Month: May 2023

Motivated by the love for her home state, a Sarawakian entrepreneur has decided to showcase some of the state’s most delicious dishes during the Gawai Dayak celebrations this year.

Adeline Tang, chief executive officer of Freshable, a meal kit services company, wants to share the uniqueness of Sarawak cuisine with other Malaysians and let them understand what it is like to be Sarawakian through a personal culinary journey in their own kitchens.

“Sarawak is a great place, and it’s a shame that many people know so little about what it’s like over there, the place, the diversity of people, and of course, the rich and vibrant food!

“I have so many great childhood memories of enjoying Sarawakian delicacies like Ayam Pansoh and Ka Chan Ma with my family and friends and that’s the experience I want to share with everyone this Gawai Dayak,” she told Bernama here recently, noting that even Gawai Dayak was not quite well understood by non-Sarawakians, especially those in Peninsular Malaysia.

“I’ve met people who think that it’s just a tribal event, limited only to the Dayak, a time to dress up in traditional costumes and put on an exotic show.

“The truth is very different; it’s a celebration of life. The entire Sarawak community comes together and celebrates with great food and gives thanks for what we all have been given,” she said.

That is why Tang chose to use the startup she founded last year to promote not only Sarawak dishes, but also ingredients unique to the state.

“For this Dayak Gawai, we have prepared ready-to-cook meal kits for anyone who wishes to try to cook up a great Sarawakian meal. We had some of the ingredients specially brought in from Sarawak, like the Sarawak laksa paste, belacan and other spices and herbs,” she said, adding that Freshable meal kits come with simple step-by-step recipe cards that make cooking easy, even for beginners.

“It is my sincere hope that my little effort will help spread joy this Gawai Dayak, and help spread word about the many lovely things my home state has offer.

“Since it will be Gawai Dayak tomorrow, let me wish everyone, gayu-guru, gerai-nyamai, lantang-senang nguan menua (live long, healthy and comfortable life),” she added.

The Gawai Dayak menu will be available until June 30 as a limited time offering on the Freshable website, www.freshable.co.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PARIS – France’s sports minister said on Wednesday that the government’s decision to move homeless people and asylum seekers from the capital city is not related to the upcoming Olympic games. “We have major issues with emergency accommodation, but it’s not the fault of the Olympics. (…) It’s something that started in April. We must not make the Olympics the scapegoat for all our frustrations,’ Minister for Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Amelie Oudea-Castera told France 2. Starting in March, the government asked regions across the country to establish temporary accommodation facilities for a large number of homeless people and asylum seekers who would leave the capital. The country’s housing minister, Olivier Klein, told parliament this month that many hotels in the capital were reluctant to provide temporary housing for homeless people and asylum seekers during the upcoming autumn as they were expecting a high number of customers during the Rugby World Cup and 2024 Olympics Games. Local politicians expressed concerns about the government’s plan to encourage thousands of homeless people and asylum seekers to leave Paris. Philippe Salmon, the mayor of Bruz, a town in northwest Brittany near the regional capital Rennes, expressed his disagreement with the proposal to establish a new center in his town. “We do not support the idea of having a facility in our region under conditions that we find unacceptable,’ he said. According to the Paris City Hall, around 150,000 individuals are residing in temporary housing within the Paris region and around 3,000 people do not have a proper shelter. (Anadolu)

