction work. In 2023, the province allotted P200 million and received the pledges of Senator Sonny Angara and Senator Francis Tolentino, who promised P100 million and P80 million, respectively.
Thousands of netizens criticized the relocation after a Facebook post by Wiley Yray on March 18 showed a shaved off area of a mountain top where the project site is believed to be located.
Garcia refuted this claim on March 22, stating that the deforested area of the mountain is for a road project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“Prone kaayo mo sa landslide ana, gi unsa ninyo paghunahuna (That’s so prone to landslide, how did you even think of this),” netizen Neil Descartin Tingal said in a comment on Yray’s post.
The environmental coalition demanded a halt to the project until a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was done and environmental rules and regulations were properly enforced.
The Save Cebu Movement, in a statement on Saturday, March 30, condemned what it called a “continued assault” on Cebu’s mountains.
“The ongoing site development in Balamban pending a showing that a proper Environmental Impact Assessment has been conducted by the proponent shows the egregious disregard of the Constitution as well as environmental laws and regulations,” their statement read.
The coalition said that Cebu’s mountains serve as buffer zones for the Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL).
The CCPL covers parts of protected areas namely, the Central Cebu National Park, Kotkot-Lusuran Watershed Forest Reserve, Mananga Watershed Forest Reserve, Sudlon National Park, and the Buhisan Dam.
The Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018, says buffer zones are “areas outside the boundaries of and are immediately adjacent to designated protected areas that need special development control to prevent or reduce harm to the area. “
Similar to the Bohol resort controversy, the Save Cebu Movement alleged that the project lacked important documents like the environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
“If there was no EIA and environmental compliance certificate, why did the province, municipality, and environmental department allow the DPWH to proceed, if indeed it is DPWH’s site development work,” Save Cebu Movement’s statement read.
The Save Cebu Movement called on to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Office of the Ombudsman to probe the issue immediately.
“Those responsible must be held accountable and answer to criminal, civil, and administrative liabilities,” they said.
At least 11 organizations and 15 individuals, comprising lawyers and advocates, signed the Save Cebu Movement statement on Wednesday, March 27.
Garcia’s staff said, the governor will clarify the issue in a press conference on Tuesday, April 2. – 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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CA upholds life sentences of 7 Abu Sayyaf members in 2007 Palawan murder | Herbie G | 1/4/2024 14:20 | Shutterstock.com
MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the decision of a regional court that convicted seven members of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf and sentenced them to spend the rest of their life in prison for the murder of a military informer nearly 17 years ago.
The appellate court, however, modified the ruling of the Regional Trial Court in Taguig, increasing the civil liabilities of the convicts.
The seven men – Omar Jakarin Ibno, Hiya Arabain Hapipuddin, Muadzi Aisal Jala, Najer M. Daud, Omar E. Panagas, Jemar Malpa, and Ibrahim Misuari – were found guilty for the 2007 murder of military informer Jemar Bairulla.
The incident happened on August 12, 2007, when a group shot Bairulla dead during a boat trip to Sarong, Bataraza, Palawan.
Court records showed that they tried to cover up the murder by burying the body in sand, but a fisherman found the corpse two days later.
On September 6, 2007, the suspects were arrested in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and taken to a military camp in Zamboanga City for questioning. There, they denied being part of the Abu Sayyaf group and said they had no role in Bairulla’s death. They also claimed to be students and said they were arrested illegally, accusing the military of forcing them to confess.
The CA, however, rejected the group’s assertions as it upheld their murder convictions and their reclusion perpetua sentences, without parole.
In a 26-page decision penned by Associate Justice Eduardo Ramos Jr., the CA’s 7th Division confirmed the earlier decision of the Taguig cour as it revised the lower court’s order on civil damages. From P275,000, they were ordered to P350,000 in damages, which includes moral, exemplary, and temperate damages, with a 6% annual interest from the judgment’s finalization until full payment.
The appellate court stated, “The evidence of the prosecution was strong enough to overcome the constitutional presumption of innocence in their favor…. The defense has failed to refute the prosecution’s evidence. Hence, the accused-appellants must remain in prison for the rest of their lives unless age or sincere remorse unfastens their bonds.” – Rappler.com
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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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#WalangPasok: Class suspensions, Tuesday, April 2, 2024 | Acor Arceo | 1/4/2024 14:20 | MANILA, Philippines – Some areas suspended face-to-face classes for Tuesday, April 2, due to high heat index levels.
The heat index is measured using the air temperature and the relative humidity in a place at a given time. It is also called the feels-like temperature, and it typically soars during the Philippines’ warm and dry season from March to May.
This list will be updated once local or national authorities make announcements.
– Rappler.com
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No expiry date in chasing dreams: Elderly mountaineer aims for Everest | Herbie G | 1/4/2024 10:06 | MOUNT FUJI SUMMIT. Elderly mountaineer Feliciano Legara Jr. unfurls the Philippine flag at Japan’s Mount Fuji on August 8, 2023.
photo courtesy of Feliciano Legara
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines – A Filipino retiree’s desire to scale the world’s highest peak reflects his belief that age is never an obstacle to pursuing dreams and life’s aspirations.
It’s not only about climbing mountains but also redefining the life and health of the elderly after retirement, according to 66-year-old Engineer Feliciano Legara Jr., who has made climbing mountains his career after retiring from work in December 2022.
Legara has already reached the summits of the three highest mountains in the Philippines, Japan’s Mount Fuji, and most recently, Mount Jade (Yu-Shan), the highest peak in Taiwan and the highest in Northeast Asia.
Legara made all these arduous minor and major climbs in the Philippines and abroad in less than two years, despite having no prior experience in mountain climbing before his first ascent.
In conquering the 3,952-meter Mount Jade amid biting cold weather on March 19, Legara completed the second leg of his Asian Trilogy Peak Challenge. He was the only elderly person in a group of 19 young climbers who reached the peak of Mount Jade, known for its rugged Alpine terrain.
Legara reached the peak of the 3,776-meter Mount Fuji on August 8, 2023. Despite his senior age, he arrived at the Fuji summit ahead of a group, half of whom failed to reach the peak.
As the final leg of the trilogy challenge, Legara will climb the 4,095-meter Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia this May, en route to an icy trek to the 2,228-meter Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest peak, this August.
Should all the preparations go well, Legara said he hopes to see the Everest Base Camp (EBC), nestled at 5,364 meters high at the foot of the world’s tallest mountain, by October.
He said trekking to the EBC alone would require great determination, sustained physical endurance, and mental resilience.
“I anticipate it as quite challenging, but tremendously rewarding,” he said.
Months before reaching the retirement age of 65 in 2022, a group of younger colleagues invited him to climb the 2,938-meter Mount Dulang-dulang in the Kitanglad mountain range in Bukidnon, considered by mountaineers as a major climb.
Legara’s lack of mountaineering experience and scant knowledge of the dangers involved did not deter him from joining his younger colleagues in climbing the Philippines’ second-highest peak on September 29 and 30, 2022.
After Dulang-dulang, Legara developed a keen desire to conquer mountains, including the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. He said the Dulang-dulang climb exposed him to the incredible feeling of being on top of the world, boosting his confidence.
“I thought that if I made it to the Philippines’ second-highest peak on my first attempt, maybe I could succeed in other major climbs,” Legara said.
About five months after the Dulang-dulang climb, Legara gathered his gear and set out for his second major climb. This time, it was Mount Pulag, the Philippines’ third-highest at 2,928 meters, famous for its sea of clouds and a view of the Milky Way at early dawn.
The Pulag climb in the Cordilleras was followed by an ascent on March 25, 2023, to the summit of the 2,954-meter-high Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak.
Legara scaled smaller mountains in preparation for major climbs, like summiting Fung Wong Shan, Hong Kong’s highest peak before his Mount Jade ascent.
Before his Mount Fuji climb, Legara had preparatory treks to Mount Mamuyao and other mountains in Luzon, even as Typhoon Egay battered the country, and then to Mount Takao in Hachiōji, Tokyo.
In less than a year, the neophyte elderly mountaineer conquered the country’s three highest peaks, not to mention the treks on smaller mountains before embarking on major climbs.
“After the major climbs in the Philippines, it became my dream to stand atop Mount Everest,” said Legara, who hails from Cotabato City but now resides with his family in Cagayan de Oro City.
However, Legara said his family’s apprehensions, noting that “the risk is way too high for an elderly person like me.” Mountaineers, he said, always consider there is a 1% fatality rate and a 25% chance of failure.
He recalled some difficulties due to extreme heat during a climb to Mount Batulao in Batangas, preparatory to the Mount Fuji ascent. A female climber perished at the summit during that climb due to heat stroke, leaving a grim reminder not to take things for granted, he added.
In each of his climbs, Legara said he puts the same effort into preparations, whether it’s a major climb or a minor one.
Legara’s family knows well his character of defying limits when he sets his mind to something, but his decision to pursue mountaineering came as a bit of a surprise. His engineer wife, Emedita, and their children were expecting him to pursue a lucrative business or go into farming.
His daughter Erika Fille, an acclaimed data scientist, said the family discussed what her father would do after retirement. Out of the blue, Erika said, his father told them that he wanted to “climb mountains!”
“Mountain climbing is a dangerous activity and too risky for elderly persons. But knowing him, he always has the determination to get what he wants,” Legara’s wife, Emedita, said.
Legara’s daughter Erika has a deeper view of her father’s decision, saying it’s not just about climbing mountains.
“It’s about a guy who’s been hustling since he was a kid,” Erika said.
Legara sold newspapers when he was 10 years old to help provide for his family. His father died when he was five years old, and his mother made a living doing laundry.
Unlike other retirees who opt to stay at home and rest, Erika said her father decided he has more mountains to conquer, both literally and figuratively, showing everyone that there is no expiry date in chasing dreams.
“Keep climbing, Dad!” she quipped. – Rappler.com
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COA flags Nabcor’s unfinished liquidation a decade since abolition | Dwight de Leon | 1/4/2024 8:00 | Graphics by Alyssa Arizabal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor), a government agency whose abolition was approved by the late former president Benigno Aquino III in 2013, has yet to complete its plan for liquidation more than a decade later.
The Commission on Audit (COA), which flagged the delay, warned that continuing inaction by Department of Agriculture (DA) officials may lead to the loss of Nabcor’s remaining assets, as well as the non-enforcement of notices of disallowance covered by notices of finality of decision (NFD).
State auditors said the agency had 158 total disallowances with corresponding NFDs as of end-2023, and those transactions were worth P406.25 million.
DA Assistant Secretary for Consumer Affairs Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, the chairperson of the technical working group of the DA’s transition management committee, assured COA it will ramp up efforts to expedite the closing of Nabcor’s book of accounts.
It was in 2013 when the Governance Commission on GOCCs recommended the abolition of Nabcor for operating at a loss for numerous years.
The agency was also linked to the multi-billion-peso fraud in relation to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Malampaya Fund scams. – Rappler.com
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Marcos appoints Rommel Francisco Marbil as new PNP chief | Jairo Bolledo | 1/4/2024 9:43 | Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil
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MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, a day after he named an officer-in-charge (OIC) to take the place of retired police general Benjamin Acorda Jr.
As announced during the change of command and Acorda’s retirement ceremony on Monday, April 1, Marbil will be the new head of the 232,000-strong police force. Prior to his appointment, Marbil was the head of the PNP’s Directorate for Comptrollership.
Marbil, 55, will retire on February 7, 2025 after he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will be barely three months before the mid-term senatorial and local elections.
Marbil is Acorda’s classmate; they both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sambisig Class of 1991.
Marbil once headed the Eastern Visayas regional police – the home turf of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin. Incidentally, Romualdez is an honorary member of PMA Class 1991.
The new PNP chief also served as head of the PNP Highway Patrol Group. In December last year, a photo stating that Marbil will replace Acorda made the rounds of social media. This prompted the PNP to issue a statement dispelling the information.
Marbil is Marcos’ third PNP chief and the 30th top cop since the national police’s inception in 1991.
The announcement surprised not a few. On Sunday, March 31, Malacañang appointed Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta as acting PNP chief. Marbil’s appointment thus overwrote Peralta’s appointment, since the latter’s designation was effective “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise directed by this [Malacañang] office.”
There was an expectation that Peralta would serve at least for months, like previous PNP OICs. However, Peralta served as acting PNP chief for less than 24 hours. This was quite unusual since the last two PNP OICs – retired police generals Archie Gamboa and Vicente Danao – served at least for several months.
Gamboa was OIC for around three months and was eventually appointed PNP chief by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He served for almost a year before retiring in September 2020.
Danao, meanwhile, served for over three months. He was designated OIC on May 5, 2022 or a few days before the 2022 elections, and remained in the post until Marcos appointed retired police general Rodolfo Azurin Jr. as his first PNP chief in August 2022. – Rappler.com
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Congratulations to Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief. He has two huge problems to solve: 1) the capture of Pastor Quiboloy and 2) the discipline of police officials who did not follow the anti-drug policy of PBBM. Good luck, General Rommel Francisco.
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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.
PBA Images
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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Marcos appoints Rommel Francisco Marbil as new PNP chief | Jairo Bolledo | 1/4/2024 9:43 | Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil
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MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, a day after he named an officer-in-charge (OIC) to take the place of retired police general Benjamin Acorda Jr.
As announced during the change of command and Acorda’s retirement ceremony on Monday, April 1, Marbil will be the new head of the 232,000-strong police force. Prior to his appointment, Marbil was the head of the PNP’s Directorate for Comptrollership.
Marbil, 55, will retire on February 7, 2025 after he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will be barely three months before the mid-term senatorial and local elections.
Marbil is Acorda’s classmate; they both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sambisig Class of 1991.
Marbil once headed the Eastern Visayas regional police – the home turf of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin. Incidentally, Romualdez is an honorary member of PMA Class 1991.
The new PNP chief also served as head of the PNP Highway Patrol Group. In December last year, a photo stating that Marbil will replace Acorda made the rounds of social media. This prompted the PNP to issue a statement dispelling the information.
Marbil is Marcos’ third PNP chief and the 30th top cop since the national police’s inception in 1991.
The announcement surprised not a few. On Sunday, March 31, Malacañang appointed Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta as acting PNP chief. Marbil’s appointment thus overwrote Peralta’s appointment, since the latter’s designation was effective “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise directed by this [Malacañang] office.”
There was an expectation that Peralta would serve at least for months, like previous PNP OICs. However, Peralta served as acting PNP chief for less than 24 hours. This was quite unusual since the last two PNP OICs – retired police generals Archie Gamboa and Vicente Danao – served at least for several months.
Gamboa was OIC for around three months and was eventually appointed PNP chief by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He served for almost a year before retiring in September 2020.
Danao, meanwhile, served for over three months. He was designated OIC on May 5, 2022 or a few days before the 2022 elections, and remained in the post until Marcos appointed retired police general Rodolfo Azurin Jr. as his first PNP chief in August 2022. – Rappler.com
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Congratulations to Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief. He has two huge problems to solve: 1) the capture of Pastor Quiboloy and 2) the discipline of police officials who did not follow the anti-drug policy of PBBM. Good luck, General Rommel Francisco.
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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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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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LIST: April 2024 special non-working days in PH provinces, cities, towns | Miriam Grace Go | 26/03/2024 20:09 | Pangasinan image from provincial government; Antipolo and Mountain Province images from Shutterstock
MANILA, Philippines – This is a compilation of special non-working days in various localities in the Philippines for April 2024, as proclaimed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Bookmark this page for possible additional announcements from Malacañang. – Rappler.com
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COA flags Nabcor’s unfinished liquidation a decade since abolition | Dwight de Leon | 1/4/2024 8:00 | Graphics by Alyssa Arizabal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor), a government agency whose abolition was approved by the late former president Benigno Aquino III in 2013, has yet to complete its plan for liquidation more than a decade later.
The Commission on Audit (COA), which flagged the delay, warned that continuing inaction by Department of Agriculture (DA) officials may lead to the loss of Nabcor’s remaining assets, as well as the non-enforcement of notices of disallowance covered by notices of finality of decision (NFD).
State auditors said the agency had 158 total disallowances with corresponding NFDs as of end-2023, and those transactions were worth P406.25 million.
DA Assistant Secretary for Consumer Affairs Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, the chairperson of the technical working group of the DA’s transition management committee, assured COA it will ramp up efforts to expedite the closing of Nabcor’s book of accounts.
It was in 2013 when the Governance Commission on GOCCs recommended the abolition of Nabcor for operating at a loss for numerous years.
The agency was also linked to the multi-billion-peso fraud in relation to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Malampaya Fund scams. – Rappler.com
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Marcos appoints Rommel Francisco Marbil as new PNP chief | Jairo Bolledo | 1/4/2024 9:43 | Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil
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MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, a day after he named an officer-in-charge (OIC) to take the place of retired police general Benjamin Acorda Jr.
As announced during the change of command and Acorda’s retirement ceremony on Monday, April 1, Marbil will be the new head of the 232,000-strong police force. Prior to his appointment, Marbil was the head of the PNP’s Directorate for Comptrollership.
Marbil, 55, will retire on February 7, 2025 after he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will be barely three months before the mid-term senatorial and local elections.
Marbil is Acorda’s classmate; they both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Sambisig Class of 1991.
Marbil once headed the Eastern Visayas regional police – the home turf of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin. Incidentally, Romualdez is an honorary member of PMA Class 1991.
The new PNP chief also served as head of the PNP Highway Patrol Group. In December last year, a photo stating that Marbil will replace Acorda made the rounds of social media. This prompted the PNP to issue a statement dispelling the information.
Marbil is Marcos’ third PNP chief and the 30th top cop since the national police’s inception in 1991.
The announcement surprised not a few. On Sunday, March 31, Malacañang appointed Police Lieutenant General Emmanuel Peralta as acting PNP chief. Marbil’s appointment thus overwrote Peralta’s appointment, since the latter’s designation was effective “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise directed by this [Malacañang] office.”
There was an expectation that Peralta would serve at least for months, like previous PNP OICs. However, Peralta served as acting PNP chief for less than 24 hours. This was quite unusual since the last two PNP OICs – retired police generals Archie Gamboa and Vicente Danao – served at least for several months.
Gamboa was OIC for around three months and was eventually appointed PNP chief by former president Rodrigo Duterte. He served for almost a year before retiring in September 2020.
Danao, meanwhile, served for over three months. He was designated OIC on May 5, 2022 or a few days before the 2022 elections, and remained in the post until Marcos appointed retired police general Rodolfo Azurin Jr. as his first PNP chief in August 2022. – Rappler.com
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Congratulations to Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief. He has two huge problems to solve: 1) the capture of Pastor Quiboloy and 2) the discipline of police officials who did not follow the anti-drug policy of PBBM. Good luck, General Rommel Francisco.
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LIST: April 2024 special non-working days in PH provinces, cities, towns | Miriam Grace Go | 26/03/2024 20:09 | Pangasinan image from provincial government; Antipolo and Mountain Province images from Shutterstock
MANILA, Philippines – This is a compilation of special non-working days in various localities in the Philippines for April 2024, as proclaimed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Bookmark this page for possible additional announcements from Malacañang. – Rappler.com
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[Newsstand] The Marcoses’ three-body problem | Miriam Grace Go | 1/4/2024 9:00 | The success of the Marcos-Duterte electoral alliance in 2022 was so massive it could be said that the political equivalent of Newton’s law of inertia applied to it. A body moving at constant speed in a straight line will continue moving at constant speed in a straight line unless a force acted upon it. The alliance – if all went well, if the different parts moved at the same speed and kept to the same line – had a lock on the 2028 presidential election, which in our part of the universe determines other political possibilities.
And then a force acted upon it. Now the alliance has descended into a war of the dynasties, between the Marcoses and the Dutertes, and an opening is starting to form, not necessarily for the political opposition but perhaps for a political third force led by someone like the populist, and popular, Senator Raffy Tulfo.
But the reality of politics has always been messy; perhaps Newton’s laws of motion cannot really explain it. For some analysts, the break between the Marcoses and the Dutertes was inevitable; inertia was never an explanation. But some politicians believed in the alliance, and continue to do so even in the middle of the dynastic war; the law of action and reaction governs their pragmatic attempts to end it.
Another way to look at the political situation today, to understand the “chaos” affecting the political class, is to borrow the theory at the heart of the popular Netflix series, 3-Body Problem, based on Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem trilogy.
What is the three-body problem?
The character Wang Miao explains: “It’s actually pretty simple. The reason why the sun’s motion seems patternless is because our world has three suns. Under the influence of their mutually perturbing gravitational attraction, their movements are unpredictable – the three-body problem. When our planet revolves around one of the suns in a stable orbit, that’s a Stable Era. When one or more of the other suns move within a certain distance, their gravitational pull will snatch the planet away from the sun it’s orbiting, causing it to wander unstably through the gravitational fields of the three suns. That’s a Chaotic Era. After an uncertain amount of time, our planet is once again pulled into a temporary orbit and another Stable Era begins. This is a football game at the scale of the universe. The players are the three suns, and our planet is the football.”
(This excerpt is of course from the Ken Liu translation.)
The three suns in the second Marcos administration are President Marcos, his older sister Senator Imee Marcos, and his cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez.
We can measure their gravitational pull on the planet of Philippine politics according to three factors: the scale of rehabilitation of the Marcos legacy and name, the question of presidential succession, and the choice of primary geopolitical partner. There must be other criteria, but I suggest that these three form the core. These describe their hold on their moons, account for the difference in their orbits – and explain why the Stable Era promised by the UniTeam’s unprecedented victory has deteriorated into a Chaotic Era.
I think that President Marcos understands his election in 2022 as a completion of the task his family imposed on him since at least 1995, the first time he ran for national office; he has rehabilitated the Marcos name simply by winning the office his father held for 20 years. His election created the minimum condition of rehabilitation – that the public regard his father no longer as a dictator but as “just another” president, the first Marcos – and I think he is happy to claim the win.
Senator Marcos’s definition of rehabilitation is much broader. She wants public opinion to reflect how she thinks of her father, as a great man wronged by history. She wants to restore her father to an imagined gallery of greatness, and this requires nothing less than a repudiation of the Edsa People Power uprising. (On rereading, I see that my July 2022 column “The four REs of the Marcos restoration” actually tracks Imee’s position more closely than her brother’s.) For Imee, it is not enough for the first Marcos to be seen as just another president.
Speaker Romualdez’s idea of rehabilitation is just as expansive, but in a different direction. He expects it to cover not only the Marcoses but the Romualdezes too. For him, the true measure of rehabilitation is if another member of their extended family succeeds his cousin. His reading has disturbed others in the political class, even those who warmly welcomed the return of the Marcoses to Malacañang, because it unnecessarily tests the boundaries of political power. One may be willing to concede power to a family for six years, but 12?
Marcos continues to keep his personal relationship with his vice president warm, even in the face of outright hostility and insolent language from his predecessor the former president and the two Duterte sons. I think he is pragmatic enough to accept a Duterte as a successor, if that is the way his political interests lie; at the same time, he cannot but be open to a Romualdez or a Tulfo, for the same reason. But it seems clear that his influential wife’s counsel is what he will keep. This sub-factor is a particular sticking point with other members of the political class, especially the Dutertes.
Imee Marcos was one of Rodrigo Duterte’s original supporters in his long-shot campaign for the presidency in 2016, and was instrumental in convincing Duterte’s more popular daughter Sara to run as Bongbong Marcos’s running mate in 2022. As I see it, she wants her family to honor the explicit or implied agreement with the Dutertes that made the UniTeam tandem possible in the first place: Support Sara for president in 2028. While her definition of political rehabilitation is maximalist, her understanding of the dynamic of presidential elections is much more pragmatic. She sees Sara as still the candidate to beat in 2028 AND also the president who can consolidate the gains of the Marcoses best.
From all indications, Speaker Romualdez wants to become the next president. He may still run for a third term as representative of the 1st District of Leyte next year, but his long-term strategy may likely involve a Senate run in 2025. A strong showing would place him in strong contention for 2028. (See Gloria Arroyo in 1995, or Grace Poe in 2013.) The ongoing campaign to raise his profile in different congressional districts is an expensive signal; to give only one example, the constituency-serving facility set up on Kamuning Street in Quezon City, while ostensibly an alliance between the district representative and his wife Yedda Romualdez’s Tingog party-list group, features only one larger-than-life image: his.
Before Marcos came to power, I thought he would continue moving in the direction set by President Duterte’s pivot to China; his family’s historical ties with Chinese leadership weighed heavily in my estimate. Instead, he has firmly redirected Philippine foreign policy back to Washington DC and the Western alliance. This must stem in part from the recognition that there is an international aspect to the project of rehabilitation; in his view, the course of cleaning up the family name runs through key Western capitals.
Senator Marcos would favor a return to the Duterte China-first policy. The language she used in presenting her seven-point plan in September 2022 as Senate foreign affairs committee chair speaks of “engagement” with Beijing, but her remarks since then suggest collaboration rather than engagement, to the extent that today she is seen as the principal non-Duterte defender of China. (She resents this perception.)
Romualdez has controversially accompanied the President on many of his foreign travels, in part to assert his idea of “legislative diplomacy” and his ideal of Congress as a full partner of the Executive in foreign policy. But he shares the pro-Western view of his cousin, Ambassador to the United States Babe Romualdez; donated $2 million to fund a Tagalog course in Harvard University; has consistently supported the strengthening of Philippine-American ties. As president, he would likely deepen the Philippine partnership with the United States.
In the last two years, the three suns have each increased in mass. Romualdez’s Lakas-CMD is now the largest single party in Congress, and he has proved that he can make Congress jump through hoops. Imee has reinforced her ties with the Dutertes, who have been welcoming former allies (such as former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez) back into the fold; at the same time, she has leaned into her role as a dependable source, “good copy,” for the media. The President remains buoyed both by constant travel and the warm welcome of Western allies; the scope of influence of his wife Lisa Araneta Marcos has also widened.
As a result, their “mutually perturbing gravitational attraction ” has also grown. The turmoil within the ruling coalition includes many celestial anomalies: a stealthy two-pronged campaign to change the Constitution; open conflict between the Senate and the House; a tightening of the net around key Duterte allies; the suddenly more substantial shadow of the International Criminal Court looming from The Hague; even more aggressive interventions by Beijing in the West Philippine Sea; ever closer ties with Washington, Tokyo, Canberra, London.
All this instability can be explained simply. There are three competing centers of gravity within the extended Marcos family. – Rappler.com
Veteran journalist John Nery is a Rappler columnist, editorial consultant, and program host. His In the Public Square streams on Rappler platforms every Wednesday at 8 pm.
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If I could add to the growing “mutually perturbing gravitational attraction” and “many celestial bodies,” how would Digong, Sara Duterte, Quiboloy, Tulfo, USA, and China be represented? Are they moons that are orbiting their corresponding suns? How about the Filipino People? Are they the humankind who will bear what such “chaos” brings?
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Gilas Women exit FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup after quarterfinal loss to Chinese Taipei | delfin.dioquino editor | 31/03/2024 15:44 | ATTEMPT. Camille Clarin in action for Gilas Women 3x3 in the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.
FIBA
MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Women 3×3 ran out of gas in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in Singapore and saw their unbeaten run come to a halt in the quarterfinals following a 19-9 defeat to Chinese Taipei on Sunday, March 31.
Winning all five of their games from the qualifying draw to the pool stage, the banged-up Filipinas failed to advance as they struggled to keep in step with the bigger Taiwanese.
Mikka Cacho bravely played through a right knee injury and joined hands with Camille Clarin and Kaye Pingol to steer Gilas Women to a 5-4 lead before Chinese Taipei turned the tides.
The Taiwanese uncorked an 9-1 run to build a commanding 13-6 lead as they pounced on the Filipinas’ shooting woes, with Kuo Hung-Ting and Chen Yu Chieh scoring 4 and 3 points, respectively, during that crucial stretch.
Kuo and Chen finished with 8 points each to propel Chinese Taipei to the final four.
Clarin paced Gilas Women with 3 points and 5 rebounds, while Cacho tallied 3 points as she played sparingly due to her injury.
Kaye Pingol scored 2 points and Jhazmine Joson got limited to 1 point after missing all of her five attempts from two-point distance.
Joining Chinese Taipei in the semifinals are New Zealand, Australia, and Mongolia.
While the Filipinas reached the knockout round, Gilas Men ended their campaign without a win after bowing to Australia and Japan in the pool stage. – Rappler.com
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LIST: April 2024 special non-working days in PH provinces, cities, towns | Miriam Grace Go | 26/03/2024 20:09 | Pangasinan image from provincial government; Antipolo and Mountain Province images from Shutterstock
MANILA, Philippines – This is a compilation of special non-working days in various localities in the Philippines for April 2024, as proclaimed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Bookmark this page for possible additional announcements from Malacañang. – Rappler.com
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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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Christian churches pray for Easter hope despite problems under Marcos | Paterno Esmaquel II | 31/03/2024 22:51 | HAPPY EASTER! The National Council of Churches in the Philippines holds its 75th Ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, March 31, 2024.
Angie de Silva/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – More than 400 Christians gathered at Bantayog ng mga Bayani, a memorial for victims of the Marcos dictatorship, to celebrate the resurrection of Christ in the face of the Philippines’ problems under the second Marcos presidency.
The 61-year-old National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the largest alliance of Christian churches in this predominantly Catholic country, held its 75th Ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani from 4:30 to 7 am on Easter Sunday, March 31.
In this Easter service, various prayer leaders took turns in praying to the “God of freedom” for “genuine justice and peace,” for the safety of Filipino fishermen in the face of China’s bullying in the West Philippine Sea, and for assistance to migrants and workers.
The prayers at the ecumenical service also sought to uphold the rights of indigenous people and cultural communities against “exploitative and oppressive systems,” to defend women “amid patriarchy and a feudal system,” and to open the eyes of Christians to “the realities of our LGBTQIA+ community.”
NCCP, known for its activist stance, is at the forefront of fighting government abuses, such as the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. This comes at a steep price: its members have been red-tagged.
“Talking about Jesus’ Lordship is about challenging the powers that are lording over us,” said NCCP chairperson Bishop Melzar Labuntog in his homily on Sunday.
Labuntog, who is also the general secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, noted how Jesus “was killed because of His passion for a different kind of world.” In this world, he said, “the good news is proclaimed to the poor,” and there is freedom for prisoners and the oppressed, and recovery of sight to the blind.
“To declare that Jesus is alive means that the hungry are given food, the homeless are being sheltered, the poor are being cared for,” Labuntog said.
In an interview with Rappler, Labuntog said it was significant that the NCCP was holding its Easter service at Bantayog ng mga Bayani because it memorializes “heroes of the faith who have given their lives for a very worthy cause” during the Marcos dictatorship.
Labuntog said that under the dictator’s son, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the nation’s problems still include poverty, low wages, and high prices of goods. Churches should stay involved in social issues like these because “God is involved in the lives of the people.”
Also explaining why the NCCP chose to celebrate Easter at Bantayog ng mga Bayani, NCCP general secretary Minnie Anne Mata-Calub said that former NCCP members – such as their former general secretary, peace advocate Bishop La Verne Mercado – are among the names on the Bantayog wall of remembrance.
The ambience of the Bantayog helps explain what Easter means for Christian churches, she added.
“Easter, as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, also gives hope that in the middle of all the chaos and problems in our society, there is hope – because resurrection is hope for us,” she told Rappler in a mix of English and Filipino.
Dr. Gay Manodon, deacon of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, also said Easter means hope – which is important in the fight against amending the country’s Constitution. “Imagine giving 100% ownership of our land, communications, and education to foreigners,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. “There is hope that this will not happen.”
Bishop Dindo Ranojo, general secretary of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or the Aglipayan Church, said in a separate interview that churches should not keep quiet on social problems, and should instead serve as “modern prophets” who give hope to people.
When asked about the biggest challenges under the Marcos presidency, Ranojo said in Filipino: “First, we need to continue the peace talks, fight for the West Philippine Sea, boost our agriculture, and look after the welfare of citizens, workers, farmers, and most of all the indigenous people… because the environment is our capital for our a better future.”
If given an opportunity to speak with Marcos, Ranojo said: “First, he should listen to the voice of the people. Second, he should pay attention to what is really happening and remedy the problems of our society.”
Bishop Rex Reyes of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines said that Christ “is understood from a prophetic standpoint” by the NCCP. “You challenge the status quo, and the essence of Easter sunrise is to galvanize that mobilization,” Reyes said.
Rappler asked Reyes, like Ranojo, about his message to Marcos if he gets the chance to address the President.
“Ay naku (Oh my gosh), I wouldn’t know how to address that guy,” said Reyes, who was a high school student when the President’s father declared Martial Law. “Until this time, I am still reeling from the impact of that rule.”
Reyes noted how the President “comes out with things that are similar to what his dad used,” like his slogan “Bagong Pilipinas” (New Philippines), which is similar to the “Bagong Lipunan” (New Society) of the Martial Law years. He also cited the President’s own version of his father’s Masagana 99 for boosting agriculture. “What the heck,” the bishop said.
“I would think twice about addressing him. I don’t like to talk to him,” Reyes said.
Toward the end of the interview, he pointed to the black marble walls where the names of Martial Law victims are inscribed at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. “The fact that we celebrate this observance amid those great names there, is very important for me,” he added.
“Those are heroes. Those are not just names,” the bishop said. – Rappler.com
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College in Davao responds to false thesis grade claim in Juris Doctor program, confirms individual is not enrolled | Xianna Bengo | 2024-07-30T10:47:55+00:00 | Featured
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Someone suspiciously received a high grade for their thesis in the Juris Doctor Program at St. Mary’s College of Tagum. This is despite the fact that the program is non-thesis.
The Juris Doctor Department of the college disproved a social media post made by a person who claimed to be attending the institution, when in fact, she is not enrolled in the program.
In a statement released by the department’s student council Facebook page, they wrote, “Recently, the Juris Doctor Department of St. Mary’s College of Tagum Inc. received information regarding a social media post authored by an individual identified as ‘Miecha Angeli M. Bisnar’ purporting to possess an approved thesis with a grade of 1.05 from our institution. It is imperative to clarify to the public that St. Mary’s College of Tagum, Inc. exclusively provides a Juris Doctor Non-Thesis Program, thereby rendering the asserted approval sheet as a fraudulent instrument. Further, the abovementioned individual is not enrolled under the Juris Doctor Program of this institution.”
“We wish to officially convey that legal measures are being prepared to address the defamatory actions and misrepresentation propagated by the parties responsible for this deceptive publication. The college remains steadfast in upholding the veracity and authenticity of academic achievements and qualifications conferred upon our students, thereby repudiating any misrepresentation that threatens the integrity of our educational programs,” their statement continued.
Their statement ended ensuring everyone that they are taking necessary actions needed and wrote, “Our commitment to preserve the sanctity of educational credentials and uphold the standards of academic excellence resonates in our resolve to address any malicious claims and spurious representations that may undermine the credibility of our institution. We wholeheartedly affirm our dedication to observing due diligence in safeguarding the reputation and qualifications associated with the Juris Doctor Program at St. Mary’s College of Tagum, fortified by the tenets of legal rectitude and ethical conduct.”
Facebook users took to the comments to share their thoughts about the said issue.
It seems that some have yet to learn from past issues. This case bears a striking resemblance to the situation involving Kathleen Joy Poblete, who falsely claimed to have graduated summa cum laude from the Political Science Program at UP Manila.
While it is okay to share our achievements online, propagating false claims is a dangerous act as it can blur out the truth. Let this be a reminder to be vigilant and make counter checks to ensure that the claims that are being stated are indeed true.
As of this writing, Bisnar hasn’t aired her side of the story yet.
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This 21-year-old UP Manila student is the next Filipino powerlifter to watch out for | No author found | 2024-07-01T05:55:17+00:00 | Powerlifters and weightlifters never fail to be impressive. The body is pretty capable of many different feats, but you’ll always think a person moving more than their body weight is awesome. There’s really no need to explain amazing acts of strength—either you make the lift or you don’t.
Which is why it’s a little baffling that lifting sports aren’t more popular in the Philippines. Sure, Hidilyn Diaz gets hype whenever she wins big, especially when she won gold in the Tokyo Olympics, but these really aren’t in the national consciousness even after we’ve proven that this is a doable, winnable sport.
Perhaps one of the ways to fix this problem is to continuously introduce young phenoms, fresh faces we can all root for.
Here’s one: national powerlifting team member and college student Maritoni Neri. A 21-year-old occupational therapy student at the University of the Philippines Manila and a student of competitive lifter and coach Regie Ramirez, Neri is so fresh that she’s only been competing on big stages for a little over a year but she’s already racked up medals and set her own records in her division.
These achievements and performances are even more impressive when you factor in how Neri didn’t even like lifting weights and powerlifting itself all that much.
“I got into powerlifting because my sister and handler, Mikee Neri, is a former member of the national team. She kept on telling me to give the sport a try,” Neri shares. “She even told me it would be nice if we could compete internationally together. When I first tried it, I thought it was boring. Come 2022, I volunteered at Raw Nats (the National Classic Powerlifting Championships) and enjoyed watching the competition. That’s when I decided that I wanted to see myself on the platform as well. I joined my first meet in May last year.
“Actually, I was introduced to the sport in 2019, iba pa yung coach ko. Ginagawa ko yung pagbubuhat for physical activity. I just really didn’t like it kaya hindi ko siya sineryoso,” she continues.
“Kahit anong aya sa akin ng coach ko na lumaban, ayaw ko talaga. On and off ako sa training tapos nag-pandemic pa, so it really took time for the sport to grow on me. Nung 2022, I made the decision to get serious about it and join Raw Nats 2023 because I was slowly getting to appreciate the sport, and I felt like it was time. Parang kailangan ko nang tumigil sa paglalaro and try to achieve something, especially since my sister always tells me it would be nice kung masusulit ko yung junior years ko.”
A post shared by Regie Ramirez | Powerlifting Coach (@rigidregimen)
That’s on top of silver medals and national records for equipped squat, bench, deadlift, and total. The impressive outing has qualified her to compete at this year’s World Junior Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Malta this coming August.
The mark of a naturally talented competitor is when they’re able to pull off a big game without really overthinking it, which is what happened with Neri in Hong Kong.
“I was super nervous because it was my first international meet, and I’m going against world champions who’ve been competing for years,” she says. “Nanginginig talaga ako. But my coach and my teammates kept on telling me to only lift as I do in training, so a lot of my confidence really came from their support. After my squat opener, I felt more relaxed and knew that I’ll be able to perform well.”
And for Neri’s upcoming performance at Worlds, her focus is a lot more streamlined as they have a clear game plan.
“My coach and my PT are working really hard to optimize my lifting performance and get me closer to hitting the 500kg mark,” she shares. “As for individual lifts, I’m aiming to squat 200kg. Malapit na. All I have to do is deliver. I’m really hoping that I get a spot on the podium for the total medal. Looking at the nominations, it’s possible.”
With the goal of becoming a world champion, getting to this point after only a little over a year is huge. Fortunately, Neri is very confident and laser-focused on getting it done, and it’s entirely possible that by next month, she’ll have checked this box off her list. It’s now up to us to pay attention.
“You are in control of what you can achieve,” she says. “I believe that whether you stay or drift away from your desired path depends a lot on the decisions and actions that you do.”
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Proposed 2025 budget ‘anti-poor, militaristic’ – Castro | Gabriel Pabico Lalu | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:52:06 PST | House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro (Photo from House of Representative FB Page)
House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro (Photo from House of Representative FB Page)
MANILA, Philippines — ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro believes the P6.352 trillion proposed budget for 2025 is “anti-poor” as it supposedly fails to address the concerns and needs of Filipinos.
In a statement on Wednesday, Castro said the 2025 National Expenditures Program (NEP) submitted to Congress is also “militaristic” even with the budget for the defense sector and confidential expenses going down.
“This proposed budget fails to address the root causes of poverty and inequality in our country. We demand a people-centered budget that prioritizes social services, supports workers’ rights, and promotes genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization,” she said.
“This militaristic approach, purportedly to address developments in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), is absurd. We should demilitarize the WPS and not further militarize it. The Marcos government also earmarked P5.9 billion for intelligence expenses, and confidential expenses are at P4.36 billion, slightly higher than this year’s P4.111 billion,” she added.
Castro also said that funds allocated to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) should be reduced, given that appropriations to the education sector still do not conform to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) standards.
“The red-tagging [NTF-ELCAC] has P7.8 billion for its proposed budget in 2025. Such allocations divert crucial funds from social services and genuine economic development,” she said.
“While the Marcos Jr. administration boasts of allocating 15.4 percent of the budget to education, this is still far below the Unesco-recommended 20 percent of the national budget or 6 percent of the GDP for education,” she added. “The P977.6 billion for education barely scratches the surface of the sector’s needs, especially considering the learning crisis exacerbated by the pandemic.”
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Monday said the proposed Confidential and Intelligence Funds (CIF) for 2025 went down by 16 percent, or from P12.37 billion in the actual 2024 budget to P10.29 billion in the 2025 NEP.
READ: DBM: Confidential, intel funds for 2025 down 16%
The intelligence fund of the Department of Transportation — the mother agency of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) — remained at P400 million.
On the other hand, the intelligence fund allocation of the Department of National Defense — another agency crucial to securing the country’s territory — decreased from P2.811 billion in 2024 to P1.761 billion in the proposed budget for 2025.
READ: House to fund WPS efforts amid intel budget cut: Measure isn’t cast in stone
On Tuesday, House leaders particularly Majority Floor Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe and Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said the chamber will support efforts to secure the WPS, even with lower CIF allocation.
According to Dalipe, nothing has been set in stone yet, noting that the House can make adjustments if needed.
The NEP was submitted to Congress on Monday, seven days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
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Under the 1987 Constitution, the budget should be transmitted to Congress within 30 days after the Sona.
For comprehensive coverage, in-depth analysis, visit our special page for West Philippine Sea updates. Stay informed with articles, videos, and expert opinions.
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INQToday: Trillanes sues Rep. Duterte, VP’s husband, ex-BOC head for drug smuggling | INQUIRER.net | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 18:15:42 PST | Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual resigned from his post, the Palace said on Wednesday.
According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Pascual resigned from his post to return to the private sector.
Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed a drug smuggling case before the Department of Justice on Wednesday against Davao City First District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, Atty. Mans Carpio – the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, and several other personalities allegedly involved in the P6.4 billion shabu shipment seized in 2017.
Also named respondents are Taiwanese businessman Charlie Tan, some Davao local officials, a Taiwanese businessman and a retired military official from Davao.
Eight areas in Cavite were placed under a state of calamity after the oil spill from the sunken MT Terra Nova reached the province’s coastline, Governor Jonvic Remulla announced on Wednesday.
“The oil spill reached the coastal areas of Cavite. Affected are the municipalities of Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Naic, Maragondon, and Ternate. As of today, the province is declaring a STATE OF CALAMITY in these areas,” Remulla said in Filipino in a Facebook post.
The United States’ provision of $500 million military aid to the Philippines shows they are “equal partners in maintaining peace, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based approach to differences,” Senate President Francis Escudero said on Wednesday.
In a message to reporters, Escudero also said the military aid is “unprecedented assistance and investment” that the Philippines “has been needing.”
Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s executive order allowing online gambling operators to make games available overseas was “ill-advised,” the Marcos administration’s Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile said on Wednesday.
Enrile attended the House of Representatives’ hearing on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) to accompany his daughter, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) Administrator Katrina Ponce Enrile, who explained that there are no Pogos within their jurisdiction.
At least three or four more local chief executives from the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon may be involved in the operations of illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) in the country, according to “raw” information received by Sen. Joel Villanueva’s office.
Speaking at a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Wednesday, Villanueva emphasized that the complaints he received are still unverified.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) can do whatever it wants, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said on Wednesday.
Finally breaking his silence, the senator responded to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra’s statement that the Philippine government could not stop the ICC’s prosecutor from interviewing suspects in the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
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My dream job disappeared when I graduated | No author found | 2024-07-16T06:16:20+00:00 | You might remember a more analog childhood, when the internet was spelled with a capital “I” and was a place you actually logged out of to do non-digital things in a largely offline world.
Amid consoles you either plugged to TVs (do you still have a TV?) or powered with AA batteries, there were also certain dream jobs that inspired us, thanks in large part to the popular media that accompanied those good ol’ days: Magazines like W.I.T.C.H, Candy, Reader’s Digest, and National Geographic, publishing houses like VisPrint and Adarna making darn good Filipino komiks, TV Channels like MYX and Animax, and seeing our ates and kuyas visit indie music hubs like Route 196 and Today x Future, to name a few career-spos.
Some of us were considered lucky to get internships in the above companies even as students: junior jocks in stations like and Monster RX, courtside reporters (hello, noona Gretchen Ho!), and guest contributors to *ahem* pubs like Scout.
Many of these companies still run today but only because they’ve largely adjusted to a media and technology landscape that was (sorry for the buzzword) disrupted around the time we were finishing high school and college (looking back, “disrupted” now takes an ominous meaning, huh?).
Nonetheless, we can’t be complacent, as misused technologies like AI threaten not just the existence of the above industries, especially creative fields, but the economic ecosystem as a whole. “New jobs will emerge,” optimists say, but isn’t the whole point of automation to “cut costs,” in this case human “capital”? Those of us who took business classes might remember that businesses should balance 3 Ps: people, planet, and profit, but in practice, it seems the last P is growing at the expense of the first two.
And anyway, isn’t an economic system based on infinite growth in a finite planet kinda messed up? But that’s for another discussion. Here, we sat down with three young creatives with three different stories, each a glimpse into how we can thrive—and not just survive—in this economy.
“It’s rare to see one story change everything, but if you’re working for a bigger picture, it’s not useless,” Melissa Luz Lopez smiles as she takes her last slice of carrot cake. It’s a few months shy of 10 years since her 2014 graduation, and the former BusinessWorld reporter and CNN broadcaster embraces her full-on titahood by holding our interview at a Mary Grace Cafe, sparkles and all.
Today, she considers herself more of a professional academic, almost done with her master’s in economics at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, (UPD) where she also finished her undergrad with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. She hopes to publish studies that can influence public policy.
In a way, it’s a full-circle moment as she was in the math club for all of her high school years. While she looked up to journalists like Jessica Soho, Mel Tiangco, and Ed Lingao (who eventually mentored her), she only considered the profession during her last year of (pre-K12) high school when her essay-writing teacher asked out loud if she was in the school paper.
Back then, she was always submitting papers early as writing tests weren’t taken home but finished in the classroom. The school year was in full swing, and she couldn’t leave the math club, but when college apps rolled around, she immediately signed up for journalism courses, eventually getting into UPD.
There, she found out she had much catching up to do as her course peers joined the “Palarong Pambansa equivalents of journalism” before college. She joined Tinig ng Plaridel, one of the campus papers, and became editor-in-chief in her senior year. For her internship, she worked for Vera Files and, considering herself lucky for landing a paid internship, decided that journalism really was for her.
Upon graduating, she began covering politics for BusinessWorld (“My first salary was P19,000, feeling ko ang yaman-yaman ko na!”), eventually moving to CNN Philippines where she finished as a camera-facing broadcaster. It’s been a roller coaster since.
She left the field in 2022, around the time of the national elections, “easily the dirtiest coverage I’ve ever done.” By then, many threats to the field were in full-swing, from armies of anonymous trolls using disinformation to sway the general public to red-tagging any journalist (or citizen, for that matter) reporting on critical information related to the administration and its allies.
Long before that time, however, she was already considering jumping ship as the pay wasn’t sustainable for a breadwinner taking care of a retired, single mother, an accountant who dreamed of becoming a journalist. “I’m not after luxury,” Lopez says wistfully, “but mom deserves some ease, right?”
Her resolve to leave deepened when the attacks on the profession spiked during Rodrigo Duterte’s administration from 2016 to 2022. Her mental health was taking a toll, all as she recounts that her own cousins didn’t believe what she was reporting. “You report the facts, but suddenly the facts are now weaponized [often] against you. It’s basically shooting the messenger.” She didn’t mind the trolls regularly flooding her inbox, but it stung when the shots hit close to home.
Nonetheless, the opposition campaign was a spot of hope and Lopez told herself she might stay if they won. We all know how that turned out.
It was all trauma, however. The light is easily what keeps us coming back. Lopez recalls one election story where she interviewed an elderly man paralyzed on the right side of his body. He had to climb the stairs backwards in his voting precinct because he didn’t make the PWD registration deadline when his stroke hit. He told Lopez that “My vote means as much as a rich person’s” as they wept.
Suffice to say, Lopez is happy to contribute to journalism even as an economist and academic. She presently writes part-time for an economic quarterly in Europe and local online magazine Bilyonaryo. Since journalism stopped being her main job, she’s since found herself able to take more time and deeper dives with stories.
It’ll always be a part of her, and she will always be part of it, albeit in a different capacity.
Sometimes, it’s all right to move to new pastures to support old loves in a new way and from a better place.
Just like Lopez, Sarah Santos also jumped ship after initially practicing as a journalist. Unlike Lopez, however, Santos, who graduated from UPD journalism in 2018, is no longer practicing as of press time. She continues to support former classmates and colleagues in the field while being an avid reader of longform and watcher of documentaries.
She plans to get more subscriptions to quality journalism; understanding that the paywall bemoaned by many can actually support media practitioners and other workers in the field, from drivers to translators to graphic artists.
Growing up in a province south of Metro Manila, Santos’s case was love at first sight.
Her father, who loved to read, was an avid subscriber of Reader’s Digest and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “He continued to subscribe even when the physical paper increased its prices through the years.”
All of it, from the children’s drawings at the Sunday Comics to the daily homilies of Fr. Jerry Orbos to the critiques of Conrado de Quiros accompanied her formative years. It was Patricia Evangelista who stood out for her most. “I liked her brand of narrative journalism—pwede pala magsulat that way?” all as young Santos cut and saved clippings of her articles.
By her junior year of high school, she was features editor of her campus paper and “like most journ’ grads, I chose my course thanks to well-intentioned advice” from her teacher, who, standing confidently “well-spoken with her pink lipstick,” the paragon of a woman Who Made It, told Santos the she had a future as a journalist.
“My world deepened after graduation.” After applying for a number of media outlets, Santos was eventually accepted in the Philippine Bureau of an ASEAN-focused business news company. “I enjoyed reading the reports of different companies,” and this likely set her on the path of business communications.
Eventually, she became an editor, handling a team of reporters, some of whom were her seniors. The nuances of word choices and their impact on business and policy was even more pronounced. She recalls mistakes made in managing people: Writing and reading was one skill, bringing the best out of people was another thing altogether. But she looks back humbly, without a trace of regret.
Similar to Lopez, she left journalism as the take-home pay wasn’t sustainable despite increasing responsibilities, work hours, and emotional labor. Another factor was the realization that media outlets could also serve as propaganda arms of certain nations at the expense of poorer countries.
It was back to square one. After drifting for a while, she decided to “get serious” and sent many applications (and faced many rejections), around 100+, to government agencies before landing in the economic cluster. Back then, the pandemic—and layoffs—were in full swing, and only the government could more or less hold on to its employees. The stability appealed to her.
Today, she works as a government communicator, making policy digestible to the general public, among other tasks. She still applies many of the skills of her former trade albeit in a different setting. More importantly, there are times when she feels she’s still contributing to nation-building.
Her pay now allows her to enjoy food she couldn’t before, rent out a decent condo, and send support home to her parents. She dreams of a better life for them, for a lifestyle, for trips they were not able to experience during her girlhood. Time to give back.
Lopez shares that finances are no joke, acknowledging her relative privilege. Santos, who came from a humbler background and whose parents are both retired, had a calculus weighing heavier than Lopez’s. But more than personal survival, Santos notes how she also values the “predictability and quantifiability” of reporting for the government, seeing a more direct impact on the lives of people.
Her idealism never left, it just manifests now from different quarters, from a more stable place.
Growing up, Jill Arteche had the full support of her family behind her art practice. “I was never told that there’s no money in art,” she recalls, now a full-time artist under DF Art Agency and also a professional illustrator.
She was in the campus papers of both high school and college as a graphic artist, and immediately after graduating from Ateneo de Manila University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Information Design, she dove into ad agencies before becoming a full-time freelance illustrator and artist in 2019.
Google Search now autofills her name on the URL tab, attaching the label “illustrator” next to it. She’s worked with brands like Decathlon, Nike, GCash, Ayala Malls, and Fete de la Musique, to name a few. She’s also done some numbers with children’s publisher Adarna.
“The movie ‘13 Going On 30,’ by Mark Ruffalo, that’s the life I wanted,” she beams, and it seems she’s lived up to the dream, working sometimes from home, and sometimes from her condominium along Katipunan Avenue, which increasingly serves as a bodega for her paintings.
“Admittedly, mine is a rare and privileged story,” Arteche smiles. This did not mean though she didn’t face the challenges almost all visual creatives face. For one, there’s the tightrope walk between artistic inspiration and jealousy and insecurity, brought by the double-edged sword that is social media, which connects one to community and clients while also leading to spirals of creative paralysis.
“Comparison is a rabbit hole. And there was a period that I was so paralyzed by the thought that my peers, and even my idols were better than me that I didn’t work for six months. Thankfully I had some savings during that time.”
How did she get out?
“My dogs! But for real, I took a step back from art and taught myself to stop associating myself with my brand. And don’t take it too seriously, make spaces for play, for curiosity. Use the time spent stepping back from work to step back into your oasis, your hobbies, your advocacies, people you love.”
Being a freelance creative is that after all: You are your own brand, and while this is a nauseatingly romanticized slogan, this also means you haul your own weight, pay your own taxes, are your own HR and Admin, and accept the fact that never-ending backlogs are a part of life.
Admittedly, it’s not for everyone, as the structure and predictability of a corporate setting works for many a creative while also providing enough income so they can work on projects on the side, the most famous examples being poet Charles Bukowski, who worked blue collar jobs, and in the Philippines, the creators of the komiks series Trese, who worked on the project after hours.
And then there’s the recent mass-adoption of AI (which is not without its flaws, even in terms of workflow and quality output). Arteche is anxious, but unfazed, echoing chef Nobu Matsuhisa in that “You can copy my style, but you can’t copy my soul.”
***
In any creative field, workers find themselves in a balancing act between practical and idealistic concerns: the financials inform how we approach the emotional element of the job. All this as tools like social media and artificial intelligence can both help or harm one’s career, depending on how it’s used.
That very factor, how it’s used, confirms the agency of humans in most every societal issue we face today. We’re not facing a monolith beyond our control, but the sum of human action, something which, while difficult, is more actionable than the former.
The human factor: Something honed and shaped by daily action, something which no machine can replace, even if others want to insist otherwise.
*Named changed to protect privacy
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Marcos should prioritize bill seeking to void Pogo tax law – Villanueva | Charie Abarca | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 17:43:46 PST | Senator Joel Villanueva answered a query from the media during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on July 31, 2024. Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net
Senator Joel Villanueva answered a query from the media during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on July 31, 2024. Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — If given a chance, Sen. Joel Villanueva would ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to consider as a priority measure the bill that seeks to repeal the law taxing Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
READ: Villanueva files bill to void Pogo tax law
Villanueva made the pronouncement at the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Wednesday.
The lawmaker said he is willing to push for the prioritization of his measure Senate Bill No. 2752, which calls for the permanent cancellation of Pogo licenses issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
“If I were given a chance to talk to the President, I would appeal that this be made a priority. I am sure the President is so happy about the people’s reaction. I remember shaking hands with him after his Sona (State of the Nation Address), and I told him that I felt it and that I knew that he was very happy that he delivered the right message, not only anticipated but also needed by Filipinos,” Villanueva told reporters.
Senate Bill No. 2752 was filed days after Marcos announced the Pogo ban during his third Sona.
Villanueva also said he wants to discuss his plan with Senate President Francis Escudero.
“I have yet to talk to our Senate President but probably today, I’ll talk to him about it, if we can fast-track this important measure,” he said.
“Even if Pogos are eradicated, for example, by the end of the year, this measure will still not exist because it has yet to be passed. I will still continue to push for this measure. And as I earlier mentioned, it’s because of the fact that we don’t want the next administration or the future administration to invite the Pogos back,” he added.
Under Villanueva’s measure, Pogos will have 30 days from the effectivity of the proposed law to cease their operations.
“Failure or refusal of the firms to close operations shall subject the responsible officers to imprisonment of 12 to 20 years or a fine of P100 million or both, and will subject the foreign offenders to deportation after service of sentence,” his bill reads.
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The bill also states that the Bureau of Internal Revenue will still have the authority to collect unpaid taxes from Pogos even after the repeal of Republic Act 11590 or the Act Taxing Pogo, which was signed into law in 2021.
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Pascual resigns as trade secretary | Zacarian Sarao | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:17:54 PST | Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual | PHOTO: Official website of the Presidential Communications Office
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual | PHOTO: Official website of the Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines — Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual resigned from his post, the Palace said on Wednesday.
According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Pascual resigned from his post to return to the private sector.
His resignation will be effective on Aug. 2.
The PCO also said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. accepted Pascual’s resignation after a meeting in Malacañang.
“His focus on MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) was absolutely correct, and we are beginning to see the fruits of that policy. We are sorry to lose him, but we respect his decision that this is the time for him to return to the private sector,” said Marcos, as quoted by PCO.
No successor has been named yet, but the PCO said the search for Pascual’s replacement “will commence immediately to ensure a seamless transition and continuity in the [Department of Trade and Industry’s] initiatives.”
Pascual confirmed that he resigned as DTI chief.
“After much reflection, I have decided it is time for me to return to the private sector. There, my roles will allow me to continue contributing my expertise and experience while being able to spend quality time with my family,” his statement read.
He also thanked Marcos for the opportunity and said his time serving in the Cabinet was an “extraordinary privilege and honor.”
According to Pascual, his role as DTi chief has been one the “most challenging yet fulfilling experiences” of his career.
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China says Philippines risks ‘greater insecurity’ after US military aid pledge | Agence France-Presse | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 17:06:30 PST | A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship fires its water cannon at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels escorting supply boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in August 2023. On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the CCG again water cannon-attacked Philippine vessels on a mission to bring supplies to troops in the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea. (File photo/Video grab from PCG FACEBOOK PAGE)
A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship fires its water cannon at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels escorting supply boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in August 2023. On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the CCG again water cannon-attacked Philippine vessels on a mission to bring supplies to troops in the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea. (File photo/Video grab from PCG FACEBOOK PAGE)
China on Wednesday warned the Philippines it risks “greater insecurity for itself,” after the United States said it would provide $500 million in additional military funding to Manila in the face of Beijing’s growing assertiveness.
In Manila on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled what he called a “once in a generation investment” to help modernize the Philippine armed forces and coast guard.
Asked about the announcement, Beijing’s foreign ministry on Wednesday warned Manila that “wooing countries from outside the region to provoke confrontation in the South China Sea will only undermine regional stability and aggravate tensions.”
“Trying to introduce external forces to protect its own security will only lead to greater insecurity for itself, and it might even become someone else’s pawn,” spokesman Lin Jian said.
The latest high-level US visit follows a series of escalating confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the disputed waterway that have raised concern that Washington could be dragged into a conflict due to its mutual defense treaty with Manila.
The Philippines’ proximity to the hotly contested South China Sea, as well as self-ruled Taiwan, would make it a key partner for the United States if a conflict were to break out in the region.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and considers democratic Taiwan to be part of its territory.
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Taguig court issues TRO vs Meralco’s power supply bidding | Lisbet K. Esmael, Tetch Torres-Tupas | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 18:01:13 PST | Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the power distributor giant of the MVP Group, faces a roadblock after a regional trial court issued a temporary restraining order against its planned bidding for an additional power supply of 1,000 megawatts (MW).
In a five-page Order promulgated on July 31, 2024, Executive Judge Byron G. San Pedro of Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 15-FC, granted the petition of the members of the consortium operating the Malampaya gas field — Prime Energy, Prime Oil and Gas Inc, UC38 LLC, and the Philippine National Oil Exploration Corp (PNOC-EC) — for the immediate issuance of the 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) against Meralco’s conduct of competitive selection process for its 600 MW and 400 MW power supply requirements after finding merits to the verified complaint by the plaintiffs.
“Upon evaluation of the allegations contained in the verified complaint for injunction, it appears from the facts shown that great or irreparable injury would result to the plaintiffs-applicants before the writ of preliminary injunction could be heard.
“In other words, there exists EXTREME URGENT NECESSITY for the writ as to warrant the issuance of Temporary Restraining Order to prevent further damages to the plaintiffs’ interests, the government, and the environment,” the Taguig court ruled.
The court has set a TRO bond of P5 million.
“Upon posting a TRO bond which is hereby fixed in the amount of five million pesos (P5,000,000), let a Temporary Restraining Order effective for 72 hours be issued in favor of the plaintiffs-applicants enjoining the respondent Manila Electric Company from conducting its competitive bidding selection process (CSP), under its current Terms of Reference, including the receipt of bids, the award and the implementation of any award arising from (it),” the RTC said.
The Malampaya consortium earlier filed a complaint against Meralco. It stressed that pursuing the bidding can put indigenous natural gas at a disadvantage, “violat[ing] the preference given” by existing laws.
“Increased reliance on imported sources of fuel threatens the country’s energy security and energy sovereignty because these are greatly susceptible to a volatile market,” the previous petition said.
It also said Meralco’s bidding done through the Competitive Selection Process (CSP) was “flawed, skewed or supplier-driven and grossly violative of existing laws, rules and regulations.”
The bidding process was scheduled for August 2 at 9 a.m.
It added that the bidding could “put the country in a situation where a significant portion of our power supply is placed in the hands of imported coal and imported LNG, the prices of both are notoriously unstable and extremely subject to external shocks in the market.”
Furthermore, it said that awarding PSAs only to suppliers using imported fuel will also harm the exploration and development of indigenous resources, and will affect the Malampaya project, which has been reliably and securely supplying natural gas to power plants that provide 30 to 40 percent of Luzon’s electricity requirements.
Sought for comments, Meralco said it has yet to receive an official copy from the Taguig court.
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But an official insisted that Meralco follows existing rules of the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission in conducting biddings.
“It is our mandate to ensure that we conduct these in a timely manner, as delay will expose our consumers to unnecessary burden in the amount of billions of pesos in the form of higher power rates,” said Jose Ronald V. Valles, Meralco SVP and Head of Regulatory Management.
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Traitors in Philippine history who are only loyal to one thing | No author found | 2018-04-18T01:26:57+00:00 | The Philippines withstood crude and shrewd regimes from the West and one from the East. As we all know, what our nation had gone through wasn’t always triumphal because of some people who are too greedy to realize they were getting played by the subjugators.
These are the traitors and the balimbings or turncoats of our history, the bane of our heroes. It really sucks to think we had chances to prevail from the enemy if it just wasn’t for these selfish pricks. And here they are. Here are some Filipinos from decades ago who earned their reputation in betraying the country and their countrymen.
Pedro Paterno is the first and “original” balimbing in the Philippines, says historian Ambeth Ocampo. He was “first on the Spanish side and then wormed his way to power to become President of Malolos Convention in 1899.”
He was a Filipino politician, novelist, and poet who mediated the signing of the Biak-na-Bato Pact between Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and Spanish Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera. The signing marked the end of the Philippine Revolution and Aguinaldo’s expatriation to Hong Kong. After the signing, Paterno requested dukedom, a seat in the Spanish Senate, and a million bucks as reward. Primo de Rivera refused to grant his request.
Upon Aguinaldo’s return, Paterno wheedled his way to become Malolos Congress’ president and the head of the general’s cabinet. When the Philippine-American War started, Paterno pushed the government to accept America’s sovereignty.
During the Philippine Revolution, lawyer Felipe Buencamino, Sr. was one of those who sided with the Spaniards until the conquistadors imprisoned him. He later joined the Filipino camp and even became Aguinaldo’s cabinet member.
When the Americans came to our shores, Buencamino drew the ire the Filipino revolutionaries as he switched sides again. His encounter with enraged Gen. Antonio Luna was actually famous—there were accounts that say the general slapped Buencamino in the face, but Ocampo said Luna didn’t. The two just had a heated argument because Buencamino was in favor of the proposed autonomy by the Americans.
Discussions are long on whether Januario Galut really was a traitor or not (some say Galut didn’t consider himself part of the Philippine army and was subjected to discrimination by lowlanders). Nevertheless, Galut is a Christian Igorot who guided the Americans around Tirad Pass. This led to the overthrowing of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar’s forces.
The group of Filipinos recruited by the Japanese Army during World War II who acted like spies, informants, and torturers is called Makapili or Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino. They would turn over suspected guerilla fighters who they knew personally in pursuit of some sort of personal revenge over who knows what. This resulted in destroying trust within the communities, which was imperative for survival.
Teodoro Patiño is a katipunero who got into a fight with fellow katipuneroApolonio de la Cruz because of the two-peso wage increase in the printing shop of Diario de Manila. Because of this, Patiño went to his sister Honoria and revealed the secrets and plans of the KKK. Honoria then went to tell the head nun about this. The nun urged Patiño to tell the secrets to the parish priest. The priest then divulged what he just learned to the authorities until the Guardia Civil raided the Diario de Manilaoffice. This also resulted in “Juez de Cuchillo” or “total annihilation” of indiosin one of the places where KKK would uprise.
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Eldest daughters of Asian households—okay pa ba tayo? | No author found | 2023-08-29T12:35:38+00:00 | “I’m tired,” I admitted to a friend one late afternoon, feeling the familiar prick of tears behind my eyes. “Like, really tired. Can’t even sleep,” I continue, knowing that if I exert any more effort, I’ll burst into tears.
Here, I am overextended. I am preparing to move out of my childhood home of 29 years to live with my boyfriend in a new place we’ve just signed a contract for.
In many ways, I am over the moon. He is a good man, very kind and gentle, and I love him. I am also excited to be independent for the first time and live by my own time and schedule.
But in other ways, I am terribly anxious. I keep worrying about my family needing this or that—to the point of making an entire Google document and sheet containing all the information they need. From where I buy everyone’s specialized birthday cakes and how to contact certain relatives to keeping tabs on everyone’s birthday and not forgetting tidbits about each family member.
I am surrounded by half-filled boxes and teetering piles of clothes. I’m wrapping little trinkets in scarves to make sure they don’t break during the journey. My books sit solemn in one stack across me as I balance my laptop on top of it during the video call.
My friend asks me, “What’s got you so tired?”
All at once, I imagine scenarios where my family will need me. I imagine closed doors and silent suffering or the screaming matches and hair-tearing. I think about my father’s impending retirement and my mother having to financially handle all my siblings for a bit. I pray no one gets COVID-19 again and that, if they do, everyone remembers how much the tests are in the Watson’s around the corner.
I think of my father’s silent yearning for a meal that everyone will hesitate to volunteer cooking and my mother’s concern as she comes to me to ask about one of my brothers. I think of the way my siblings’ faces stiffen when they’re hurt but refuse to speak to anyone else. I think of all the words that everyone wants to say at the dinner table, the ones only I will eventually hear and sit with for a long time.
I shake as I inhale. “Am I abandoning them?” I clasp my hands inside a box of books, almost like I’m trying to remember how to pray.
“Is a home that falls apart when it loses you really something you are going to spend the rest of your life holding up as its only foundation? Or is it time you stopped raising your whole household to give yourself that grace and space to breathe for a second you should have had since you were a kid?” my friend answers.
When she says this, I hiccup and turn up my music so I can let out a wail, and then another, and then another.
Being the oldest sibling has come with expectations, obligations, and even outright responsibilities. It’s an age-old dynamic—you’re supposed to be the beacon for your siblings and how they should walk, talk, and behave. You don’t just hand down old clothes and toys, you become the blank board on which your parents draw their picture of obedience and excellence to be displayed for your younger siblings to emulate.
This is magnified in Asian households—whether East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, etc. Being the eldest in an Asian household was pretty much a guarantee that your childhood was going to be taken very, very early.
Zoe, 29, echoes this. “Being a role model to my brother was an unspoken rule. I was expected to excel and demonstrate a lot of what my brother struggled to achieve,” she says.
Isabela, 27, agrees. “As the first one to break out into the real world, I do feel like I’m testing the waters not just for me but for my siblings as well.”
In recent years, however, more people have come to realize that eldest daughters in Asian households have a shared experience of added emotional upkeep. They’ve been subjected to parenting their entire families and were unrecognized and unappreciated for it.
It’s likely been this way for centuries, but the memes and jokes like “be her peace bro, she’s the eldest daughter in an Asian household” that have bubbled up on social media have become thinly veiled cries for help that other women have immediately attuned to.
Apart from the weight of being the panganay, eldest daughters also face sexist and conservative ideals, misogyny, and even religion.
Many older sisters felt this way. Chase, 32, says, “I was told ‘kababae mong tao,’ and I was expected not to fail or that I’m not supposed to do things that are conventionally masculine like riding a motorcycle, heading home late at night, or taking an interest in video games, and I even was told to pick a ‘feminine-leaning’ field like nursing or education.”
For Anon B, 32, she noticed that her parents were much harsher on her compared to her younger brother. “My family were softer on my brother. As a child, I did resent seeing this happen that they coddled him more than they did me.”
Most of the time, we were expected to prop everyone up, upkeep tenuous bonds, manage everyone’s emotions, and do chores while simultaneously being undermined and doubted by virtue of our gender.
This echoes how society deems domestic labor non-existent. People don’t believe that cooking, cleaning, and mediating family ties is even “real work” because it doesn’t earn anything monetary, which is a dangerous rabbit hole to go down.
This also feeds the sexist celebration and coddling of masculinity and the belief that women should be naturals at caring and nurturing. Sticking with the stereotype burdens little girls to adhere to it and only hurts them.
Not only did eldest daughters become surrogate mothers, but they also became the middle women for arguments or fights. “My parents were emotionally immature. Found myself mediating a lot between their arguments,” says Anon B.
It fell to us to become logical, but not too logical, emotional, but just enough to feel compassion for whoever was angry. We were tasked to be understanding and to listen and then deescalate situations—even encourage patience and forgiveness.
When Anon A spoke out against this proposed necessity by her parents, she was shamed for it. “When I started saying no, I was labeled selfish, irresponsible, and apathetic.”
Anon C, 38, was also dragged into arguments. “My parents had lots of fights when I was growing up. I had to be present in some. I would even end up arguing for my mom against my dad. I would get dragged into talking endlessly with them until the wee hours of the morning. I was a kid. I didn’t know a thing, and thinking about it now, it sucks.”
When it came to chores, some households depended solely on their daughters to learn them—especially the eldest. While some stressed that all their children should learn to cook and clean, there was still a disparity of expectations.
“It was expected that I do chores by default, whereas my brother’s main household chore was taking out the trash or cleaning his room; anything involving cleaning and cooking was secondary for him but primary for me,” says Chase.
Anon A, 27, says her mother would “entrust [a] list [of groceries and chore schedules] to me and make it my responsibility to make sure that our maid and my dad abide by that list” whenever her mother would go on business trips.
“I was also entrusted to make a bottle of milk for my sister when she was a baby and watch over her and make sure our maids at the time weren’t hurting my sister. Managing my sister’s afternoon sumpong also became my responsibility. Then, making sure my sister didn’t lose stuff in school when we were in grade school already and that she didn’t get bullied or get in trouble,” Anon A continues.
She also describes how she would be punished for any of her younger sister’s mistakes. “That part always bugged me ‘cause I would get spanked and scolded. It was logistically impossible for me to watch her all the time since we were in different grades and I had different schedules. I literally could not control my sister, so I didn’t understand how I was supposed to take responsibility for things she did without me there.”
“Since I was the first to go to school and learn, I tutored all my brothers. I didn’t really enjoy doing that, but I thought it was my job to do so. And people get paid tutoring. I was a kid, I did it for free. I would also cover my and my brothers’ books and notebooks in plastic,” Anon C says.
Domestic work is often attributed to the feminine. No one batted an eye that my brothers didn’t know how to use a washing machine. But someone seemed offended at the idea that I potentially didn’t (I did) and I asked them why that was.
“’Cause you know, all my sisters do. So does my mom.”
I told him, “I’m not your sister. Or your mom.”
“I mean,‘cause you’re a girl and you were the eldest girl.”
“Do you know how to use one?”
He scratched the back of his neck. “No, but because my ate does. So I don’t have to.”
This mirrored many Filipino households. Anon C says, “In a way, it felt like my brothers had an added air of pride because they were boys who could do chores.”
Among Anon A’s implied duties was “making sure my dad stayed in line, didn’t add random things while we were grocery shopping, didn’t make us eat junk food a lot.”
She continues, “My dad was shit at doing household chores. He’d break stuff and burn food. Which I also did ’cause I was clumsy and had undiagnosed ADHD, but my mother was sure to let me know that that wasn’t acceptable.”
It was heartbreaking to watch “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.” When Evelyn was born, the doctor expressed regret instead of congratulations. Even more heartbreaking was seeing other Asian daughters online say “lol same” because it happened to them too.
Many Asian cultures still dread having daughters as they can’t carry on the family name and will only elevate the family if another man is interested in them. So they become scapegoats and vigilantes all at once—they are detested for their gender but relied on because of the invisible labor they are expected to uphold anyway as some kind of penance for being born a girl.
It’s like there’s no winning. Parents are too busy, brothers don’t have to do anything, younger sisters may also receive some semblance of this gendered labor, but the eldest is often the one paying the biggest price.
Learn to nurture the family you’re supposed to love without question. It’s okay if boys don’t do it because they’re boys—they have better things to do. But you, by virtue of the genitals you were born with, must care and nurture.
This was only exacerbated in Catholic school where I was told, verbatim, that all I was was an incubator. I was made to be filled up with babies, to care for them, and then to play house. I was not meant to have other ambitions—I was a girl.
I asked why it was so stressed that we were learning so much about homemaking for our extra subjects, but my brothers in a nearby boys’ school were able to pick and choose extracurriculars like robotics, drafting, etc. I was told it was because it was up to us, as upstart Catholic women, to keep our homes together.
“But what if I’m working?” I asked.
“You do both. As a mother and a wife to a good man, you will just know how.”
To “just know how” felt like such a cop-out. It was ridiculous to go to this school and be told to be one thing but not told how. And then, to be humiliated and scolded for not being that thing. Anon A echoes this, saying, “Whenever we’d be left in my grandma’s house, the adults would tell me to watch over my younger siblings. Since I expressed no interest or diligence in doing so, I was shamed for being unreliable, unfeeling, and selfish.”
This expectation has even extended to taking care of people outside the family. Because I behaved well in class, didn’t ask questions, and followed instructions well, I was constantly seated with more “difficult” classmates—some boys in kindergarten too.
My teachers, frazzled, would ask me to help get them to behave and say it was because I was “such a good girl.” My ego did not inflate at this, however, and I bemoaned the task of having to watch over boys even in school, just as I did at home.
I didn’t appreciate the extra task when I was in school to learn and make friends, not to babysit. I understood that my teachers were likely at full capacity and were probably not being paid fairly, but I didn’t see why it became my job to have to handle others who weren’t being scolded for their disruptiveness when I was being shamed for not wanting to deal with them.
My boyfriend, as I was typing away at work, came into our bedroom once and thanked me for always refilling the ice tray.
“I appreciate you—I never said it, but I’ve been meaning to. It’s nice to not have to worry about ice.”
It was so mundane, but I was so taken aback by his gratitude.
I just blushed and said I just like making our home functional and easy.
Later, I figured out it was because I had never been seen for the small things I had been expected to do. It was odd and simultaneously heartwarming to be recognized for such a small thing, but I was touched all the same.
I found myself in the same vein of thinking when he would come home with small trinkets and gifts for me, “just because.” I had grown to only anticipate anything of the sort because I’d “worked to deserve it.” I asked once, “Why did you get me this? What did I do?” Had I earned it?
He looked puzzled. “I just wanted to.”
It sat with me in the most profound way. I didn’t need to do anything to be on the other end of thoughtfulness.
There’s still plenty I am unlearning when it comes to being away from my household now. I am slowly giving myself more grace now that I no longer live with my family, and yet still sometimes have to do a lot of emotional heavy lifting even from far away.
For many, after finding their own voices and independence, the aftershocks of having to keep an entire household afloat still stay with them, too.
Anon B says about feeling like she had to take care of everyone even after leaving home. “It did feel like my job in a relationship was to solve everyone’s problems. That’s what my parents expected of me with my brother and with me when they told me about their issues.”
She continued to fall into the habit of taking care of people, as that’s how she understood love.
Anon C walked away from her household confused and trying to find a better way to find answers. “I think I have had a ton of toxic traits because of this. I had no boundaries. I didn’t know how to control my rage, which is my go-to emotion, even if you show me love. I rebel a lot. I had tons of dysfunctional relationships. Took a lot of therapy,” she says.
Many eldest daughters, once at last physically away from their households, feel like they have to continue this act of surrogacy. A lot of us tend to parent our friends and loved ones, going beyond just funny “mom friend” stereotypes of handbags full of goodies to becoming overly emotionally available to the point of burnout.
Boundaries become difficult to establish, especially for ourselves, because we were asked for such limitless amounts of understanding and patience and were told that that was love. We were told constantly to turn the other cheek and to be obedient and grateful for it, even if we were being bludgeoned by a burden we should never have carried at all.
It’d be disingenuous to dismiss the plight of male panganays as well. They definitely don’t have it easy, as a lot of them are also treated pretty severely in the guise of making them “tougher” or “manlier,” and many have suffered other types of expectations.
Male panganays are often saddled with the continuation of the family and are tasked with being breadwinners to secure that.
It’s difficult to trade in your childhood for something you never chose—especially knowing in adulthood that you weren’t supposed to even be exchanging something as fleeting as childhood joy in the first place.
To any eldest daughter still finding it in her to give herself grace, take your time. Those burdens should have never been yours, and it’s okay to navigate the rest of your life without having to worry constantly about how people will respond to your absence.
You are long overdue to making your own life—with or without the people you have propped up for so long.
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It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course | No author found | 2024-04-30T12:38:21+00:00 | Do memes imitate life or does life imitate memes?
I once saw a post featuring an old oil painting, the kind found in the illustrated Bible stories of my parents’ time (see also: White Jesus)—its caption, in 2008 Microsoft Word Art white read: “The real miracle is that Jesus had 12 close friends as a 30-year-old.”
It’s safe to say that I wheezed.
Come to think of it, since everything was part of a divine plan, I don’t think Jesus harbored any bad blood against Judas, who seems to have been fulfilling a necessary role in a larger plot and stage. I think some progressive theologians would agree.
Catholic school kid reminiscences aside, what a way to add closure to a friend breakup, huh?
Perhaps coming of age is more multi-season US TV than single-season K-drama; a series of life events that, to quote the mystic, poet, and lover Rumi, “bring us to ever-expanding rings of being.”
Our zeitgeist today is all about realizing that growth is lifelong: One doesn’t “just become an adult” but “continuously becomes.” You read that right, becoming, a verb, not just a one-time-big-time coming-of-age but a series of comings-of-age.
The yin to such yang would be that in the process of growth, we also shed old attachments. After each summer comes the proverbial autumn, a fall, and, a falling out. Enter the friend breakup.
If our first romantic breakups were our first coming-of-age, then perhaps the next might be a friend breakup (or more) sometime around our late 20s and early 30s.
Friend breakups hurt more than romantic breakups because more often than not, it was to our friends we turned to when our lovers felt more like strangers. Our barkada was our safe space and also the runway that egged us to take the leap of faith and eventually, the nest that caught us as we fell or celebrated our homecoming as we tied the knot.
Our barkadas were arguably more tahanan than our kasintahan. Cool how both Filipino words have “tears” as their root words huh?
And so when we find ourselves crying over losing our friends, the salt stings more.
It’s fine when friendships end because of abuse or repeated toxic behavior that’s been called out, but the rougher waters are in seas where no one is clearly at fault. And sometimes, it’s the slow burns that really cook, the gradual realization that the values, humor, goals, and more which glued your friendship before no longer stick around now.
As the pathways of our individual lives have led us to new places, we simply became different people with different priorities.
Sometimes, two high school besties finally open their dream cafe in their hometown having walked separate paths after college all while finding each other again, different people, but with notes that complement and harmonize.
But sometimes too, your decision to quiet quit the rat race and choose a slower lifestyle might run against the goals of a college confidant who took care of you (and vice versa) when drunk after midterms, an old friend whose choices have made her a grind-and-hustle girl boss.
If being authentically oneself is about having life options to act on, then a woman choosing the Way of the Girlboss is no less empowered than a woman choosing the Way of the Girlmoss.
Sometimes, exercising these choices may result in the end of friendships and there’s no way around it, no sugar to coat the bitter reality. But it’s equally human to attempt harmonizing the bitter and the sweet, the espresso and milk, so let me attempt a flat white:
The world is round, and while paths diverge, sometimes, after much meandering, after each person, each walker has found treasures from their respective journeys, old paths may find new convergences.
And sometimes they don’t. And that’s okay, too.
Even when you find a new village eager to raise a new you, past memories and attachments may hinder your attempts to open up. Really? Should I allow people in again knowing it can end? But what hurts more? The pain of separation or the pain of loneliness?
But in a zeitgeist also perceiving an interconnected world, it’s comforting to realize that each moment of (seemingly) individual clarity, joy, and whatnot nourishes The Whole. We may no longer be invited to the tables of old friends, but whenever we’re in a good place, I’d like to think that the unselfish joy we radiate reaches love past, present, and future—and vice versa.
And that might include people who (seemingly) no longer share a path with us. It’s been said that though many of the stars in the sky light years away are actually dead, their light is a last breath belatedly reaching us on Earth, and yet there’s also no denying that such light has still guided many a sailor across a dark sea.
Sometimes, the hardest grief we bear is for those who still walk the Earth, over people who saw us at our worst, thus allowing us to eventually come into our best.
Having known such best, I guess, is its own gift, even if we no longer walk together, bes.
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Joanie Delgaco gets shot at 19th place in Paris Olympics rowing | Lance Agcaoili | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 18:00:04 PST | Joanie Delgaco of Team Philippines crosses the finish line in the women’s single scull rowing repechage at the Paris Olympics 2o24, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Joanie Delgaco of Team Philippines crosses the finish line in the women’s single scull rowing repechage at the Paris Olympics 2o24, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
MANILA, Philippines — Team Philippines rower Joanie Delgaco lost steam anew in the women’s single sculls semifinals C/D classification round of the Paris Olympics 2024 and was relegated to Final D, which will give her a shot at finishing 19th to 24th.
Delgaco started strong with a hope to get a higher rank in the classification round — the top three advancing to Final C — but she couldn’t sustain momentum at third place, dropping to sixth midway through the race.
She can finish her Olympic campaign with 19th as her best ranking if she triumphs in her final race in Paris on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (Manila time).
READ: LIVE UPDATES: Team Philippines at Paris Olympics 2024 July 31
The 26-year-old Filipino bet avoided a last-place finish on Wednesday, clocking a time of 8:00.18 — six seconds ahead of last placer Fatemeh Mojallal of Iran.
Jovana Arsic of Serbia topped the race with the fastest time of 7:44.60, barging into the Final C with Slovenia’s Nina Kostanjsek (7:48.86) and Brazil’s Beatriz Tavares (7:49.96).
Alejandra Alonso of Paraguay settled for fourth with a time of 7:56.50, also relegated in Final D with Delgaco and Mojallal.
READ: Paris Olympics: Team Philippines’ Joanie Delgaco out of medal race
The Filipino Olympic rower bombed out of medal contention with a last-place finish of 7:58.30 in the quarterfinal on Tuesday.
She earned a shot at a quarterfinal after topping her repechage regatta on Sunday.
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Angara: 99% of schools open for SY 2024-2025; 673 still closed | Luisa Cabato | Wed, 31 Jul 2024 17:04:52 PST | MANILA, Philippines — Almost 99 percent of schools nationwide have already opened their classes for the School Year (SY) 2024-2025, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said on Wednesday.
Based on data as of July 31 at 7 a.m., only 673 schools have not yet opened their doors for learners to give way to ongoing cleanup and repair activities in areas affected by the southwest monsoon and typhoon Carina.
READ: DepEd has until August to find over 20,000 teachers
These schools are in the National Capital Region and Regions 1, 3, and 4A.
In an ambush interview on the sidelines of the Brigada Pagbasa Partners Network Launch in Mandaluyong City, Angara said that 673 schools represent less than one percent of those expected to open for SY 2024-2025.
“So less than one percent ‘yung 600,” he said.
(So that 600 is less than one percent of all schools nationwide.)
READ: DepEd: 77% of learners so far enrolled for School Year 2024-2025
Meanwhile, as of 9 a.m., DepEd said that 22,440,747 students have enrolled for SY 2024-2025.
This is approximately 80 percent of the 27,722,835 students expected to enlist for the current school year.
DepEd said that number is still expected to go up until the end of the enrollment period on September 16.
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