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Imelda Marcos ‘on path to recovery’ | The wRap
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Jaira Roxas
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07/03/2024 22:45
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Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, is feeling better days after she was admitted to the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever, thus, refuting rumors the Marcos family matriarch had died.
At least four more senators sign an objection letter seeking to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for snubbing a hearing.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says reports of Chinese research vessels in Benham Rise was a ‘clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory.’ But he confused different areas of the Philippines in this statement.
Nikki Haley ends her long-shot challenge to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Haley’s strong showing among moderate Republicans and independents highlight how Trump can be vulnerable in the November 5 election.
A New Mexico jury on Wednesday, March 6 finds Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter. A juror told reporters after the verdict, ‘That was her job to check those rounds.’ – Rappler.com
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On a tear: Kai Sotto dominates anew as Yokohama stuns Thirdy Ravena, San-En
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Jasmine Payo
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07/03/2024 8:58
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TOWERING. Yokohama's Kai Sotto goes for a shot over a defender in the Japan B. League.
JAPAN B. LEAGUE
MANILA, Philippines – Kai Sotto has been on an absolute tear for the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the Japan B. League.
For the fifth time in Yokohama’s last six outings, Sotto delivered a huge double-double to lift the B-Corsairs past Thirdy Ravena and the second-seeded San-En NeoPhoenix, 81-76, at the Yokohama International Pool on Wednesday, March 6.
Sotto racked up a game-high 23 points on an ultra-efficient 11-of-14 field goal clip, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist in over 27 minutes of action as Yokohama’s starting center.
The 7-foot-3 Gilas Pilipinas star came up big down the stretch as he scored eight of his 23 markers in the final six minutes of the ball game, including a clutch go-ahead hook shot that gave the B-Corsairs a 78-76 lead with only 1:08 left to play.
Yuki Kawamura then put the finishing touches for Yokohama, knocking down a dagger three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining, which settled the final score at 81-76.
This is the second straight game where Sotto led the B-Corsairs in both scoring and rebounding as he finished with 21 markers and a season-high 12 boards in their 84-73 win against the Kawasaki Brave Thunders last Sunday, March 3.
Meanwhile, Ravena was one of four San-En players to score in double-digits with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, together with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in close to 31 minutes of play.
With its second straight win, Yokohama improved its record to 19-23, while San-En fell to its fourth straight loss for a 34-8 card.
分かっていても・・・🥶🥶@KawamuraYuki @kzsottolive@b_corsairs📡バスケットLIVEで生配信中https://t.co/rZERMld3nC#Bリーグ pic.twitter.com/Drsdmmus0T
– Rappler.com
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Undefeated Creamline, Cignal share early top spot in PVL All-Filipino tilt
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jisaga0269
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07/03/2024 21:14
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WINNING START. Creamline spiker Alyssa Valdez (left) and Cignal libero Dawn Macandili-Catindig react in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
PVL Images
MANILA, Philippines – Defending PVL All-Filipino champion Creamline found little trouble in keeping its 2024 conference record immaculate, sweeping winless Galeries Tower, 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 on Thursday, March 7.
Kyle Negrito welcomed all Cool Smashers to her playmaking party at the PhilSports Arena, as she tallied 18 excellent sets to spark the balanced attack and help Creamline rise to a 3-0 record in the early goings of the conference.
Super sub Michele Gumabao led all attackers with 10 points off the bench, while MVPs Tots Carlos and Alyssa Valdez score 9 and 8, respectively, in just two sets played.
Meanwhile, the Cignal HD Spikers followed right behind Creamline in taking a standings lead at 3-0 after routing the winless Galeries Tower Highrisers, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.
Three-time PVL Best Setter Gel Cayuna erupted for 20 excellent sets and 5 points in just three sets, while former MVP Ces Molina topscored with 14 on 11 attacks, 2 blocks, and 1 ace.
Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos was pleased with the positives in his team’s win but likewise rued a frustrating endgame stretch where the HD Spikers allowed an 11-1 garbage-time Nxled run after already leading 23-10.
“I’m feeling mixed emotions,” he said in Filipino. “To be honest, the team had a really good performance, especially the starting six. We just got shaky when we shuffled the rotations in the end.”
Creamline mentor Sherwin Meneses, on the other hand, had nothing but passing marks across the board for the way his bench played in the blowout win against Galeries.
“The rotation was fine. Every game, against any opponent, my entire rotation is capable of stepping up,” he said in Filipino. “They just have to always be ready when their numbers are called.”
Alyssa Eroa paced the Highrisers’ descent down a 0-3 record with 17 excellent digs, complemented by a team-high 11 points from Ysa Jimenez.
Nxled, meanwhile, got a late spark from Jho Maraguinot, who led the losing cause down a similar 0-3 slate with 11 points.
Star recruit Ivy Lacsina added 8 points before exiting the rest of the third set after captain Dani Ravena crashed on her left knee, further complicating a rocky start to the conference fresh off a right knee injury recovery. – Rappler.com
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China ships in Benham Rise ‘bit of an escalation,’ says Marcos
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Bea Cupin
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06/03/2024 19:32
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File photo of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Noel Pabalate/PPA Pool
MELBOURNE, Australia – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday, March 6, that reports of Chinese research vessels in Benham Rise was a “clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory” and an incident that’s caused “great concern.”
“I see this as absolutely unnecessary because if it is truly a research vessel then we could have come to a very simple agreement that the research vessel will ply the waters and do the research that they need to do,” said Marcos in a recorded video, responding to media inquiries while in Melbourne on Wednesday, March 6.
The Philippine President and fellow leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are in Australia for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. Marcos flew out of Melbourne late Wednesday.
“There is a suspicion that they are not only research vessels so, again, this is a bit of an escalation of the tension that is present in the West Philippines Sea,” he added, confusing different areas of the Philippines.
Benham Rise is located at the Philippine eastern seaboard facing the Pacific Ocean – while in the opposite is the West Philippine Sea which is part of the South China Sea.
Benham Rise, since renamed the Philippine Rise, is an underwater plateau located near Aurora province and considered part of the Philippines’ continental shelf. The 13 million hectare plateau under water is larger even than Luzon, the country’s biggest island.
It is believed to be rich in natural gases and other resources. In 2012, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Contintental Shelf (UNCLCS) confirmed Benham Rise.
Marcos, surprisingly, would not be the first president to mix up the two areas. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, also mixed up Benham Rise with issues in the West Philippine Sea.
Ironically, Duterte’s confusion then also stemmed from reports that a Chinese survey ship had been monitored in Benham Rise back in 2017.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, located west of the Philippines. The claim is contradictory to a 2016 Arbitral Ruling, which Beijing rejects. It has not claimed Benham Rise thus far. – Rappler.com
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Imelda ‘on path to recovery’ after hospital confinement, says President Marcos
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Dwight de Leon
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07/03/2024 18:40
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RECOVERY. This file photo shows former first lady Imelda Marcos and family members at Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s rally in Mandaluyong.
Rob Reyes/ Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, was feeling better days after she was admitted to the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever.
The chief executive paid his mother a visit after arriving in Manila from Melbourne on Wednesday night, March 6.
“In consultation with her medical team, it has been confirmed that her fever is gradually subsiding, and she is on the path to recovery,” he said in a post on X on Thursday, March 7.
“We’ve decided to keep her in the hospital until she finishes her prescribed course of antibiotic treatment. This measure will also afford her the necessary rest and continuous medical supervision,” he added.
The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, first confirmed on Tuesday, March 5, that their 94-year-old mother was brought to a medical facility after bouts of coughs and feverishness.
The widow of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos has had numerous health issues.
After the Sandiganbayan slapped her a graft conviction in 2018, she cited the following illnesses in her plea to post bail:
In May 2023, she underwent a successful angioplasty procedure.
On Wednesday night, Malacañang refuted rumors that the Marcos family matriarch had died. – Rappler.com
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4 senators oppose contempt order vs Quiboloy
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Herbie G
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07/03/2024 17:24
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OBJECT. Senator Robinhoods Padilla looks as Senator Risa Hontiveros makes a point after citing Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy in contempt during the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on March 5, 2024.
Senate PRIB
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – At least four senators have signed an objection letter that seeks to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for not showing up during its continuing investigation into the alleged abuses committed against former workers of the Davao-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Senator Robinhood Padilla, the first to object to the ruling, identified the others with him as senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Cynthia Villar, and Imee Marcos. He identified Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito to be with them, but the latter withdrew his signature later in the day.
Padilla’s group has five more days from Thursday, March 7, to convince at least four more senators to sign an objection letter to stop Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri from ordering Quiboloy’s arrest so the preacher could be brought to testify before the committee chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Eight constitutes the majority in the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, required to overturn the March 5 ruling of Hontiveros to cite Quiboloy in contempt.
Based on the Senate rules on investigations in aid of legislation, a majority of committee members can reverse a contempt citation within seven days from the date of the ruling.
The Hontiveros-led committee is composed of senators Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Go, Ejercito, Padilla, Villar, and her son Mark. Senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Aquilino Pimentel III sit in the committee as ex officio members.
Earlier, Senator Marcos said she doubted that the Senate committee was conducting an investigation in aid of legislation.
“Kinakailangan muna na alamin natin muna ang dapat alamin kasi puros kwentuhan lang (First, we need to find out what needs to be known because it’s all just talk for now),” Marcos told reporters.
She said she would rather leave the Quiboloy case in the hands of the courts.
Marcos also confirmed that there has been a concerted effort by a group of senators to reverse the ruling.
Ejercito initially signed the objection letter but withdrew his signature hours later.
He said in a statement late Thursday afternoon that he initially signed the objection letter initiated by Padilla “in consideration of procedural practicality,” and this was “based on the fact the Department of Justice has already pursued charges of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking against Pastor Quiboloy.”
“But after careful review of the facts, witness testimonies, and additional information, such as the allegations of rape during the last committee hearing, I have decided to withdraw my signature today,” he said.
“Furthermore, my consultations have revealed strong precedents indicating that ongoing cases can still be heard and investigated in the Senate. This means Pastor Quiboloy will get an opportunity to present his side. Rest assured that the Senate will ensure fairness throughout the proceedings,” Ejercito added.
“Kailangan ko pa ng tatlo. May mga nakausap na ako na sa mga napakagandang paliwanag nila, tinatanggap ko na hindi sila pumirma. At ‘yan ang mga bagay na ikinatutuwa at ikinalulungkot. Siyempre ikinatuwa dahil buhay ang demokrasya sa Senado, nalulungkot dahil hindi ko pa nakukuha ang walong boto hanggang sa ngayon,” Padilla told reporters on Thursday, March 7.
(I still need three more. I’ve talked to some who did not sign and gave very good explanations, which I have accepted. And those are the things that make me happy and sad. Of course, I am happy democracy is alive in the Senate, but it brings sadness because I still haven’t secured the eight votes until now.)
Padilla added, “Personal akong tumatawag; personal akong humihingi kahit five minutes doon sa mga member. Meron pa akong bukas, Sabado, Linggo. Sana mapagbigyan tayo ng mga hindi pa nagsasabi ng hindi sila pipirma.”
(I personally make the calls; I personally ask for even just five minutes from the members. I still have tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday. I hope those who haven’t said they won’t sign will give us the chance.)
Padilla said his position has nothing to do with his friendship with Quiboloy, adding that he felt that senators should leave matters with the justice department.
He also cautioned against the Senate’s actions against a religious group, saying senators run the risk of going against the constitutional provision about the separation of Church and State.
Padilla said, “Dito sa nakikita ko, pagka nagpatuloy sa ganitong proseso parang sinasaklawan na natin, magkakaroon ba tayo ng panukala na sasagasaan natin ang religion? Papunta na ito. Wala na kay pastor, napupunta na doon sa buong organization. Sa buong religion nila.”
(From what I see here, if we continue with this process, it seems like we’re encroaching. Are we going to propose something that will encroach on religion? It’s heading that way. It’s no longer just about the pastor; it’s going to the whole organization. To their entire religion.)
Padilla said he considers Quiboloy his friend and an ally in his advocacy against the communist rebellion since the Arroyo administration.
“Hindi deserve para sa mga mata ko na ang isang taong tingin kong bayani sa pakikipaglaban niya sa komunista na naging kasama ko, e ganitong klase papayagan ko maiskandalo,” he said.
(In my view, it’s not fair that someone I regard as a hero for his fight against communists, and with whom I’ve collaborated, should suffer such a scandal with my consent.)
He also said Quiboloy provided him a platform for his advocacy through the preacher’s media arm, the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), and lent him a helicopter when he was running for a seat in the Senate.
“Ang helicopter pinahiram niya sa akin, ang mga ganoong klaseng pabor (He lent me a helicopter, that kind of favor,” Padilla said. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate Senator JV Ejercito’s decision. It is, indeed, the right thing to do. As for Senator Padilla and the rest of the pro-Quiboloy Senators, I believe it is a matter of “utang-na-loob.” I just hope that the victims of Pastor Quiboloy will remember them in the 2025 Midterm Election. The pro-Quiboloy senators can justify their actions for whatever reason they want to present to the Filipino people. But Filipinos with analytical and critical minds know which side of Social Justice they belong to.
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Jodi Sta. Maria shares how dealing with hate made her family more caring
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gbarrientos0280
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07/03/2024 9:00
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As an actress in the public eye, Jodi Sta. Maria has had to deal with hate in many different forms. Even counting the years of trolling and bashing online, one of the most distressing kinds of hate she has dealt with is not in her life as a public figure, but as a mother – when her son experienced bullying.
“No parent would want their child to be bullied. We felt sad when it happened,” said Jodi, who shared about a time when her son Thirdy, then a young elementary boy, had to cope with bullying. “Honestly, it angered me too.”
Adding to Jodi’s frustration, she was overseas at the time due to work and was unable to instantly come to her son’s aid. “I remember that I was abroad doing a show and I was sent photos of what happened to my son. I was alarmed and I initially felt helpless because I was so far away,” she said.
It’s hard to watch your child go through hurtful experiences alone, and it’s times like this when Jodi and her family needed to remember and hold on to the Filipino value of alaga.
“During that time, I felt so mad, helpless, and guilty because I’m the mom. I should be there to protect him, and yet asan ako? Nasa trabaho ako diba, and wala ako ‘dun sa side niya when it happened,” said Jodi. “Ang nangyari, as a galit na mother, umuwi ako ng Pilipinas, nakipag-set ako ng meeting sa school kasi ang gusto ko confrontation.”
She was then told that cases like this needed to first undergo levels of bureaucracy like paperwork and parent correspondence, which aggravated Jodi inside. “Madaming ganon, so na-frustrate ako. Kakausapin ko na lang yung anak ko about it,” she said.
Jodi was able to push past her sadness and anger, and used care and ingat instead to find a way to bring clarity to the issue. “Siyempre, kailangan ko muna i-pacify yung sarili ko kasi I don’t want naman to say things out of rage.”
Jodi learned from that experience how important mindfulness is, and staying calm and composed helps her say her thoughts with ingat. “It taught me to be more mindful of my actions, because I realized children will most of the time emulate what they see. As parents, although we shouldn’t be too imposing, we should lead through our actions,” she said.
She adds a nugget of wisdom she asks her son to live by. “I always remind my son about the golden rule: ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated.’ Now, if they still behave otherwise, then it’s on the other person na.”
Being a genuine advocate of fighting hate with care, Jodi has partnered with Paracetamol (Biogesic) in their latest campaign to #SayItWithIngat. Together, they want to spread kindness and care amidst the environments of hate that have infiltrated both offline and online spaces.
No matter what you’re about to say or do to another person, Jodi shares this practice of thoughtfulness you can exercise. “I think we should start with a question na: “What if this thing you’ve done to this person was done to you. How [would] you feel?’”
Alaga always starts from finding empathy, a trait that mothers like Jodi possess for their children. To touch the future generation, it’s important for parents to create a culture of care that starts from their family.
Want to learn how to #SayItWithIngat? Follow Paracetamol (Biogesic) on Facebook or listen to Jodi’s Paano Ba ‘To: The Podcast episode for more tips and stories. – Rappler.com
If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
ASC U0160P020724B
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4 senators oppose contempt order vs Quiboloy
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Herbie G
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07/03/2024 17:24
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OBJECT. Senator Robinhoods Padilla looks as Senator Risa Hontiveros makes a point after citing Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy in contempt during the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on March 5, 2024.
Senate PRIB
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – At least four senators have signed an objection letter that seeks to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for not showing up during its continuing investigation into the alleged abuses committed against former workers of the Davao-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Senator Robinhood Padilla, the first to object to the ruling, identified the others with him as senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Cynthia Villar, and Imee Marcos. He identified Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito to be with them, but the latter withdrew his signature later in the day.
Padilla’s group has five more days from Thursday, March 7, to convince at least four more senators to sign an objection letter to stop Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri from ordering Quiboloy’s arrest so the preacher could be brought to testify before the committee chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Eight constitutes the majority in the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, required to overturn the March 5 ruling of Hontiveros to cite Quiboloy in contempt.
Based on the Senate rules on investigations in aid of legislation, a majority of committee members can reverse a contempt citation within seven days from the date of the ruling.
The Hontiveros-led committee is composed of senators Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Go, Ejercito, Padilla, Villar, and her son Mark. Senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Aquilino Pimentel III sit in the committee as ex officio members.
Earlier, Senator Marcos said she doubted that the Senate committee was conducting an investigation in aid of legislation.
“Kinakailangan muna na alamin natin muna ang dapat alamin kasi puros kwentuhan lang (First, we need to find out what needs to be known because it’s all just talk for now),” Marcos told reporters.
She said she would rather leave the Quiboloy case in the hands of the courts.
Marcos also confirmed that there has been a concerted effort by a group of senators to reverse the ruling.
Ejercito initially signed the objection letter but withdrew his signature hours later.
He said in a statement late Thursday afternoon that he initially signed the objection letter initiated by Padilla “in consideration of procedural practicality,” and this was “based on the fact the Department of Justice has already pursued charges of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking against Pastor Quiboloy.”
“But after careful review of the facts, witness testimonies, and additional information, such as the allegations of rape during the last committee hearing, I have decided to withdraw my signature today,” he said.
“Furthermore, my consultations have revealed strong precedents indicating that ongoing cases can still be heard and investigated in the Senate. This means Pastor Quiboloy will get an opportunity to present his side. Rest assured that the Senate will ensure fairness throughout the proceedings,” Ejercito added.
“Kailangan ko pa ng tatlo. May mga nakausap na ako na sa mga napakagandang paliwanag nila, tinatanggap ko na hindi sila pumirma. At ‘yan ang mga bagay na ikinatutuwa at ikinalulungkot. Siyempre ikinatuwa dahil buhay ang demokrasya sa Senado, nalulungkot dahil hindi ko pa nakukuha ang walong boto hanggang sa ngayon,” Padilla told reporters on Thursday, March 7.
(I still need three more. I’ve talked to some who did not sign and gave very good explanations, which I have accepted. And those are the things that make me happy and sad. Of course, I am happy democracy is alive in the Senate, but it brings sadness because I still haven’t secured the eight votes until now.)
Padilla added, “Personal akong tumatawag; personal akong humihingi kahit five minutes doon sa mga member. Meron pa akong bukas, Sabado, Linggo. Sana mapagbigyan tayo ng mga hindi pa nagsasabi ng hindi sila pipirma.”
(I personally make the calls; I personally ask for even just five minutes from the members. I still have tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday. I hope those who haven’t said they won’t sign will give us the chance.)
Padilla said his position has nothing to do with his friendship with Quiboloy, adding that he felt that senators should leave matters with the justice department.
He also cautioned against the Senate’s actions against a religious group, saying senators run the risk of going against the constitutional provision about the separation of Church and State.
Padilla said, “Dito sa nakikita ko, pagka nagpatuloy sa ganitong proseso parang sinasaklawan na natin, magkakaroon ba tayo ng panukala na sasagasaan natin ang religion? Papunta na ito. Wala na kay pastor, napupunta na doon sa buong organization. Sa buong religion nila.”
(From what I see here, if we continue with this process, it seems like we’re encroaching. Are we going to propose something that will encroach on religion? It’s heading that way. It’s no longer just about the pastor; it’s going to the whole organization. To their entire religion.)
Padilla said he considers Quiboloy his friend and an ally in his advocacy against the communist rebellion since the Arroyo administration.
“Hindi deserve para sa mga mata ko na ang isang taong tingin kong bayani sa pakikipaglaban niya sa komunista na naging kasama ko, e ganitong klase papayagan ko maiskandalo,” he said.
(In my view, it’s not fair that someone I regard as a hero for his fight against communists, and with whom I’ve collaborated, should suffer such a scandal with my consent.)
He also said Quiboloy provided him a platform for his advocacy through the preacher’s media arm, the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), and lent him a helicopter when he was running for a seat in the Senate.
“Ang helicopter pinahiram niya sa akin, ang mga ganoong klaseng pabor (He lent me a helicopter, that kind of favor,” Padilla said. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate Senator JV Ejercito’s decision. It is, indeed, the right thing to do. As for Senator Padilla and the rest of the pro-Quiboloy Senators, I believe it is a matter of “utang-na-loob.” I just hope that the victims of Pastor Quiboloy will remember them in the 2025 Midterm Election. The pro-Quiboloy senators can justify their actions for whatever reason they want to present to the Filipino people. But Filipinos with analytical and critical minds know which side of Social Justice they belong to.
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https://www.rappler.com/philippines/senators-join-robin-padilla-overturn-quiboloy-contempt-ruling/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2b2LFX1AukkAKfLqiUTo8qc3icXbd2GEE6ESvxZ3f_E-tbVsY4nu59mo0_aem_D095OLSGiZ-IHW6MJspwPQ
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1
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2 Filipinos dead in Gulf of Aden Houthi attack
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Michelle Abad
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07/03/2024 13:23
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An aerial view of the Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze following a Houthi missile attack at sea, March 6, 2024, in this handout photo.
DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS
MANILA, Philippines – At least two Filipinos have been confirmed dead in a recent attack by Houthi rebels on the True Confidence vessel in the Gulf of Aden, Philippine authorities confirmed on Thursday, March 7.
“We in the Department of Migrant Workers sincerely extend our deepest condolences to the family and kin of our slain, heroic seafarers,” the DMW said, withholding the seafarers’ names.
There were 15 Filipinos onboard True Confidence. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a separate statement that the remaining 13 had been brought by the Indian Navy to Djibouti, where three of them were hospitalized due to “serious injuries.” They are in stable condition.
The DMW reported that the remaining 10 Filipinos were “safe and secure” in a hotel in Djibouti City, where they spoke to Philippine officials via video call.
Senior DMW officials also met with the families of the two Filipinos who died in the attack.
On board, there were also four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian, and a Nepali.
A Reuters report, citing the US Central Command (CENTCOM), said a total of three seafarers died.
The DMW vowed full support and assistance to the remaining Filipino crew, including their repatriation.
The attack on the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged civilian bulk carrier True Confidence led to the deaths of at least three seafarers, according to earlier reports.
True Confidence was on fire and drifting around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen’s port of Aden. The United States Central Command said the Houthi attack caused “significant damage” to the ship and severe burns to some of the crew onboard.
Citing the ship’s manning agency, the DMW said a missile struck the vessel’s fuel bunker section, causing an explosion and engulfing the ship in flames. The explosion’s magnitude forced the crew to evacuate immediately.
On Friday, March 8, the DMW and DFA said that the manning agency had yet to recover the remains of the Filipinos, which were still on the ship.
“We’re not sure about the final plan on retrieving the bodies, but it’s the responsibility of the manning agency. They have to find a way,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo Serbisyo.
The Houthis, a Yemeni militia group, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November 2023 in an apparent solidarity campaign with Palestinians during the war between Israel and Hamas.
It was also in November when the Houthis took hostage 17 Filipino seafarers in the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on the Red Sea.
In February, the International Bargaining Forum expanded the scope of “high risk areas” (HRAs) to the entire Gulf of Aden, a decision the DMW welcomed.
“The expansion of the scope of ‘high risk areas’ to include the Gulf of Aden serves as a necessary step towards providing stronger protection and promoting stricter security measures to safeguard Filipino seafarers and all seafarers working onboard ships navigating in such HRAs,” said DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac when the decision was released.
The expanded HRA ranges from the entire southern section of the Red Sea and the entire Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, and stretches to the coast of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa.
Filipino seafarers onboard ships that navigate in HRA waters have the right to refuse sailing, avail of company-funded repatriation, and compensation and bonuses. They are also entitled to double compensation in the event of death or disability.
“The Philippine government remains steadfast in the belief that through diplomacy and adherence to international law, the inter-related conflicts affecting the region at present will eventually be resolved, leading to the resumption of free and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of navigation for the world economy and the international community,” the DFA said.
The United States State Department said it would continue to hold the Houthis accountable for such attacks.
In a statement on Friday, March 8, the Japanese embassy in Manila expressed solidarity with Filipinos after the death of the two OFWs.
“Japan expresses heartfelt condolences to the families of two Filipino seafarers who lost their lives by a missile attack. We deeply respect their dedication in a foreign land,” the embassy said.
The embassy added that it will continue to work with the Philippines “toward the peaceful resolution of conflicts as well as lasting peace and stability all across the world.” – Rappler.com
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4 senators oppose contempt order vs Quiboloy
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Herbie G
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07/03/2024 17:24
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OBJECT. Senator Robinhoods Padilla looks as Senator Risa Hontiveros makes a point after citing Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy in contempt during the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on March 5, 2024.
Senate PRIB
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – At least four senators have signed an objection letter that seeks to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for not showing up during its continuing investigation into the alleged abuses committed against former workers of the Davao-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Senator Robinhood Padilla, the first to object to the ruling, identified the others with him as senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Cynthia Villar, and Imee Marcos. He identified Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito to be with them, but the latter withdrew his signature later in the day.
Padilla’s group has five more days from Thursday, March 7, to convince at least four more senators to sign an objection letter to stop Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri from ordering Quiboloy’s arrest so the preacher could be brought to testify before the committee chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Eight constitutes the majority in the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, required to overturn the March 5 ruling of Hontiveros to cite Quiboloy in contempt.
Based on the Senate rules on investigations in aid of legislation, a majority of committee members can reverse a contempt citation within seven days from the date of the ruling.
The Hontiveros-led committee is composed of senators Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Go, Ejercito, Padilla, Villar, and her son Mark. Senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Aquilino Pimentel III sit in the committee as ex officio members.
Earlier, Senator Marcos said she doubted that the Senate committee was conducting an investigation in aid of legislation.
“Kinakailangan muna na alamin natin muna ang dapat alamin kasi puros kwentuhan lang (First, we need to find out what needs to be known because it’s all just talk for now),” Marcos told reporters.
She said she would rather leave the Quiboloy case in the hands of the courts.
Marcos also confirmed that there has been a concerted effort by a group of senators to reverse the ruling.
Ejercito initially signed the objection letter but withdrew his signature hours later.
He said in a statement late Thursday afternoon that he initially signed the objection letter initiated by Padilla “in consideration of procedural practicality,” and this was “based on the fact the Department of Justice has already pursued charges of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking against Pastor Quiboloy.”
“But after careful review of the facts, witness testimonies, and additional information, such as the allegations of rape during the last committee hearing, I have decided to withdraw my signature today,” he said.
“Furthermore, my consultations have revealed strong precedents indicating that ongoing cases can still be heard and investigated in the Senate. This means Pastor Quiboloy will get an opportunity to present his side. Rest assured that the Senate will ensure fairness throughout the proceedings,” Ejercito added.
“Kailangan ko pa ng tatlo. May mga nakausap na ako na sa mga napakagandang paliwanag nila, tinatanggap ko na hindi sila pumirma. At ‘yan ang mga bagay na ikinatutuwa at ikinalulungkot. Siyempre ikinatuwa dahil buhay ang demokrasya sa Senado, nalulungkot dahil hindi ko pa nakukuha ang walong boto hanggang sa ngayon,” Padilla told reporters on Thursday, March 7.
(I still need three more. I’ve talked to some who did not sign and gave very good explanations, which I have accepted. And those are the things that make me happy and sad. Of course, I am happy democracy is alive in the Senate, but it brings sadness because I still haven’t secured the eight votes until now.)
Padilla added, “Personal akong tumatawag; personal akong humihingi kahit five minutes doon sa mga member. Meron pa akong bukas, Sabado, Linggo. Sana mapagbigyan tayo ng mga hindi pa nagsasabi ng hindi sila pipirma.”
(I personally make the calls; I personally ask for even just five minutes from the members. I still have tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday. I hope those who haven’t said they won’t sign will give us the chance.)
Padilla said his position has nothing to do with his friendship with Quiboloy, adding that he felt that senators should leave matters with the justice department.
He also cautioned against the Senate’s actions against a religious group, saying senators run the risk of going against the constitutional provision about the separation of Church and State.
Padilla said, “Dito sa nakikita ko, pagka nagpatuloy sa ganitong proseso parang sinasaklawan na natin, magkakaroon ba tayo ng panukala na sasagasaan natin ang religion? Papunta na ito. Wala na kay pastor, napupunta na doon sa buong organization. Sa buong religion nila.”
(From what I see here, if we continue with this process, it seems like we’re encroaching. Are we going to propose something that will encroach on religion? It’s heading that way. It’s no longer just about the pastor; it’s going to the whole organization. To their entire religion.)
Padilla said he considers Quiboloy his friend and an ally in his advocacy against the communist rebellion since the Arroyo administration.
“Hindi deserve para sa mga mata ko na ang isang taong tingin kong bayani sa pakikipaglaban niya sa komunista na naging kasama ko, e ganitong klase papayagan ko maiskandalo,” he said.
(In my view, it’s not fair that someone I regard as a hero for his fight against communists, and with whom I’ve collaborated, should suffer such a scandal with my consent.)
He also said Quiboloy provided him a platform for his advocacy through the preacher’s media arm, the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), and lent him a helicopter when he was running for a seat in the Senate.
“Ang helicopter pinahiram niya sa akin, ang mga ganoong klaseng pabor (He lent me a helicopter, that kind of favor,” Padilla said. – Rappler.com
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Please abide by Rappler's commenting guidelines.
I appreciate Senator JV Ejercito’s decision. It is, indeed, the right thing to do. As for Senator Padilla and the rest of the pro-Quiboloy Senators, I believe it is a matter of “utang-na-loob.” I just hope that the victims of Pastor Quiboloy will remember them in the 2025 Midterm Election. The pro-Quiboloy senators can justify their actions for whatever reason they want to present to the Filipino people. But Filipinos with analytical and critical minds know which side of Social Justice they belong to.
How does this make you feel?
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Rappler
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https://www.rappler.com/philippines/senators-join-robin-padilla-overturn-quiboloy-contempt-ruling/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0q-5PRfZee6KR63AXjw1zOqqS8sy04RorRN46D4OoDrTLmoiSys21Ypis_aem_-aALpYkfbl1XSIQXLshHfw
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1
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China ships in Benham Rise ‘bit of an escalation,’ says Marcos
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Bea Cupin
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06/03/2024 19:32
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File photo of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Noel Pabalate/PPA Pool
MELBOURNE, Australia – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday, March 6, that reports of Chinese research vessels in Benham Rise was a “clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory” and an incident that’s caused “great concern.”
“I see this as absolutely unnecessary because if it is truly a research vessel then we could have come to a very simple agreement that the research vessel will ply the waters and do the research that they need to do,” said Marcos in a recorded video, responding to media inquiries while in Melbourne on Wednesday, March 6.
The Philippine President and fellow leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are in Australia for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. Marcos flew out of Melbourne late Wednesday.
“There is a suspicion that they are not only research vessels so, again, this is a bit of an escalation of the tension that is present in the West Philippines Sea,” he added, confusing different areas of the Philippines.
Benham Rise is located at the Philippine eastern seaboard facing the Pacific Ocean – while in the opposite is the West Philippine Sea which is part of the South China Sea.
Benham Rise, since renamed the Philippine Rise, is an underwater plateau located near Aurora province and considered part of the Philippines’ continental shelf. The 13 million hectare plateau under water is larger even than Luzon, the country’s biggest island.
It is believed to be rich in natural gases and other resources. In 2012, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Contintental Shelf (UNCLCS) confirmed Benham Rise.
Marcos, surprisingly, would not be the first president to mix up the two areas. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, also mixed up Benham Rise with issues in the West Philippine Sea.
Ironically, Duterte’s confusion then also stemmed from reports that a Chinese survey ship had been monitored in Benham Rise back in 2017.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, located west of the Philippines. The claim is contradictory to a 2016 Arbitral Ruling, which Beijing rejects. It has not claimed Benham Rise thus far. – Rappler.com
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[Rappler’s Best] Bugged by the bug
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lfangeles0309
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04/03/2024 20:55
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Nico Villarete/Rappler
Just as we were all revved up for a soon-to-be privatized (and hopefully more efficient) flagship airport, our dreamland is bitten by a bug.
Last Tuesday, February 27, a post about a Filipino passenger with bed bug bites at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) went viral, prompting an apology from the agency that manages the terminals – and a decision to remove the bug-infested chairs.
These are no ordinary items. Made of rattan, the chairs were installed in April 2023 at NAIA Terminal 2, as part of a Filipino-inspired renovation that included solihiya lamps and panels and mini-gardens – a joint project by the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation. Oh, what a delight to see!
One would have thought, though, that wooden materials are most vulnerable to the surot that infects our daily lives. Which means they needed more attention and care. But airport management said they were not remiss, insisting that both terminals 2 (where the rattan chairs are) and 3 (where surot was also found in non-rattan chairs) went through regular deep disinfection. So perhaps, said a pest control official at NAIA in an interview with GMA’s Mariz Umali, the pests were… “imported.”
Let’s let that pass. This seemingly trivial issue should not be trivialized, however. The bug story reinforces NAIA’s bad rep in the world.
Speaking of airports and Taylor Swift, who’s in Singapore until March 9 for her The Eras Tour (here’s the ultimate guide to the concerts), Filipino Swifties got scammed on Facebook by someone who sold tickets to Taylor’s Singapore gigs. This gave online marketplace Carousell no choice but to suspend its ticket sales until March 9 in six Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.
And speaking of scams. We were alerted to a deepfake video of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa that showed her purportedly promoting Bitcoin. This was circulated on Facebook and through an ad on Microsoft’s Bing platform. In this story by Rappler’s Gemma Mendoza and Gelo Gonzales, we can see how a Russian scam network circulated the fake video. In particular:
Deepfake videos are powerful tools of deceit and manipulation.
As we fret over airport bugs, scammers, and fakers, Gaza continues to burn beyond recognition and suffer beyond grief.
On February 29, Israeli forces shot dead more than 100 Palestinians who were lining up for an aid delivery – the biggest single-day loss of civilian lives in weeks. We thought we’d gotten used to devastating images from Gaza by now, but last week’s pictures were gut-wrenching, making us doubt our humanity and question any promise of a path forward.
The Palestinian death toll has already passed the 30,000 mark. The United Nations warned last week that a quarter of the population in Gaza – at least 576,000 people – are one step away from famine. US Vice President Kamala Harris pressed Israel to address this “humanitarian catastrophe,” in one of the strongest statements on the issue by a US official – but what does that even mean? Where lies hope? – Rappler.com
Rappler’s Best is a weekly newsletter of our top picks delivered straight to your inbox every Monday.
To subscribe, visit rappler.com/profile and click the Newsletters tab. You need a Rappler account and you must log in to manage your newsletter subscriptions.
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1
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[Rappler’s Best] Bugged by the bug
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lfangeles0309
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04/03/2024 20:55
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Nico Villarete/Rappler
Just as we were all revved up for a soon-to-be privatized (and hopefully more efficient) flagship airport, our dreamland is bitten by a bug.
Last Tuesday, February 27, a post about a Filipino passenger with bed bug bites at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) went viral, prompting an apology from the agency that manages the terminals – and a decision to remove the bug-infested chairs.
These are no ordinary items. Made of rattan, the chairs were installed in April 2023 at NAIA Terminal 2, as part of a Filipino-inspired renovation that included solihiya lamps and panels and mini-gardens – a joint project by the Department of Tourism and the Department of Transportation. Oh, what a delight to see!
One would have thought, though, that wooden materials are most vulnerable to the surot that infects our daily lives. Which means they needed more attention and care. But airport management said they were not remiss, insisting that both terminals 2 (where the rattan chairs are) and 3 (where surot was also found in non-rattan chairs) went through regular deep disinfection. So perhaps, said a pest control official at NAIA in an interview with GMA’s Mariz Umali, the pests were… “imported.”
Let’s let that pass. This seemingly trivial issue should not be trivialized, however. The bug story reinforces NAIA’s bad rep in the world.
Speaking of airports and Taylor Swift, who’s in Singapore until March 9 for her The Eras Tour (here’s the ultimate guide to the concerts), Filipino Swifties got scammed on Facebook by someone who sold tickets to Taylor’s Singapore gigs. This gave online marketplace Carousell no choice but to suspend its ticket sales until March 9 in six Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.
And speaking of scams. We were alerted to a deepfake video of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa that showed her purportedly promoting Bitcoin. This was circulated on Facebook and through an ad on Microsoft’s Bing platform. In this story by Rappler’s Gemma Mendoza and Gelo Gonzales, we can see how a Russian scam network circulated the fake video. In particular:
Deepfake videos are powerful tools of deceit and manipulation.
As we fret over airport bugs, scammers, and fakers, Gaza continues to burn beyond recognition and suffer beyond grief.
On February 29, Israeli forces shot dead more than 100 Palestinians who were lining up for an aid delivery – the biggest single-day loss of civilian lives in weeks. We thought we’d gotten used to devastating images from Gaza by now, but last week’s pictures were gut-wrenching, making us doubt our humanity and question any promise of a path forward.
The Palestinian death toll has already passed the 30,000 mark. The United Nations warned last week that a quarter of the population in Gaza – at least 576,000 people – are one step away from famine. US Vice President Kamala Harris pressed Israel to address this “humanitarian catastrophe,” in one of the strongest statements on the issue by a US official – but what does that even mean? Where lies hope? – Rappler.com
Rappler’s Best is a weekly newsletter of our top picks delivered straight to your inbox every Monday.
To subscribe, visit rappler.com/profile and click the Newsletters tab. You need a Rappler account and you must log in to manage your newsletter subscriptions.
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FACT CHECK: Hontiveros not part of P15-B PhilHealth corruption scandal
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Lorenz Pasion
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07/03/2024 12:10
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Claim: Senator Risa Hontiveros stole P15 billion from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to fund her senatorial campaign.
Why we fact-checked this: A YouTube video posted on March 3 cites former broadcaster and SMNI consultant Jay Sonza as a source for the claim. As of writing, it has 5,600 views and 266 likes.
The video was posted amid the ongoing Senate inquiry headed by Hontiveros on the alleged abuses committed by the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) led by Davao-based preacher Apollo Quiboloy.
The bottom line: Hontiveros was not part of the P15-billion corruption scandal as it took place in 2019, long after Hontiveros stepped down from her post as a Philhealth board member.
Hontiveros served as a board member of the state insurer from November 2014 to October 15. She took her oath of office in June 2015 and resigned the same year for her 2016 senatorial bid. It was in 2020 when former PhilHealth anti-fraud officer Thorrsson Montes Keith revealed that Philhealth executives pocketed and misspent P15 billion through fraudulent schemes in 2019. (READ: Corruption, controversies faced by PhilHealth)
Not part of PhilHealth ‘mafia’: In a 2020 interview on Super Radyo DZBB, Hontiveros herself denied involvement in the controversy amid rumors that she was part of the “mafia” running the illegal activities within Philhealth.
The senator was also not among the Philhealth executives named by Keith as the ringleaders of a “syndicate” within the state insurer.
In a statement in 2020, PhilHealth denied Keith’s claims and said that the funds in question were disbursed to 711 healthcare facilities for COVID-19 response and were not pocketed by its officials.
Old claim: Rappler and VERA Files have already debunked claims that Hontiveros stole P15 billion from PhilHealth. Since 2018, the senator has also been repeatedly falsely linked to other controversies, such as her supposed involvement in PhilHealth’s illegal bonus anomalies in 2013 and 2014.
Quiboloy issue: The false claim surfaced amid the ongoing Senate probe into human trafficking and abuses supposedly committed by Quiboloy and KOJC. Hontiveros, head of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, has been leading the hearings since January.
On March 5, the Senate panel cited Quiboloy in contempt after the preacher continued to snub the hearings despite a subpoena. Hontiveros also asked Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to order Quiboloy’s arrest so he could testify before the committee.
Dubious source: The cited source of the claim, Sonza, has already been fact-checked for spreading dubious claims about Martial Law, COVID-19 coverage, and Rappler.
Rappler has published multiple fact-checks debunking false claims about Hontiveros:
– Kyle Marcelino/Rappler.com
Kyle Marcelino 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 factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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[Be The Good] In Negros, a bloody day remembered
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lfangeles0309
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06/03/2024 19:52
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Nico Villarete/Rappler
There is nothing more chilling to a community than a culture of violence.
On March 4, 2024, we are reminded of this by the first anniversary of the brazen murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.
Around breakfast time, Degamo and nine others were shot down by men carrying high-powered guns in his own residence in Pamplona town, Negros Oriental.
The alleged mastermind, no less than a former district representative, is a fugitive on foreign soil, after being declared a terrorist by the Philippine government. Disgraced politician Arnolfo Teves was found by authorities to have led a group that had everything from an organizational structure to operational funding. One other supposed member of the group bore his last name.
But the Degamo slay is just one of the most high-profile of killings that have long stained the Visayan island’s sugar cane fields and small town streets.
It was just a headline-grabbing manifestation of what Bishop Gerry Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos City rightly called a “violence-prone political culture.”
Justice remains elusive, not just for Degamo, but for the red-tagged lawyers, journalists, students, and hacienda workers and farmers murdered on the island.
Alminaza, Erwin Delilan writes, has called for more effective gun regulation to end “gun culture,” disbanding private armies, and stopping the “bodyguard system.” Political dynasties have long benefited from this culture of violence. They should go too, says the religious leader.
Violence needs the right conditions to breed. In Negros Island, poverty, hunger, and land conflicts have provided fertile soil for the culture of violence and impunity to take root.
At no other time was this more evident than during the dictatorship of the current president’s father. Veteran journalist Inday Espina-Varona wrote that, in the 1980s, Negros was the “apex of brutality and corruption” under the Marcos regime.
Horrific images of Negros’ starved children emerged from a time when Marcos Sr.’s cronies plundered the island’s sugar industry. Bankrupt sugar producers abandoned their estates, leaving an estimated 190,000 sugar workers without income.
The country’s sugar bowl exploded with violence. Soldiers and private armies of Marcos cronies gunned down an untold number of civilians, amid mass protests against government repression and corruption.
Justice for the slain and addressing the social ills that fuel bloodshed are necessary steps that the new Marcos in Malacañang must take. While President Marcos remains cynical about whether the International Criminal Court should probe his predecessor’s Davao drug killings, justice remains elusive for the families of the slain.
And in Negros, communities continue to fear impunity because no concrete steps have been taken to undo the systems that have allowed violence to take root. – Rappler.com
Be The Good is a newsletter that comes out every other Wednesday. We deliver updates straight to your inbox on how journalism and communities can work together for impact.
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Awestruck Dongallo continues learning curve after hard-hitting Canino matchup
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jisaga0269
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06/03/2024 19:28
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YOUNG STARS. UE spiker Casiey Dongallo and La Salle spiker Angel Canino in action in the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament
UAAP Season 86 Media Team
MANILA, Philippines – Although the UE Lady Warriors have taken massive leaps so far in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament, the growing pains are still clear to see, especially after their first matchup against the league’s true litmus test, the defending champion La Salle Lady Spikers.
Billed as a thrilling matchup between two young super scorers, UE rookie Casiey Dongallo and La Salle’s sophomore MVP Angel Canino, the Lady Spikers brushed off an error-prone start and showed their true power in the third set, eventually completing a 25-21, 25-18, 25-10 blowout on Wednesday, March 6.
Still, the individual matchup did not disappoint, as Canino dominated the stat sheet with 17 points, 9 excellent digs, and 7 excellent receptions, while Dongallo still shone in a hasty conversion to middle blocker with 15 points on 12 attacks and 3 rejections.
Canino, who powered through minor sickness in the win, had nothing but glowing praises for the person intent on taking her former distinction as the UAAP’s top rookie sensation.
“It’s fun to finally see how she plays,” she said in Filipino of Dongallo, who averaged a staggering, league-leading 26.0 points per game prior to facing La Salle.
“Actually, I’m really happy to have finally faced her in a game.”
Dongallo, practically left speechless when asked about their individual matchup, was likewise filled with awe after competing in what she previously described as a “dream” battle.
“Playing against her, Ate Angel is just so skilled. She’s great. What else can I say?” she said in between laughs, turning to assistant coach Dr. Obet Vital for help in expounding her answer.
“When I was able to receive some of her attacks, Krizzie [Madriaga] told me, ‘She hits so hard,'” Dongallo continued. “Every hit she had, it seemed like we really had a hard time receiving it. There were a lot of points.”
With UE now reeling with its fourth straight loss after a winning start to the season, Dongallo remains focused on learning every game from the league’s top teams and stars like Canino, as every win the once-forgettable Lady Warriors get is a sure step in the right direction.
“La Salle is the standard in [UAAP] volleyball, so the lesson we learned in this game is that we really improved in the new system. There is progress,” Dongallo continued.
“We just have to continue what we’re doing and do more with whatever we’re doing right.”
Win or lose, the valuable lessons will definitely continue to come for UE as it next faces another tough team in perennial finalist NU Lady Bulldogs on Sunday, March 10, 2 pm, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com
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Cagayan de Oro mayor assures city of backup plan for potential water disconnection
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Herbie G
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07/03/2024 9:17
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WATER CRISIS. Residents line up to fetch treated water from a tanker dispatched to bring water to their village in Cagayan de Oro.
Cagayan de Oro Water District
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando Uy assured thousands of residents on Wednesday, March 6, that their taps will not run dry even if the city’s primary bulk water supplier makes good on its threat to immediately halt the supply of water should the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) fail to pay for a disputed debt of more than P400 million by April 1.
Uy told a news conference that another group would take the place of the supplier, Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Incorporated (COBI).
“Naa ko’y suod nga higala nga andam motabang aron dili maputlan ang tubig sa dakbayan (I have a close friend who is ready to help so that the city’s water supply will not be interupted)” Uy said.
COBI, a company controlled by business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific group, supplies some 80,000 cubic meters of treated water daily to the COWD, which the latter distributes throughout the city.
The COBI water supply, which it sources from the Bubunawan River in neighboring Bukidnon province, accounts for about half of Cagayan de Oro’s water supply. The remainder is produced by COWD through its ground sources and other bulk water suppliers.
Uy gave the assurance following the escalation of the rate and billing dispute between the COWD and COBI. The bulk water supplier had sent the COWD a second demand letter dated February 29 asking the water utility to pay up or else.
Engineer Antonio Young, COWD’s general manager, has questioned COBI’s demand for the water district to pay its supposed debt.
Young said the water district has not been remiss in paying COBI for the bulk water supply at the agreed rate of P16.60 per cubic meter.
He pointed out that the amount in question includes the rate differential from COBI’s 2021 rate increase, which they were still trying to renegotiate.
Uy declined to name his “close friend,” whom he also called his “long-time ally.” The mayor did not say if the prospective supplier was capable of producing the same volume of treated water that COBI supplies to the COWD, and neither did he say what the cost would be to Cagayan de Oro’s consumers.
The looming crisis has prompted Uy to create a special task force “to study, review, and submit recommendations on the possible intervention of the city government” in relation to the conditions of the water supply and distribution in the city.
Created through an executive order signed on Wednesday, the Cagayan de Oro Special Task Force for Water Supply and Distribution will also look into the conflict over rates between the water utility and its bulk water supplier.
Uy told reporters that the task force will also “conduct an inventory of alternative water sources to serve the constituents of the city and formulate a contingency plan in the event of massive water supply disruption.”
If necessary, Uy said, the task force will scrutinize the contract between the COWD and COBI.
COBI has been the major bulk water supplier in the city since 2018 based on a joint venture agreement for the supply of 100 million liters per day signed on August 14, 2017, between the COWD and Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Water.
Three days later, the then-newly formed COBI, which gave the COWD a 5% share, signed a bulk water supply deal with the water district at a rate of P16.60 per cubic meter.
The bulk water supply contract, however, allows COBI to unilaterally implement a rate adjustment every three years.
In 2021, COBI raised its rate from P16.60 to P20.57 per cubic meter. However, the COWD did not acknowledge it and refused to pay the rate difference, invoking a force majeure provision in the contract due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency situation.
It is this non-payment of the rate difference that constitutes the bulk of the P426 million that COBI wants to collect from the COWD. – Rappler.com
JB Deveza is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow for 2023-2024.
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On a tear: Kai Sotto dominates anew as Yokohama stuns Thirdy Ravena, San-En
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Jasmine Payo
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07/03/2024 8:58
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TOWERING. Yokohama's Kai Sotto goes for a shot over a defender in the Japan B. League.
JAPAN B. LEAGUE
MANILA, Philippines – Kai Sotto has been on an absolute tear for the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the Japan B. League.
For the fifth time in Yokohama’s last six outings, Sotto delivered a huge double-double to lift the B-Corsairs past Thirdy Ravena and the second-seeded San-En NeoPhoenix, 81-76, at the Yokohama International Pool on Wednesday, March 6.
Sotto racked up a game-high 23 points on an ultra-efficient 11-of-14 field goal clip, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist in over 27 minutes of action as Yokohama’s starting center.
The 7-foot-3 Gilas Pilipinas star came up big down the stretch as he scored eight of his 23 markers in the final six minutes of the ball game, including a clutch go-ahead hook shot that gave the B-Corsairs a 78-76 lead with only 1:08 left to play.
Yuki Kawamura then put the finishing touches for Yokohama, knocking down a dagger three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining, which settled the final score at 81-76.
This is the second straight game where Sotto led the B-Corsairs in both scoring and rebounding as he finished with 21 markers and a season-high 12 boards in their 84-73 win against the Kawasaki Brave Thunders last Sunday, March 3.
Meanwhile, Ravena was one of four San-En players to score in double-digits with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, together with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in close to 31 minutes of play.
With its second straight win, Yokohama improved its record to 19-23, while San-En fell to its fourth straight loss for a 34-8 card.
分かっていても・・・🥶🥶@KawamuraYuki @kzsottolive@b_corsairs📡バスケットLIVEで生配信中https://t.co/rZERMld3nC#Bリーグ pic.twitter.com/Drsdmmus0T
– Rappler.com
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Back in action, Carlos Yulo out to defend titles in Baku World Cup
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delfin.dioquino editor
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06/03/2024 18:58
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GOLDEN. Carlos Yulo dominates in the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore.
Linee Yeo/Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino gymnastics star Carlos Yulo returns to action for the first time in five months with hopes of regaining his old form.
Yulo competes in the 2024 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Baku, Azerbaijan starting Thursday, March 7, as he ramps up his preparation for the Paris Olympics.
The Baku leg of the World Cup Series marks the first event for Yulo since his dismal performance in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in October.
Although the 24-year-old still booked his ticket to Paris in Antwerp, Yulo endured a nightmarish start in the world championships, landing flat on his back twice in the all-around qualification and making only one apparatus final.
He then finished fourth in the floor exercise final as he saw his medal streak busted in the global showdown after winning at least a bronze in each of the four previous editions of the world championships.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said the prospect of a fine showing from Yulo – who trained in South Korea earlier this year – is “very, very good.”
Yulo stamped his class in the World Cup Series last year, capturing three golds, one silver, and two bronzes across three legs.
In Baku, Yulo aims to defend his titles in his pet events vault and parallel bars.
Formidable foes, though, await Yulo as he goes up against the likes of China’s Zou Jingyuan, Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun, and Turkey’s Adem Asil. – Rappler.com
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RESULTS: February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists
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Russell Ku
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06/03/2024 17:14
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The following is a press release from the Professional Regulation Commission.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 15,684 out of 32,495 passed the Licensure Examination for Criminologists given by the Board of Criminology last February 2024 in 28 testing centers all over the Philippines.
The results of examination with respect to three examinees were withheld pending final determination of their liabilities under the rules and regulations governing licensure examinations.
The Board of Criminology is composed of Hon. Ramil G. Gabao, chairman; Hon. Lani T. Palmones and Hon. Warren M. Corpuz, members.
The results were released in 22 working days from the last day of examination.
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Starting April 15, 2024, registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will be done online. Please go to www.prc.gov.ph and follow instructions for initial registration. Those who will register are required to bring the following: downloaded duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal, notice of admission (for identification only), two pieces passport-sized pictures (colored with white background and complete name tag), two sets of documentary stamps, and one piece short brown envelope.
Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.
The dates and venues for the oathtaking ceremonies of the new successful examinees in the said examination will be announced.
The top ten performing schools in the February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists as per Commission Resolution No. 2017-1058(C) series of 2017:
The successful examinees who garnered the ten highest places in the February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists are the following:
Here’s a full list of passers:
– Rappler.com
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TOPNOTCHERS: February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists
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Russell Ku
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06/03/2024 17:26
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The Professional Regulation Commission announced on Wednesday, March 6, that 15,684 out of 32,495 passed the February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists.
Here’s the list of examinees who made it to the top 10 of the examination.
See the full results of the February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists below.
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– Rappler.com
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TOP PERFORMING SCHOOLS: February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists
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Russell Ku
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06/03/2024 17:28
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The Professional Regulation Commission announced on Wednesday, March 6, that 15,684 out of 32,495 passed the February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists.
Here’s the list of the top performing schools.
See the full results of the February 2024 Licensure Examination for Criminologists below.
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– Rappler.com
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[Only IN Hollywood] ‘Expats’ director Lulu Wang praises Filipinas Ruby Ruiz and Amelyn Pardenilla
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Marguerite de Leon
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06/03/2024 16:53
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FILIPINAS. Amelyn Pardenilla and Ruby Ruiz in 'Expats.'
Amazon MGM Studios
LOS ANGELES, USA – “Yes but as soon as I saw her (Ruby Ruiz), we all knew she was the one immediately. If you’ve seen the show, she brought all of that – all the warmth, all of the emotion, and I felt like that she was going to be the heart and soul of the expat community.”
That’s Lulu Wang, creator and director of Expats, the series now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, answering my question about how she cast Filipina actress, Ruby, via her Zoom audition and the self-tape the latter sent.
As the nanny in the Woo family (headed by Nicole Kidman and Brian Tee), Ruby is truly affecting as the series’ “heart and soul,” with her tender, subtle yet moving portrayal.
The actress, whose credits include films like Iska and Ma’Rosa and teleserye projects, auditioned for the Triangle of Sadness role that went to Dolly de Leon. Ruby has reportedly landed international roles as a result of the buzz about her performance in Expats.
Ruby and another Pinay actress, Amelyn Pardenilla, and the main cast of Expats – Nicole (Margaret), who is also one of the miniseries’ producers, Saraya Blue (Hilary), Ji-young Soo, Brian, Tiana Gowen, Bodhi del Rosario (Filipino-Puerto Rican), and Jack Huston – are earning praise in the six-episode drama limited series which is also getting good reviews.
I asked Lulu about Ruby and Amelyn during the Q&A in the recent Lulu Wang and Expats: Storytelling on a Large Canvas, part of Film Independent’s filmmaker conversation series, Directors Close-Up.
Held at the Directors Guild of America, the panel, moderated by filmmaker Karyn Kusama (Yellowjackets, Girlfight) also featured Expats producer Dani Melia and production designer Yong Ok Lee.
Set in 2014, as the Umbrella Movement protests rage in Hong Kong, Expats is based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s 2016 novel, The Expatriates. While it tackles the lives of several affluent expatriates in HK, Lulu made it a point to go deeper into the other perspective, that of the domestic workers, as reflected by the characters, Essie (Ruby) and Puri (Amelyn).
Lulu, who directed The Farewell (her sophomore feature), for which Awkwafina won the 2020 Golden Globe best actress-comedy or musical trophy, continued recounting how she cast Amelyn, a Cebuana singer who has been performing in HK’s top hotel bars for over two decades.
“Amelyn was in Hong Kong. She auditioned in person. We said, we need to really be open and we’re not only looking for actors, let’s look at singers, let’s do like an open casting call to anybody who might be interested as a Filipina in Hong Kong because at that time, we only had the budget to cast locally and didn’t want to fly in another person internationally.”
“So Amelyn came in and sang and she’s like, ‘Well, I’ve never acted.’ [I said,] ‘I don’t care, we’ll figure that out. Like your voice is so amazing.’”
Lulu made excellent choices in Ruby and Amelyn, who are being cited by critics along with Nicole, Sarayu, and the rest of the cast.
The Wrap raved, “By the end of the episode, Margaret and Hilary each find themselves in deeply vulnerable moments with Essie and Puri, respectively. ‘You’re a good friend,’ Hilary tells Puri. ‘You’re family,’ Margaret tells Essie.”
“But what the devastating ending to the episode (five) — which is elevated by the subtle heartbreak in Pardenilla and Ruiz’s magnificent performances — reveals is this pseudo-bond that people like Margaret and Hilary create for themselves: to see their help as family, not only out of a sense of class guilt, but also because of the convenience that it brings them.”
Chicago Sun-Times, which also hailed Ruby’s performance as “magnificent,” wrote: “Expats contains some stunning twists and turns, but this is much more of a character study than a mystery.”
“Nicole Kidman delivers searing work as Margaret, who is consumed with pain that is taking her to a place from where she might never return, and her work is matched by the performances of Sarayu Blue, Ji-young Yoo, Ruby Ruiz, Brian Tee, and Jack Huston.”
“Each of these actors is given showcase moments in which their stories are front and center, and there’s never a false note in their respective performances. Expats is a richly layered, beautifully photographed, and profoundly affecting work.”
Lulu explained how she worked with a cast with varying degrees of experience and yet elicited uniformly compelling performances.
“We had a range of different types of actors,” she began. “We had like obviously Nicole and then we had Amelyn who plays Puri. She is a singer in Hong Kong, never acted before, and she was incredibly nervous.”
“Ruby is from Manila and she’s well-known in the Philippines. She’s incredible and everything she does is immediately real and lived in.”
“And then Sarayu and Brian have been around – veteran actors – but have never done roles of this size and this centered. Sarayu, in particular, does a lot of network comedy, and so she was like, ‘Oh, it’s a drama, like how big, what’s the size?’”
“That was the biggest challenge – making sure everybody felt like they were in the same movie.”
Asked specifically how she made the cast comfortable despite their different backgrounds, Lulu answered, “I tried as much as I could to make them feel as valued as possible and tried to take the Hollywood-ness of it out and make them feel like equals as much as possible. Obviously, there was a lot of nerves.”
“But we were all so close because we were there for so many months and so we would go to dinners together. We all spent a lot of time together and I think that helped.”
“No, we didn’t have time to rehearse but I just told which characters, which people to spend time with, and then which ones not to,” Lulu replied about rehearsals before the filming in HK and then LA.
“Like I kept Ji-young Yoo, who plays Mercy, and Nicole separate from each other because when they were shooting their scene, they were strangers. They meet a couple of times and that’s it, in the story, and yet they’re connected by this huge incident.”
Episode five, which highlights Ruby and Amelyn’s characters, is the series’ arc. Lulu said, “The episode flips the perspective from the expats to the locals, the side characters, and people who are domestic workers because Hong Kong has this society of live-in help.”
“And a lot of the women are from different parts of Southeast Asia and so the helpers in this series are from the Philippines. So I said, we can’t do a show about women without this other perspective. And then it puts into perspective and context these expats, and you get a different perspective of them.”
“And so, I thought, there’s no way Amazon and Nicole are going to let me do a 90-something-minute episode where Nicole doesn’t even show up until halfway in.”
Lulu added about this fifth episode which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival: “And I said, I want to go to festivals with this. I want this to be the first thing that people see, at least, a certain audience.”
“So, all of these things, I just thought, okay, I’m just going to tell her these impossible things, and she’ll say, ‘In the future, we’ll work together.’ But instead, she called me back, like, 24 hours later, and said, ‘Ok, it’s yours.’”
On expanding Janice’s novel and opening it beyond the lives of the expats, a world of luxury and entitlement, Lulu explained, “There was some level of that, for sure, in the novel. One of my requirements was that Janice Y.K. Lee, who wrote the novel, had to be in the writers’ room with us.”
“And so, with her blessing, we expanded on that because I wanted to even more…for example, Essie and Puri are characters in the book. They’re domestic workers, known as helpers in Asia, who live with them (expats).”
“I wanted to really go deeper into their perspective, just to challenge this balance between both emphasizing…take Nicole’s character, Margaret, she’s the character who is the greatest victim because she’s the one who has the tragedy happen to her.”
“So, here’s a person, the worst thing in the world happens to this mother but she’s also the most entitled and privileged. And being able to have that polarity in this one character was what grounded us.”
“And then we would try to look for that polarity with every character. Not as extreme. I think Margaret’s the most extreme and challenging audiences to see if she can hold both empathy and disdain.”
As for giving full humanity to Essie and Puri’s stories, and the dichotomy between the upper and working classes living in HK, as the small yet rich nation is rocked by protests, Lulu shared, “There were no politics in the book. And that was important to me. That was another thing I said to Nicole – I can’t make this series without touching on politics.”
“As somebody who is Chinese-American, who left Beijing as a child, my silence would be incredibly loud. And I thought about that.”
“A Western filmmaker might be able to make something in Hong Kong and not touch on politics. And they might get some criticism or somebody might point that out. But to some degree, it’s not their world, right? So, it’s like, all right.”
It could have been the other filmmakers’ excuse, Karyn commented.
“Exactly, they themselves are expats,” Lula responded. “And of course, I am an expat in Hong Kong but I’m also not. I’m also an immigrant from China.”
“And the parallel of my experience leaving Beijing and what’s happening in Hong Kong – so I can’t not address this. And that was a tricky thing because I didn’t want it to be a backdrop. But it’s also, we’re not making a political show.”
Expats, which prides itself in having women in front of and behind the camera, also boasted of an all-female writers’ room.
“I had never even been in a writers’ room so I think in some ways that was good because I didn’t know how it’s supposed to be done,” Lulu admitted. “And I’ve also never collaborated with other writers before.”
With a laugh, she quipped, “So, my instinct was just like, we all get in a room and they order us lunch. That was the best part. Plenty of food around.”
“It’s just a magical time really because we were just like, okay, what do you love about the book? What are the elements? I love this line; I love this character.”
“So, we just talked a lot from there and then I provided the structure. I went in knowing it was going to be six episodes, the fifth was penultimate. Let’s put another bottle episode in there somewhere.” (Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk described a bottle episode this way: “In the purest, earliest definition, a bottle episode is a TV money-saving strategy, an attempt to make an episode with the least amount of budget required.”)
“I also knew that the first episode should start a year later because that’s how the book is structured. You come in not knowing. It’s not linear like something has happened.”
Lulu agreed with Karyn’s remark that the episode plays like a mystery. “Exactly and I like the intrigue of that, as opposed to coming in and just going right into a narrative. And then the second episode is a year earlier, and we, in a very linear way, tell you exactly what happened then.”
“So those two are kind of companion pieces, like here’s the question, and then here’s the answer. So, we had that structure and then we brought in Gursimran Sandhu (writer) because I knew that Hilary is written as white – I think British – in the book.”
“And I wanted to tackle themes of colorism in Asia, in East Asia. Gursimran is Sikh American and was writing very specifically for that character. So, a lot of times it was like therapy.”
“We would just talk about our own lives and stories and see what would stick. And it wasn’t necessarily always like, we have to keep going, we have to break story. It was a very loose structure.” The other writers, aside from Lulu, Janice, and Gursimran, are Alice Bell and Vera Miao.
“Some days we would come in and we would just talk about events in the world and how we were feeling and somehow that would shape and color what went in. And that’s what I’m most proud of.”
“I think it’s very much like a series about the inner lives, the emotional lives of women in a way we don’t get to see very often.”
Lulu, who asked my wife Janet and me after the panel if the Tagalog dialogue was accurate (yes, it’s realistic), volunteered that the Expats production sought the advice of consultants to ensure authenticity.
“We were working with local crew in Hong Kong, like as much as possible, especially because a lot of the material, or some of the material, especially in the fifth episode, deals with local politics,” she said. “So, both within the Filipino community, having advisors helping to make sure that that was all completely authentic was important to us.”
Dani recounted how she and Lulu collaborated again on Expats. “Lulu and I had worked together on The Farewell. At that time, I was working as an employee at a producing and financing company. So that was how we met.”
“I was working for the financiers and we hadn’t officially started our company together. We had dreams of starting a company together, Lulu and me. And this was something that she was able to identify as, I think I want this to be my next thing.”
Turning to Lulu, Dani continued, “I’m putting a writers’ room together. I’m going to develop the scripts and read the book. As the scripts come in, I’d love your feedback, and then we’re going to figure out how to bring you on the project as a producer.”
“That was one of the things Lulu mentioned – that she had a list of requirements to take the project on, and one thing that Lulu was able to do and fought hard for was to bring on Anna (Franquesa-Solano), our cinematographer, and Yong, our production designer, and me, and one of our editors.”
“We had a lot of the same team that we had done The Farewell with – the composer and music supervisor, a few others.”
“We talked a lot about the transition from a small feature to a big series like this, and how a lot of directors are plucked from the festival world and put onto huge projects without the support of the people who work with them to make the thing that is what the studio executive identified. So, that was important to us, to be able to preserve that as much as possible.”
Lulu described the hurdles: “I think that we were able to largely execute it despite a lot of production challenges. The time that we were shooting in during the pandemic and being an international production.”
“So, despite those challenges, I feel like we all love the scripts so much and Amazon loved the scripts. That was our North Star. We would come back and just say this is how it has to be done.”
“And of course, there are moments in which it’s like, well, this is so challenging, can we cut this? Can we do that? And that is so much of the process – to make sure that you hold on to what’s important.”
I learned in the conversation that many of the key sets had to be built from the ground up. And get this, some of the sets were built twice – for the filming first in HK and then LA.
Lulu explained, “We have only done mostly practical locations, and there is a real loyalty to that, and since we were coming from independent film because there’s just nothing more real than the real thing.”
“You don’t want to be that Western production that comes in and builds everything and then there’s an artificiality. So, we were really resistant to building.”
“We started off by doing a lot of scouting and then found that, in particular for the expat community, the apartment complexes, everything that we looked at, even though they were luxury apartments in real life, don’t necessarily read that way.”
“And you have all of these restrictions because you’re in a building where people are actually living. So, you can’t really move them out. And then a lot of stuff, even though it’s luxury, it’s because it’s by the beach but it’s not as polished, so it wouldn’t necessarily read as lux.”
“And so that’s when we said, okay, well, the idea of the expats’ world is that it’s a bubble. And there is an artificiality to it. So maybe the fact that we make that the only build, the only set, will actually work for us.”
“But of course, we have to make sure that it looks as realistic as possible. So, we ended up doing a ton of research, and Yong and Anna thought a lot about this set build because they both wanted it to look real. We looked at a lot of references and so often you can see the artificiality.”
“I also want to say it’s incredible because Yong had to build this set twice. We built the Star apartment first in Hong Kong and the Woo apartment on a stage in LA and it’s all the same.”
“A lot of it has to look the same because it’s in the same complex. And so, there was also a lot of conversation about you don’t want two identical apartments and build it because from a line producer perspective to save money, you’d be like, just use the same apartment and put in different furniture.”
“But that’s not how those things work. Depending on where you are in the building, the layout is slightly different. And so, we were like, okay, it has the look of the same building but this one has a dining room when you enter, this one has a living room, and then having to tear it down and build it again.”
Yong added, “Originally, we wanted to build an apartment in Hong Kong. So, we started Hilary’s apartment. When my team and I designed it, we considered, are we going to recycle this set for the Woos’ apartment?”
“So we needed to transform it easily, even though the Woos’ apartment and the hallway set in Hong Kong, we decided to build the Woos’ apartment and hallway set in LA. And there are lots of challenges because it’s not just a different layout but also the material.”
“Because when we were in Hong Kong, I was able to use all real materials, like luxury marble, wood, and everything because it’s easy to import from China at a very cheap cost. But when we are back in LA, there’s no way we can get the same material but it should be the same.”
“So, every element I have to match. And so, it was really hard to recreate this.”
Asked what this team learned, Dani answered, “We did learn a lot. It was such a big scale compared to anything we’ve worked on before, and longer, and more people involved. That’s one thing I learned a lot like I said, 10 times.”
“The one thing that was amazing to me with a production of this size, and then therefore a cast that was so big from so many different places around the world. We brought people in from the Philippines and Australia, and then from Hong Kong, and then we shot some here (Los Angeles).”
“And also, crews from around the world, like a super international crew. So many people from different walks of life coming together.”
“What I learned is the importance of creating an environment where everyone cares and loves each other and hangs out outside of work.”
“It was a really special moment in time because we were in Hong Kong in a time when, because we all had to quarantine for three weeks, we were able to sort of be out in the world in the middle of COVID because they didn’t have a big COVID issue.”
“So, we were in a little safety bubble ourselves. And I think that bonding and having real relationships with everyone in your project and fostering that community is really important.”
For her part, Lulu said, “We learned a lot. I’ve never worked on something of this size and the length of time. So, to keep the stamina was challenging. And then having so many external factors threatened.”
“The instinct I had was at the end of this, it doesn’t matter what happened. If I’m not proud of the work, if the final result doesn’t reflect my vision, it’s not going to matter. It’s still my name.”
“And so, the most important thing to me, like, I didn’t care about (but) I had to negotiate politics and relationships. That’s always challenging in this industry but I just kept saying to them, this is my name, and I can’t put out something that I don’t believe in.”
“And so, when we finished, that was the thing that I was the proudest of, that we were all proud of the work; it reflected our vision and it didn’t get diverted.”
Expats certainly has Lulu’s stamp and name on it and it’s a great follow-up to her acclaimed The Farewell. Season 2, please. – Rappler.com
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Marcos: No need to invoke mutual defense treaty in Ayungin clash | The wRap
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Cara Angeline Oliver
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06/03/2024 22:26
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Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says it is not the time to invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States even after four Navy personnel sustained minor injuries from actions of the China Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.
In an interview with ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gets flustered when asked about his father’s corruption.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says an incentive given to Taylor Swift to make Singapore the only stop in Southeast Asia on her world tour was not a hostile act towards its neighbors.
39 skilled boat makers and sailors from Iloilo and Guimaras take part at the 51st Paraw Regatta Festival of Iloilo City. Vibrant hues and rhythmic dance of sails line the Ilonggo coastline Sunday, March 3. — Rappler.com
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[Bodymind] Forgiveness, Enrile, and Bongbong Marcos Jr.
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Chay Hofilena
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06/03/2024 13:53
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The ability to forgive is a wondrous, yet puzzling, gift. Some people even say it helps the forgiver, the one wrongly done by, more than it does the forgiven, the one who did wrong.
To understand forgiveness, perhaps it is best to start with what it is not. Nobody does that better than Doctors Enright and Coyle, who write: “Forgiveness is different from pardoning (which is, strictly speaking, a legal concept), condoning (which involves justifying the offense); excusing (which implies that a transgression was committed because of extenuating circumstances); forgetting (which implies that the memory of a transgression has decayed or slipped out of conscious awareness); and denial (which implies an unwillingness or inability to perceive the harmful injuries that one has incurred).”
The 2000 book Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice (editors Drs McCullough, Pargament, and Thoresen) emphasizes that “(despite all the different definitions of forgiveness) it is built on one core feature: when people forgive, their responses (i.e., what they feel and think about, want to do to, or how they actually behave) toward people who have offended or injured them become less negative and more positive – or prosocial – over time.”
While forgiveness is a core belief of most religions, it has only been studied by social scientists in the last two decades. Still, their research has come up with some interesting findings.
For example, an article by Reiss and Havercamp (1998) called, “Toward a comprehensive assessment of fundamental motivation,” states that seeking revenge is so primal that it is considered to be one of 15 fundamental human motivations. This was confirmed by a later (2000) journal article, “The Neuropsychological correlates of forgiveness,” by Newberg, d’ Aquili, Newberg, & de Marici, which added that the tendency to retaliate or seek retribution after being betrayed is deeply ingrained in the biological, psychological, and cultural levels of human nature.
In other words, Mr. President, no one can blame you for harboring ill feelings towards JPE. Everyone would, in fact, understand totally. Research confirms a desire for revenge is so basic it is part of who we are as human beings. I guess this is why Alexander Pope’s reminder that “to err is human, to forgive divine” strikes so many of us in its patok na patok”-ness. It is so true: Mahirap talaga magpatawad – lalo na kung parang napahiya ka sa buong mundo (It’s really difficult to forgive, especially if the betrayal was played out in the eyes of the world). The fact that you can forgive despite all this, is quite admirable.
To show how natural non-forgiving is, primatologists have documented that certain species of old world primates (including chimpanzees and macaques) coordinate retaliatory responses after being victimized by another animal, sometimes even after considerable time has passed.
I am in no way suggesting that you are a chimpanzee or macaque, Mr. President, but if even these primates can hold grudges for a long time, how much more a human being who saw his father driven out from his homeland to live out his last years in a country not his own?
Let us now go to the lunch you hosted to celebrate the 100th birthday of the man you appointed chief presidential legal counsel of the Philippines.
What really blew my mind was when you said of JPE: “I must admit, to have him in my corner allows me to sleep better at night.”
Really, Mr. President? When you are at your most vulnerable, you sleep better at night because of JPE?
I’m pretty sure that in the first 19 months of your presidency, you have not bestowed as much largesse as your father did during his 21 years of ruling the land. I’m also sure you still remember what happened that fateful February 22, 1986, when Enrile and Ramos betrayed your father by announcing that they had resigned from their positions in his Cabinet and were withdrawing support from his government.
In general, people have more difficulty forgiving offenses that seem more intentional, severe, and have more negative consequences. While many Filipinos would disagree that Cory’s becoming president was negative, I have no doubt you believe otherwise. Many (myself included) believe that People Power would have catapulted Cory Aquino to her presidency even without JPE and Ramos announcing the withdrawal of their support from your father’s government.
However, among the many events that might have hastened it was JPE’s bleating to Cardinal Sin that “I don’t want to die…If it is possible, do something. I’d still like to live,” which helped Cardinal Sin’s decision to appeal to Filipinos to go to the vicinity of the national military headquarters along EDSA.
WOW. Again, talk about forgiveness.
Of course, research shows that people tend to be more forgiving as they age.
You were only 29 when you left the Philippines for Hawaii, and are now 66 years old. A lot can happen in that time to have made you a kinder, gentler, person, but for someone like you, who cares about your family and your family’s reputation as much as you are purported to? Wow and double wow.
That is why I cannot help feeling you are an astounding fellow, unless of course, you believe in the old adage, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” – especially wily politicos who have managed to thrive no matter who is in power. – Rappler.com
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Why 4 lawmakers voted against RBH7, the economic charter change proposal
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Kaycee
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06/03/2024 21:37
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PROTEST. Groups opposed to charter change picket the gates of the House of Representatives to protest the alleged use of public funds in collecting signatures for the people’s initiative on charter change, on January 22, 2024.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – After six days of holding marathon hearings as a House committee of the whole, lawmakers on Wednesday, March 6, adopted a resolution allowing foreign investments to the country’s public utilities sector, education, and advertising.
Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 (RBH7) inserts the phrase “unless provided for by law” in clauses on ownership. Voting via viva voce, House lawmakers have adopted the RBH7 on first reading just two weeks after deliberations started at the committee-level.
While the resolution was approved by a majority vote, four opposition lawmakers voted against it, namely:
“Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 is flawed both procedurally and substantially,” Lagman said in a statement, pointing out that even the approved committee report failed to discuss the presentations and position papers submitted before the committee in the past two weeks.
In voicing his objection to the committee approval of RBH7, Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel flagged the procedure as he noted that House rules only allow congressmen to propose amendments.
“Pero base sa naging interpellations natin, ang ginagawa natin ay adoption ng mismong proposed amendments to the Constitution,” Manuel said.
(But based on our interpellations, what we’re doing is the adoption of the actual amendments to the Constitution.)
RBH7 is a “clone” of the resolution filed by the Senate in January, but the House version notes that both houses would be voting jointly. Congressmen took the “fourth” route to amend the constitution — which is by treating amendments as legislation.
Former chief justice Reynato Puno also flagged this last week, saying lawmakers may face a constitutional challenge. (READ: Years after his death, lawmakers summon the great Father Bernas SJ)
“Wala sa konstitusyon ‘yung ginawa natin na pamamaraan na pag-aamyenda o pagrerebisa ng anumang probisyong sa ating Konstitusyon,” Castro said.
(What we did is not provided in the Constitution as a way to amend or revise it.)
Opposition lawmakers also raised red flags over the “unless otherwise provided by law” insertion in the clauses discussing ownership or control over institutions in public utilities, basic education institutions, and advertising firms.
Lagman said this may “[put] prospective foreign investors in the dark” since the phrase puts them at the will of Congress.
“While RBH7 does not directly delete the constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership, it transfers to Congress the power to do so through legislation,” Brosas said.
“[The phrase] practically allows Congress to change the Constitution whenever it wants to,” she added.
The lawmakers cited the lack of data that would support claims that this push to further open up the economy to foreign investors would be beneficial for the country.
“It all lies in addressing what is hindering investors from going to the Philippines, Lagman said. “The conducive economic environment for foreign direct investments (FDIs) has yet to be put in place by addressing the problems of ease of doing business, rampant official corruption, unpredictability of government policies, slow internet speed, and high power cost.”
“Mababa pa rin ang standard of living o ng pamumuhay ng ating mga mamamayan (We still have a very low standard of living),” Castro added.
Next week, debates on RBH7 will continue in the House plenary. Deputy Majority Leader Neptali “Boyet” Gonzales II said lawmakers are hoping the resolution would be approved on second reading by March 13. – Rappler.com
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SC orders Metro Manila LGUs: Stop own ticketing system, follow MMDA rules
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Jairo Bolledo
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05/03/2024 11:30
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METRO MANILA TRAFFIC. Heavy traffic builds up on the southbound section of EDSA in Quezon City on August 24, 2023.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered Metro Manila local government units (LGUs) to stop issuing their own traffic violation receipts and confiscating driver’s licenses, and instead comply with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) single ticketing system (STS).
The High Tribunal issued a permanent injunction, through its July 11, 2023 decision, that banned the LGUs from issuing such receipts and confiscating licenses through their traffic enforcers. The decision was publicized only this week.
In the decision, the SC scrapped the common provision from the traffic code of 15 Metro Manila LGUs, which are respondents in the SC case. Malabon and Marikina were not part of the original petition. The said provisions allow the issuance of traffic violation tickets or ordinance violation receipts.
“All told, the Court thus declares as invalid the common provision in the said traffic codes or ordinances of the LGUs in Metro Manila empowering each of them to issue OVRs to erring drivers and motorists. The other provisions of the traffic codes or ordinances remain valid and unaffected by this Decision,” the SC explained.
The MMDA’s STS, institutionalized through the establishment of the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, harmonized the laws governing traffic enforcement and management in Metro Manila. The system standardized the fines and penalties for common traffic violations in the country’s capital region. It also covers the traffic rules on “all major, secondary or other roads and thoroughfares within the jurisdictional bounds of Metro Manila.”
“In this connection, the Court also finds that the autonomy of the LGUs will not be unduly undermined by the ruling in this case, as their interests are amply protected by the very structure of the MMDA as established by the MMDA Law,” the SC added.
The decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa stemmed from a petition for certiorari – a legal remedy used to review a lower court’s decision – with a prayer for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order, assailing the Court of Appeal’s (CA) decision and resolution upholding the LGUs’ ticketing system.
The petition dated December 21, 2006 came from several jeepney drivers’ and operators’ association which sought to challenge the ticketing system of the 15 LGUs before the CA.
According to the petitioners, the traffic code provisions of the LGUs violate sections 29 and 62 of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) law, and section 5(f) of the MMDA law, which allow the agency to establish a single ticketing system. Meanwhile, the LTO law “grants the LTO authority to confiscate driver’s licenses and issue a prescribed receipt for violations of said law or of any regulations issued pursuant thereto or of local traffic rules and regulations.”
In the case, the petitioners also asked for a mandamus to require the MMDA to establish the said single ticketing system. While the petition was still pending, the MMDA issued Resolution No. 12-02, series of 2012, adopting a uniform ticketing system.
Six years later, in 2012, the CA junked the petition for lack of merit. The appellate court, however, did not rule on whether the issuance of tickets by the LGUs violate the MMDA’s single ticketing system, “because, as admitted by the parties, no single ticketing system had at that time been drawn.” The petitioners moved for a reconsideration, but was also later denied by the CA.
The petitioners then brought their case to the High Court. – Rappler.com
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Ex-mayor Tomas Osmeña warns: Stop Cebu BRT project, get blacklisted
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Herbie G
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06/03/2024 12:25
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PULLING STRINGS. Former Cebu Mayor Tommy Osmeña speaks with Rappler at his home in Cebu City on Friday, April 1, 2022.
Rambo Talabong/Rappler
CEBU, Philippines – Former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña cautioned provincial and city government officials on Tuesday, March 5, against halting the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, warning that such a move could lead to blacklisting by donor nations.
Osmeña expressed his concerns during a news conference, saying he was “very disturbed” by reports that legislators in both the province and city were pushing to stop the CBRT project.
The former mayor called for a the press conference just days after Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama criticized a cease-and-desist order issued by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to suspend the construction project.
In a statement released on Monday, March 4, the capitol announced that the Cebu provincial board had adopted two resolutions recommending a halt to CBRT construction along Osmeña Boulevard. The reasons cited included economic losses due to traffic congestion and concerns about heritage protection, with the project allegedly adversely affecting the scenic beauty of the capitol building.
The capitol building has been declared a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
Officials from the provincial government argued that the CBRT project had not undergone prior consultation with and approval from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), as required by law.
Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco also called for the suspension of Packages 2 and 3 of the project until issues surrounding the first package were resolved.
However, Osmeña expressed doubt regarding the possibility of the national government allowing the project to be stopped, considering it is part of an international agreement. He said the national government would not want to jeopardize international bilateral agreements.
He said the city government should “at the very least be polite” because it is the recipient of the multibillion-peso project.
The funding requirement of the CBRT, amounting to P28.7 billion, is covered by loan proceeds totaling P10.867 billion and a government counterpart of P17.912 billion.
Of the loan proceeds, P1.378 billion is from the Clean Technology Fund Grant, P6.380 billion from the World Bank International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (WB IBRD), and P3.107 billion from the French Development Agency.
Osmeña said the Department of Transportation (DOTr), as the project proponent, should continue with the project and address any necessary changes later on.
“There are obvious things that have been left out. But it’s better to have something in place than nothing,” he said.
The CBRT project has faced delays in implementation, with its groundbreaking taking place in February 2023, more than a decade after it was first envisioned.
While the project may not directly alleviate traffic conditions in Cebu, it is expected to enhance urban passenger transport systems in terms of quality, level of service, safety, and environmental efficiency, according to the World Bank. – Rappler.com
Wenilyn Sabalo is a community journalist currently affiliated with SunStar Cebu and is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow of Rappler for 2023-2024.
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‘Why is that funny?’: Flustered Marcos laughs when asked about family’s plunder
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Dwight de Leon
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06/03/2024 7:30
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE. In this file photo, President Marcos attends the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September 2023.
Presidential Communications Office
It’s not every day that media gets a chance to ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the history of his family’s plunder, and when the moment arose, the Philippine chief executive got visibly flustered.
Marcos agreed to a sit-down interview with ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson, who, after a series of questions on security issues concerning the Philippines, finally shifted the discussion to his father’s corruption.
“I think contemporary court judgments acknowledge the atrocities that were committed, but also the plunder of the country’s resources. Why wouldn’t you want all of that money back in the hands of the Filipino people?” she asked Marcos in the interview that aired on Monday, March 4.
The President let out a nervous laughter, a response that did not escape scrutiny from the interviewer.
“May I just ask you why that’s funny?” Ferguson added.
Marcos navigated a number of stutters before regaining composure.
“No, I’m thinking that that maintains, that that idea maintains, because it…. I take exception to many, many of the assertions that have been made. And I think we have been…. We have since…. The cases were filed. The government filed. Cases were filed against me, my family, the estate, et cetera. And up to now, we have found…. The assertions that were made, we have shown to be untrue,” he said.
The President added that his family had supposedly signed quitclaims, which would give up their claims to properties and assets that the government found, and that they had nothing left after their family fled to Hawaii as a result of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution.
Marcos also downplayed as “propaganda” the Presidential Commission on Good Government’s findings that the family still owes the country a huge amount of money from ill-gotten wealth.
It’s important to fact-check the President, who, in that interview, tried to whitewash the gravity of his family’s corruption, even though it is well-documented.
As of 2022, his father held the Guinness World Record of “greatest robbery of a government.” According to Guinness, during his father’s 21 years in power, the national loss was pegged at $5 billion to $10 billion, and first couple Marcos Sr. and Imelda themselves personally stole around $860.8 million.
When they arrived in Hawaii, they had with them valuable items worth $8 million, but these were later confiscated by US Customs.
In 2018, anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found Imelda guilty of illegally creating private organizations in Switzerland.
As of September 2021, the government has retrieved P174 billion in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses, and is going after P125 billion more.
Marcos also claimed to have signed quitclaims, but as Reuters pointed out in 2022, his family has “defied court orders and appealed rulings requiring them to surrender assets.”
The reason why the Marcoses have also not paid their estate tax is because they are still claiming ownership of the properties in dispute.
Marcos rarely gives one-on-one interviews. Since becoming president, he has only had separate sit-down conversations with actress Toni Gonzaga and news anchor Pia Arcangel.
Reporters covering Malacañang also don’t get to freely ask the President questions due to the Palace’s “strictly no ambush” policy. In rare occasions that Marcos entertains the press, he or his staff selects the journalists to ask him questions.
He tends to lower his guard when he travels abroad, as proven by his willingness to be interviewed by ABC’s Ferguson while he’s in Australia for a special summit between the country and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Aside from his interview on Australian television, he also agreed to chat with the Associated Press’ Ted Anthony in September 2022. These are on top of his few conversations with foreign think tanks.
Marcos won the presidency in 2022, securing a landslide victory that has not been seen since the 1986 uprising that kicked his dictator-father out of Malacañang.
Critics say the family’s return to power is the product of their decades-long sophisticated project to rehabilitate their image, enabled by disinformation campaigns. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson’s action. It is tough to ask President Marcos Jr. questions about “atrocities” and “plunder” committed by then-President Marcos Sr. I hope other foreign journalists will also have the courage to ask the same questions whenever President Marcos Jr. visits their country unless he implements his “strictly no ambush” policy on them.
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4 senators oppose contempt order vs Quiboloy
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Herbie G
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07/03/2024 17:24
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OBJECT. Senator Robinhoods Padilla looks as Senator Risa Hontiveros makes a point after citing Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy in contempt during the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on March 5, 2024.
Senate PRIB
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – At least four senators have signed an objection letter that seeks to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for not showing up during its continuing investigation into the alleged abuses committed against former workers of the Davao-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Senator Robinhood Padilla, the first to object to the ruling, identified the others with him as senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Cynthia Villar, and Imee Marcos. He identified Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito to be with them, but the latter withdrew his signature later in the day.
Padilla’s group has five more days from Thursday, March 7, to convince at least four more senators to sign an objection letter to stop Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri from ordering Quiboloy’s arrest so the preacher could be brought to testify before the committee chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Eight constitutes the majority in the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, required to overturn the March 5 ruling of Hontiveros to cite Quiboloy in contempt.
Based on the Senate rules on investigations in aid of legislation, a majority of committee members can reverse a contempt citation within seven days from the date of the ruling.
The Hontiveros-led committee is composed of senators Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Go, Ejercito, Padilla, Villar, and her son Mark. Senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Aquilino Pimentel III sit in the committee as ex officio members.
Earlier, Senator Marcos said she doubted that the Senate committee was conducting an investigation in aid of legislation.
“Kinakailangan muna na alamin natin muna ang dapat alamin kasi puros kwentuhan lang (First, we need to find out what needs to be known because it’s all just talk for now),” Marcos told reporters.
She said she would rather leave the Quiboloy case in the hands of the courts.
Marcos also confirmed that there has been a concerted effort by a group of senators to reverse the ruling.
Ejercito initially signed the objection letter but withdrew his signature hours later.
He said in a statement late Thursday afternoon that he initially signed the objection letter initiated by Padilla “in consideration of procedural practicality,” and this was “based on the fact the Department of Justice has already pursued charges of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking against Pastor Quiboloy.”
“But after careful review of the facts, witness testimonies, and additional information, such as the allegations of rape during the last committee hearing, I have decided to withdraw my signature today,” he said.
“Furthermore, my consultations have revealed strong precedents indicating that ongoing cases can still be heard and investigated in the Senate. This means Pastor Quiboloy will get an opportunity to present his side. Rest assured that the Senate will ensure fairness throughout the proceedings,” Ejercito added.
“Kailangan ko pa ng tatlo. May mga nakausap na ako na sa mga napakagandang paliwanag nila, tinatanggap ko na hindi sila pumirma. At ‘yan ang mga bagay na ikinatutuwa at ikinalulungkot. Siyempre ikinatuwa dahil buhay ang demokrasya sa Senado, nalulungkot dahil hindi ko pa nakukuha ang walong boto hanggang sa ngayon,” Padilla told reporters on Thursday, March 7.
(I still need three more. I’ve talked to some who did not sign and gave very good explanations, which I have accepted. And those are the things that make me happy and sad. Of course, I am happy democracy is alive in the Senate, but it brings sadness because I still haven’t secured the eight votes until now.)
Padilla added, “Personal akong tumatawag; personal akong humihingi kahit five minutes doon sa mga member. Meron pa akong bukas, Sabado, Linggo. Sana mapagbigyan tayo ng mga hindi pa nagsasabi ng hindi sila pipirma.”
(I personally make the calls; I personally ask for even just five minutes from the members. I still have tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday. I hope those who haven’t said they won’t sign will give us the chance.)
Padilla said his position has nothing to do with his friendship with Quiboloy, adding that he felt that senators should leave matters with the justice department.
He also cautioned against the Senate’s actions against a religious group, saying senators run the risk of going against the constitutional provision about the separation of Church and State.
Padilla said, “Dito sa nakikita ko, pagka nagpatuloy sa ganitong proseso parang sinasaklawan na natin, magkakaroon ba tayo ng panukala na sasagasaan natin ang religion? Papunta na ito. Wala na kay pastor, napupunta na doon sa buong organization. Sa buong religion nila.”
(From what I see here, if we continue with this process, it seems like we’re encroaching. Are we going to propose something that will encroach on religion? It’s heading that way. It’s no longer just about the pastor; it’s going to the whole organization. To their entire religion.)
Padilla said he considers Quiboloy his friend and an ally in his advocacy against the communist rebellion since the Arroyo administration.
“Hindi deserve para sa mga mata ko na ang isang taong tingin kong bayani sa pakikipaglaban niya sa komunista na naging kasama ko, e ganitong klase papayagan ko maiskandalo,” he said.
(In my view, it’s not fair that someone I regard as a hero for his fight against communists, and with whom I’ve collaborated, should suffer such a scandal with my consent.)
He also said Quiboloy provided him a platform for his advocacy through the preacher’s media arm, the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), and lent him a helicopter when he was running for a seat in the Senate.
“Ang helicopter pinahiram niya sa akin, ang mga ganoong klaseng pabor (He lent me a helicopter, that kind of favor,” Padilla said. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate Senator JV Ejercito’s decision. It is, indeed, the right thing to do. As for Senator Padilla and the rest of the pro-Quiboloy Senators, I believe it is a matter of “utang-na-loob.” I just hope that the victims of Pastor Quiboloy will remember them in the 2025 Midterm Election. The pro-Quiboloy senators can justify their actions for whatever reason they want to present to the Filipino people. But Filipinos with analytical and critical minds know which side of Social Justice they belong to.
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Supreme Court denies petition challenging PUV modernization
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Jairo Bolledo
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07/03/2024 16:21
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PUV. Jeepneys ply along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on December 12, 2023.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has denied the petition challenging the legality of the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program for not following the proper rules in lodging petitions.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, the SC en banc denied the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by Bayyo Association, Incorporated and its president, Anselmo Perweg. The petition for certiorari is a legal remedy used to ask a court to review a decision previously made by another body.
The SC explained on Thursday, March 7, that the petition was junked due to the petitioners’ lack of legal standing and violation of the hierarchy of courts. The Philippine judiciary, like any other judicial system in the world, observes a hierarchy – the Supreme Court is on top being the court of last resort.
The petition must first be brought to the lowest court with jurisdiction, followed by appeals, until the case reaches the High Court, the SC said. According to rules, as noted by the SC, noncompliance to this rule is a ground for dismissal.
“This doctrine is not mere policy, rather, it is a constitutional filtering mechanism designed to enable the Court to focus on the more fundamental and essential tasks assigned to it by the highest law of the land,” the SC said.
To determine whether the PUV modernization program is confiscatory, anti-poor, and deprives jeepney operators and drivers of their income, among others, were all factual questions raised by the petitioners in the case, the SC said. The SC explained the factual issues or questions raised by the petitioners should have been brought first before other courts – like trial courts or the Court of Appeals – “both of which are specially equipped to try and resolve factual questions.”
In explaining its decision, the High Court also said that “no question involving the constitutionality or validity of a law or governmental act may be heard and decided” by it. There’s actually an exception to this rule, if the case will meet the following requirements, according to the SC:
However, the SC said the petition did not meet the second requirement because the petitioners do not have the legal standing to file the case. Legal standing or locus standi simply means a petitioner must have the right to file a case because he/she is directly affected by the legal issue that will be challenged, among other reasons.
“While the third party standing of an association to sue on behalf of its members has been recognized by the Court, such association must establish who their members are, and that it has been duly authorized by its members to represent them or sue on their behalf,” the SC said.
In the petition, Bayyo failed to submit any proof that their organization is a legitimate association of jeepney drivers and operators. Although Bayyo submitted a certificate of registration issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the document only proved the organization’s registration, but cannot establish that its members are indeed jeepney drivers and operators.
Bayyo, which claimed it is an organization composed of at least 430 jeepney drivers and operators operating in various routes in Metro Manila, challenged a Department of Transportation order that enabled the implementation of the PUV modernization program.
The petitioners said the order “is unconstitutional for being violative of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution.”
The modernization program aims to promote safer and more environment-friendly transport options. The program’s first step is consolidation, which requires operators to band together through a cooperative or corporation. Once consolidated, jeepneys will be deployed with more efficiency, avoiding drivers to compete with each other for passengers, the government said.
The next step would be the purchase of pricey modern jeepneys. As of January 5, 2024, consolidation numbers were at 111,581 units (73.96%) for jeepneys and 15,844 (82.03%) units for UV Express, based on government data.
The modernization program had been met by criticisms and opposition from various transport groups. Organizations have been holding several transport strikes and protests to air their sentiments against the policy. – Rappler.com
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FACT CHECK: No PH acquisition of warship from Germany
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Lorenz Pasion
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07/03/2024 14:30
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Claim: The Philippines has purchased a warship from Germany to beef up the Philippine Navy.
Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a YouTube video posted on February 25 that has garnered 5,400 views, 1578likes, and 5 comments as of writing.
The title of the YouTube video states: “Binibili ng Pilipinas ang pinakamalaki at pinakakumpletong barkong pandigma mula sa Germany.” (The Philippines is buying the largest and most complete warship from Germany.)
No official announcements: There have been no official announcements from any reputable sources regarding the Philippine Navy’s purchase of “the largest and most complete warship” from Germany. There are no reports from the Philippine Navy on its official website, Facebook page, and X (formerly Twitter) page. Likewise, there was no mention of the supposed acquisition from the German embassy in Manila and the defense departments of the Philippines and Germany.
In service with the German Navy: The video does not name the supposed warship acquired by the Philippines, nor does it provide other details about the alleged deal. It merely shows clips of German ships that are currently still in service with the German Navy, such as the F 263 FGS Oldenburg, a Braunschweig class corvette that was commissioned on January 21, 2013.
Donations and purchases from Germany: The Philippine Navy currently has some vessels and equipment that were either donated by the German government or commissioned from German manufacturers. In March 2023, the Philippine Navy tested its newly-acquired Bullfighter Chaff Decoys that were installed on the BRP Jose Rizal (FF150) and BRP Antonio Luna (FF151). The Bullfighter was manufactured by the German company Rheinmetall and is a countermeasure system designed to deflect enemy missiles from their targets.
Early this year, Germany also pledged to donate additional surveillance drones to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to support its operations in the West Philippine Sea amid ongoing maritime tensions with China. Berlin previously donated two Trinity F90+ drones to the PCG in 2022. The drones are able to provide high quality imagery and maps for reconnaissance and surveillance.
No new purchases: As of writing, there are no reports of the Philippines purchasing warships or other artillery from Germany. Rappler had debunked a similar claim that the Philippines purchased its “largest and most technologically advanced warship to date” from Turkey. – Katarina Ruflo/Rappler.com
Katarina Ruflo 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 factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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WATCH: What’s the progress on the Metro Manila Subway?
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lkyu0285
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07/03/2024 18:27
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MANILA, Philippines – Construction for the Metro Manila Subway is going full speed ahead as the Department of Transportation launches a third tunnel boring machine to dig what will soon become the North Avenue station.
On Thursday, March 7, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista led the ceremonial launch of the tunnel boring machine that will excavate the subway’s northbound tunnel leading from the North Avenue Station to the Tandang Sora station, a process expected to take up to 12 months.
After three months, another tunnel boring machine will start to dig the southbound tunnel from North Avenue to Tandang Sora.
If all goes well, transport officials believe that the subway could be partially operational by 2028, with trains running from Valenzuela to Ortigas. Full operations – from Valenzuela to Bicutan – is expected in 2029. (FAST FACTS: What’s the Metro Manila Subway?)
What could stand in the way? Right of way issues.
For the full story, watch this Rappler Recap by business reporter Lance Spencer Yu, reporting 38 meters underground beside the massive machines making the tunnels. – Rappler.com
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Undefeated Creamline, Cignal share early top spot in PVL All-Filipino tilt
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jisaga0269
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07/03/2024 21:14
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WINNING START. Creamline spiker Alyssa Valdez (left) and Cignal libero Dawn Macandili-Catindig react in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
PVL Images
MANILA, Philippines – Defending PVL All-Filipino champion Creamline found little trouble in keeping its 2024 conference record immaculate, sweeping winless Galeries Tower, 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 on Thursday, March 7.
Kyle Negrito welcomed all Cool Smashers to her playmaking party at the PhilSports Arena, as she tallied 18 excellent sets to spark the balanced attack and help Creamline rise to a 3-0 record in the early goings of the conference.
Super sub Michele Gumabao led all attackers with 10 points off the bench, while MVPs Tots Carlos and Alyssa Valdez score 9 and 8, respectively, in just two sets played.
Meanwhile, the Cignal HD Spikers followed right behind Creamline in taking a standings lead at 3-0 after routing the winless Galeries Tower Highrisers, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.
Three-time PVL Best Setter Gel Cayuna erupted for 20 excellent sets and 5 points in just three sets, while former MVP Ces Molina topscored with 14 on 11 attacks, 2 blocks, and 1 ace.
Cignal head coach Shaq delos Santos was pleased with the positives in his team’s win but likewise rued a frustrating endgame stretch where the HD Spikers allowed an 11-1 garbage-time Nxled run after already leading 23-10.
“I’m feeling mixed emotions,” he said in Filipino. “To be honest, the team had a really good performance, especially the starting six. We just got shaky when we shuffled the rotations in the end.”
Creamline mentor Sherwin Meneses, on the other hand, had nothing but passing marks across the board for the way his bench played in the blowout win against Galeries.
“The rotation was fine. Every game, against any opponent, my entire rotation is capable of stepping up,” he said in Filipino. “They just have to always be ready when their numbers are called.”
Alyssa Eroa paced the Highrisers’ descent down a 0-3 record with 17 excellent digs, complemented by a team-high 11 points from Ysa Jimenez.
Nxled, meanwhile, got a late spark from Jho Maraguinot, who led the losing cause down a similar 0-3 slate with 11 points.
Star recruit Ivy Lacsina added 8 points before exiting the rest of the third set after captain Dani Ravena crashed on her left knee, further complicating a rocky start to the conference fresh off a right knee injury recovery. – Rappler.com
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Imelda Marcos ‘on path to recovery’ | The wRap
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Jaira Roxas
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07/03/2024 22:45
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Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, is feeling better days after she was admitted to the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever, thus, refuting rumors the Marcos family matriarch had died.
At least four more senators sign an objection letter seeking to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for snubbing a hearing.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says reports of Chinese research vessels in Benham Rise was a ‘clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory.’ But he confused different areas of the Philippines in this statement.
Nikki Haley ends her long-shot challenge to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Haley’s strong showing among moderate Republicans and independents highlight how Trump can be vulnerable in the November 5 election.
A New Mexico jury on Wednesday, March 6 finds Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter. A juror told reporters after the verdict, ‘That was her job to check those rounds.’ – Rappler.com
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As Quiboloy hides, US government moves on arrest warrant
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Lian Buan
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07/03/2024 22:07
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PREACHER. Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church.
MANILA, Philippines – While doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy teases his hideout and enjoys vows of protection from Senate allies of his close friend, former president Rodrigo Duterte, the US government also moves with its own trafficking case against him in California – the latest being, the unsealing of a warrant.
California judge Terry Hatter Jr. unsealed the warrants and returns against Quiboloy and other defendants on March 1, saying it was “upon application of the government and for good cause shown.”
Federal warrants are sealed to ensure optimum effectivity in arresting the subjects, in this case Quiboloy, seven personnel of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), and one paralegal who are all indicted for trafficking. They sent KOJC members to California using fraudulent means, and then forced them to work long hours to solicit and remit money back to the Philippines.
The warrants were issued in November 2021 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Quiboloy was never arrested, and just days ago teased his whereabouts through an audio uploaded online by his equally-embattled media network.
The US Attorneys’ Office said that they were moving to unseal the warrants because some of the defendants are already in custody. “As a number of defendants were already taken into custody on the first superseding indictment (FSI), the FSI is unsealed under the terms of the sealing order,” said Assistant US Attorney Gregory Staples.
Unsealed warrants immediately mean these documents will be made public. But will it have another effect? Will the US soon request for extradition?
In the case of Israeli businessman Yuval Marshak, who was wanted in the US for wire fraud, the US government requested to unseal the warrant against him to file a formal request for extradition, and to be able to share the warrant with the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol.
If the US does file a request for extradition, it will be first assessed by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). One question the DFA should answer is whether it is an extraditable offense. An offense is extraditable if it can also be considered a crime under Philippine law with a penalty of more than one year jail time.
If the DFA determines that it is indeed an extraditable offense, it will forward the same to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which will then start the formal extradition proceedings in court.
The US government can even request the Philippine government for a provisional arrest ahead of its request for extradition if it finds the issue to be urgent. In this case, the request goes straight from the US DOJ to the Philippine DOJ.
On Friday, March 8, DOJ spokesperson Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano told reporters that they have yet to receive an extradition request in light of Quiboloy’s case.
On March 4, the Philippine DOJ reversed an earlier ruling of prosecutors and ordered the filing of charges against Quiboloy for sexual abuse of a minor and qualified human trafficking in Davao City and Pasig City, respectively. How will this affect the extradition? It could depend on the decision of the Marcos government.
Under the treaty, if a person is being prosecuted in the Philippines, the government can decide to turn that person over to the US first and then finish prosecution there. Similarly, the Philippines can also decide to postpone the extradition to finish prosecution here.
In the meantime, what is certain is that the US trial for the defendants in custody, including KOJC personnel, will continue. The paralegal has already admitted to helping obtain fraudulent visas for the KOJC members, and has vowed to help the US government’s case.
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, using the Senate’s power of contempt, has been pushing for an arrest warrant against Quiboloy to detain him until he cooperates with the inquiry. Duterte’s allies, Senators Robin Padilla, Bong Go, Imee Marcos and Cynthia Villar, have objected to Hontiveros’ proposal. – with reports from Herbie Gomez/Rappler.com
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I hope that, regarding Pastor Quiboloy’s case, the US justice system will not overtake our justice system. It will be sad to note that the said justice system is faster than ours, especially when the victims are Filipino citizens.
I appreciate the action of California Judge Terry Hatter Jr. in particular and to the US Government in general. If justice for the victims of Pastor Quiboloy moves faster under the US Government than that of our government, then it speaks clearly and loudly about the kind of Justice System that we have in our country.
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Court of Appeals revives 2 cases against Kerwin Espinosa
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Jairo Bolledo
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07/03/2024 21:37
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DRUG CHARGES. File photo of Kerwin Espinosa.
Alecs Ongcal/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) ordered the revival of two cases against alleged drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa.
The CA granted the prosecution’s petition for certiorari – legal remedy used to review another body’s decision – and set aside the lower court’s ruling in two of three cases against Espinosa in Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 26. The two cases were illegal possession of dangerous drugs and illegal possession of firearms.
The appellate court’s ruling effectively remanded the two cases back to court, which means these cases will be reopened and will undergo trial anew.
“The Court finds some merit in this petition because there is adequate showing that the prosecution was denied due process to fully present its evidence in Criminal Case Nos. R-MNL-17-04240-CR and R MNL-17- 04241-CR,” the CA said.
Originally, Espinosa faced three criminal charges in the said Manila court: illegal sale and distribution of dangerous drugs, illegal possession of dangerous drugs, and illegal possession of firearms. In 2020, then-Manila RTC Branch 26 Presiding Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. acquitted Espinosa of the two drug charges, but convicted him of the illegal possession of firearms.
The prosecution appealed the ruling. In March 2022, Acting Presiding Judge John Benedict Medina denied the prosecutors’ motion for reconsideration, which prompted them to bring the case to the appellate court.
Since the CA did not revive the illegal sale and distribution of dangerous drugs case against Espinosa in its decision, the lower court’s acquittal in the said case still stands.
Espinosa was able to secure successive acquittals in the last years. Aside from his 2020 acquittal, which was the subject of the CA ruling, Makati RTC Branch 64 also dismissed illegal drug trafficking charges against Espinosa in 2021 due to lack of evidence.
In 2023 alone, Espinosa scored three court victories. He was acquitted in June 2023 in a drug trade charge after Makati RTC Branch 65 granted his demurrer to evidence. When granted, demurrer to evidence has the same effect as acquittal. Manila RTC Branch 16 also cleared Espinosa in his illegal possession of firearms and explosives charge in September 2023.
Espinosa’s third legal victory came on December 13, 2023, when Manila RTC Branch 51 granted his demurrer to evidence in another drug case.
So far, Espinosa’s pending cases are the two money laundering cases pending before Pasay courts, one drug case pending in Baybay, Leyte, and the two cases revived by the CA.
A source told Rappler that Espinosa walked free from detention on December 29, 2023, after posting bail. The source also said that the alleged drug lord posted bail worth P600,000 for for the drug case in Leyte, while around P12 million for the money laundering cases.
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesperson Jail Chief Inspector Jayrex Bustinera confirmed Espinosa’s release.
“Anyway, for our part we’ll comply if ever there is new court order for him to be remanded to BJMP,” he added. – Rappler.com
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Imelda ‘on path to recovery’ after hospital confinement, says President Marcos
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Dwight de Leon
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07/03/2024 18:40
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RECOVERY. This file photo shows former first lady Imelda Marcos and family members at Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s rally in Mandaluyong.
Rob Reyes/ Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, was feeling better days after she was admitted to the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever.
The chief executive paid his mother a visit after arriving in Manila from Melbourne on Wednesday night, March 6.
“In consultation with her medical team, it has been confirmed that her fever is gradually subsiding, and she is on the path to recovery,” he said in a post on X on Thursday, March 7.
“We’ve decided to keep her in the hospital until she finishes her prescribed course of antibiotic treatment. This measure will also afford her the necessary rest and continuous medical supervision,” he added.
The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, first confirmed on Tuesday, March 5, that their 94-year-old mother was brought to a medical facility after bouts of coughs and feverishness.
The widow of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos has had numerous health issues.
After the Sandiganbayan slapped her a graft conviction in 2018, she cited the following illnesses in her plea to post bail:
In May 2023, she underwent a successful angioplasty procedure.
On Wednesday night, Malacañang refuted rumors that the Marcos family matriarch had died. – Rappler.com
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Ladon inches closer to Paris berth, Marvin also advances in Olympic boxing qualifier
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delfin.dioquino editor
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07/03/2024 22:30
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WINNER. Rogen Ladon in action for the Philippines in the Boxam Elite Tournament in Spain.
Federacion Espau00f1ola de Boxeo Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino boxers Rogen Ladon and John Marvin claimed emphatic wins to progress in the World Qualification Tournament for the Paris Olympics in Busto Arsizio, Italy.
Ladon advanced to the third round, while Marvin emerged triumphant in his opening bout as they both clinched stoppage victories on Wednesday, March 6 (Thursday, March 7, Manila time).
An Olympian in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, Ladon inched closer to a coveted Paris berth following a second-round knockout of Morocco’s Said Mortaji in the men’s 51kg class.
Ladon stamped his class in the first round as evidenced by all five judges scoring in his favor before he completely dismantled his Moroccan foe, with the fight officially ending with 1:01 minute left in the second round.
Needing a top-four finish to book a return trip to the Olympics, Ladon battles Great Britain’s Kiaran MacDonald in the last 16 on Sunday, March 10.
Meanwhile, Marvin gave Iran’s Pouria Amiri the boot after an RSC (referee stops contest) victory in the men’s 92kg category.
Estonian referee Dmitri Meliss halted the bout at the start of the second round, allowing Marvin to proceed to the next phase where he will face Togo’s Kevin Kuadjovi.
The top four boxers in the men’s 92kg division will qualify for Paris.
While five of the 10 boxers the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines sent to Busto Arsizio have won, Hergie Bacyadan joined Riza Pasuit in the list of early victims as she got eliminated in the women’s 75kg class.
Bacyadan, one of the Philippines’ four gold medalists in the recent Boxam Elite Tournament in Spain, bowed to Brazil’s Viviane Pereira via a 3-2 split decision in her maiden fight.
Carlo Paalam (men’s 57kg), Aira Villegas (women’s 50kg), and Claudine Veloso (women’s 54kg) open their respective campaigns on Friday, March 8. – Rappler.com
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WATCH: What’s the progress on the Metro Manila Subway?
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lkyu0285
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07/03/2024 18:27
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MANILA, Philippines – Construction for the Metro Manila Subway is going full speed ahead as the Department of Transportation launches a third tunnel boring machine to dig what will soon become the North Avenue station.
On Thursday, March 7, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista led the ceremonial launch of the tunnel boring machine that will excavate the subway’s northbound tunnel leading from the North Avenue Station to the Tandang Sora station, a process expected to take up to 12 months.
After three months, another tunnel boring machine will start to dig the southbound tunnel from North Avenue to Tandang Sora.
If all goes well, transport officials believe that the subway could be partially operational by 2028, with trains running from Valenzuela to Ortigas. Full operations – from Valenzuela to Bicutan – is expected in 2029. (FAST FACTS: What’s the Metro Manila Subway?)
What could stand in the way? Right of way issues.
For the full story, watch this Rappler Recap by business reporter Lance Spencer Yu, reporting 38 meters underground beside the massive machines making the tunnels. – Rappler.com
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After 9th-place setback, EJ Obiena refreshes mental state ahead of 2-month break
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jisaga0269
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07/03/2024 17:09
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FIRED UP. EJ Obiena roars in celebration after a successful vault in the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.
Asian Athletics Championships Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines – Even the best fall down sometimes, and sports stars like pole vault icon EJ Obiena are not immune to the human side of elite competition.
Still reeling from an unusual ninth-place finish in the first World Athletics Indoor Championships of the 2024 season, the 28-year-old phenom is getting a crucial two-month breather before his next competition on May 18, just a few weeks away from the Paris Olympics in July.
Talking to reporters during an online Visa sponsorship roundtable on Tuesday, March 5, Obiena admitted he is working his mental state back up from a horror start to his indoor vaulting season.
“We’re going back to Italy. I have been healthy and injury-free. When it comes to the mental state, I’m of course upset about how the competition went. The harsh thing there is that I went there knowing I could [do better],” he said following a mere 5.65-meter finish well below his standards in Glasgow, Scotland.
“I need to be more prepared. This is no excuse for my performance and I take full responsibility. Things didn’t go the way I wanted to go. The fact of the matter is entering the indoor season, it’s going to be risky. I look forward to the outdoor season with the goal of being in the Paris Olympics.”
Echoing his key point on social media regarding losses being the “reality of sports,” the world No. 2 pole vaulter nonetheless reassured his fellow Filipinos and fans that he and his team are still on the right track ahead of the world’s top sports showpiece in Paris.
“So far, so good. Things are going the way we planned. Still, a few more months to go. We’re hitting the right markers at the right time,” said Obiena, who noted that he’s still confident of hitting his standard 5.80-meter mark, and that his run in Glasgow just didn’t “pan out.”
“If there’s a way to go back in time and actually redo it, I would. I said the whole theme of the indoor season was a gamble and this is not the goal this year, the goal is Paris 2024 and as I said still, things are hitting. We’re hitting the marks that we believe we should.” – Rappler.com
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Rhenz Abando still hurting but targets EASL Final Four stint
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Jasmine Payo
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07/03/2024 16:04
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TOP GUN. Rhenz Abando (right) celebrates with his Anyang teammate in the Korean Basketball League.
ANYANG
CEBU, Philippines — The high-flying Rhenz Abando hit a snag in his recovery from a spinal injury after feeling some discomfort following his Korean Basketball League game last March 3.
Abando, who played his first game since suffering the injury in December, said he hit the floor hard during their 92-87 win against Goyang Sono.
“When I played in the Goyang game, I did not feel any pain until somebody challenged me once again mid-air, and fell down awkwardly,” Abando told Manila-based reporters during the East Asia Super League (EASL) Final Four press conference at Mactan City here on Thursday, March 7.
“I fell hard, and I’m enduring the pain, my back hurts again,” he added.
The former NCAA Most Valuable Player racked 17 points, added 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 28 minutes of action, enough to be accorded Player of the Game honors in the matchup.
Abando made his first-ever visit to the Queen City of the South after getting medical clearance to play in the EASL Final Four.
But Anyang coach Kim Sang-shik said the team would rather wait and see if Abando would feel comfortable enough to play.
Anyang will figure in a KBL finals rematch against rivals Seoul SK Knights in the first game of the doubleheader on Friday, March 8, 5 pm, at the Hoops Dome in Lapu Lapu City.
The winner of the matchup will face the victor of the Chiba Jets-New Taipei Kings semis game in the championship match on Sunday, March 10, at the same venue.
Abando shared his recovery period from the injury resulting from a collision with Goyang ’s Chinanu Onukaku in a game last December.
Suffering what he described as a painful fall, Abando felt relieved that he still felt his extremities then — usually a clearance from traumatic spinal injuries.
Abando recalled how his coach allowed him to stay in the Philippines for 10 more days after Anyang faced off against the TNT Tropang Giga in an EASL elimination game, allowing him to recalibrate his mind and body for therapy.
Therapy, according to Abando, focused on strengthening his core and back, as well as easing into conditioning to get into game shape anew.
“It was more of walking briskly since it was painful — I needed to contract my core (to relieve myself of pain,)” said Abando.
“I actually don’t know if I returned too soon, but because of my willingness to play and help the team, I decided to push through.” — Rappler.com
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Imelda ‘on path to recovery’ after hospital confinement, says President Marcos
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Dwight de Leon
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07/03/2024 18:40
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RECOVERY. This file photo shows former first lady Imelda Marcos and family members at Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s rally in Mandaluyong.
Rob Reyes/ Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, was feeling better days after she was admitted to the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever.
The chief executive paid his mother a visit after arriving in Manila from Melbourne on Wednesday night, March 6.
“In consultation with her medical team, it has been confirmed that her fever is gradually subsiding, and she is on the path to recovery,” he said in a post on X on Thursday, March 7.
“We’ve decided to keep her in the hospital until she finishes her prescribed course of antibiotic treatment. This measure will also afford her the necessary rest and continuous medical supervision,” he added.
The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, first confirmed on Tuesday, March 5, that their 94-year-old mother was brought to a medical facility after bouts of coughs and feverishness.
The widow of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos has had numerous health issues.
After the Sandiganbayan slapped her a graft conviction in 2018, she cited the following illnesses in her plea to post bail:
In May 2023, she underwent a successful angioplasty procedure.
On Wednesday night, Malacañang refuted rumors that the Marcos family matriarch had died. – Rappler.com
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FAST FACTS: What’s the Metro Manila Subway?
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lkyu0285
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07/03/2024 8:27
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SUBWAY. The tunnels of the Metro Manila Subway in Valenzuela City.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Metro Manila Subway is slowly becoming a reality after the tunnel boring machine makes its way into what will become the subway’s North EDSA station on Thursday, March 7.
An underground railway system for the Philippines has remained a dream for more than 50 years now, but with the addition of a second tunnel machine to the project, it certainly feels like full speed ahead for the Metro Manila Subway.
Here’s what you need to know about the Philippines’ “project of the century.”
As of March 7, 2024, there are 17 confirmed stations that stretch for 33 kilometers from Valenzuela to Parañaque, with a branch line going to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay.
Here are the stations:
Originally, travel time from Valenzuela to NAIA reaches one and a half hours. With the new subway, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has given varying estimates of travel time being slashed to 35 minutes, 41 minutes, or 45 minutes. Travel time from end to end (Valenzuela to Bicutan) is expected to be 46 minutes.
Once fully operational, the subway will have 30 pieces of eight-car train sets with a design speed of 85 kilometers per hour, enabling it to accommodate 519,000 passengers per day.
The Metro Manila Subway is far behind its initial schedule. Construction for the subway began in 2019. Back then, the subway was expected to be fully operational by 2025, with the first 3 stations supposedly running by 2022. But land acquisition challenges, right of way issues, delays in payments, and the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.
Actual tunneling and excavation for the subway only began in January 2023. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who kicked off the launch of the first tunnel boring machine, urged those working on the subway to “finish the contract package by the end of 2027.” A Filipino-Japanese joint venture –composed of Shimizu Corporation, Fujita Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering Company Ltd, and EEI Corporation – has the contract package for the subway’s first three stations.
The tunnel boring machine launched in January 2023 was supposed to have completed the East Valenzuela–Quirino Highway stations tunnel by December 2023. The North Avenue–Tandang Sora station tunnel was supposed to start work in July 2023 and finish by July 2024. The last tunnel, from Tandang Sora–Quirino Highway, will be completed by August 2025.
However, the tunnel boring machine is only starting work on the North Avenue station in March 2024. Another tunnel boring machine from North Avenue will start excavating by July 2024.
The Department of Transportation recently moved another tunnel boring machine for the subway to Doña Julia Vargas Avenue, where it will be used to construct the tunnels for the Ortigas Avenue Station, Shaw Boulevard Station, and Kalayaan Avenue Stations.
Full operations for the subway is targeted for 2029.
Here is the list of contract packages for the subway:
Plans for a subway date back to 1973 when the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, then-known as the Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency) developed an urban transport study for the Metro Manila area. This was during the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s father.
“The rapid transit system for Manila and suburbs will consist of the subway system and the [Philippine National Railway] improvement project. Five lines are proposed for the subway system,” JICA wrote in its study.
The five lines planned back then would have stretched all across the metro. Line 1 would have stretched from Quezon Memorial Circle to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport; Line 2 from Manotoc Subdivision in Quezon City to Cainta, Rizal; Line 3 from Sangandaan, Caloocan to Pasay; Line 4 from Quirino Avenue to Roxas Boulevard and “future reclaimed land;” and Line 5 from Marulas, Valenzula to Tutuban, where it would connect to Line 1.
However, the proposal was eventually rejected in 1977 in favor of a Light Rail Transit (LRT) project that would eventually become the LRT-1. An idea for a subway was again revived during the administration of Benigno Aquino III, but disagreements on the alignment for the supposed “Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit Loop System” allegedly derailed the project before works had even began. It wasn’t until the Rodrigo Duterte administration that plans for a Metro Manila Subway were finally approved in 2017.
However, it would take more than 5 years before tunneling and excavation works finally began for the long-delayed subway in January 2023, now under President Marcos Jr.’s administration.
“Looking back, this Metro Manila subway was planned exactly 50 years ago in 1973,” Matsuda Kenichi, minister and deputy chief of mission for the embassy of Japan, said during the start of tunneling works. “The plan was first initiated during the time of the late president Marcos Sr. Decades later, it can be considered a legacy that is now in the hands of His Excellency President Marcos Jr. to fulfill.”
The project has an estimated total cost P488.5 billion. The bulk of this – P370.7 billion – will be financed through an official development assistance (ODA) loan from JICA, while the remaining P117.7 billion will be shouldered by the Philippine government.
The project is currently drawing its funding from two JICA loan agreements. The first tranche of P47.58 billion was signed on March 2018, while a second tranche of P112.87 billion, was signed on February 2022. A third tranche of P55.7 billion is expected to come in March 2024.
“[T]he Department of Finance is fully committed to securing the funding for this project. We aim to finalize the loan agreement for the third tranche of financing by March 2024. We will also remain resolute in monitoring the progress of all ODA projects,” Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said during a visit to the subway.
The Department of Finance said that the Metro Manila Subway will lessen economic losses caused by traffic congestion by about P2.5 billion a day or P930.26 billion a year through “reduced vehicle costs, travel time, and carbon emissions.” – Rappler.com
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TV ads decline, influencer marketing rises: Why it’s harder now for TV shows to make money
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gdecastro0289
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07/03/2024 15:58
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TAPE Inc./PIE Channel/CNN Phils. composite
MANILA, Philippines – The closure of Television and Production Exponents Incorporated (TAPE)’s noon show Tahanang Pinakamasaya is another sign of a changing media landscape in the Philippines as enterprises that sell goods and services now pay less attention to television and more on online marketing.
On television, ratings often determine how long a show will last. Shows with high ratings, such as ABS-CBN’s FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano and Batang Quiapo, last longer than those with low ratings since they’re able to get more commercials. Shows that don’t rate high often don’t last long, unless subsidized by another business unit or enterprise.
A case in point is the Jalosjos family’s recent decision to axe its noon show, Tahanang Pinakamasaya after just nine months. After showbiz veterans Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon left TAPE on May 31, 2023 and put up a new show on TV5, Eat Bulaga/Tahanang Pinakamasaya on GMA-7 aired fewer commercials.
That TVJ’s Eat Bulaga! has lasted 45 years is testament to its commercial success. That TAPE’s Tahanang Pinakamasaya lasted only nine months is proof of its commercial failure.
At its peak, Eat Bulaga! with TVJ on GMA-7 was rating between 10% to 20%, and often filled the limit of 18 minutes of commercials per hour, former GMA consultant Jose Bartolome, now a senior lecturer at the UP College of Mass Communications, told Rappler.
Before the pandemic, a high-rating, non-prime time show could sell 30-second ad spots from P80,000 to P100,000, but if the show didn’t rate well, it got fewer commercials and the ad rate went down to half, he said. Revenues from these ads went to pay the talents and produce and air the show.
Post-pandemic, TAPE’s Eat Bulaga!, TVJ’s E.A.T. on TV5, and It’s Showtime on A2Z+Kapamilya Channel were in single digits, often unable to breach 5% in Nielsen television ratings as shown in a TV5 social media post above back in July 2023.
On the other hand, Kantar Media’s audience measurement as shown below, in December 2018, prior to the pandemic, Eat Bulaga! on GMA-7 and It’s Showtime on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2 were both above 10%. It’s Showtime’s ratings fell steeply after ABS-CBN was ordered to close its TV and radio operations by the Duterte administration in May 2020.
Bartolome said this is a clear sign that fewer Filipinos are tuning in to television than before the pandemic, especially after ABS-CBN lost its free TV and radio business. Kantar Media managing director Jay Bautista referred to this as the flattening of the TV curve.
When asked whether GMA-7 would become the dominant free-to-air channel without ABS-CBN’s broadcasting, Bautista said: “Yes, because it snatched about 20% of the viewers who used to watch ABS-CBN literally overnight. From a 40% share of viewers prior to the shutdown, GMA currently averages around 60% share of viewing per day. No, because a lot of loyal ABS viewers have turned off their TV sets, which has literally almost flattened the curve of TV viewing across the country.”
Prior to Tahanang Pinakamasaya’s closure, among the three major noon shows, it was also TAPE that had the weakest presence on social media, which helped doom the program.
TVJ’s Facebook page, for instance, has 2.1 million followers. It’s Showtime has 17 million followers, while TAPE Facebook had 337,500 followers. The celebrities on the stronger noon shows, such as Maine Mendoza on E.A.T Bulaga!, and Vice Ganda and Anne Curtis on It’s Showtime, also help multiply their respective shows’ reach.
The closure of CNN Philippines last January also reflects the changing media and advertising landscape. Since many of its programs didn’t rate well, Nine Media Corporation couldn’t get enough advertisers to place ads on its shows.
Nine Media’s capital deficiencies reached P226.2 million in 2021 and P465.2 millon in 2022, which prompted its owners to wave the white flag.
Pinoy Interactive Entertainment (PIE) Channel, which was backed by telco giant Globe Telecom, was in a similar situation last year.
PIE channel is a “TraDigital” venture between Kroma Entertainment, ABS-CBN Corporation as content provider, Globe Telecom Incorporated’s 917Ventures, and Broadcast Enterprises and Affiliated Media Incorporated or BEAM TV.
Last November, Kroma Entertainment announced that PIE would “transition to fully online platforms” starting January 1, 2024, and will drop “traditional TV and cable.”
Carlo Hemedes, CEO of marketing agency Organic Intelligence Incorporated, told Rappler that many companies are now putting more resources to online marketing.
“The budget between TV and digital have now interchanged compared to five years ago. Even [ad] spend on OOH [Out-of-Home advertising] is much lower,” he said.
The only exception is radio which, he said, “remains to be a stronghold for key provincial locations.”
(READ: The politics of radio: New station DWPM Radyo 630 is born)
Rappler’s sources in advertising agencies said many companies have “substantially cut their budget” on TV spots to half or even less than half after the pandemic and the closure of ABS-CBN’s broadcast operations.
They noted that the cost of digital ads is much lower than TV spots. Before the pandemic, a 30-second ad in an ABS-CBN prime time show was around P300,000, while an ad in GMA Network was around P200,000.
They said companies have found “influencer marketing” more “effective and efficient” since it’s cheaper than advertising on TV. On television, viewers often switch channels to avoid commercials, while ads on social media have permanence. It’s also easier to target niche markets online than on television.
Among the Philippines’ top-tier influencers are beauty queens, actors and actresses. They’re paid big money to use their social media power to promote products and services.
Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach topped the Philippines’ highest earners through sponsored Instagram posts in 2021, according to a report by online financial service provider NetCredit.
Wurtzbach, who placed 41st in the worldwide rankings, reportedly had a calculated earning of $3,669,205 or approximately P216 million.
Among Filipino celebrities, Wurtzbach was followed by Kathryn Bernardo, who reportedly earned $3,533,360 or around P208 million, and Anne Curtis at $2,936,119 or around P172 million.
Kim Chiu, Andrea Brillantes, Catriona Gray, Liza Soberano, Nadine Lustre, Alex Gonzaga, and Marian Rivera were also in the Philippines’ top 10.
There are middle-tier and lower-tier influencers who have lower rates.
Influencer marketing was also at play in the 2022 elections. A study found that an estimated P600 million to P1.5 billion was spent on online political influencers who campaigned for presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2022 Philippine national elections.
In terms of how much was spent on political influencers per platform, this study said Facebook influencers topped the list, with the total costs ranging from about P311.4 million to P939.4 million. They were followed by YouTube influencers, at around P213.5 million to P460.6 million, and then by TikTok influencers, at around P47.49 million to P94.3 million. Twitter influencers had the lowest amount spent at around P25.7 million to P42.2 million.
Although television is still the most important medium in the Philippines, its audience has fallen as more people turn to the internet for news.
Television as a source of news in the Philippines has declined from 66% in 2020 to 52% in 2023, according to Reuters’ Digital News Report 2023.
“Online and social media remain the most popular sources of news in the Philippines with our more urban sample, while TV and radio news remain important for those who are not online. TikTok has grown the fastest among the social media platforms, accessed for news now by 21% compared with only 2% in 2020,” said Yvonne Chua of the Philippine case in Reuters' Digital News Report 2023.
So, expect the hardships to continue for TV shows that don’t rate, as online/influencer marketing continues to rise. – Rappler.com
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It’s official: Bye-bye TAPE’s ‘Tahanang Pinakamasaya’
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gdecastro0289
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07/03/2024 18:12
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WINNER. TAPE Inc. stops using Eat Bulaga! on its noon show starting January 6, 2024, adopting instead the name Tahanang Pinakamasaya, while Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon start using Eat Bulaga! on TV5.
Composite of screenshots from TAPE Inc. FB/TVJ FB
MANILA, Philippines – It’s official.
Jalosjos family-led Television and Production Exponents Incorporated (TAPE) and GMA Network (GMA) Incorporated announced on Thursday, March 7, that the noon show, Tahanang Pinakamasaya, will no longer air on GMA’s free TV Channel 7 starting Friday.
“It is with heavy heart that we inform our televiewers that our noontime show ‘Tahanang Pinakamasaya’ on Kapuso network, GMA 7, will no longer be on air effective March 8, 2024,” TAPE said in a statement shared by GMA on its X (formerly Twitter) account and aired on GMA’s talk show Fast Talk with Boy Abunda.
“Despite our best efforts to save the show, both parties have reached a mutual agreement to finally call off the show,” the production firm led by ex-convict Romeo Jalosjos Sr. said.
Tahanang Pinakamasaya ran replays from Monday to Thursday this week after announcing on its YouTube account that its show last Saturday was its “farewell episode.” TAPE adopted the name Tahanang Pinakamasaya only last January following an order by a Marikina court to stop using Eat Bulaga!
In a separate statement posted on its social media accounts, GMA said, “Due to unavoidable circumstances, TAPE has made the difficult decision to cease the airing of Tahanang Pinakamasaya.”
GMA announced that Tahanang Pinakamasaya would be replaced by Lunchtime Movie Hits, which appears to be temporary.
TAPE thanked GMA for “understanding” the company’s “unwanted circumstances” that led to the show’s demise, an apparent reference to the bitter dispute between Jalosjos’ children and comedians Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon (TVJ) on how to run the show. The trio were the principal mainstays of Eat Bulaga! who were behind much of the show’s success along with TAPE’s part-owner, Antonio Tuviera, for the past four decades.
Eat Bulaga!, which began airing in 1979, is now on tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s TV5 network. It is one of the longest-running television shows in the Philippines.
TAPE thanked the show’s “loyal viewers, esteemed hosts, supportive advertisers, hardworking crew and dedicated employees” who have been with them since the firm began producing the show. Around 100 employees will reportedly be affected by the show’s demise.
Former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and actor-comedian Paolo Contis led Tahanang Pinakamasaya after TVJ left TAPE in May 2023.
TAPE has a block time agreement with GMA to air a noon show on Channel 7 until end of 2024.
“GMA Network would like to thank TAPE for its invaluable contribution to noontime programming for the past decades, which Filipinos will surely remember for many years to come,” the Philippines’ leading media conglomerate also said.
“The Network will always be grateful to TAPE for its partnership over the past decades,” the company now led by Gilberto “Jimmy” Duavit Jr. said.
For an analysis on this development, read this story below:
– Rappler.com
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It’s official: Bye-bye TAPE’s ‘Tahanang Pinakamasaya’
|
gdecastro0289
|
07/03/2024 18:12
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WINNER. TAPE Inc. stops using Eat Bulaga! on its noon show starting January 6, 2024, adopting instead the name Tahanang Pinakamasaya, while Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon start using Eat Bulaga! on TV5.
Composite of screenshots from TAPE Inc. FB/TVJ FB
MANILA, Philippines – It’s official.
Jalosjos family-led Television and Production Exponents Incorporated (TAPE) and GMA Network (GMA) Incorporated announced on Thursday, March 7, that the noon show, Tahanang Pinakamasaya, will no longer air on GMA’s free TV Channel 7 starting Friday.
“It is with heavy heart that we inform our televiewers that our noontime show ‘Tahanang Pinakamasaya’ on Kapuso network, GMA 7, will no longer be on air effective March 8, 2024,” TAPE said in a statement shared by GMA on its X (formerly Twitter) account and aired on GMA’s talk show Fast Talk with Boy Abunda.
“Despite our best efforts to save the show, both parties have reached a mutual agreement to finally call off the show,” the production firm led by ex-convict Romeo Jalosjos Sr. said.
Tahanang Pinakamasaya ran replays from Monday to Thursday this week after announcing on its YouTube account that its show last Saturday was its “farewell episode.” TAPE adopted the name Tahanang Pinakamasaya only last January following an order by a Marikina court to stop using Eat Bulaga!
In a separate statement posted on its social media accounts, GMA said, “Due to unavoidable circumstances, TAPE has made the difficult decision to cease the airing of Tahanang Pinakamasaya.”
GMA announced that Tahanang Pinakamasaya would be replaced by Lunchtime Movie Hits, which appears to be temporary.
TAPE thanked GMA for “understanding” the company’s “unwanted circumstances” that led to the show’s demise, an apparent reference to the bitter dispute between Jalosjos’ children and comedians Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon (TVJ) on how to run the show. The trio were the principal mainstays of Eat Bulaga! who were behind much of the show’s success along with TAPE’s part-owner, Antonio Tuviera, for the past four decades.
Eat Bulaga!, which began airing in 1979, is now on tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s TV5 network. It is one of the longest-running television shows in the Philippines.
TAPE thanked the show’s “loyal viewers, esteemed hosts, supportive advertisers, hardworking crew and dedicated employees” who have been with them since the firm began producing the show. Around 100 employees will reportedly be affected by the show’s demise.
Former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and actor-comedian Paolo Contis led Tahanang Pinakamasaya after TVJ left TAPE in May 2023.
TAPE has a block time agreement with GMA to air a noon show on Channel 7 until end of 2024.
“GMA Network would like to thank TAPE for its invaluable contribution to noontime programming for the past decades, which Filipinos will surely remember for many years to come,” the Philippines’ leading media conglomerate also said.
“The Network will always be grateful to TAPE for its partnership over the past decades,” the company now led by Gilberto “Jimmy” Duavit Jr. said.
For an analysis on this development, read this story below:
– Rappler.com
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4 senators oppose contempt order vs Quiboloy
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Herbie G
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07/03/2024 17:24
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OBJECT. Senator Robinhoods Padilla looks as Senator Risa Hontiveros makes a point after citing Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy in contempt during the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality on March 5, 2024.
Senate PRIB
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – At least four senators have signed an objection letter that seeks to reverse a Senate panel’s decision to hold embattled doomsday preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt for not showing up during its continuing investigation into the alleged abuses committed against former workers of the Davao-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Senator Robinhood Padilla, the first to object to the ruling, identified the others with him as senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Cynthia Villar, and Imee Marcos. He identified Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito to be with them, but the latter withdrew his signature later in the day.
Padilla’s group has five more days from Thursday, March 7, to convince at least four more senators to sign an objection letter to stop Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri from ordering Quiboloy’s arrest so the preacher could be brought to testify before the committee chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Eight constitutes the majority in the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, required to overturn the March 5 ruling of Hontiveros to cite Quiboloy in contempt.
Based on the Senate rules on investigations in aid of legislation, a majority of committee members can reverse a contempt citation within seven days from the date of the ruling.
The Hontiveros-led committee is composed of senators Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Raffy Tulfo, Go, Ejercito, Padilla, Villar, and her son Mark. Senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Aquilino Pimentel III sit in the committee as ex officio members.
Earlier, Senator Marcos said she doubted that the Senate committee was conducting an investigation in aid of legislation.
“Kinakailangan muna na alamin natin muna ang dapat alamin kasi puros kwentuhan lang (First, we need to find out what needs to be known because it’s all just talk for now),” Marcos told reporters.
She said she would rather leave the Quiboloy case in the hands of the courts.
Marcos also confirmed that there has been a concerted effort by a group of senators to reverse the ruling.
Ejercito initially signed the objection letter but withdrew his signature hours later.
He said in a statement late Thursday afternoon that he initially signed the objection letter initiated by Padilla “in consideration of procedural practicality,” and this was “based on the fact the Department of Justice has already pursued charges of sexual abuse and qualified trafficking against Pastor Quiboloy.”
“But after careful review of the facts, witness testimonies, and additional information, such as the allegations of rape during the last committee hearing, I have decided to withdraw my signature today,” he said.
“Furthermore, my consultations have revealed strong precedents indicating that ongoing cases can still be heard and investigated in the Senate. This means Pastor Quiboloy will get an opportunity to present his side. Rest assured that the Senate will ensure fairness throughout the proceedings,” Ejercito added.
“Kailangan ko pa ng tatlo. May mga nakausap na ako na sa mga napakagandang paliwanag nila, tinatanggap ko na hindi sila pumirma. At ‘yan ang mga bagay na ikinatutuwa at ikinalulungkot. Siyempre ikinatuwa dahil buhay ang demokrasya sa Senado, nalulungkot dahil hindi ko pa nakukuha ang walong boto hanggang sa ngayon,” Padilla told reporters on Thursday, March 7.
(I still need three more. I’ve talked to some who did not sign and gave very good explanations, which I have accepted. And those are the things that make me happy and sad. Of course, I am happy democracy is alive in the Senate, but it brings sadness because I still haven’t secured the eight votes until now.)
Padilla added, “Personal akong tumatawag; personal akong humihingi kahit five minutes doon sa mga member. Meron pa akong bukas, Sabado, Linggo. Sana mapagbigyan tayo ng mga hindi pa nagsasabi ng hindi sila pipirma.”
(I personally make the calls; I personally ask for even just five minutes from the members. I still have tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday. I hope those who haven’t said they won’t sign will give us the chance.)
Padilla said his position has nothing to do with his friendship with Quiboloy, adding that he felt that senators should leave matters with the justice department.
He also cautioned against the Senate’s actions against a religious group, saying senators run the risk of going against the constitutional provision about the separation of Church and State.
Padilla said, “Dito sa nakikita ko, pagka nagpatuloy sa ganitong proseso parang sinasaklawan na natin, magkakaroon ba tayo ng panukala na sasagasaan natin ang religion? Papunta na ito. Wala na kay pastor, napupunta na doon sa buong organization. Sa buong religion nila.”
(From what I see here, if we continue with this process, it seems like we’re encroaching. Are we going to propose something that will encroach on religion? It’s heading that way. It’s no longer just about the pastor; it’s going to the whole organization. To their entire religion.)
Padilla said he considers Quiboloy his friend and an ally in his advocacy against the communist rebellion since the Arroyo administration.
“Hindi deserve para sa mga mata ko na ang isang taong tingin kong bayani sa pakikipaglaban niya sa komunista na naging kasama ko, e ganitong klase papayagan ko maiskandalo,” he said.
(In my view, it’s not fair that someone I regard as a hero for his fight against communists, and with whom I’ve collaborated, should suffer such a scandal with my consent.)
He also said Quiboloy provided him a platform for his advocacy through the preacher’s media arm, the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), and lent him a helicopter when he was running for a seat in the Senate.
“Ang helicopter pinahiram niya sa akin, ang mga ganoong klaseng pabor (He lent me a helicopter, that kind of favor,” Padilla said. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate Senator JV Ejercito’s decision. It is, indeed, the right thing to do. As for Senator Padilla and the rest of the pro-Quiboloy Senators, I believe it is a matter of “utang-na-loob.” I just hope that the victims of Pastor Quiboloy will remember them in the 2025 Midterm Election. The pro-Quiboloy senators can justify their actions for whatever reason they want to present to the Filipino people. But Filipinos with analytical and critical minds know which side of Social Justice they belong to.
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Imelda ‘on path to recovery’ after hospital confinement, says President Marcos
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Dwight de Leon
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07/03/2024 18:40
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RECOVERY. This file photo shows former first lady Imelda Marcos and family members at Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s rally in Mandaluyong.
Rob Reyes/ Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, was feeling better days after she was admitted to the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever.
The chief executive paid his mother a visit after arriving in Manila from Melbourne on Wednesday night, March 6.
“In consultation with her medical team, it has been confirmed that her fever is gradually subsiding, and she is on the path to recovery,” he said in a post on X on Thursday, March 7.
“We’ve decided to keep her in the hospital until she finishes her prescribed course of antibiotic treatment. This measure will also afford her the necessary rest and continuous medical supervision,” he added.
The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, first confirmed on Tuesday, March 5, that their 94-year-old mother was brought to a medical facility after bouts of coughs and feverishness.
The widow of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos has had numerous health issues.
After the Sandiganbayan slapped her a graft conviction in 2018, she cited the following illnesses in her plea to post bail:
In May 2023, she underwent a successful angioplasty procedure.
On Wednesday night, Malacañang refuted rumors that the Marcos family matriarch had died. – Rappler.com
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RUNNING LIST: President Marcos’ foreign trips in 2024
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Dwight de Leon
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22/01/2024 15:00
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TRAVEL. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos fly to Malaysia for a state visit in July 2023.
Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has established himself as a frequent flyer, does not intend to slow down in 2024.
For this year, the Office of the President (OP) has been provided a budget of P1.4 billion for missions and state visits, as well as P1.1 billion for traveling expenses.
The amounts are a significant increase from what the OP had in its budget for traveling purposes in 2023.
Rappler tracks the countries that the President will visit in 2024.
Updated as of Apri 22, 2024
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) announced on January 24 that President Marcos will be the keynote speaker at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, dubbed as Asia’s premier defense summit, on May 31.
As per the IISS, he will join an esteemed list of heads of state who delivered a speech at the summit in the past, such as Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Malacañang has yet to confirm Marcos’ visits to the following countries. The list is based on international gatherings usually attended by the President, invitations that Malacañang received, and other statements that Philippine officials made in the past.
President Marcos and First Lazy Liza attended the royal wedding of Prince Abdul Mateen, the 10th child of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and businesswoman Yang Mulia Dayang Anisha Rosnah Binti Adam.
Marcos flew to Vietnam for a state visit upon the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong.
There, Marcos reiterated the agreements between Manila and Vietnam’s coast guards, and the two nation’s “cooperation and coordination” in the South China Sea. The two countries also inked an agreement on rice trade.
Marcos was in Canberra, Australia on February 28 to 29. As a guest of the government, he addressed the Australian Parliament, zeroing in on security issues. He also witnessed the signing of agreements on maritime domain, cyberspace, and antitrust between the Philippines and Australia.
The President returned to Australia on March 3, just a few days after his state visit to the country, to take part in the special summit in Melbourne between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia from March 4 to 6.
President Marcos was in Berlin in March for a working visit, meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The two countries signed agreements to strengthen cooperation on maritime issues and the upskilling of Filipino skilled workers.
After his trip to Germany, Marcos wrapped up his Central Europe tour with a state visit to the Czech Republic, where he met with President Petr Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, and President of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
President Marcos flew to Washington on April 10 to take part in the first-ever trilateral summit between the Philippines, the United States, and Japan on April 11. It was a meeting that ultimately zeroed in on the growing threat posed by China in the West Philippine Sea. – Rappler.com
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RESULTS: March 2024 Dental Technologists Computer-Based Licensure Examination
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clescudero0258
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07/03/2024 17:58
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The following is a press release from the Professional Regulation Commission.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 17 out of 24 passed the Dental Technologists Computer-Based Licensure Examination given by the Board of Dentistry in NCR this March 2024.
The members of the Board of Dentistry who gave the licensure examination are Dr. Merlin A. Go, officer-in-charge; Dr. Melinda L. Garcia, Dr. Rodolfo R. Drapete, Dr. Carlito D. Paragas and Dr. Gloria M. Bumanlag, members.
The results were released in four working days after the last day of examination.
Starting May 13, 2024, registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will be done online. Please go to www.prc.gov.ph and follow instructions for initial registration. Those who will register are required to bring the following: downloaded duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal, notice of admission (for identification only), two pieces passport-sized pictures (colored with white background and complete name tag), two sets of documentary stamps, and one piece short brown envelope. Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.
The date and venue for the oathtaking ceremony of the new successful examinees in the said examination WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER.
The performance of schools in the March 2024 Dental Technologists Computer-Based Licensure Examination in alphabetical order as per R.A. 8981 otherwise known as PRC Modernization Act of 2000 Section 7(m) “To monitor the performance of schools in licensure examinations and publish the results thereof in a newspaper of national circulation” is as follows:
Any discrepancy in the report is not intentional on the part of the Commission, but rather due to miscoding of school codes by the examinees themselves. Concerned schools may write the Commission for correction.
Check out the full results here:
– Rappler.com
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‘Lucky to have Bolick’: NLEX guard takes over late in comeback win
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delfin.dioquino editor
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06/03/2024 23:20
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STAR. Robert Bolick in action for the NLEX Road Warriors in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – NLEX head coach Frankie Lim heaved a sigh of relief as Robert Bolick steered the Road Warriors to another gritty victory.
Bolick took over in the fourth quarter and finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists to guide NLEX to a come-from-behind 99-96 win over Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, March 6.
Held to 10 points in the first three quarters, Bolick exploded for 16 points in the final frame as the Road Warriors erased a double-digit deficit in the period to earn their second triumph in three games.
“We’re lucky to have Bolick. Just imagine if he is not on our team,” said Lim in Filipino.
“I want to look at it as a team effort. Each player made contributions. But of course, he is special.”
The Bolts propped up a 10-point lead with under seven minutes remaining off a Chris Newsome free throw, 85-75, before Bolick went on a personal tear, scoring all the points in a 12-4 run that pulled his side within 89-87.
Robbie Herndon then gave NLEX a 90-89 lead with a three-pointer off a Dominick Fajardo assist before Bolick sank four free throws in an 8-0 blitz as the Road Warriors made it 98-91.
But Meralco refused to crumble, answering with 5 straight points to inch within 98-96 and even getting a crack at forcing overtime when rookie Enoch Valdez split his free throws with under 15 seconds left.
Newsome, however, missed the game-tying three-pointer as the Bolts absorbed their second loss in three games.
Valdez backstopped Bolick with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals, while fellow rookie Jhan Nermal churned out 11 points.
Bolick, though, reserved his highest praises for Herndon and Fajardo, who delivered despite seeing limited action this conference.
Herndon chimed in 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, while Fajardo put up 6 points and 3 rebounds after being sidelined in the first two games.
“Shout out to Dom and Robbie. They gave us something extraordinary this game. The two won this game for us,” said Bolick.
Newsome turned in 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in another close defeat as Meralco also lost by just 3 points in its conference-opener against Blackwater exactly a week ago.
Raymar Jose had 14 points and 4 rebounds, Raymond Almazan tallied 13 points and 7 rebounds in his conference debut after sitting out the first two games with flu, while Allein Maliksi netted 12 points and 4 rebounds for Meralco.
NLEX 99 – Bolick 26, Valdez 12, Nermal 11, Herndon 9, Semerad 9, Marcelo 7, Miranda 7, Fajardo 6, Nieto 5, Amer 3, Pascual 2, Ular 2.
Meralco 96 – Newsome 22, Jose 14, Almazan 13, Maliksi 12, Hodge 10, Torres 9, Black 5, Quinto 5, Banchero 4, Rios 2, Mendoza 0, Caram 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 26-28, 51-43, 64-72, 99-96.
– Rappler.com
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‘Staying humble’: Blackwater to keep pushing after 3-0 start
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delfin.dioquino editor
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06/03/2024 21:03
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SHORT STAB. Christian David in action for the Blackwater Bossing in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.
PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines – Blackwater head coach Jeff Cariaso has been in the PBA long enough to know that a 3-0 start does not guarantee sustained success.
So Cariaso wants the Bossing to “keep pushing” even as they extended their spotless run in the Philippine Cup with a commanding 90-78 win over hapless Converge at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, March 6.
Regaining solo lead in the team standings, Blackwater is a win away from tying its best unbeaten start in franchise history when it went 4-0 in the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
“We’re staying humble, we’re staying focused, because we know how quick things can turn. We’re just going to continue working hard,” said Cariaso.
Second overall pick Christian David fired a conference-high 16 points on top of 5 rebounds off the bench to show the way for four other double-figure scorers in the win that saw the Bossing enjoy a lead as big as 35 points.
RK Ilagan and Richard Escoto chimed in 12 points each as they joined hands with David in the first two quarters to help Blackwater pull away early.
Ilagan (12), Escoto (10), and David (9) combined for 31 points in the first half and outscored the entire FiberXers, allowing the Bossing to enter the break with a sizable 58-29 cushion.
That lead grew to its biggest at 70-35 midway through the third period off a three-pointer by Rey Suerte, who finished with 14 points and 4 rebounds.
Cariaso, though, sees plenty of room for improvement as Blackwater got outperformed in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter.
The Bossing still led comfortably at 90-66 with four minutes remaining before they went scoreless the rest of the way, with Converge ending the game on a 12-0 run to make the defeat more acceptable.
“Keep pushing. We want to maintain the good things that we’re doing now and then we want to improve on the things that we feel like we need to improve on and there is still a lot,” said Cariaso.
“We’re still very young together, if that makes sense.”
Veteran forward Troy Rosario added all-around numbers of 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists for Blackwater, which already eclipsed its two-win tally in the last two conferences where it posted a combined 2-20 record.
Alec Stockton posted 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, while Schonny Winston put up 22 points and 7 rebounds in the loss that dropped Converge to 0-3.
The FiberXers absorbed their seventh straight loss dating back to last conference and fell to a 1-13 record for the season.
Blackwater 90 – David 16, Suerte 14, Ilagan 12, Escoto 12, Rosario 10, Nambatac 7, Yap 5, Sena 3, DiGregorio 3, Tungcab 2, Guinto 2, Kwekuteye 2, Hill 2, Jopia 0.
Converge 78 – Stockton 24, Winston 22, Arana 18, Fleming 6, Fornilos 3, Balanza 2, Maagdenberg 1, Santos 0, Caralipio 0, Melecio 0, Nieto 0, Ambohot 0, Zaldivar 0.
Quarters: 30-14, 58-29, 76-50, 90-78.
– Rappler.com
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Back in action, Carlos Yulo out to defend titles in Baku World Cup
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delfin.dioquino editor
|
06/03/2024 18:58
|
GOLDEN. Carlos Yulo dominates in the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore.
Linee Yeo/Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino gymnastics star Carlos Yulo returns to action for the first time in five months with hopes of regaining his old form.
Yulo competes in the 2024 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Baku, Azerbaijan starting Thursday, March 7, as he ramps up his preparation for the Paris Olympics.
The Baku leg of the World Cup Series marks the first event for Yulo since his dismal performance in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in October.
Although the 24-year-old still booked his ticket to Paris in Antwerp, Yulo endured a nightmarish start in the world championships, landing flat on his back twice in the all-around qualification and making only one apparatus final.
He then finished fourth in the floor exercise final as he saw his medal streak busted in the global showdown after winning at least a bronze in each of the four previous editions of the world championships.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said the prospect of a fine showing from Yulo – who trained in South Korea earlier this year – is “very, very good.”
Yulo stamped his class in the World Cup Series last year, capturing three golds, one silver, and two bronzes across three legs.
In Baku, Yulo aims to defend his titles in his pet events vault and parallel bars.
Formidable foes, though, await Yulo as he goes up against the likes of China’s Zou Jingyuan, Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun, and Turkey’s Adem Asil. – Rappler.com
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Awestruck Dongallo continues learning curve after hard-hitting Canino matchup
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jisaga0269
|
06/03/2024 19:28
|
YOUNG STARS. UE spiker Casiey Dongallo and La Salle spiker Angel Canino in action in the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament
UAAP Season 86 Media Team
MANILA, Philippines – Although the UE Lady Warriors have taken massive leaps so far in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament, the growing pains are still clear to see, especially after their first matchup against the league’s true litmus test, the defending champion La Salle Lady Spikers.
Billed as a thrilling matchup between two young super scorers, UE rookie Casiey Dongallo and La Salle’s sophomore MVP Angel Canino, the Lady Spikers brushed off an error-prone start and showed their true power in the third set, eventually completing a 25-21, 25-18, 25-10 blowout on Wednesday, March 6.
Still, the individual matchup did not disappoint, as Canino dominated the stat sheet with 17 points, 9 excellent digs, and 7 excellent receptions, while Dongallo still shone in a hasty conversion to middle blocker with 15 points on 12 attacks and 3 rejections.
Canino, who powered through minor sickness in the win, had nothing but glowing praises for the person intent on taking her former distinction as the UAAP’s top rookie sensation.
“It’s fun to finally see how she plays,” she said in Filipino of Dongallo, who averaged a staggering, league-leading 26.0 points per game prior to facing La Salle.
“Actually, I’m really happy to have finally faced her in a game.”
Dongallo, practically left speechless when asked about their individual matchup, was likewise filled with awe after competing in what she previously described as a “dream” battle.
“Playing against her, Ate Angel is just so skilled. She’s great. What else can I say?” she said in between laughs, turning to assistant coach Dr. Obet Vital for help in expounding her answer.
“When I was able to receive some of her attacks, Krizzie [Madriaga] told me, ‘She hits so hard,'” Dongallo continued. “Every hit she had, it seemed like we really had a hard time receiving it. There were a lot of points.”
With UE now reeling with its fourth straight loss after a winning start to the season, Dongallo remains focused on learning every game from the league’s top teams and stars like Canino, as every win the once-forgettable Lady Warriors get is a sure step in the right direction.
“La Salle is the standard in [UAAP] volleyball, so the lesson we learned in this game is that we really improved in the new system. There is progress,” Dongallo continued.
“We just have to continue what we’re doing and do more with whatever we’re doing right.”
Win or lose, the valuable lessons will definitely continue to come for UE as it next faces another tough team in perennial finalist NU Lady Bulldogs on Sunday, March 10, 2 pm, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com
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Cebu teachers, students oppose foreign ownership of Philippine schools
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jsitchon0312
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06/03/2024 20:49
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Students from different colleges and universities and the youth leaders under the Movement Against Charter Change (MATCHA) convene at the Commission on Human Rights headquarters in Quezon City to show their opposing stance against charter change and assert their educational rights and other sectoral issues that they believe are more essential and pressing instead of the charter change discussions, on February 21, 2024.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
CEBU, Philippines – Some teacher and student groups in Cebu expressed their opposition to proposed amendments in the 1987 Constitution that would allow full foreign ownership of educational institutions.
“Such a proposal further reinforces the neoliberal ‘users pay’ philosophy which for decades has commercialized the system of education in the country,” the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines Cebu said on Wednesday, March 6.
The teachers’ organization warned that once restrictions on foreign ownership in the education sector ease, issues such as tuition fee hikes and “biased revisions” to the curriculum would emerge.
“This means the worsening of historical revisionism as foreign capitalist educators, many of whom could be coming from the country’s former colonial masters, could design curriculum and instruction that would further their neocolonial interests in the country,” their statement read.
The National Union of Students of the Philippines shared similar sentiments, saying the proposed amendments would only intensify foreign influence in Philippine education.
The Department of Education (DepEd) already objected to the proposed amendments during a House deliberation on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 on Monday, March 4.
“The scope and limits of control and administration are put into question, including processes defining who, what, and how education shall be administered. The most basic question is – will it allow foreign entities to teach?” DepEd Undersecretary Omar Alexander Romero said.
On Tuesday, March 5, Senator Sonny Angara said during a Senate sub-committee hearing that the amendments do not intend to open Philippine basic education to foreign investments, only higher, tertiary, technical and vocational education.
“We need more clarity in the language because the intention is not to liberalize basic education,” Angara said.
For Kabataan Cebu chapter chairperson John Kyle Enero, allowing full foreign ownership of schools would only worsen the existing learning crisis that the country is facing.
To recall, the Philippines placed 77th out of 81 countries in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 rankings for 15-year-old students’ average performances on mathematics, science and reading.
Based on the 2022 rankings of the Program for International Student Assessment, the Philippines is among the nations that produced the lowest proficiency for 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science, placing 77th out of 81 countries.
“As it currently stands, history, culture, language, and other similar civics subjects are already being trimmed down in Filipino-owned schools. Under full foreign ownership, all of these could be removed in favor of more marketable topics,” Enero said.
Enero also criticized Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Prospero de Vera III for saying that the proposed easing of foreign ownership restrictions on education would improve the global competitiveness of institutions.
“What CHED is actually saying is the government would rather export young, cheap, and docile labor to other transnational corporations and foreign countries, rather than provide quality and accessible education and decent jobs and wages,” Enero said.
Ryan Dave Ryla, a college lecturer at a private university in Cebu City, told Rappler that opening the education sector to foreign companies would be akin to “passing the buck.”
“Instead of opening up the education sector to foreign competition, it would be best for the state to strengthen its public education system,” he said.
Lloyd Manango, vice chairperson of the League of Filipino Students, said during the deliberation on RBH No. 7 on Tuesday that the government has yet to fully utilize options in meeting international education standards.
He argued that if the state really wants to meet international standards, it should put more effort into reaching the UN’s budgeting standards.
“The international standard of the United Nations (UN) for education budgeting is 6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Although, the budget of DepEd is 16% of the total budget, it is only around 2% of the GDP,” Manango said in a mix of English and Filipino. – Rappler.com
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https://www.rappler.com/philippines/visayas/cebu-teachers-students-oppose-opening-education-foreign-ownership/
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[WATCH] In the Public Square with John Nery: Abolish the National Housing Authority?
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Nina Liu
|
06/03/2024 16:31
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An important constituency of the National Housing Authority does not want its life extended: The urban poor.
Six weeks ago, we sat down with representatives of the urban poor to explain their resistance to the flagship program of the second Marcos administration known as 4PH. But their resistance is rooted in the lack of real government attention to their concerns.
The center, or the black hole of that lack of real attention is the National Housing Authority, whose legislative life expires next year. Why do urban poor groups want the NHA abolished?
Joining this episode of In the Public Square with John Nery is seasoned sociologist, anthropologist and development leader Professor Mary Racelis; a representative of SALIGAN, or Center of Alternative Legal Lingap, Josephine Cabales Cordero; and Ka Jeorgie Tenolete, president of Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran sa Baseco, a people’s organization.
Watch the episode on Wednesday, March 6, at 8 pm. – Rappler.com
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Rappler
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https://www.rappler.com/philippines/in-the-public-square-john-nery-abolish-national-housing-authority/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2RqBARjaxxvMynGMmjs-T64xV5Dns5s2IXTWVbZagNBC_5IfWAhKz0yUY_aem_DDk2Uak0NwDb4lqS1VwvGg
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Results, team standings: UAAP Season 86 volleyball
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Jasmine Payo
|
05/05/2024 21:02
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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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https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/volleyball-game-results-team-standings-men-women-season-86-2024/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR35nZHE1A_7Pde2L18fIoEG2AxigG_bHBlTAqSzi9BzVR-O5VqCz3jOmUo_aem_gjsi7-1EC3W8OSRkxfFAKA
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1
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[WATCH] In the Public Square with John Nery: Abolish the National Housing Authority?
|
Nina Liu
|
06/03/2024 16:31
|
An important constituency of the National Housing Authority does not want its life extended: The urban poor.
Six weeks ago, we sat down with representatives of the urban poor to explain their resistance to the flagship program of the second Marcos administration known as 4PH. But their resistance is rooted in the lack of real government attention to their concerns.
The center, or the black hole of that lack of real attention is the National Housing Authority, whose legislative life expires next year. Why do urban poor groups want the NHA abolished?
Joining this episode of In the Public Square with John Nery is seasoned sociologist, anthropologist and development leader Professor Mary Racelis; a representative of SALIGAN, or Center of Alternative Legal Lingap, Josephine Cabales Cordero; and Ka Jeorgie Tenolete, president of Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran sa Baseco, a people’s organization.
Watch the episode on Wednesday, March 6, at 8 pm. – Rappler.com
How does this make you feel?
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Rappler
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https://www.rappler.com/philippines/in-the-public-square-john-nery-abolish-national-housing-authority/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR03SV3Wc4X1KdI3OIuZogFNU2nMeNmwaGyqM0ONcp4DtNRnD-xSesT9nvY_aem_zytUMEYYcAZ5myTNN2b_Mw
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1
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Results, team standings: UAAP Season 86 volleyball
|
Jasmine Payo
|
05/05/2024 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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https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/volleyball-game-results-team-standings-men-women-season-86-2024/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3zQV3my6Cn5X1LDrJhLNqLDKMHNebicJu3aMoqo_IORuI9BmIWi62wYTw_aem_NjPSSt-STOGOlHTw7kAdDw
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Awestruck Dongallo continues learning curve after hard-hitting Canino matchup
|
jisaga0269
|
06/03/2024 19:28
|
YOUNG STARS. UE spiker Casiey Dongallo and La Salle spiker Angel Canino in action in the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament
UAAP Season 86 Media Team
MANILA, Philippines – Although the UE Lady Warriors have taken massive leaps so far in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament, the growing pains are still clear to see, especially after their first matchup against the league’s true litmus test, the defending champion La Salle Lady Spikers.
Billed as a thrilling matchup between two young super scorers, UE rookie Casiey Dongallo and La Salle’s sophomore MVP Angel Canino, the Lady Spikers brushed off an error-prone start and showed their true power in the third set, eventually completing a 25-21, 25-18, 25-10 blowout on Wednesday, March 6.
Still, the individual matchup did not disappoint, as Canino dominated the stat sheet with 17 points, 9 excellent digs, and 7 excellent receptions, while Dongallo still shone in a hasty conversion to middle blocker with 15 points on 12 attacks and 3 rejections.
Canino, who powered through minor sickness in the win, had nothing but glowing praises for the person intent on taking her former distinction as the UAAP’s top rookie sensation.
“It’s fun to finally see how she plays,” she said in Filipino of Dongallo, who averaged a staggering, league-leading 26.0 points per game prior to facing La Salle.
“Actually, I’m really happy to have finally faced her in a game.”
Dongallo, practically left speechless when asked about their individual matchup, was likewise filled with awe after competing in what she previously described as a “dream” battle.
“Playing against her, Ate Angel is just so skilled. She’s great. What else can I say?” she said in between laughs, turning to assistant coach Dr. Obet Vital for help in expounding her answer.
“When I was able to receive some of her attacks, Krizzie [Madriaga] told me, ‘She hits so hard,'” Dongallo continued. “Every hit she had, it seemed like we really had a hard time receiving it. There were a lot of points.”
With UE now reeling with its fourth straight loss after a winning start to the season, Dongallo remains focused on learning every game from the league’s top teams and stars like Canino, as every win the once-forgettable Lady Warriors get is a sure step in the right direction.
“La Salle is the standard in [UAAP] volleyball, so the lesson we learned in this game is that we really improved in the new system. There is progress,” Dongallo continued.
“We just have to continue what we’re doing and do more with whatever we’re doing right.”
Win or lose, the valuable lessons will definitely continue to come for UE as it next faces another tough team in perennial finalist NU Lady Bulldogs on Sunday, March 10, 2 pm, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com
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https://www.rappler.com/sports/uaap/women-volleyball-game-results-la-salle-lady-spikers-angel-canino-ue-warriors-casiey-dongallo-march-6-2024/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0zsL5hE07IZ94G7yLJRQ0txHb5Z4IRDoPMLTAYkNtrUBmaZnKjBlGt12A_aem_wN_bud2ncTBmQ8br2Oh7DQ
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Back in action, Carlos Yulo out to defend titles in Baku World Cup
|
delfin.dioquino editor
|
06/03/2024 18:58
|
GOLDEN. Carlos Yulo dominates in the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore.
Linee Yeo/Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino gymnastics star Carlos Yulo returns to action for the first time in five months with hopes of regaining his old form.
Yulo competes in the 2024 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Baku, Azerbaijan starting Thursday, March 7, as he ramps up his preparation for the Paris Olympics.
The Baku leg of the World Cup Series marks the first event for Yulo since his dismal performance in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in October.
Although the 24-year-old still booked his ticket to Paris in Antwerp, Yulo endured a nightmarish start in the world championships, landing flat on his back twice in the all-around qualification and making only one apparatus final.
He then finished fourth in the floor exercise final as he saw his medal streak busted in the global showdown after winning at least a bronze in each of the four previous editions of the world championships.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said the prospect of a fine showing from Yulo – who trained in South Korea earlier this year – is “very, very good.”
Yulo stamped his class in the World Cup Series last year, capturing three golds, one silver, and two bronzes across three legs.
In Baku, Yulo aims to defend his titles in his pet events vault and parallel bars.
Formidable foes, though, await Yulo as he goes up against the likes of China’s Zou Jingyuan, Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun, and Turkey’s Adem Asil. – Rappler.com
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FACT CHECK: No Marcos order to shut down PCSO
|
Lorenz Pasion
|
06/03/2024 18:17
|
Claim: President Bongbong Marcos Jr. ordered the closure of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in the thumbnail of a YouTube video posted on March 3 that has garnered 140,593 views, 3,800 likes, and 1,221 comments as of writing.
Text on the thumbnail reads: “PCSO sarado na. Matinding utos sa Pangulo Senado.” (PCSO now closed. Strong orders of the President [and] Senate).
The video was posted a few days after a glitch occurred during the PCSO’s three-digit game draw on February 27.
The bottom line: No official announcements from any reputable source confirm the alleged shutdown of the PCSO. There are no declarations from the Office of the President or Marcos’ official Facebook page.
Lotto draws are still being announced on the PCSO’s official website as of Wednesday, March 6.
Ongoing controversies: The misleading video did not provide any proof to back up its claim, instead merely citing calls from senators to investigate alleged anomalies and glitches in the lotto draws.
Earlier this year, the state-run lottery firm came under fire over a poorly-altered picture of a Lotto 6/42 jackpot winner who won P43 million. PCSO General Manager Melquiades “Mel” Robles stated in a Senate committee hearing that the photo was edited to protect the winner’s identity.
The PCSO came under further scrutiny from government officials due to a series of “highly improbable and doubtful winnings.” After raising the minimum guaranteed jackpot for its Christmas and New Year draws, several multi-million prizes were won over a three-week period. (READ: Mathematician says audit of PCSO lotto, not statistics, can check for cheating)
In January, Senator Imee Marcos called for the temporary suspension of PCSO games while Senate probes were ongoing, but she did not call for the suspension or closure of the PCSO itself.
In recent weeks, the PCSO again drew flak following a “minor glitch” that occurred during a live draw on February 27, when one of its draw machines “failed to capture one of the winning balls.” Robles said that this was only the second time in 25 years that such a glitch occurred.
On February 29, Senator Raffy Tulfo announced that the Senate would investigate the incident.
Similar claims: VERA Files has debunked similar claims regarding the closure of the PCSO by order of the President and the Senate. – Katarina Ruflo/Rappler.com
Katarina Ruflo 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 factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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1
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UST orders TomasinoWeb to take down photo ‘ridiculing’ students
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pfkahanap0307
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19/02/2024 21:47
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MANILA, Philippines – TomasinoWeb, the digital student media organization of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), temporarily stopped social media operations after the resignation of its publication adviser on Monday, February 19.
This comes after the university’s Office for Student Affairs (OSA) ordered the organization to delete a photo of students from the College of Information and Computing Sciences (CICS) entering a convenience store inside the campus. OSA said the image caused “public ridicule.”
The picture was a part of TomasinoWeb’s social media post on Thursday, February 15, which featured students from different colleges wearing their “Type B” uniforms, which are typically worn from Ash Wednesday until the end of the second semester.
According to a report by The Varsitarian, there were jokes that compared the Type B uniform of the CICS students to those of convenience store employees.
UST journalism instructor Leo Laparan II, who is also a desk editor at The Philippine Star, said in his resignation letter that “the recent turn of events has rendered my position in the student organization immaterial and insignificant moving forward.”
“I felt like I was trampled upon with what happened. Natapakan yung pagka-journalist ko sa nangyari because that is a clear illustration of censorship,” he told reporters in an interview.
Laparan will continue teaching journalism classes at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters.
Fr. Louie Coronel, UST’s secretary-general, told Rappler in an email on Tuesday, February 20, that “collaborative efforts are being undertaken to resolve the matter,” and that they “value the inputs shared on various platforms” as these help them deliberate on the matter.
According to the Campus Journalism Act of 1991, having an adviser is only optional for student publications at the tertiary level.
But technically, TomasinoWeb is not a student publication. Under UST guidelines, they are classified as a student organization.
TomasinoWeb, like other student organizations, follows guidelines set by the OSA. Student publications, on the other hand, report to the Office of the Secretary-General.
According to rules laid out by the OSA, when the adviser of a student organization resigns, it should “cease to post anything until such time that a new adviser is appointed.”
Those who violate the policies may not be accredited to operate in the following academic year.
How does this technicality affect the work of a student media organization? For TomasinoWeb president Jan Carlo Zamora, this means that they have no true freedom as part of the campus press.
“We are not truly free to write and create content because we are subjected to checks by the office, while other student publications can be as expressive as they want,” he told Rappler in an interview.
Laparan shared the same sentiment, adding that until it could operate “devoid of external forces,” TomasinoWeb cannot fulfill its true purpose.
“I don’t think that it’s going to work because a media organization cannot fulfill its purpose, its duty to inform the public if there’s going to be intervention,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Zamora hopes that Laparan’s resignation will serve as a call for university officials to create an environment where students can freely express themselves, and organizations like TomasinoWeb can start discussions on pressing campus issues.
“His resignation, while a very huge loss to the organization, shall start a university-wide call for a better administration and for an environment where students can express themselves to their fullest,” he said. “TomasinoWeb has been in a very long standing fight for press freedom, only to end up like this.”
Miguel Angelo Sumalinog, the organization’s executive editor, also urged the public to help call for press freedom, as it “goes beyond the matter of the issue inside the campus but to a national level as well.”
But this is not the first time that UST’s student organizations have experienced intervention from university administrators.
Laparan said that in December 2023, the OSA flagged the organization’s post about the jeepney modernization program, saying that this could be misinterpreted as the university’s stand on the controversy.
Organizations also called out the university in 2020 for implementing stricter rules for social media posting. Back then, student leaders had to submit Permission to Post forms to their dean, Student Welfare and Development coordinator, and the OSA before releasing any publicity material or announcement online.
The Varsitarian said in a report that those who fail to comply with the requirement will be reprimanded, and their accreditation to operate may be suspended or revoked.
Processes like these, according to the National Union of Students in the Philippines, are “roundabout methods of legitimizing and extending student repression through online means.”
While they are looking for a new adviser, TomasinoWeb will continue to post updates on its website, especially during UAAP Season 86 and the upcoming student council elections in UST.
Its officers are also coordinating with its alumni and other press freedom advocates to discuss the next steps for their organization.
On Wednesday, February 21, hundreds of UST alumni signed a petition showing solidarity with TomasinoWeb and urging the university administration to end their “repressive, arbitrary, and outdated policies.”
“It is clear that what brought UST public ridicule is not TomasinoWeb’s photo but the university itself and its refusal to uphold and recognize students’ rights,” the petition said.
Interested alumni can still sign the petition through standwithtomasinoweb.com.
Progressive groups were also quick to show support for the student media. Just hours after Laparan’s resignation, student activists held a protest outside the university to call for campus press freedom.
Progressive groups were also quick to show support for the student media. Just hours after Laparan’s resignation, student activists held a protest outside the university to call for campus press freedom.
Student activists gather outside the University of Santo Tomas in Manila on Monday, February 19, to call for campus press freedom.This comes after TomasinoWeb, UST’s digital media organization, was forced to take down a photo of students from the College of Information and… pic.twitter.com/p4VlLgsA6n
In a statement, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines slammed UST for its order, as well as its “long history of academic freedom violations and disregard of genuine student concerns.”
Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines blasted UST for the imposed takedown and its “elitist stance,” urging them to protect press freedom and “uphold the dignity of work and honor the workers’ contributions to the Philippine society.”
[STATEMENT] Stop censoring the campus pressAny imposed takedown, especially over an imagined slight and not because of a factual or ethical lapse, erodes press freedom and the independence of the press. pic.twitter.com/Ww9usw1fyY
The issue revived discussions on the amendment of the Campus Journalism Act, which has several flaws that compromise campus press freedom, including the lack of provisions protecting editorial independence.
In 2021, former Kabataan representative Sarah Elago renewed her push for House Bill No. 319 or the Campus Press Freedom bill, which hopes to better protect campus journalists and hold erring administrators accountable.
The bill was not passed into law. – Rappler.com
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Limit ride-hailing giants’ share of drivers’ earnings – transport groups
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lkyu0285
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06/03/2024 17:02
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Grab drivers conduct a unity ride and protest along Fuente Osmeña Circle in Cebu CIty on November 10, 2022. The group under the United Delivery Riders of the Philippines (RIDERS) and Kapatiran ng Dalawang Gulong (KAGULONG) is protesting the sudden reduction of their delivery pay and incentives.
Jacqueline Hernandez/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – Several transportation groups urged the government to limit the commission rate that ride-hailing giants can charge its drivers and operators, who they say struggle to make ends meet.
Laban TNVS president Jun de Leon said that Grab charges its operators around 21% in commissions. Operators also have to shoulder the 20% discounts granted to senior citizens, students, and persons with disabilities starting March 1, 2024. That means in some instances, Grab drivers might be left with just 59% of what they earned from a ride – not enough for the gas and time spent on a trip.
“‘Yung Grab ‘no, napakalaki po na kompanya niyan, pero kawawa po ‘yung mga sinasabing partner – pero hindi partner ang turing niya. Ginagawang gatasan ng Grab eh ‘yung mga drivers natin,” De Leon said on Wednesday, March 6, in a press conference that also included members of Manibela and Defend Jobs Philippines.
(Grab is such a big company, their so-called partners are pitiful – they don’t treat them like partners. Grab treats their drivers as cash cows.)
In response, the groups want the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to start regulating how much transport network companies (TNCs) like Grab and JoyRide can ask from their drivers and operators. The groups propose setting a commission limit of 10% to 12% across all TNCs to protect the livelihood of those working for ride-hailing and delivery services.
De Leon, along with Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena, said that they first petitioned the LTFRB about the matter in December 2022. LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III then promised to resolve the issue but the government agency has yet to take action.
There is no law or memorandum circular that limits the commission rates that a TNC can charge its drivers and operators.
Grab told Rappler that it holds consultations with its drivers and operators ahead of any changes to its commission rate, during which the ride-hailing giant takes note of their opinions to ensure that the platform still works to their interests.
Aside from setting limits on the commission rate, the transportation leaders also called on Grab to shoulder the 20% discount granted to students, senior citizens, and PWDs. At present, this is which is deducted from a driver’s earnings.
Prior to July 2023, Grab used to shoulder this 20% discount. After July 2023, Grab only shouldered half of the discount, and starting March 2024, drivers were required to fully shoulder the discounts.
According to Grab, their decision to let drivers fully shoulder the 20% discount is based on an LTFRB memorandum circular from 2018. MC 2018-004 directs “all public utility operators and drivers to grant 20% fare discounts to persons with disability” and further states that “in the case of transportation network vehicle services and taxi service, the full 20% discount on the total fare shall be given to the PWD regardless of the number of his/her companions.”
Grab initially shouldered the discounts to lessen the impact on drivers’ earnings, but the decision to let drivers’ shoulder the 20% discount was communicated to them since the second half of 2023.
Nevertheless, the Laban TNVS president argued that drivers cannot earn a living if they have to shoulder this discount on top of the hefty commissions that Grab charges.
“Kung driver ‘yun, may gasolina siya, at meron pa siyang boundary, tapos may 41% na ikakaltas sa kanya. Wala na po talagang matitira sa driver (If that’s a driver, they still have to pay for gas, and then their boundary, and then 41% will be cut from their earnings. Nothing will be left to the driver),” De Leon said.
– Rappler.com
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Fajardo, Chavez advance to next round of Olympic boxing qualifier
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delfin.dioquino editor
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06/03/2024 14:24
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POWER. Mark Ashley Fajardo in action for the Philippines in the Boxam Elite Tournament in Spain.
FEDERACION ESPAu00d1OLA DE BOXEO FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines – Two more Filipino boxers survived their first-round assignments in the World Qualification Tournament for the Paris Olympics in Busto Arsizio, Italy, on Tuesday, March 5.
Ronald Chavez Jr. and Mark Ashley Fajardo joined Rogen Ladon and Nesthy Petecio in the second round following a pair of contrasting victories.
Fajardo punched his ticket to the second round with a bang after a third-round knockout of Portugal’s Albertino Monteiro in the men’s 63.5kg category.
Argentinian referee Roberto Fernando Servide halted the bout with 43 seconds left in the third and final round after Fajardo floored Monteiro with a well-timed right hook to the head.
Meanwhile, Chavez squeaked past Cape Verde’s Bruno Fernandes de Barros with a 3-2 split decision win in the men’s 71kg division.
Chavez escaped as three judges scored 29-28 in his favor, with the other two having it 30-27 for Fernandes de Barros.
Both Fajardo and Chavez need to reach at least the semifinals of their respective weight classes to book their tickets to Paris.
Seeing action on Wednesday are Ladon (men’s 51kg), Hergie Bacyadan (women’s 75kg), and John Marvin (men’s 92kg).
Ladon battles Morroco’s Said Mortaji next in his division, where the top four boxers will advance to the Olympics.
Carlo Paalam (men’s 57kg), Aira Villegas (women’s 50kg), and Claudine Veloso (women’s 54kg) will start their campaigns on Friday, March 8, after the three received first-round byes.
The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines sent 10 boxers to Busto Arsizio as the federation hopes more will join Olympic-bound Eumir Marcial. – Rappler.com
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Former trade chief, Namfrel founder Jose Concepcion dies
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gdecastro0289
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06/03/2024 12:04
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Jose 'Joecon' Concepcion Jr.
Namfrel
MANILA, Philippines – Former trade secretary Jose “Joecon” Concepcion Jr., founding chair of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), died on Wednesday, March 6. He was 92.
Namfrel mourned the passing of its founder in a post on X (formerly Twitter), and said Concepcion “inspired hundreds of thousands of ordinary Filipinos to take up the cause of free and fair elections.”
“Mr. Concepcion was a visionary leader who truly loved his country, and believed in the power or ordinary citizens to effect lasting change in their own communities. Mr. Concepcion’s favorite quote was ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,’” Namfrel said.
“Filipinos heeded his call, and his legacy lives on in the hearts of every NAMFREL Bantay ng Bayan volunteer who strives to continue what he and his fellow NAMFREL pioneers started,” the group said.
NAMFREL played a key role in the 1986 snap presidential elections which saw dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos defeat opposition leader Corazon “Cory” Aquino in the official count of the Commission on Elections.
However, NAMFREL’s incomplete count had Aquino ahead of Marcos, and the widespread fraud in the polls eventually led to Marcos’ downfall in the February 1986 People Power Revolution.
NAMFREL was the world’s first citizen-led national election monitoring organization, and it would assist other countries help promote clean and honest elections after the EDSA revolution. Concepcion often traveled to other countries to speak about NAMFREL’s work.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said that as NAMFREL leader, Concepcion “helped establish transparency in the historic 1986 election.”
“He then helped re-establish democracy and free enterprise as Trade and Industry secretary from 1986-1991,” the MBC said.
Concepcion’s family is behind two of the Philippines’ successful companies – manufacturing firm Concepcion Industrial Corporation and food and beverage firm RFM Corporation (RFM).
Among the famous brands of Concepcion-Carrier Airconditioning Company are Condura and Carrier (airconditioners and refrigerators) and OTIS (elevators and escalators). RFM’s popular brands include Selecta (milk and ice cream), Sunkist (juices), Royal (noodles), and White King (flour).
One of his sons is Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III, founder of GoNegosyo, a nongovernment group that seeks to uplift Filipinos from poverty via entrepreneurship.
In a book about his father, Joey wrote: “My father is a dreamer, a visionary. He had many dreams, from being a pioneer in agriculture to being a priest. And he pursued each of them, although not all of his dreams would turn out as he wanted, just as his desire to become a priest never came to be. But that was because he had a bigger calling – to be able to serve the Filipino. Each step that Dad took for the greater good offers a great lesson to us, and every chapter of his life a great source of inspiration.
“The majority of Dad’s life story will be about his journey towards founding NAMFREL and ultimately contributing to the restoration of democracy in the country. Even the founding of RFM was ‘precisely an anti-imperialist effort to fight foreign domination of the economy’ when America had ‘control of the economy through Marcos.’”
In a statement, Concepcion Industrial Corporation said Joecon’s “influence echoes through Philippine industry, democracy, and civic engagement.”
“JoeCon’s visionary leadership, from his pioneering efforts at RFM Corporation to his pivotal role in shaping NAMFREL, embodied the spirit of resilience and determination. He believed in the power of every Filipino to effect positive change, inspiring countless individuals to rise up and make a difference,” the company said.
“As former Secretary of DTI [Department of Trade and Industry], JoeCon’s contributions extended beyond the corporate realm, demonstrating his commitment to advancing the nation’s economic landscape,” it added.
In its tribute published on Thursday, RFM said its chair emeritus “founded the One-Stop-Shop for business permits and licenses.”
Concepcion also launched the “Yes, the Filipino Can!” movement to inspire every Filipino to take positive and constructive action in the community,” RFM said.
Concepcion’s role in NAMFREL overshadowed his work as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the first Aquino administration. After retiring from his family’s business empire, he served for several terms as barangay captain of Forbes Park.
Concepcion was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, and was detained during Martial Law.
His wake will be at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City form March 7 to March 10.
He is survived by his wife Maria Victoria Araneta, eight children, and 31 grandchildren. His twin brother is industrialist Raul Concepcion. – Rappler.com
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Falling fireballs prompt brief closure of road from Mountain Province to Baguio
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Herbie G
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06/03/2024 16:42
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BALLS OF FIRE. Fireballs or flaming debris fall on a section of a road from Mountain Province to Baguio City on Tuesday night, March 5, 2024.
BFP-Bontoc, Mountain Province
BAGUIO, Philippines – It’s not falling boulders which you have to watch out for in Bontoc town, Mountain Province. It’s flaming debris falling.
In a scene straight out of a disaster movie, motorists traveling along the Bontoc-Baguio Road were met with an unusual and dangerous obstacle as falling fireballs and rocks forced authorities to close the highway temporarily.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bontoc town issued a warning late Tuesday night, March 5, alerting travelers to the hazards along the highway, particularly in the Barangay Alab area.
The advisory cited the threat posed by falling rocks and burning logs stemming from a nearby forest fire.
“Bontoc-Baguio Road is not passable at Alab Proper, Bontoc due to falling rocks and burning logs coming from the ongoing forest fire. Please be advised to detour via Sagada-Balili route until further notice,” read a part of the notice.
Authorities quickly moved to close off the affected stretch of the road, redirecting traffic to alternative routes to ensure the safety of motorists.
But despite the chaos and perilous conditions, there were no reported accidents caused by the falling fireballs.
The forest fire, which had engulfed nearly 300 hectares of brushland and pine forest in the nearby Malitep, Balili just four days prior, had been successfully contained by firefighting efforts.
By 8:30 am on Wednesday, March 6, firefighters managed to bring the forest fire under control, allowing for the reopening of the Bontoc-Baguio Road. – Rappler.com
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Results, team standings: UAAP Season 86 volleyball
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Jasmine Payo
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05/05/2024 21:02
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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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Marcos says Ayungin incident no reason to invoke MDT
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Bea Cupin
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06/03/2024 15:37
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the special summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia in March 2024.
Penny Stephens/ASEAN
MELBOURNE, Australia – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, March 6, said it is not the time to invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, even after four Navy personnel sustained minor injuries from actions of the China Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.
“I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty. However, we continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard,” Marcos said in a recorded interview, responding to questions sent by Philippine media in Australia.
The MDT, signed in 1951, means that both countries are compelled to come to each other’s defense in the event of an armed attack. The US, in a statement from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, affirmed on March 5 that the MDT covers “armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”
Marcos is in Melbourne to attend a special summit hosted by Australia. He is flying back to Manila late Wednesday.
On March 5, two China Coast Guard ships used their water cannons on the smaller Unaizah May 4, a civilian ship tapped by the Philippine Navy to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II ship ran aground on purpose in Ayungin Shoal.
The pressure from the water cannons shattered the wind shield of the resupply ship, leaving four Navy personnel with minor injuries, including small cuts.
The same China Coast Guard ships collided with a Philippine Coast Guard ship and the same Unaizah May 4, as they tried to block the Philippine ships from reaching Ayungin Shoal.
The other resupply ship, the Unaizah May 1, made it past China’s blocking attempts and reached the BRP Sierra Madre.
“This time, they damaged the cargo ship and caused some injury to some of our seamen and I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,” said Marcos.
“Once again, we will make our objections known and hope that we can continue to communicate to find a way so that such actions are no longer seen in the West Philippine Sea,” he said, without elaborating.
In a separate statement on March 6, Philippine Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro said the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia’s actions in the West Philippine Sea “are patently illegal and downright uncivilized.”
“They take great pains to mischaracterize their provocations as lawful under international law and the actions of their CCG and Maritime Militia as ‘professional, restrained, reasonable, and lawful.’ This claim is, simply put, one that no right-thinking State in the world agrees with and which many outright condemn,” added Teodoor, whose portfolio includes the Philippine military.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier summoned China’s Deputy Chief of Mission, telling Beijing to make its vessels “leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal immediately.” The Philippine embassy in Beijing has also lodged a protest before China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Ayungin Shoal is a feature in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. China claims practically all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 Arbitral Ruling deeming their claim invalid. – Rappler.com
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FULL TEXT: Marcos urges ASEAN to ‘collectively and constructively address challenges together’
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Bea Cupin
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06/03/2024 15:02
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ASEAN-AUS SUMMIT. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, President of the Republic of the Philippines attends the Leaders Plenary at the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit 2024 in Melbourne, Wednesday March 06, 2024.
Penny Stephens/ASEAN
MELBOURNE, Australia – Speaking before fellow leaders and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Special Summit, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on the bloc to see conflicts not just through the lens of major power rivalry but as “direct challenges to the sovereignty of independent states.”
Marcos spoke twice during the summit, for the plenary session and the retreat.
Read the full text of his interventions, as provided by Malacañang.
Thank you to our gracious host, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese; to our co-chair, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone of Lao PDR; Your Majesties; Excellencies, good morning.
Through these 50 years, Australia has proven, time and again, its support for ASEAN as it continues its positive role in ensuring peace and stability in our region and our immediate neighborhood, now referred to as the Indo-Pacific.
We have seen how Australia has supported each of its neighbors through programs tailored to each country’s needs for the overall goal of promoting the economic welfare of our neighborhood. I welcome Australia’s strategic approach to deepening engagement through the four tracks for this Special Summit.
On Maritime Cooperation, we thank Australia for its consistent support for the rule of law, for the 1982 UNCLOS, and the 2016 Arbitral Award not only through timely statements of support, but also through capacity-building and academic initiatives to mainstream appreciation of international law.
In ASEAN, Australia has consistently supported all ASEAN-led mechanisms through these 50 years.
We appreciate the evolution of Australia’s strategic approach towards the region from the mere confines of the Asia-Pacific to our now wider common interests in the Indo-Pacific.
We thus encourage Australia to continue its active engagement both bilaterally and through ASEAN to ensure the primacy of peace and stability through confidence building, preventive diplomacy, and conflict resolution in the region.
On Climate – on climate change and Clean Energy, the Philippines remains at the forefront of the effects of climate change, constantly facing the harsh realities of devastating typhoons and rising sea levels, which continue to threaten our biodiversity and ecosystems, and, in turn, agriculture, food security, and livelihoods.
These realities compel us to take bold and decisive actions, both domestically and in international fora for climate justice.
The Philippines welcomes the outcomes of the COP28 and I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate our offer to host the Board of the Loss and Damage Fund.
Hosting the Board in the Philippines would showcase global commitment to inclusivity, ensuring that the voices and experiences of the most affected countries are heard and considered in shaping the most urgent of global climate policies.
We welcome Australia’s aim to boost clean energy, financing, and investment in ASEAN, as well as its support for clean energy transition to meet climate action objectives.
In the Philippines, we have taken concrete actions by implementing policies and initiatives to reduce emissions by catalyzing investments in our rich sources of renewable energy.
We thus invite Australia to partner with the Philippines in our clean, green,and renewable energy industry and other emerging technologies, and introduce energy efficiency and conservation measures.
On ASEAN Centres of Excellence, the Philippines urges Australia to continue its support for the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) beyond 2024.
As we develop the ASEAN-Australia Plan of Action 2025-2029, let us take into account the pressing need for an effective and inclusive implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and establishment of its goals and targets on biodiversity conservation, climate action, ecosystems and – ecosystems restoration and its management.
The ACB is also implementing the Mainstreaming Biodiversity into the One Health Capacity development project, a partnership among ASEAN, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Australian Government.
On Business, we are pleased to inform you, Excellencies, that the Philippines has just recently signed the second protocol to the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA).
I am confident that through this development, the AANZFTA will continue to respond to the evolving multidimensional challenges in the business environment and complement region-to-region efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience, the expansion of trade and investment, inclusivity, and sustainable development.
The Protocol will indeed benefit micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) inasmuch as it facilitates their participation in international trade by improving their access to markets and participation in the global value chains, as well as promoting the use of e-commerce.
With the momentum from the CEO Forum yesterday, and AANZFTA together with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, we are confident that we will usher in even more robust economic cooperation within our region and provide a legal framework for a more prosperous future.
We certainly welcome Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, an elaborate plan that aims to broaden and deepen the economic ties between ASEAN and Australia.
The economic cooperation infrastructures and web of free trade agreements that ASEAN and Australia have established over the years provide a solid foundation for this Strategy to flourish and to create a shared future that is peaceful and is prosperous.
The Philippines especially looks forward to expanding our collaboration on agriculture on food security, digital economy, infrastructure, tourism, and healthcare.
Sectors that are key to achieving a strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure future for Filipinos and ASEAN citizens.
On Emerging Leaders, we cannot discuss the future without highlighting the important role of our Emerging Leaders in shaping the world.
We commend Australia for this truly forward-looking initiative of creating a forum for engagement of our emerging leaders in government, business, and in civil society.
We hope this engagement will trigger a conversation on the issues facing our region and how they may be addressed through cooperation and partnership.
Our emerging leaders are indeed the bedrock of the sustainability of our continued economic, social, and political progress.
The above-mentioned thematic tracks will augur well towards the peace and prosperity of ASEAN and Australia, as well as the whole of the Indo-Pacific, and we look forward to supporting these initiatives as we usher in the next 50 years of vibrant relations.
Thank you and good morning.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese; Excellencies, good afternoon.
At the outset, allow me to express the Philippines’ support for Laos’ Chairship of ASEAN this year and thank our Chair for ably shepherding this Special Summit as Country Coordinator for ASEAN-Australia relations.
Geography is no accident, and for all of us gathered today, it is an inescapable fact that we cannot change our geography.
Unfortunately, the ominous geopolitical developments in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula, and the South China Sea, among others, pose serious challenges to the capacity of our global and regional security architecture to manage and resolve tensions, and to protect the principles of sovereignty, sovereign rights, and territorial integrity.
A rules-based international order emanates from the lessons of history.
Conflicts and war necessitated an international order based on institutions and rules which are of universal import.
We need not repeat history in order to recognize its lessons.
It is thus my government’s position that we will not yield an inch of our sovereign territory, as we are committed to defending our rights within the parameters recognized by international law.
It therefore behooves the Philippines, ASEAN, and Australia, and all like-minded states to exercise the boldness and sense of responsibility to remain committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes and to maintain respect for the rules-based international order and multilateralism, especially in the face of deliberate efforts by others to denigrate, deny, and even violate international law.
It remains the responsibility of each state to promote and protect the rule of international law as much as any other state facing wanton military might.
Excellencies, we all have our respective positions on recent developments around the world.
The disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the developments in the Middle East have taught us invaluable lessons on the paramount importance of the need to deftly and delicately manage the growing challenges of geopolitics, recognizing that their adverse effects on our interconnected economies will certainly affect the wellbeing of all our citizens.
We thus thank like-minded states such as Australia for promoting a rules-based international order grounded on international law.
We acknowledge ASEAN’s oldest Dialogue Partner’s support not only through statements, but also through concrete initiatives that recognize the Philippines’ rights under international law in the South China Sea.
It is the Philippines’ hope that ASEAN continues to collectively and constructively address challenges together.
Let me be clear.
We encourage our ASEAN neighbors to frame conflicts not simply as rivalry between major powers, but as direct challenges to the sovereignty of independent states whose well-being, both politically and economically, are interdependent and intertwined.
Peace is both a global public good and one of humanity’s highest values that no one state should put at risk, for whatever gain or motive.
We thank Australia for convening this Special Commemorative Summit and this first Leaders’ Retreat for ASEAN for this year.
May this meeting set the pace for constructive dialogue for the rest of this Chairship year as we address our region’s shared challenges together.
Thank you.
– Rappler.com
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Cagayan de Oro’s water utility seeks arbitration amid billing dispute with Pangilinan group
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Herbie G
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06/03/2024 15:40
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Shutterstock
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Slapped with a disconnection notice, the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) sought arbitration on Tuesday, March 5, amid an ongoing dispute over a bill exceeding P400 million from its primary supplier of treated water.
The Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Incorporated (COBI), a company controlled by business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific group, has threatened to discontinue its supply of bulk water to COWD unless the district settles some P430 million in unpaid water bills. The water district, however, has refused to acknowledge the debt.
COBI has been distributing 80,000 cubic meters or almost 50% of the city’s water supply. About 70% of the supply goes to the eastern villages of the city.
Engineer Antonio Young, COWD general manager, wrote COBI on Tuesday, asking its executives to resolve the issue according to what was stated in their contract.
“We are willing to go back to the negotiating table,” Young told Rappler.
Young said a clause in the COWD-COBI agreement provides that both parties shall “attempt to resolve the dispute by referring the matter to the respective chief executive officers of the party” within 20 business days from the date of delivery of the notice.
He said the same provision states that the dispute should be resolved by arbitration if the matter is not settled within the given time frame.
Young said COBI was claiming an additional P3.97 for every cubic meter it supplied to the COWD in 2021 when the bulk supplier implemented a rate increase.
That year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, COBI increased its rate from P16.60 to P20.57 without the COWD agreeing to it.
The water supplier implemented the first increase from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, and then effected another rate increase last January 1.
Young said the COWD invoked a force majeure provision in their contract because, at that time, the country was suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COWD has asserted that there was no legal basis for it to pay the accumulated price difference since COBI implemented an increase without the water district agreeing to it.
The COWD board of directors did not acknowledge COBI’s rate adjustments, and none of it was listed in the water district’s book of accounts as payables, according to Young.
He said, “How can I pay for something if it’s not acknowledged as debt?”
Doing so, Young said, would make the COWD liable in the eyes of state auditors in the Commission on Audit (COA).
He said COBI has been reluctant to go through the arbitration process given the costs. In the agreement, the two companies agreed to resolve disputes through arbitration in Singapore, based on the rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
That provision, according to Young, was what Metro Pacific Water wanted during the contract negotiations stage.
Cagayan de Oro Councilor Joyleen Mercedes Balaba called for a review of the contract between COWD and COBI.
“If it’s disadvantageous to our people, I think… we should cancel the contract between COWD and COBI,” Balaba said.
Rappler went to COBI’s office on Wednesday, March 6, but was told by the guard that there was no one inside to give a statement.
COBI, a company that was formed after COWD and Metro Pacific Water signed the joint venture agreement in 2017, has demanded for the second time that COWD settles its outstanding balance within 30 days.
A copy of the notice obtained by reporters from Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando Uy showed that COBI has claimed that it was partially paid for its December 2023 billing, while the COWD has yet to settle its January 2024 billing.
“Unfortunately, COWD’s delay in settling its monthly invoices and its willful disregard of the applicable bulk water rate have caused a strain on COBI’s ability to meet its financial obligations and support its continued operations,” a part of COBI’s notice read.
Due to the situation, the COWD said it was considering turning to other bulk water suppliers.
“Of course, if they cut [the supply], we will start negotiating with private operators in the purchase of water [through] emergency purchases,” Young told Rappler on Wednesday.
He, however, said this would be COWD’s last resort, and they were exploring all available legal options to prevent the worst-case scenario. – Rappler.com
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Kabankalan City calls out NIA to fast-track delayed irrigation project
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Chito de la Vega
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06/03/2024 14:21
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DRY SPELL.A farmer walks over the cracked soil of dried up rice field in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, on March 19, 2019.
Rappler
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – The city government of Kabankalan called out the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to fast-track a long-delayed project which is badly needed as a crippling drought is taking a heavy toll on more than a thousand rice farmers.
Kabankalan Mayor Benjie Miranda told Rappler on Tuesday, March 5, he still remembered the initial stages of construction of the NIA 2012 irrigation project. Miranda said he was then the village chief of Tan-awan, an Indigenous People’s (IP) community in southern Negros City where the project’s diversion dam is located.
Miranda said he saw the numerous issues that contributed to the delay, such as the dispute over the right-of-way where the irrigation project’s water canals would cross and opposition from specific people’s groups.
Despite difficulties and impediments, the project construction went ahead until December 2022, when Typhoon Odette battered the city, damaging a portion of the irrigation system, Miranda said.
Miranda said he understood the reasons for the delay, but still he urged NIA to speed up the construction of the irrigation project because this will benefit thousands of farmers in the cities of Kabankalan and Himamaylan, as well as the towns of Ilog and Cauayan.
Acting city agriculturist Ricky Muscosa said that more than 4,000 hectares of land set aside for rice production are expected to profit from the completion of the NIA irrigation project.
Muscosa said the city could have been spared from the damaging effects of the El Nino phenomenon if the project had been finished before 2024.
Since the majority of the city’s agricultural area is rainfed and just a fraction of barangays have irrigation systems, these are severely impacted by dry spells, Muscosa said.
As of posting, out of the 32 local government units in Negros Occidental, Kabankalan City remains the most severely affected city. From the 13 villages that were previously reported to be reeling from drought, the number of affected villages increased to 17, and as a result, 978.94 hectares of rice crops have been damaged, affecting 1,214 farmers and causing losses exceeding P41 million.
Of the 5,344.61 hectares of rice land in the city, just 18% sustained damage. This indicates that an increase of 12% damage would push them to recommending that a state of calamity be declared in the city be placed under a state of calamity, Muscosa said.
Adolfo T. Mangao, Jr., a city councilor and chair of the agriculture committee, said that the city could have done more if the agriculture sector had detailed plans.
Mangao said that the Sanguniang Panlungsod of Kabankalan already meet with NIA in 2023 and talked about the reasons for the project’s delay but there was no response from the agency. – Rappler.com
DISCUSSION. Kabankalan city mayor Benjie Miranda (left) alongside acting city agriculturist Ricky Muscosa, discuss the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon to the southern city on Tuesday, March 5. (Photo by Reymund Titong)
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[Bodymind] Forgiveness, Enrile, and Bongbong Marcos Jr.
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Chay Hofilena
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06/03/2024 13:53
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The ability to forgive is a wondrous, yet puzzling, gift. Some people even say it helps the forgiver, the one wrongly done by, more than it does the forgiven, the one who did wrong.
To understand forgiveness, perhaps it is best to start with what it is not. Nobody does that better than Doctors Enright and Coyle, who write: “Forgiveness is different from pardoning (which is, strictly speaking, a legal concept), condoning (which involves justifying the offense); excusing (which implies that a transgression was committed because of extenuating circumstances); forgetting (which implies that the memory of a transgression has decayed or slipped out of conscious awareness); and denial (which implies an unwillingness or inability to perceive the harmful injuries that one has incurred).”
The 2000 book Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice (editors Drs McCullough, Pargament, and Thoresen) emphasizes that “(despite all the different definitions of forgiveness) it is built on one core feature: when people forgive, their responses (i.e., what they feel and think about, want to do to, or how they actually behave) toward people who have offended or injured them become less negative and more positive – or prosocial – over time.”
While forgiveness is a core belief of most religions, it has only been studied by social scientists in the last two decades. Still, their research has come up with some interesting findings.
For example, an article by Reiss and Havercamp (1998) called, “Toward a comprehensive assessment of fundamental motivation,” states that seeking revenge is so primal that it is considered to be one of 15 fundamental human motivations. This was confirmed by a later (2000) journal article, “The Neuropsychological correlates of forgiveness,” by Newberg, d’ Aquili, Newberg, & de Marici, which added that the tendency to retaliate or seek retribution after being betrayed is deeply ingrained in the biological, psychological, and cultural levels of human nature.
In other words, Mr. President, no one can blame you for harboring ill feelings towards JPE. Everyone would, in fact, understand totally. Research confirms a desire for revenge is so basic it is part of who we are as human beings. I guess this is why Alexander Pope’s reminder that “to err is human, to forgive divine” strikes so many of us in its patok na patok”-ness. It is so true: Mahirap talaga magpatawad – lalo na kung parang napahiya ka sa buong mundo (It’s really difficult to forgive, especially if the betrayal was played out in the eyes of the world). The fact that you can forgive despite all this, is quite admirable.
To show how natural non-forgiving is, primatologists have documented that certain species of old world primates (including chimpanzees and macaques) coordinate retaliatory responses after being victimized by another animal, sometimes even after considerable time has passed.
I am in no way suggesting that you are a chimpanzee or macaque, Mr. President, but if even these primates can hold grudges for a long time, how much more a human being who saw his father driven out from his homeland to live out his last years in a country not his own?
Let us now go to the lunch you hosted to celebrate the 100th birthday of the man you appointed chief presidential legal counsel of the Philippines.
What really blew my mind was when you said of JPE: “I must admit, to have him in my corner allows me to sleep better at night.”
Really, Mr. President? When you are at your most vulnerable, you sleep better at night because of JPE?
I’m pretty sure that in the first 19 months of your presidency, you have not bestowed as much largesse as your father did during his 21 years of ruling the land. I’m also sure you still remember what happened that fateful February 22, 1986, when Enrile and Ramos betrayed your father by announcing that they had resigned from their positions in his Cabinet and were withdrawing support from his government.
In general, people have more difficulty forgiving offenses that seem more intentional, severe, and have more negative consequences. While many Filipinos would disagree that Cory’s becoming president was negative, I have no doubt you believe otherwise. Many (myself included) believe that People Power would have catapulted Cory Aquino to her presidency even without JPE and Ramos announcing the withdrawal of their support from your father’s government.
However, among the many events that might have hastened it was JPE’s bleating to Cardinal Sin that “I don’t want to die…If it is possible, do something. I’d still like to live,” which helped Cardinal Sin’s decision to appeal to Filipinos to go to the vicinity of the national military headquarters along EDSA.
WOW. Again, talk about forgiveness.
Of course, research shows that people tend to be more forgiving as they age.
You were only 29 when you left the Philippines for Hawaii, and are now 66 years old. A lot can happen in that time to have made you a kinder, gentler, person, but for someone like you, who cares about your family and your family’s reputation as much as you are purported to? Wow and double wow.
That is why I cannot help feeling you are an astounding fellow, unless of course, you believe in the old adage, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” – especially wily politicos who have managed to thrive no matter who is in power. – Rappler.com
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[ANALYSIS] The sharp power challenge: Defending PH from within
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Glenda Gloria
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06/03/2024 10:00
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A study conducted by the Ateneo Policy Center, with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, posits that Beijing has stepped up its acts of political warfare against the Philippines. This may be in response to the Marcos administration’s foreign policy and national security posture in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Kerry K. Gershaneck defines political warfare as, “The strategic utilization of all available resources and tactics by a nation, except direct military engagement, in order to attain its desired national goals. These activities encompass both overt and covert actions.”
In this type of “war,” the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department takes the lead in Beijing’s efforts to exert influence abroad. Its work is complemented by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which is tasked to assimilate with local government units of other countries through bilateral engagements.
Political warfare covers a broad spectrum of activities, which can be discerned through six vectors:
The overt aspect of this “war” is the coercive tactics employed by China’s coast guard and militia in the WPS. This is complemented covertly by CCP-directed propaganda and disinformation being spewed by its various “talking heads” in Chinese and domestic media. In addition, Beijing has increasingly curried the favor of some local officials leading to policy debates over stronger strategic partnership with foreign powers.
Attempts to establish foothold in strategic areas such as in the Fuga Island in Cagayan, the Grande and Chiquita Islands in Subic Bay, the Sangley International Airport project in Cavite, and the entry of China Telecom as a partner of DITO in the telecommunications sector likewise offer an articulation of the gamut of Chinese political warfare.
While there are assurances from technical experts, its compromising presence in military camps, and the potential invocation of the CCP’s National Intelligence Law, still raises the potential risks of espionage and data privacy breach. These economic engagements emerged using the Belt and Road Initiative as pretext, which unfortunately include “elements of control, enforcement, and military power […] crucial to China’s overall development.”
Political warfare likewise employs the export of surveillance technology, which could be leveraged to create ‘police states’ among democratic societies. The defunct Safe Philippines-CCTV Project is an example. It was originally conceived to be a collaboration between the China International Telecommunications and Construction Corp (CITCC) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The project intended to reduce crime by 15% and improve police response time by 24% in the cities of Manila and Davao.
How, then, do we act on this insidious type of security challenges? Foremost, the national government should exercise “adult supervision” over these seemingly harmless economic and socio-cultural engagements surfacing in various sectors of society and at varying levels of the bureaucracy. Perhaps, the following legal interventions could be considered:
First, enact a Foreign Interference Act to protect our domestic politics and electoral process and sanction those who accept funds or other forms of support, particularly if the intent of such transaction harms the country’s national interests and political stability. This should be complemented by the amendment of the antiquated Anti-Espionage Law or Commonwealth Act No. 616 of 1941 while taking into consideration new technologies that can be used to collect intelligence inimical to our national security interests.
Second, review the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1979 or Batasan Pambansa Bilang 39 (BP 39) and implement it once legal guard rails are provided – measures to help create a legal framework that protects against abuses of power.
Third, reexamine the composition and mandate of the Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee of the Department of Trade and Industry, which was created through Section 4 of the amended Foreign Investment Act (Republic Act 11647) or FIA. The other option is to create a separate Foreign Investment Registration Office to implement Section 24 of the Public Service Act (Republic Act 11659) or PSA.
Fourth, establish a monitoring mechanism to track the acquisition of real estate properties near military camps or coastal areas that have strategic or sensitive value with respect to our concerns in the WPS. This initiative can mitigate security risks posed by foreign powers or their Filipino representatives following such acquisition.
Fifth, designate a senior official as a counter-political warfare coordinator assigned to craft the national strategy and develop an appropriate training program at various levels of the government.
This “war” is a battle for real estate – the entire Philippine archipelago, which the CCP considers as a ‘key terrain feature’ essential to its regional ambition. No less than former President Donald Trump has described the country as a “prime piece of real estate from [a] military standpoint.”
The CCP has conveniently distracted us with its use of hard power at sea, a narrative that has been predominantly spotlighted by mainstream media overshadowing its sharp power maneuvers. While simultaneously, the CCP weaponizes its diplomatic, propaganda, and economic tools of statecraft in attempts to influence our political, economic, and public sphere and subtly compromise us from within. – Rappler.com
Rommel Ong is affiliated with the Ateneo School of Government. Jules Arceo is with the Far Eastern University while Karen Garcia is affiliated with the Ateneo Policy Center of the Ateneo School of Government. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ateneo de Manila University.
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Results, team standings: UAAP Season 86 volleyball
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Jasmine Payo
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05/05/2024 21:02
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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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Marcos says Ayungin incident no reason to invoke MDT
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Bea Cupin
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06/03/2024 15:37
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the special summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia in March 2024.
Penny Stephens/ASEAN
MELBOURNE, Australia – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, March 6, said it is not the time to invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, even after four Navy personnel sustained minor injuries from actions of the China Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.
“I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty. However, we continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard,” Marcos said in a recorded interview, responding to questions sent by Philippine media in Australia.
The MDT, signed in 1951, means that both countries are compelled to come to each other’s defense in the event of an armed attack. The US, in a statement from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, affirmed on March 5 that the MDT covers “armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”
Marcos is in Melbourne to attend a special summit hosted by Australia. He is flying back to Manila late Wednesday.
On March 5, two China Coast Guard ships used their water cannons on the smaller Unaizah May 4, a civilian ship tapped by the Philippine Navy to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II ship ran aground on purpose in Ayungin Shoal.
The pressure from the water cannons shattered the wind shield of the resupply ship, leaving four Navy personnel with minor injuries, including small cuts.
The same China Coast Guard ships collided with a Philippine Coast Guard ship and the same Unaizah May 4, as they tried to block the Philippine ships from reaching Ayungin Shoal.
The other resupply ship, the Unaizah May 1, made it past China’s blocking attempts and reached the BRP Sierra Madre.
“This time, they damaged the cargo ship and caused some injury to some of our seamen and I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,” said Marcos.
“Once again, we will make our objections known and hope that we can continue to communicate to find a way so that such actions are no longer seen in the West Philippine Sea,” he said, without elaborating.
In a separate statement on March 6, Philippine Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro said the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia’s actions in the West Philippine Sea “are patently illegal and downright uncivilized.”
“They take great pains to mischaracterize their provocations as lawful under international law and the actions of their CCG and Maritime Militia as ‘professional, restrained, reasonable, and lawful.’ This claim is, simply put, one that no right-thinking State in the world agrees with and which many outright condemn,” added Teodoor, whose portfolio includes the Philippine military.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier summoned China’s Deputy Chief of Mission, telling Beijing to make its vessels “leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal immediately.” The Philippine embassy in Beijing has also lodged a protest before China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Ayungin Shoal is a feature in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. China claims practically all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 Arbitral Ruling deeming their claim invalid. – Rappler.com
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Hustle Hassle: Paalam Jaclyn
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Vixey Marie
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06/03/2024 14:17
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Art by Andoy Edoria
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FACT CHECK: Megaworld chair Andrew Tan did not promote any crypto trading platform
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Ailla Dela Cruz
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06/03/2024 13:38
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Claim: Megaworld chairman and president Andrew Tan promoted cryptocurrency trading platforms in various interviews with television host Boy Abunda.
Why we fact-checked this: The link containing the claim was submitted to Rappler. It was reportedly circulating on Microsoft’s Bing platform and was also shared on Facebook.
According to a supposed article published on March 2 on a website imitating Inquirer.net, Tan had promoted the use of Etherum 800 Sprix, an automated trading platform for cryptocurrency, during an allegedly deleted interview with Abunda.
A similar claim can be found on a Medium website, where Tan supposedly promoted another cryptocurrency trading platform called Trader Aloha 7.0 in an interview with Abunda in the talk show Gandang Gabi Vice!
The facts: None of the incidents were true. All parties – Abunda, Tan, and Inquirer.net – denied the false posts.
Tan denial: Tan, through a statement released by his office on March 5, clarified that he “is not, in any way, connected, involved, or engaged with any cryptocurrency trading.”
“We condemn websites that use the name and photos of Dr. Tan without his permission as these are clearly sources of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news to push their websites’ malicious agenda of misleading and duping investors,” the statement said.
Boy Abunda denial: Meanwhile, in a conversation with Rappler on March 4, Abunda denied interviewing Tan.
“Of course I deny that I did an interview with Andrew Tan. It is alarming already,” Abunda said, adding that his name and image have often been used in such false advertisements.
According to the television host, he has been alerted about a number of fake content which featured him supposedly interviewing different people.
“This is probably because I am a known interviewer. Thus, it is easy for people to believe I conducted said interviews with various personalities,” he said.
Additionally, the Medium article bears a false detail as it is comedian and talk show host Vice Ganda, not Abunda, who hosts Gandang Gabi Vice!
Fake article: In a fact check article on January 24, Inquirer.net said it did not publish the supposed news article containing the claim.
“We want to clarify that this is fake news. INQUIRER.net has not published any such story and categorically denies any association with this fabricated content,” the news organization said.
Fact-checked: Rappler has debunked claims posted on websites mimicking news web pages, such as CNN. These fake articles are typically advertisements for unregistered health products:
– Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #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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FACT CHECK: DepEd doesn’t offer monthly allowance to elementary students
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Ailla Dela Cruz
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06/03/2024 13:24
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Claim: The Department of Education (DepEd) is providing elementary students a monthly allowance ranging from P1,000 to P5,000, depending on the grade level.
Why we fact-checked this: The post containing the claim has 142 shares, 1,200 likes, and 2,000 comments as of writing. It was posted in a Facebook group with 619,800 members by “DS WD,” a Facebook page bearing the logo of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The post features the DepEd logo and a picture of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte. Interested applicants are instructed to register through the application link provided in the post.
The facts: The supposed allowance for elementary students is fake, similar to previously debunked posts promoting various fake scholarship programs allegedly offered by the education department.
DepEd, in a tweet on March 6, flagged the said content as fake.
“The Department of Education (DepEd) warns the public about FAKE posts claiming that they give out “pang baon” for Grade 1 to 6 learners. Parents 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 tweet said.
In January, DepEd clarified in a statement that it does not provide a monthly allowance to students, but instead provides subsidies to cover the tuition fees of eligible students.
DepEd subsidies: According to DepEd, these are their current programs to support learners:
None of these programs provide a monthly allowance to elementary students.
Blogging page: The link provided in the post does not redirect to the official DepEd website or any Philippine government webpage. Instead, it goes to a blogging site that asks individuals for their private information, including full name, birthdate, mobile number, email address, and home address. These personal details may potentially be used for phishing scams. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)
Fact-checked: Rappler has already debunked similar claims on supposed scholarship programs from various government agencies:
For official updates on DepEd programs and services, refer to its official website, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram accounts. – Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #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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Former trade chief, Namfrel founder Jose Concepcion dies
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gdecastro0289
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06/03/2024 12:04
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Jose 'Joecon' Concepcion Jr.
Namfrel
MANILA, Philippines – Former trade secretary Jose “Joecon” Concepcion Jr., founding chair of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), died on Wednesday, March 6. He was 92.
Namfrel mourned the passing of its founder in a post on X (formerly Twitter), and said Concepcion “inspired hundreds of thousands of ordinary Filipinos to take up the cause of free and fair elections.”
“Mr. Concepcion was a visionary leader who truly loved his country, and believed in the power or ordinary citizens to effect lasting change in their own communities. Mr. Concepcion’s favorite quote was ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,’” Namfrel said.
“Filipinos heeded his call, and his legacy lives on in the hearts of every NAMFREL Bantay ng Bayan volunteer who strives to continue what he and his fellow NAMFREL pioneers started,” the group said.
NAMFREL played a key role in the 1986 snap presidential elections which saw dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos defeat opposition leader Corazon “Cory” Aquino in the official count of the Commission on Elections.
However, NAMFREL’s incomplete count had Aquino ahead of Marcos, and the widespread fraud in the polls eventually led to Marcos’ downfall in the February 1986 People Power Revolution.
NAMFREL was the world’s first citizen-led national election monitoring organization, and it would assist other countries help promote clean and honest elections after the EDSA revolution. Concepcion often traveled to other countries to speak about NAMFREL’s work.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said that as NAMFREL leader, Concepcion “helped establish transparency in the historic 1986 election.”
“He then helped re-establish democracy and free enterprise as Trade and Industry secretary from 1986-1991,” the MBC said.
Concepcion’s family is behind two of the Philippines’ successful companies – manufacturing firm Concepcion Industrial Corporation and food and beverage firm RFM Corporation (RFM).
Among the famous brands of Concepcion-Carrier Airconditioning Company are Condura and Carrier (airconditioners and refrigerators) and OTIS (elevators and escalators). RFM’s popular brands include Selecta (milk and ice cream), Sunkist (juices), Royal (noodles), and White King (flour).
One of his sons is Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III, founder of GoNegosyo, a nongovernment group that seeks to uplift Filipinos from poverty via entrepreneurship.
In a book about his father, Joey wrote: “My father is a dreamer, a visionary. He had many dreams, from being a pioneer in agriculture to being a priest. And he pursued each of them, although not all of his dreams would turn out as he wanted, just as his desire to become a priest never came to be. But that was because he had a bigger calling – to be able to serve the Filipino. Each step that Dad took for the greater good offers a great lesson to us, and every chapter of his life a great source of inspiration.
“The majority of Dad’s life story will be about his journey towards founding NAMFREL and ultimately contributing to the restoration of democracy in the country. Even the founding of RFM was ‘precisely an anti-imperialist effort to fight foreign domination of the economy’ when America had ‘control of the economy through Marcos.’”
In a statement, Concepcion Industrial Corporation said Joecon’s “influence echoes through Philippine industry, democracy, and civic engagement.”
“JoeCon’s visionary leadership, from his pioneering efforts at RFM Corporation to his pivotal role in shaping NAMFREL, embodied the spirit of resilience and determination. He believed in the power of every Filipino to effect positive change, inspiring countless individuals to rise up and make a difference,” the company said.
“As former Secretary of DTI [Department of Trade and Industry], JoeCon’s contributions extended beyond the corporate realm, demonstrating his commitment to advancing the nation’s economic landscape,” it added.
In its tribute published on Thursday, RFM said its chair emeritus “founded the One-Stop-Shop for business permits and licenses.”
Concepcion also launched the “Yes, the Filipino Can!” movement to inspire every Filipino to take positive and constructive action in the community,” RFM said.
Concepcion’s role in NAMFREL overshadowed his work as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the first Aquino administration. After retiring from his family’s business empire, he served for several terms as barangay captain of Forbes Park.
Concepcion was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, and was detained during Martial Law.
His wake will be at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City form March 7 to March 10.
He is survived by his wife Maria Victoria Araneta, eight children, and 31 grandchildren. His twin brother is industrialist Raul Concepcion. – Rappler.com
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ASEAN summit focus on maritime security, trade amid South China Sea tensions
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Mia Gonzalez
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06/03/2024 10:53
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SUMMIT. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (center) gives an address to the Leaders’ Plenary during the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia, March 6, 2024.
JOEL CARRETT/Pool via REUTERS
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday, March 6, that maritime security, trade, and clean energy will shape the country’s future with the ASEAN bloc as Beijing looks to increase its presence in the contested South China Sea.
Australia is hosting the ASEAN summit in Melbourne, which marks the 50th anniversary of its ties to ASEAN even as differences remained across the 10-member bloc on China’s plans to extend diplomatic and military presence in the region.
“Australia commits to working with you to make sure the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, equality, and independence are upheld,” Albanese said in his speech at the three-day summit which will conclude later on Wednesday.
“To ensure our region is secure, resilient, open, inclusive, and prosperous,” he said.
Albanese said both Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) must work together to turn their natural connection into a more practical cooperation on marine sustainability and security.
The comments come as the Philippines on Tuesday summoned China’s deputy chief of mission in Manila to protest at what it called “aggressive actions” by Chinese naval forces against a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed on a South China Sea shoal.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion worth of ship-borne commerce each year, and is a major source of tension with the Philippines.
Both countries have been locked in a territorial dispute despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration which found that China’s claims had no legal basis. Beijing rejects that ruling.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, during a press conference with Albanese on Monday, said there was a growing “China-phobia” in the West. In an interview published on Tuesday in the Sydney Morning Herald, Anwar claimed the risk of conflict in the South China Sea had been exaggerated.
The summit is expected to release a joint declaration later on Wednesday that would outline ASEAN’s position on the Israel-Gaza war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, media reported. – Rappler.com
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Zamboanga del Norte capitol workers file graft complaints vs ex-governor, son
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Herbie G
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06/03/2024 10:58
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Former Zamboanga del Norte governor Roberto Uy and his son Darel Dexter, the mayor of Dipolog City.
DIPOLOG, Philippines – Two employees of Zamboanga del Norte provincial government filed before the Ombudsman criminal and administrative cases against former governor Roberto Uy and his son, Dipolog Mayor Darel Dexter Uy.
Alex Barrera, an employee at the provincial board, and Josephine Lacquio, a worker at the governor’s office, accused the former governor of violating Section 3 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for donating some P925.58 million worth of provincial government properties to other local governments. The properties included vehicles and hospital equipment.
His son Darel Dexter was accused by the other capitol worker of connivance.
Pressed for comment, Dipolog’s mayor said on Monday, March 4, that he and his father have yet to receive the complaints filed by Barrera and Lacquio.
The administrative cases were filed for the “commission of acts constituting dishonesty, grave misconduct, gross inefficiency, and incompetence in the performance of official duties, and conduct grossly prejudicial to the best interest of service.”
“The donations were hastily done and were clear acts of sabotage intended to cripple the administration of incumbent Rosalina Jalosjos,” Barrera told Rappler on Monday.
In an affidavit submitted to the ombudsman’s office on February 13, Lacquio alleged that Darel Dexter connived in the execution of deeds of donation for 15 newly acquired dialysis machines and other medical equipment from the provincial government-owned Zamboanga del Norte Medical Center to the Dipolog City-owned Corazon C. Aquino Hospital.
Lacquio said only outdated dialysis machines, aged around 10 years, remained at the Zamboanga del Norte hospital. These machines were insufficient to accommodate the needs of the hundreds of patients requiring dialysis treatment.
Lacquio complained that her husband Porferio, who suffers from chronic kidney disease, was forced to go to private facilities for medical care because 15 of the dialysis machines at the Zamboanga del Norte Medical Center were transferred to Corazon C. Aquino Hospital. Before the donation was made, she said, Proferio was receiving free hemodialysis at the provincial hospital.
Worse, Lacquio added, the donated dialysis machines could not be immediately used because the hospital in Dipolog has yet to get an accreditation from the Department of Health (DOH). Its personnel have yet to receive training to operate the machines, she said.
She said the high costs of three hemodialysis sessions per week took a toll on their family’s finances. She said their debts piled up, lost their vehicle and were selling their house.
In his affidavit, Barrera detailed that approximately 42.61% or roughly P394.4 million of the donations were given to Dipolog. Another 8.18% or P78.7 million was directed to Labason town, while 64.2%, or P57.7 million found its way to Gutalac town. The remainder was distributed among 16 of Zamboanga del Norte’s 25 towns.
Labason’s mayor, Jelster Ed Quimbo, and Gutalac’s mayor, Eddie Justin Quimbo, are relatives and staunch political allies of the Uy family.
Barrera said the other town governments that received the donations were also political allies of the Uys.
Barrera has a history of not seeing eye to eye with the former governor. In 2013, he was hired by the provincial government, but his services were terminated four months later in what he described as a “political vendetta” by Roberto, who was the governor then. Nevertheless, Barrera fought it out and was reinstated in 2015.
On January 19, 2023, the Commission on Audit (COA) released an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM), signed by COA team leader Jonathan Manuel and supervising auditor Jeanette Calamohoy, stating that the donations “were not in accordance with pertinent provisions on the Rules and Regulations on Supply and Property Management in the Local Governments.”
The COA recommended that the provincial capitol “institute legal actions to recover the donated vehicles, equipment, and lands.”
State auditors said the modality used for the mass donations can be seen, based on a rule set by the COA as “transfer without cost which is dependent only on the two established criteria: 1. Become unserviceable, and 2. No longer needed.”
However, the COA said all of the donated vehicles and equipment were “serviceable, mostly in its best condition, being newly procured, currently in use, and with values,” making the acts “invalid.” – Rappler.com
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‘Why is that funny?’: Flustered Marcos laughs when asked about family’s plunder
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Dwight de Leon
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06/03/2024 7:30
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE. In this file photo, President Marcos attends the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September 2023.
Presidential Communications Office
It’s not every day that media gets a chance to ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the history of his family’s plunder, and when the moment arose, the Philippine chief executive got visibly flustered.
Marcos agreed to a sit-down interview with ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson, who, after a series of questions on security issues concerning the Philippines, finally shifted the discussion to his father’s corruption.
“I think contemporary court judgments acknowledge the atrocities that were committed, but also the plunder of the country’s resources. Why wouldn’t you want all of that money back in the hands of the Filipino people?” she asked Marcos in the interview that aired on Monday, March 4.
The President let out a nervous laughter, a response that did not escape scrutiny from the interviewer.
“May I just ask you why that’s funny?” Ferguson added.
Marcos navigated a number of stutters before regaining composure.
“No, I’m thinking that that maintains, that that idea maintains, because it…. I take exception to many, many of the assertions that have been made. And I think we have been…. We have since…. The cases were filed. The government filed. Cases were filed against me, my family, the estate, et cetera. And up to now, we have found…. The assertions that were made, we have shown to be untrue,” he said.
The President added that his family had supposedly signed quitclaims, which would give up their claims to properties and assets that the government found, and that they had nothing left after their family fled to Hawaii as a result of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution.
Marcos also downplayed as “propaganda” the Presidential Commission on Good Government’s findings that the family still owes the country a huge amount of money from ill-gotten wealth.
It’s important to fact-check the President, who, in that interview, tried to whitewash the gravity of his family’s corruption, even though it is well-documented.
As of 2022, his father held the Guinness World Record of “greatest robbery of a government.” According to Guinness, during his father’s 21 years in power, the national loss was pegged at $5 billion to $10 billion, and first couple Marcos Sr. and Imelda themselves personally stole around $860.8 million.
When they arrived in Hawaii, they had with them valuable items worth $8 million, but these were later confiscated by US Customs.
In 2018, anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found Imelda guilty of illegally creating private organizations in Switzerland.
As of September 2021, the government has retrieved P174 billion in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses, and is going after P125 billion more.
Marcos also claimed to have signed quitclaims, but as Reuters pointed out in 2022, his family has “defied court orders and appealed rulings requiring them to surrender assets.”
The reason why the Marcoses have also not paid their estate tax is because they are still claiming ownership of the properties in dispute.
Marcos rarely gives one-on-one interviews. Since becoming president, he has only had separate sit-down conversations with actress Toni Gonzaga and news anchor Pia Arcangel.
Reporters covering Malacañang also don’t get to freely ask the President questions due to the Palace’s “strictly no ambush” policy. In rare occasions that Marcos entertains the press, he or his staff selects the journalists to ask him questions.
He tends to lower his guard when he travels abroad, as proven by his willingness to be interviewed by ABC’s Ferguson while he’s in Australia for a special summit between the country and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Aside from his interview on Australian television, he also agreed to chat with the Associated Press’ Ted Anthony in September 2022. These are on top of his few conversations with foreign think tanks.
Marcos won the presidency in 2022, securing a landslide victory that has not been seen since the 1986 uprising that kicked his dictator-father out of Malacañang.
Critics say the family’s return to power is the product of their decades-long sophisticated project to rehabilitate their image, enabled by disinformation campaigns. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson’s action. It is tough to ask President Marcos Jr. questions about “atrocities” and “plunder” committed by then-President Marcos Sr. I hope other foreign journalists will also have the courage to ask the same questions whenever President Marcos Jr. visits their country unless he implements his “strictly no ambush” policy on them.
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Former trade chief, Namfrel founder Jose Concepcion dies
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gdecastro0289
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06/03/2024 12:04
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Jose 'Joecon' Concepcion Jr.
Namfrel
MANILA, Philippines – Former trade secretary Jose “Joecon” Concepcion Jr., founding chair of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), died on Wednesday, March 6. He was 92.
Namfrel mourned the passing of its founder in a post on X (formerly Twitter), and said Concepcion “inspired hundreds of thousands of ordinary Filipinos to take up the cause of free and fair elections.”
“Mr. Concepcion was a visionary leader who truly loved his country, and believed in the power or ordinary citizens to effect lasting change in their own communities. Mr. Concepcion’s favorite quote was ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,’” Namfrel said.
“Filipinos heeded his call, and his legacy lives on in the hearts of every NAMFREL Bantay ng Bayan volunteer who strives to continue what he and his fellow NAMFREL pioneers started,” the group said.
NAMFREL played a key role in the 1986 snap presidential elections which saw dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos defeat opposition leader Corazon “Cory” Aquino in the official count of the Commission on Elections.
However, NAMFREL’s incomplete count had Aquino ahead of Marcos, and the widespread fraud in the polls eventually led to Marcos’ downfall in the February 1986 People Power Revolution.
NAMFREL was the world’s first citizen-led national election monitoring organization, and it would assist other countries help promote clean and honest elections after the EDSA revolution. Concepcion often traveled to other countries to speak about NAMFREL’s work.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Makati Business Club (MBC) said that as NAMFREL leader, Concepcion “helped establish transparency in the historic 1986 election.”
“He then helped re-establish democracy and free enterprise as Trade and Industry secretary from 1986-1991,” the MBC said.
Concepcion’s family is behind two of the Philippines’ successful companies – manufacturing firm Concepcion Industrial Corporation and food and beverage firm RFM Corporation (RFM).
Among the famous brands of Concepcion-Carrier Airconditioning Company are Condura and Carrier (airconditioners and refrigerators) and OTIS (elevators and escalators). RFM’s popular brands include Selecta (milk and ice cream), Sunkist (juices), Royal (noodles), and White King (flour).
One of his sons is Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III, founder of GoNegosyo, a nongovernment group that seeks to uplift Filipinos from poverty via entrepreneurship.
In a book about his father, Joey wrote: “My father is a dreamer, a visionary. He had many dreams, from being a pioneer in agriculture to being a priest. And he pursued each of them, although not all of his dreams would turn out as he wanted, just as his desire to become a priest never came to be. But that was because he had a bigger calling – to be able to serve the Filipino. Each step that Dad took for the greater good offers a great lesson to us, and every chapter of his life a great source of inspiration.
“The majority of Dad’s life story will be about his journey towards founding NAMFREL and ultimately contributing to the restoration of democracy in the country. Even the founding of RFM was ‘precisely an anti-imperialist effort to fight foreign domination of the economy’ when America had ‘control of the economy through Marcos.’”
In a statement, Concepcion Industrial Corporation said Joecon’s “influence echoes through Philippine industry, democracy, and civic engagement.”
“JoeCon’s visionary leadership, from his pioneering efforts at RFM Corporation to his pivotal role in shaping NAMFREL, embodied the spirit of resilience and determination. He believed in the power of every Filipino to effect positive change, inspiring countless individuals to rise up and make a difference,” the company said.
“As former Secretary of DTI [Department of Trade and Industry], JoeCon’s contributions extended beyond the corporate realm, demonstrating his commitment to advancing the nation’s economic landscape,” it added.
In its tribute published on Thursday, RFM said its chair emeritus “founded the One-Stop-Shop for business permits and licenses.”
Concepcion also launched the “Yes, the Filipino Can!” movement to inspire every Filipino to take positive and constructive action in the community,” RFM said.
Concepcion’s role in NAMFREL overshadowed his work as secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the first Aquino administration. After retiring from his family’s business empire, he served for several terms as barangay captain of Forbes Park.
Concepcion was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, and was detained during Martial Law.
His wake will be at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City form March 7 to March 10.
He is survived by his wife Maria Victoria Araneta, eight children, and 31 grandchildren. His twin brother is industrialist Raul Concepcion. – Rappler.com
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Imelda Marcos hospitalized over suspected pneumonia
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Kaycee
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05/03/2024 16:22
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Rappler.com
MANILA, Philippines – Former first lady Imelda Marcos is in the hospital for suspected pneumonia, Senator Imee Marcos said on Tuesday, March 5.
Imee told reporters that her mother, aged 94, was brought to the hospital after bouts of coughs and feverishness. Imee said the family would prefer to “take precautions.”
“In-ospital na namin for close monitoring (We brought her to the hospital for close monitoring),” the senator said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is currently in Melbourne for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, said he spoke with Imelda’s doctors and confirmed that she had a “slight pneumonia.” The update came hours after news broke that his mother was in the hospital.
“She is in good spirits, has no difficulty in breathing and is resting well,” the president said in a statement, which he also posted on X.
He added Imelda also had a fever, but noted that doctors had given assurance that the prescribed antibiotics would help.
In May 2023, Imelda had a “successful angioplastly.” The Marcos matriarch had also previously cited “multiple organ infirmities” when she skipped the promulgation of her graft case in November 2018, noting that she had the following illnesses:
Imelda had been subject of death rumors for years, with the latest being in 2023. First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos had to post a selfie online to prove that her mother-in-law was still alive. – with a report from Bonz Magsambol/Rappler.com
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‘Why is that funny?’: Flustered Marcos laughs when asked about family’s plunder
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Dwight de Leon
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06/03/2024 7:30
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE. In this file photo, President Marcos attends the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September 2023.
Presidential Communications Office
It’s not every day that media gets a chance to ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the history of his family’s plunder, and when the moment arose, the Philippine chief executive got visibly flustered.
Marcos agreed to a sit-down interview with ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson, who, after a series of questions on security issues concerning the Philippines, finally shifted the discussion to his father’s corruption.
“I think contemporary court judgments acknowledge the atrocities that were committed, but also the plunder of the country’s resources. Why wouldn’t you want all of that money back in the hands of the Filipino people?” she asked Marcos in the interview that aired on Monday, March 4.
The President let out a nervous laughter, a response that did not escape scrutiny from the interviewer.
“May I just ask you why that’s funny?” Ferguson added.
Marcos navigated a number of stutters before regaining composure.
“No, I’m thinking that that maintains, that that idea maintains, because it…. I take exception to many, many of the assertions that have been made. And I think we have been…. We have since…. The cases were filed. The government filed. Cases were filed against me, my family, the estate, et cetera. And up to now, we have found…. The assertions that were made, we have shown to be untrue,” he said.
The President added that his family had supposedly signed quitclaims, which would give up their claims to properties and assets that the government found, and that they had nothing left after their family fled to Hawaii as a result of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution.
Marcos also downplayed as “propaganda” the Presidential Commission on Good Government’s findings that the family still owes the country a huge amount of money from ill-gotten wealth.
It’s important to fact-check the President, who, in that interview, tried to whitewash the gravity of his family’s corruption, even though it is well-documented.
As of 2022, his father held the Guinness World Record of “greatest robbery of a government.” According to Guinness, during his father’s 21 years in power, the national loss was pegged at $5 billion to $10 billion, and first couple Marcos Sr. and Imelda themselves personally stole around $860.8 million.
When they arrived in Hawaii, they had with them valuable items worth $8 million, but these were later confiscated by US Customs.
In 2018, anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found Imelda guilty of illegally creating private organizations in Switzerland.
As of September 2021, the government has retrieved P174 billion in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses, and is going after P125 billion more.
Marcos also claimed to have signed quitclaims, but as Reuters pointed out in 2022, his family has “defied court orders and appealed rulings requiring them to surrender assets.”
The reason why the Marcoses have also not paid their estate tax is because they are still claiming ownership of the properties in dispute.
Marcos rarely gives one-on-one interviews. Since becoming president, he has only had separate sit-down conversations with actress Toni Gonzaga and news anchor Pia Arcangel.
Reporters covering Malacañang also don’t get to freely ask the President questions due to the Palace’s “strictly no ambush” policy. In rare occasions that Marcos entertains the press, he or his staff selects the journalists to ask him questions.
He tends to lower his guard when he travels abroad, as proven by his willingness to be interviewed by ABC’s Ferguson while he’s in Australia for a special summit between the country and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Aside from his interview on Australian television, he also agreed to chat with the Associated Press’ Ted Anthony in September 2022. These are on top of his few conversations with foreign think tanks.
Marcos won the presidency in 2022, securing a landslide victory that has not been seen since the 1986 uprising that kicked his dictator-father out of Malacañang.
Critics say the family’s return to power is the product of their decades-long sophisticated project to rehabilitate their image, enabled by disinformation campaigns. – Rappler.com
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I appreciate ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson’s action. It is tough to ask President Marcos Jr. questions about “atrocities” and “plunder” committed by then-President Marcos Sr. I hope other foreign journalists will also have the courage to ask the same questions whenever President Marcos Jr. visits their country unless he implements his “strictly no ambush” policy on them.
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4 Filipinos hurt after China uses water cannons vs Ayungin resupply vessel
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Mia Gonzalez
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05/03/2024 11:04
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COLLISION. A Philippine Coast Guard vessel sustains minor damage following a collision with a China Coast Guard vessel in the West Philippine Se aon March 5, 2024.
Courtesy of Philippine Coast Guard
MANILA, Philippines – At least four Filipinos sustained “minor injuries” after two China Coast Guard (CCG) ships used water cannons against a much smaller military-contracted vessel during a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday, March 5.
The four were on board the Unaizah May 4, one of two civilian vessels that the Philippine Navy tapped to rotate personnel and bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre, an intentionally marooned World War II vessel that serves as a military outpost in Ayungin Shoal.
In a statement, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said two CCG ships – vessels 21555 and 21551 – used their water cannons against the Unaizah Mae 4 at the same time, eventually “[shattering] the wind shield” of the boat.
“Once again, China’s latest unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvres against a legitimate and routine Philippine rotation and resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal have put the lives of our people at risk and caused actual injury to Filipinos,” said the task force.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) treated the injured personnel aboard the BRP Sindangan, which had also figured in an incident with the CCG.
Prior to the use of water cannons, a CCG vessel 21555 collided with the BRP Sindangan, causing “superficial structural damage.”
“Throughout the operation, the PCG vessels faced dangerous maneuvers and blocking from Chinese Coast Guard vessels and Chinese Maritime Militia. Their reckless and illegal actions led to a collision between MRRV-4407 and China Coast Guard 21555 that resulted to minor structural damage to the PCG vessel,” said PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, March 4.
Footage posted by Tarriela on X showed the two coast guard ships colliding, and PCG personnel scrambling to place a barrier between the two ships as the CCG looked on.
Two PCG ships, the 44-meter BRP Sindangan and BRP Cabra, were deployed to escort military-contracted civilian ships to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre, an intentionally marooned World War II vessel that serves as a military outpost in Ayungin Shoal.
The Unaizah May 1, Philippine Navy spokesperson Commodore Vincent Trinidad earlier confirmed, made it past China’s blocking attempts to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre.
Both Manila and Beijing have tried to bring tensions down, especially in Ayungin, with Shanghai hosting in mid-January a bilateral meeting where both sides agreed to improve communication lines between diplomats and possibly its coast guards, too.
“The systemic and consistent manner in which the People’s Republic of China carries out these illegal and irresponsible actions puts into questions the sincerity of its calls for peaceful dialogue and lessening of tensions,” said the NTF-WPS, a task force that counts members of the security, defense, and diplomatic sectors as its members.
After again asserting that Manila has been consistent in following international law and the 2016 Arbitral Award, the task force said that “peace and stability cannot be achieved without due regard for the legitimate, well-established, and legally settled rights of others.”
“The Philippines will not be deterred from exercising our legal rights over our maritime zones, including Ayungin Shoal which forms part of our Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf. We demand that china demonstrate that it is a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community,” the task force added.
The military conducts mission to Ayungin at least once a month – although the first attempt in 2024 was disrupted by required repairs to a resupply ship, while details of the first successful mission were not made public.
Ayungin is among the flashpoints of tensions in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. China, in contradiction to a 2016 arbitral ruling, claims practically the entire South China Sea as its own.
The shoal is among the focuses of the “transparency initiative,” which aims to expose Chinese activities in those waters. Footage from Tarriela and the PCG indicate media were on board the Sindangan when it collided with the CCG vessel.
China is infamous for its aggressive actions in the WPS, which has led to tense encounters between the Philippines and China. Vessels have collided before, while China in the past has used water cannons against Philippine ships.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila has filed nine diplomatic protests against China in 2024, as of end-February. Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines has filed 142 protests to date. – Rappler.com
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‘Why is that funny?’: Flustered Marcos laughs when asked about family’s plunder
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Dwight de Leon
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06/03/2024 7:30
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE. In this file photo, President Marcos attends the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September 2023.
Presidential Communications Office
It’s not every day that media gets a chance to ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. about the history of his family’s plunder, and when the moment arose, the Philippine chief executive got visibly flustered.
Marcos agreed to a sit-down interview with ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson, who, after a series of questions on security issues concerning the Philippines, finally shifted the discussion to his father’s corruption.
“I think contemporary court judgments acknowledge the atrocities that were committed, but also the plunder of the country’s resources. Why wouldn’t you want all of that money back in the hands of the Filipino people?” she asked Marcos in the interview that aired on Monday, March 4.
The President let out a nervous laughter, a response that did not escape scrutiny from the interviewer.
“May I just ask you why that’s funny?” Ferguson added.
Marcos navigated a number of stutters before regaining composure.
“No, I’m thinking that that maintains, that that idea maintains, because it…. I take exception to many, many of the assertions that have been made. And I think we have been…. We have since…. The cases were filed. The government filed. Cases were filed against me, my family, the estate, et cetera. And up to now, we have found…. The assertions that were made, we have shown to be untrue,” he said.
The President added that his family had supposedly signed quitclaims, which would give up their claims to properties and assets that the government found, and that they had nothing left after their family fled to Hawaii as a result of the 1986 EDSA People Power revolution.
Marcos also downplayed as “propaganda” the Presidential Commission on Good Government’s findings that the family still owes the country a huge amount of money from ill-gotten wealth.
It’s important to fact-check the President, who, in that interview, tried to whitewash the gravity of his family’s corruption, even though it is well-documented.
As of 2022, his father held the Guinness World Record of “greatest robbery of a government.” According to Guinness, during his father’s 21 years in power, the national loss was pegged at $5 billion to $10 billion, and first couple Marcos Sr. and Imelda themselves personally stole around $860.8 million.
When they arrived in Hawaii, they had with them valuable items worth $8 million, but these were later confiscated by US Customs.
In 2018, anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found Imelda guilty of illegally creating private organizations in Switzerland.
As of September 2021, the government has retrieved P174 billion in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses, and is going after P125 billion more.
Marcos also claimed to have signed quitclaims, but as Reuters pointed out in 2022, his family has “defied court orders and appealed rulings requiring them to surrender assets.”
The reason why the Marcoses have also not paid their estate tax is because they are still claiming ownership of the properties in dispute.
Marcos rarely gives one-on-one interviews. Since becoming president, he has only had separate sit-down conversations with actress Toni Gonzaga and news anchor Pia Arcangel.
Reporters covering Malacañang also don’t get to freely ask the President questions due to the Palace’s “strictly no ambush” policy. In rare occasions that Marcos entertains the press, he or his staff selects the journalists to ask him questions.
He tends to lower his guard when he travels abroad, as proven by his willingness to be interviewed by ABC’s Ferguson while he’s in Australia for a special summit between the country and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Aside from his interview on Australian television, he also agreed to chat with the Associated Press’ Ted Anthony in September 2022. These are on top of his few conversations with foreign think tanks.
Marcos won the presidency in 2022, securing a landslide victory that has not been seen since the 1986 uprising that kicked his dictator-father out of Malacañang.
Critics say the family’s return to power is the product of their decades-long sophisticated project to rehabilitate their image, enabled by disinformation campaigns. – Rappler.com
Error.
Please abide by Rappler's commenting guidelines.
I appreciate ABC anchor Sarah Ferguson’s action. It is tough to ask President Marcos Jr. questions about “atrocities” and “plunder” committed by then-President Marcos Sr. I hope other foreign journalists will also have the courage to ask the same questions whenever President Marcos Jr. visits their country unless he implements his “strictly no ambush” policy on them.
How does this make you feel?
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Rappler
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https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/inside-track/marcos-flustered-question-family-plunder-australian-television-interview/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2Y545m3MZJ8_FEUJmBIedYwEQABhoGmXPR-k8tfiFLXyufFbsVD4aa68M_aem_lt5gf36xLd_NlIt9ZA-Yqw
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SC orders Metro Manila LGUs: Stop own ticketing system, follow MMDA rules
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Jairo Bolledo
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05/03/2024 11:30
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METRO MANILA TRAFFIC. Heavy traffic builds up on the southbound section of EDSA in Quezon City on August 24, 2023.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered Metro Manila local government units (LGUs) to stop issuing their own traffic violation receipts and confiscating driver’s licenses, and instead comply with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) single ticketing system (STS).
The High Tribunal issued a permanent injunction, through its July 11, 2023 decision, that banned the LGUs from issuing such receipts and confiscating licenses through their traffic enforcers. The decision was publicized only this week.
In the decision, the SC scrapped the common provision from the traffic code of 15 Metro Manila LGUs, which are respondents in the SC case. Malabon and Marikina were not part of the original petition. The said provisions allow the issuance of traffic violation tickets or ordinance violation receipts.
“All told, the Court thus declares as invalid the common provision in the said traffic codes or ordinances of the LGUs in Metro Manila empowering each of them to issue OVRs to erring drivers and motorists. The other provisions of the traffic codes or ordinances remain valid and unaffected by this Decision,” the SC explained.
The MMDA’s STS, institutionalized through the establishment of the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, harmonized the laws governing traffic enforcement and management in Metro Manila. The system standardized the fines and penalties for common traffic violations in the country’s capital region. It also covers the traffic rules on “all major, secondary or other roads and thoroughfares within the jurisdictional bounds of Metro Manila.”
“In this connection, the Court also finds that the autonomy of the LGUs will not be unduly undermined by the ruling in this case, as their interests are amply protected by the very structure of the MMDA as established by the MMDA Law,” the SC added.
The decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa stemmed from a petition for certiorari – a legal remedy used to review a lower court’s decision – with a prayer for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order, assailing the Court of Appeal’s (CA) decision and resolution upholding the LGUs’ ticketing system.
The petition dated December 21, 2006 came from several jeepney drivers’ and operators’ association which sought to challenge the ticketing system of the 15 LGUs before the CA.
According to the petitioners, the traffic code provisions of the LGUs violate sections 29 and 62 of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) law, and section 5(f) of the MMDA law, which allow the agency to establish a single ticketing system. Meanwhile, the LTO law “grants the LTO authority to confiscate driver’s licenses and issue a prescribed receipt for violations of said law or of any regulations issued pursuant thereto or of local traffic rules and regulations.”
In the case, the petitioners also asked for a mandamus to require the MMDA to establish the said single ticketing system. While the petition was still pending, the MMDA issued Resolution No. 12-02, series of 2012, adopting a uniform ticketing system.
Six years later, in 2012, the CA junked the petition for lack of merit. The appellate court, however, did not rule on whether the issuance of tickets by the LGUs violate the MMDA’s single ticketing system, “because, as admitted by the parties, no single ticketing system had at that time been drawn.” The petitioners moved for a reconsideration, but was also later denied by the CA.
The petitioners then brought their case to the High Court. – Rappler.com
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Senate panel holds Quiboloy in contempt, Padilla objects
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Herbie G
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05/03/2024 14:32
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PROTEST. Members of the Kingdom Jesus Christ (KOJC) and supporters of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy gather outside the Senate to protest the hearing on the alleged abuses inside the KOJC, on March 5, 2024.
Angie de Silva/Rappler
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality cited on Tuesday, March 5, embattled preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt as the panel resumed its investigation into the alleged exploitation, torture, sexual abuse, and other offenses committed against former workers of the Davao-based religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC).
The committee also asked Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to have Quiboloy arrested so he could be brought before the panel to testify.
As the hearing was ongoing, Quiboloy’s followers gathered outside the Senate to protest what they called injustice against their leader, whom they believed to be divine. Quiboloy has styled himself as the “appointed son of God,” openly claiming that there is no salvation without him.
The committee’s chairperson, Senator Risa Hontiveros, ruled to hold Quiboloy in contempt after the Davao City-based preacher failed to appear before the Senate panel despite a subpoena served by the Senate sergeant-at-arms through one of his lawyers, Marie Dinah Tolentino-Fuentes, on February 22.
Hontiveros had earlier warned that she would be forced to have Quiboloy arrested if he continued to defy the Senate’s summons.
“This committee requests the Senate President to order his arrest so that he may be brought to testify,” she said.
The hearing was briefly suspended shortly after Senator Robinhood Padilla arrived to join Senators Hontiveros and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. When it resumed, Padilla, without providing a clear reason, placed on record his objection to Hontiveros’ ruling to hold the controversial pastor in contempt .
Hontiveros said Senate rules provide that a majority of the members of the Senate committee, in this case eight, has seven days to overturn the contempt ruling.
The committee’s members include Senator Nancy Binay, who serves as the vice chairperson, and senators Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Raffy Tulfo, Christopher Lawrence Go, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Mark Villar, and Padilla.
The committee also has ex officio members: senators Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Pimentel.
Quiboloy’s whereabouts have remained unclear but in a previous statement, he said he was in hiding, claiming that he was marked for assassination by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The US embassy in Manila has not directly responded to the preacher’s claim that there was a plot to kill him, but its February 21 statement read: “For more than a decade, Apollo Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuses, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 11 years old, and he is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. We are confident that Quiboloy will face justice for his heinous crimes.”
Citing jurisprudence, Hontiveros maintained that it is within the Senate’s jurisdiction to hold accountable anyone who disregarded its authority to conduct investigations in aid of legislation, including failing to attend despite a valid subpoena.
She referenced a case involving the Senate blue ribbon committee, where the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the due process rights of witnesses who attended the hearing, affirming the Senate’s authority to investigate and cite people in contempt.
“It is very simple,” Hontiveros said. “The power of the Senate to conduct investigations in aid of legislation has long been settled by the Supreme Court.”
She added, “Hindi po mapapakulong ng Senado si Quiboloy para sa mga paratang sa kanya, dahil hindi kami huwes…. Pero kapangyarihan ng Senado ang panagutin ang sinuman na hindi kumilala ng kapangyarihan ng Senate na maglunsad ng mga imbestigasyon. Kasama ang hindi pagdalo sa imbestigasyon despite a valid subpoena.”
(The Senate cannot jail Quiboloy for the accusations against him, because we are not judges… However, it is within the Senate’s power to hold accountable anyone who does not recognize the authority of the Senate to conduct investigations. This includes failure to attend an investigation despite a valid subpoena.)
Hontiveros said the Senate committee was examining the inner workings of Quiboloy’s church to determine whether improvements to the country’s laws were necessary regarding rape vis à vis the concept of consent, labor conditions for religious volunteers, occupational safety and labor standards, and the human trafficking law concerning acts of forced begging and servitude under the guise of religious freedom.
She said there was also a need for Congress to consider a separate law specifically addressing religious violence and other abuses. – with a report from Angie de Silva/Rappler.com
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Imelda Marcos hospitalized for pneumonia | The wRap
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Jaira Roxas
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05/03/2024 22:50
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Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
Former first lady Imelda Marcos, aged 94, is in the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever. Senator Imee Marcos says Tuesday, March 5, her mother was brought to the hospital after bouts of coughs and fever.
At least four Filipinos sustain ‘minor injuries’ after two China Coast Guard ships use water cannons against a much smaller Philippine vessel. This happened during a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday, March 5.
The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality cites embattled preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt Tuesday, March 5, after he snubs the hearing. The committee asks Senate President Migs Zubiri to have Quiboloy arrested.
Israeli forces raid the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank overnight, killing a 16-year-old in a refugee camp Monday, March 4.
France enshrines the right to abortion in its constitution. Parliament members and senators overwhelmingly back the move, voting 780-72 on Monday, March 4.
The United States Supreme Court hands Donald Trump a major victory on Monday, March 4, as it overturns a judicial decision that excluded him from Colorado’s ballot for Republican primaries. – Rappler.com
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SC orders Metro Manila LGUs: Stop own ticketing system, follow MMDA rules
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Jairo Bolledo
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05/03/2024 11:30
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METRO MANILA TRAFFIC. Heavy traffic builds up on the southbound section of EDSA in Quezon City on August 24, 2023.
Jire Carreon/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered Metro Manila local government units (LGUs) to stop issuing their own traffic violation receipts and confiscating driver’s licenses, and instead comply with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) single ticketing system (STS).
The High Tribunal issued a permanent injunction, through its July 11, 2023 decision, that banned the LGUs from issuing such receipts and confiscating licenses through their traffic enforcers. The decision was publicized only this week.
In the decision, the SC scrapped the common provision from the traffic code of 15 Metro Manila LGUs, which are respondents in the SC case. Malabon and Marikina were not part of the original petition. The said provisions allow the issuance of traffic violation tickets or ordinance violation receipts.
“All told, the Court thus declares as invalid the common provision in the said traffic codes or ordinances of the LGUs in Metro Manila empowering each of them to issue OVRs to erring drivers and motorists. The other provisions of the traffic codes or ordinances remain valid and unaffected by this Decision,” the SC explained.
The MMDA’s STS, institutionalized through the establishment of the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, harmonized the laws governing traffic enforcement and management in Metro Manila. The system standardized the fines and penalties for common traffic violations in the country’s capital region. It also covers the traffic rules on “all major, secondary or other roads and thoroughfares within the jurisdictional bounds of Metro Manila.”
“In this connection, the Court also finds that the autonomy of the LGUs will not be unduly undermined by the ruling in this case, as their interests are amply protected by the very structure of the MMDA as established by the MMDA Law,” the SC added.
The decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa stemmed from a petition for certiorari – a legal remedy used to review a lower court’s decision – with a prayer for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order, assailing the Court of Appeal’s (CA) decision and resolution upholding the LGUs’ ticketing system.
The petition dated December 21, 2006 came from several jeepney drivers’ and operators’ association which sought to challenge the ticketing system of the 15 LGUs before the CA.
According to the petitioners, the traffic code provisions of the LGUs violate sections 29 and 62 of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) law, and section 5(f) of the MMDA law, which allow the agency to establish a single ticketing system. Meanwhile, the LTO law “grants the LTO authority to confiscate driver’s licenses and issue a prescribed receipt for violations of said law or of any regulations issued pursuant thereto or of local traffic rules and regulations.”
In the case, the petitioners also asked for a mandamus to require the MMDA to establish the said single ticketing system. While the petition was still pending, the MMDA issued Resolution No. 12-02, series of 2012, adopting a uniform ticketing system.
Six years later, in 2012, the CA junked the petition for lack of merit. The appellate court, however, did not rule on whether the issuance of tickets by the LGUs violate the MMDA’s single ticketing system, “because, as admitted by the parties, no single ticketing system had at that time been drawn.” The petitioners moved for a reconsideration, but was also later denied by the CA.
The petitioners then brought their case to the High Court. – Rappler.com
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Cha-Cha puts urban poor, workers at risk, Cebu church leaders, advocates say
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jsitchon0312
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05/03/2024 19:07
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CHA-CHA. Franciscan priest Allan Arcebuche urged fellow Christians to engage in discussions about the congressional push for amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
John Sitchon/Rappler
CEBU, Philippines – Religious leaders and advocates of civil rights organizations in Cebu are concerned over the latest push for charter change which they feared would greatly affect the lives of the urban poor and laborers.
Franciscan priest Allan Arcebuche, the vice chairperson of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR) in Cebu, told Rappler on Monday, March 4, that they were concerned over the intention of lawmakers to “open the economy” as part of the economic agenda of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
At a forum held at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu on Monday, Arcebuche and fellow members of different religious communities learned about Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 and 7 which introduced the phrase, “unless otherwise provided by law.”
Under the proposed amendments, the phrase would be inserted in Section 11 of Article XII of the Constitution which currently caps foreign ownership of public utilities at 40%. This means that Congress may pass a law to lift or ease the ownership restriction.
“Ang problema natin dyan ay binibigyan ang Kongreso ng napakalakas na poder para amyendahan ang constitution…batas niya mismo deretsong amyendahan ang constitution, ni walang three-fourths vote, walang plebisito, walang referendum,” Human rights lawyer and Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares told reporters on Tuesday, March 5.
(Our problem with that is how it is going to give Congress immense power to amend the constitution…its laws will directly amend the constitution, without having the need for a three-fourths vote, plebiscite, or referendum.)
The lawyer said that once foreign companies own a majority of public utilities, huge rate hikes on services like electricity and water would be imminent, hitting consumers, especially those in the marginalized sectors.
“Of course, they’re going to want to earn double from their investments here. They’re not just going to the Philippines to invest a dollar and earn only fifty cents from it,” Colmenares said.
In previous years, laws have been passed to open the economy to foreign investors. Under the Public Service Act, foreigners are allowed to fully own companies in the telecommunication, shipping, airline, railway, toll road, and transport network vehicle industries.
Lawmakers who are now pushing for the removal of economic restrictions insist that these would increase foreign direct investments into the country and boost the overall economy.
However, Arcebuche questioned the move, emphasizing the lack of discussions with the public into the specific provisions that would be taken out of the constitution.
The priest feared that legislators might soon opt to remove restrictions in an effort to favor large corporations over local companies and workers.
“Even back then, they wanted to delete the (economic) provisions that supposedly protect the urban poor, farmers, workers and vendors, because large foreign companies don’t want these,” Arcebuche said in a mix of English and Cebuano.
Jaime Paglinawan, the vice president for the Visayas of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) told Rappler on Tuesday that if the clause “unless otherwise provided by law” would be included into amendments, lawmakers would give foreign companies the power to pressure them into signing laws against worker unions through sheer control of major public utilities.
“Security of tenure, right to organize, humane working conditions and livable wages will be targeted,” Paglinawan said in Cebuano. – Rappler.com
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Former Quiboloy foundation director links KOJC to 100 fake marriages in Canada
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Herbie G
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05/03/2024 18:17
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TESTIFY. Former followers of embattled Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, Reynita Fernandez and Dindo Maquiling, testify online during a Senate committee hearing on the alleged abuses of the Davao-based preacher and his group on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
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CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Two new witnesses faced a Senate panel on Tuesday, March 5, with one alleging a link between the religious group led by embattled preacher Apollo Quiboloy and around 100 fraudulent marriages in Canada alone.
The marriages were purportedly designed to go around Canada’s immigration laws and give legal status in that country to fundraising workers of the Davao-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), according to former KOJC member Dindo Maquiling, who once served as executive director for Canada and Australia of the Quiboloy group’s Children’s Joy Foundation (CFJ).
Maquiling, testifying online during the Senate panel’s inquiry into alleged abuses by Quiboloy and KOJC, revealed that he participated in a fraudulent marriage in 2013. He admitted to marrying another church worker solely because her visa was nearing expiration.
He said he was a victim and only agreed to the fraudulent marriage due to his sense of indebtedness, and concern for his two children who were in Davao City. Maquiling said he was already a Canadian citizen and divorced at the time.
“Hindi lang po ako ang biktima. Meron po’ng kulang-kulang na isang-daan na kasalan po dito sa ‘Kingdom’ ni Pastor Quiboloy na puro peke, dito lang ho sa Canada,” Maquiling said when asked by Senator Risa Hontiveros to elaborate on the alleged scam.
(I’m not the only victim. There were about a hundred marriages in Pastor Quiboloy’s ‘Kingdom’ that were all fake in Canada alone.)
Maquiling also alleged that he discovered that the funds raised by the Quiboloy’s foundation did not go to needy children.
In his narrative, Maquiling said he became a KOJC volunteer worker following the devastation brought by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013, to help Quiboloy’s group raise funds for victims of one of the most powerful tropical cyclones to ever hit the country in recent history. He said he used his connections in Canada where he worked as a store manager to help Quiboloy’s group.
In 2016, when he was appointed as the CJF-Canada executive director, Maquiling said he had a chance to go back to the Philippines and visit the CFJ shelter for the foundation’s supposed beneficiaries. That was the time, he said, when he found out that the children in the CFJ shelter were mostly young KOJC full-time workers, some of whom were then brought to other countries to become part of the church’s fundraising teams.
Although some of the foundation’s funds were spent to support needy children, these were merely a fraction of what the group has raised, he said.
“In fact, their claim was that thousands of children were being fed. Noong ako’y nandoon, wala pa nga’ng halos 300 na bata (When I was there, there were barely even 300 children),” he said.
That, he said, made him raise questions because he found out that much of the funds raised for the foundation were used for other purposes.
Maquiling and another former KOJC fundraising worker, Reynita Fernandez who spoke online from Singapore, showed their faces during the hearing. Fernandez, among the first former Quiboloy followers to speak out publicly, spoke to Rappler for a series of investigative reports on the KOJC in late 2021.
Before the committee, she recounted her ordeal during the KOJC’s so-called “month of blessings,” which typically commences in September and lasts until March.
During this period, Fernandez alleged, KOJC’s workers were compelled to intensify various fundraising activities for Quiboloy’s group.
“Mag-loan, mag-solicit, magtinda, everything that earns money. Kahit mag bali-balintong ka basta may money ka na ire-remit sa kanila,” said Fernandez, recalling that she lost her house because of this practice.
(We apply for loans, solicit donations, sell, and do anything just to raise money, even if it means you have to twist and turn, as long as you have money to remit to them.)
Fernandez, who once served as a leader of one of Quiboloy’s groups in Singapore, recalled when she was given a quota of SG$12,000 during the “month of blessings” period.
“They said if you’re in the ‘Kingdom,’ you need to have a thicker face to produce money. Otherwise, you are not a faithful son or daughter of the father,” she said.
She said, in many instances, even the salaries earned from regular work abroad were insufficient to meet the quotas.
Fernandez, however, said they were motivated to work harder because they believed Quiboloy’s promise that their dedication during the “month of blessings” would mean “10 years of blessings” in their and their families’ lives.
The funds, she added, were divided into smaller amounts and remitted to the Philippines through other KOJC members to escape the prying eyes of Singaporean authorities. Each remittance, according to Fernandez, should be less than the ceiling of SG$2,000 a day.
Fernandez also said there were KOJC workers in Singapore who sought fake employers to maintain legal residency in the country. Some, she added, even resorted to paying individuals in Singapore to pose as their employers.
“It’s really their strategy to stay here legally,” Fernandez told the Senate committee.
“Scammer si Apollo Quiboloy (Apollo Quiboloy is a scammer),” Hontiveros said before concluding Tuesday’s Senate panel hearing.
The narratives of the two witnesses were consistent with the cases filed against Quiboloy and several of his associates in the United States. In late 2021, they were indicted by a federal grand jury in California for marriage fraud, fraud and misuse of visas, bulk cash smuggling, and money laundering, among others. – Rappler.com
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Supreme Court: DOE may take over oil industry in times of emergency
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Ralf Rivas
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05/03/2024 17:19
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A gasoline attendant fills up a car with gas at a gasoline station in Quezon City on Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Photo by Darren Langit/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling which allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to take over the oil industry under emergency conditions.
In a 36-page decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC said that the Republic Act No. 8749 or the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act provision authorizing the DOE to take over oil industry players given certain conditions, is valid.
The High Court said that in times of national emergency or when public interest so requires, the DOE may temporarily take over or direct the operations of any entity engaged in the oil industry.
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and 12 associate justices concurred with the decision promulgated on March 4. Two justices did not take part.
The SC decision stemmed from a petition filed by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation before a regional trial court, questioning the validity of the provisions of RA 8749 and an executive order of then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2009.
In 2009, Arroyo ordered that oil companies maintain prices of petroleum products, following the onslaught of Tropical Story Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng, which affected millions of Filipinos.
Pilipinas Shell secured a favorable from the RTC ruling, which was upheld by Court of Appeals in 2013, prompting the Office of the Executive Secretary and the DOE to bring the case to the High Court.
In its ruling, the High Court said that it could not find “actual proof” from Pilipinas Shell that the exercise of the takeover provision caused harm or injury.
The SC, however, noted that the law provides limitations on the takeover of power. Specifically, the legislature must grant the President emergency powers first for a limited period.
The President could then delegate responsibilities to agencies, including the DOE.
“[I]f, in the exercise of its delegated authority, the energy secretary acts in contrast with the president’s intent or instructions, the act will be deemed ultra vires (beyond the powers) and an unconstitutional usurpation of executive power,” the SC said.
The DOE has yet to comment on the matter, but told reporters that their legal team is still reviewing the SC’s decision. – Rappler.com
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Shining bright: Capital1 earns first-ever PVL win; Akari nabs breakthrough after bad start
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jisaga0269
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05/03/2024 22:21
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BREAKING THROUGH. Capital1 spiker Jorelle Singh and Akari setter Michelle Cobb in the 2024 PVL All-Filipino Conference
PVL Images
MANILA, Philippines – A new dawn is breaking for PVL neophyte Capital1 as the energized Solar Spikers nabbed their first ever franchise win following a four-set conquest of fellow newcomer Strong Group Athletics, 25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, on Tuesday, March 5.
Jorelle Singh helped gift legendary head coach Roger Gorayeb his first win since breaking a two-year PVL hiatus with a game-high scoring output of 13 points on 12 attacks and 1 block, while pro league rookie Ja Lana scored 8 in just two sets played.
“The passion I was looking from my players is not yet 100% there, but I’m still starting to see it,” the amiable mentor said in Filipino, as his new team rose to a 1-2 record.
“I’m giving everybody a chance to play. Let’s be real, 80 to 90% of my players were those not resigned by their old teams. They’re supposed to be out of a job if not for Capital1. I’m just feeling them all out and reminding them that this is their opportunity to show off.”
Meanwhile, the Akari Chargers likewise broke through in the 2024 All-Filipino Conference with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-22 beatdown of the Farm Fresh Foxies for a 1-2 slate, led by 16 points from star recruit Grethcel Soltones, 14 from opposite hitter Eli Soyud, and 16 excellent sets from captain Mich Cobb.
Following a 0-2 start despite having a loaded roster featuring new additions Soltones and Celine Domingo, new head coach Raffy Mosuela stressed the importance of building chemistry, and was glad to finally see it show in the Chargers’ third game.
“I didn’t stop telling them to keep up their connection,” he said in Filipino. “After the second game, all our trainings were focused on connections in attacking and [passing from] receiver to setter.”
“I’m happy that we found our connection and that someone new like me didn’t find it hard to jell with them,” Soltones added in Filipino. “I just keep reminding my teammates to not lose focus, since once we start to get distracted, that’s when our teamwork starts to break down.”
Akari star spiker Faith Nisperos sat out the game due to illness, as fellow hitter Trisha Genesis also did not suit up due to an arm injury.
Over at the losing sides, Mary Joy Onofre paced Strong Group’s third straight loss with 12 points, while Trisha Tubu scored 10 as Farm Fresh fell to a 1-2 record. – Rappler.com
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Philippines, US to hold military drills in islands facing South China Sea, Taiwan
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Chito de la Vega
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05/03/2024 16:46
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A Filipino soldier fires a Javelin anti-tank weapon system during a live exercise as part of the annual US-Philippines joint military exercises called "Balikatan" at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines, April 13, 2023. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and the United States will carry out annual military exercises next month in key locations including Philippine islands facing the South China Sea and Taiwan, as tensions with China in the region continue to simmer.
The exercises, called Balikatan or “shoulder-to-shoulder”, will move away from sprawling military camps in the countryside to locations in northern and western regions, Philippine army colonel Michael Logico told a briefing on Tuesday, March 5.
The move is consistent with the shift in the country’s focus from internal to external defense.
This year’s exercises, which a Philippine diplomat previously said could be larger than last year’s 17,000-strong drills, will also focus on cybersecurity training and “information warfare”.
Batanes, the island province closest to Taiwan, could again be one of this year’s exercise venues, Logico said, but he stressed the activities will not focus on the democratically governed island.
“It is natural for us to exercise in those areas because if it’s part of Philippine territory, it is where we wave our flag, these are the areas where we defend,” Logico said.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory despite the island’s rejection and routinely stages air and naval military operations near the island.
The exercises will also include areas in Palawan province in the South China Sea where frequent maritime run-ins between Manila and Beijing have occurred over the past year.
“These are locations that we can adequately perform joint operations,” Logico said.
The Philippines on Tuesday accused China’s coast guard of carrying out “dangerous maneuvers” that led to a collision between its coast guard ship and a Chinese vessel during a resupply mission for Philippine troops in the South China Sea.
Like last year, Logico said militaries from both countries will conduct a ship sinking exercise.
Ties between Washington and Manila have warmed under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who last year almost doubled the bases American troops can access under a defense pact.
Australian troops will also join the exercises while the French navy are participating for the first time, Logico said. France and the Philippines are both seeking authority to negotiate a military agreement.
Philippine armed forces spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla said the exercises will be from the third week of April to the first week of May.
– Rappler.com
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San Carlos bishop calls for end to violent political, gun culture in Negros
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Chito de la Vega
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05/03/2024 14:13
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DEGAMO DEATH. Hundreds pay their last respects to slain Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo during interment ceremonies at Siaton town on March 16, 2023.
Francis Pabiana/Rappler
BACOLOD, Philippines – As Negrenses marked the first death anniversary of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, on Monday, March 4, Bishop Gerardo “Gerry” Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos City, called for the immediate end to what he said was Negros Island’s violence-prone political and gun culture.
Bishop Alminaza said a year after the merciless killings of Degamo and companions, “our call remains the same: Justice!” He added: “Our dream of integral peace is still elusive.”
Degamo and nine others were killled by armed men inside the compound of the governor’s residence in Barangay 9, Pamplona town in Negros Oriental at around 9 am on March 4, 2023.
The assassination in broad daylight angered NegrOrenses who then demanded for justice for their beloved governor, and the pursuit of peace in the Negros community.
But Alminaza said, until now, Negrenses are still “crying” for genuine peace as Negros Island continues to be at the center of violent conflict.
“A violence-ridden political culture must end in society. It will never guarantee authentic development for our country,” said the outspoken bishop.
What Negros really wants, Alminaza said, is peace “without any stain of blood and violence.”
The prelate also criticized what he described as institutionalization of fake solutions in disguise of achieving peace in the island.
“To be clear, peace can not be achieved by political means, by using weaponry or by institutionalizing fake solutions. When we talk for peace, it starts by disarming for peace,” he said.
Alminaza suggested ways to achieve genuine and lasting peace in Negros. These are:
The bishop admitted that by putting forward these suggestions for the sake of attaining peace in Negros, he could be branded as demonic or “anti-Christ”.
But he said he will never tire of calling for peace although this kind of demand to protect every citizen is the primordial work of the government.
He also said that the police and the military must not be selective and should not allow themselves to be used in politics or specific interests.
“This appears to be difficult but, indeed, these are important issues with clear implications against rising violence not only on Negros Island,” he said. – Rappler.com
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Imelda Marcos hospitalized for pneumonia | The wRap
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Jaira Roxas
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05/03/2024 22:50
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Today on Rappler – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
Former first lady Imelda Marcos, aged 94, is in the hospital for slight pneumonia and fever. Senator Imee Marcos says Tuesday, March 5, her mother was brought to the hospital after bouts of coughs and fever.
At least four Filipinos sustain ‘minor injuries’ after two China Coast Guard ships use water cannons against a much smaller Philippine vessel. This happened during a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday, March 5.
The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality cites embattled preacher Apollo Quiboloy in contempt Tuesday, March 5, after he snubs the hearing. The committee asks Senate President Migs Zubiri to have Quiboloy arrested.
Israeli forces raid the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank overnight, killing a 16-year-old in a refugee camp Monday, March 4.
France enshrines the right to abortion in its constitution. Parliament members and senators overwhelmingly back the move, voting 780-72 on Monday, March 4.
The United States Supreme Court hands Donald Trump a major victory on Monday, March 4, as it overturns a judicial decision that excluded him from Colorado’s ballot for Republican primaries. – Rappler.com
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