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA – The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to suspend Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Arnolfo ‘Arnie’ Teves Jr. for another 60 days over his continued unauthorized absences and disorderly conduct which resulted in his failure to perform his duties as House member. This after the House plenary — with 285 affirmative votes, no negative votes and one abstention — adopted the recommendations made by the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges headed by COOP NATCCO Party-list Rep. Felimon Espares, through Committee Report 660. The committee report said it found ‘the unauthorized absences of Rep. A. Teves Jr., aggravated by his act of political asylum in Timor-Leste, resulted in his failure to perform his duties as House Member.’ ‘His actions and all its consequences have compromised the integrity of the House of Representatives and constitute disorderly behavior warranting disciplinary action,’ the report said. With his suspension, the rights and privileges of Teves as a member of the House are likewise suspended for the said period, as well as the forfeiture of all his House Committee memberships. Teves was first slapped with a 60-day suspension over his continued absence despite an expired travel authority last March 22. In his speech before the sine die adjournment of the First Regular Session of the 19th Congress, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez stressed that ‘as the Representatives of the People, we must conduct ourselves with dignity at all times to be worthy of the trust and confidence bestowed upon us by our people.’ He said pursuant to the code of conduct, a member shall act at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House, and shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of the rules of the House and the rules of the committees. ‘I would like to reiterate that as members of this house, we must be accountable to the people at all times and perform our legislative mandates with utmost competence, efficiency, effectiveness, integrity and fidelity to the people’s welfare. Nothing less. Let this be a reminder to all of us,’ he said. He said he would not allow anyone to tarnish the integrity of Congress. ‘Walang personalan dito. Ginagawa lamang natin ang sinumpaan nating tungkulin at pangako sa sambayanan (There’s nothing personal here. We are just doing our sworn duties and keeping our promises to the people),’ he added. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA – The bill seeking to establish the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) is now awaiting the signature of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. This comes after the House of Representatives formally adopted the Senate’s version of the MIF bill during the plenary session on Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, House committee on banks and financial intermediaries chair Irwin Tieng said the House contingent to the bicameral conference committee agreed to accept the provisions under Senate Bill 2020. ‘On behalf of the Congress panel, we accept the Senate version in principle, subject to style,’ Tieng said. The bill seeks to establish the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), which “shall act as the sole vehicle for the purpose of mobilizing and utilizing the MIF for investments in transactions in order to generate optimal returns on investments (ROIs).” Certified as “urgent” by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the MIF is a sovereign wealth fund that will be used to invest in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, commercial real estate and infrastructure projects. The fund is expected to generate income for the government and help promote economic development. Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the adoption of the Senate version would allow the Executive to start crafting the rules and regulations of the proposed law. Salceda reiterated that the proposed MIF will not touch the funds of the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), or Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF). The Senate version, he said, also retained most of the accountability and transparency safeguards established by the House. “To refine the implementation, I raised some points during our pre-bicameral conference meeting that I hope can be addressed by the Executive,” he said. He suggested some possible tweaks that can be done during the drafting of the implementing rules and regulations, such as the Civil Service Commission regulating MIF employees, the listing of the MIF in the stock market, and allowing multilateral financing institutions like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to be strategic partners with a stake in the founding of the MIF. “I congratulate House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Chairman Irwin Tieng, and our Senate counterparts. I will continue to offer what I can by way of prior experience and subject matter expertise in the drafting of the IRR,” he said. Under the bill, the MIC shall have its principle place of business in Metro Manila, but may maintain branches and agencies in other areas within and outside the country. It shall have an authorized capital stock of PHP500 billion, with common shares of PHP3.75 billion, to be subscribed by the national government, its agencies or instrumentalities, including government-owned and controlled corporations or government financial institutions except Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office. Landbank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, and the national government will each contribute PHP50 billion to the fund. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities here have arrested seven suspects and seized some PHP4.1 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in this southern port city, a top police official said Wednesday. Col. Alexander Lorenzo, Zamboanga City Police Office director, identified the arrested suspects as Atara Sakilan Wahab, 60, motorboat skipper; Jester Ares, 22; Nabil Abdurasad, 50; Eldisen Ahalil, 29; Omar Mahmor, 24; Mhamor Baddon, 48; and Khay Atara, 19. Lorenzo said the group was blocked with the smuggled shipment around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday near Manalipa, an island village in this city. Operatives of the 2nd Zamboanga City Mobile Force Company (2ZCMFC) together with Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel were on seaborne patrol when they chanced upon a motorboat marked ‘Dickies’ in the waters off Manalipa. The motorboat, which is manned by a seven-man crew, was found loaded with 119 master cases of assorted cigarettes worth PHP4.1 million. Lorenzo said the crew failed to present documents of the cigarettes they were transporting from Jolo, Sulu bound for Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur. He said the arrested suspects and their contraband were taken to the 2ZCMFC headquarters for inspection and inventory before their turnover to the BOC for proper disposition. The confiscation of smuggled cigarettes Tuesday was the fourth here for this month. On May 5, police and BOC operatives arrested two suspects and seized PHP4.4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in the waters of coastal Recodo village. On May 10, police arrested a suspect while some PHP3.9 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized in Barangay Maasin. A day after, authorities collared a suspect and confiscated more than PHP4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in Barangay Calarian. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday said it has ordered the conduct of summary deportation against a Korean fugitive. In a statement, the BI said it has arrested 37-year-old Kim Seonjeong for being charged with “fraud, inflicting physical injury, and drunken driving.” Besides the multiple charges, Kim was also found to be a felon. “Immigration supervisors alerted the BCIU (border control and intelligence unit) agents after the BI officer who processed the Korean passenger’s name registered a positive hit in the Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) database,” the BI said. BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco then instructed the immediate deportation procedure against Kim so he could face trial in his country. As of now, Kim is still in the custody of immigration authorities in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City while waiting for the official deportation. The BI arrested the Korean national following his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam on May 27. Authorities noted that his presented passport was reported to be a “stolen and lost travel document,” according to Interpol. Earlier this week, the BI also recovered another Korean fugitive, charged with murder, after he went missing in detention facility in Taguig. During the BI’s recovery operation, two other Korean nationals protecting the fugitive were also arrested. Police authorities have seized over PHP10 million worth of methamphetamine from the three suspects. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual said on Wednesday investments of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippines Corporation (SEMPHIL) in the country has surpassed USD25 billion. In his message during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of SEMPHIL complex building in Calamba, Laguna Wednesday, Pascual said the South Korean manufacturer’s investments in the Philippines has contributed to the domestic economy and the development of industries. He said SEMPHIL has shared USD80 million in exports and created jobs of nearly 7,000 as of January 2023. The company established its business in Calamba in July 1997 manufacturing multi-layer ceramic capacitors, tantalum capacitors, inductors and thick film chip resistors which are used in electronic gadgets. Its facility is located in the Calamba Premiere International Park-Special Economic Zone, which is home to 126 export manufacturing firms with aggregate investments amounting to PHP54 billion, exports of USD350 million, and employing 18,000 personnel as of March 2023. According to DTI, there are 244 South Korean locators in Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) zones across the country. Their total investments reached PHP90 billion, contributing USD130 million in export revenues and 40,000 people in their workforce as of January this year. ‘South Korea ranks among PEZA’s top five investing nations. With the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership taking into effect on June 2, I am confident that this standing may be enhanced. Surely, SEMPHIL and other investors can capitalize on the incentives offered by RCEP and our CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) Law,’ Pascual added. Meanwhile, the new complex building will serve as SEMPHIL’s office for communication and collaboration, training area for new and existing employees and a facility for its employees for their physical and mental well-being. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency