Author: malaysiang

BUTUAN: Two indigenous people (IP) leaders in Surigao del Sur have expressed support for the legislative measure at the House of Representatives that seeks to provide death and burial benefits for the IP Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs) in the country.

The House Bill (HB) 6713 was introduced by Rep. Edwin Olivares of the 1st District of Parañaque City in December last year.

It was approved by the Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples on Wednesday.

‘We welcome the approval of HB 6713 at the committee level, and we are hopeful for the passage of this measure into a law,’ said Datu Rico Maca, the IPMR of San Miguel, Surigao del Sur, in an interview on Thursday.

Maca was joined by Datu Jimmy Guinsod, the provincial IPMR of Surigao del Sur, and several IP leaders from other parts of the country during the committee deliberations of the measure at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

‘The IPMRs face difficult tasks, and often their lives are in danger, in protecting our anc
estral lands and communities,’ Maca pointed out.

He added that the original version of the measure only included the barangay-level IPMRs, however, revisions were later introduced to cover all of the IPMRs in the country, including the municipal and provincial levels.

‘The measure also adopted the suggestion made by the National Commission on Indigenous People to confer eligibility to the IPMRs in the country,’ Maca said.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: A teacher in Sweden has been suspended without pay after giving his students the task of planning a hypothetical terrorist attack as homework, local media reported Wednesday.

An investigation has also been launched into the move by the teacher, who works at a high school in the southern city of Jonkoping.

The following is an excerpt of the instructions given to the students.

‘You are a terrorist planning to make a political statement by releasing a chemical or biological agent on an unsuspecting Australian community. Your goal is to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across.’

‘You are aware that the chemical/biological agent you will be using only has a ‘fatal’ range of 200 meters (if air/waterborne).’

It then follows with a series of questions for the students, including: ‘What are the effects of this agent?’ ‘Where would you release it? ‘How would you release it?’ and ‘Who have you chosen to be your victims? — Explain why.’

The teacher’s action has provoked strong r
eactions within the municipality.

‘This is totally injudicious. We also have a high terror threat level in the country,’ Henrik Natt och Dag, director of education for secondary schools in Jonkoping municipality, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

‘We take what happened very seriously and will therefore also report the incident to the police,’ he added.

The principal at the high school has been in contact with the students and their guardians and has provided information about what has happened. School staff members have also been briefed on the matter.

In the grading criteria for the task, it is stated, among other things, that to get an A, the students must have understandably planned their act of terrorism and use their knowledge of terrorism. They must also present a realistic background and reason for the attack.

According to students the local broadcaster interviewed, the teacher said they could either complete the task or send him an email with a justification as to why it is inappropriate
Sourc
e: Philippines News Agency

MALASIQUI: The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) commended the Balay Silangan reformation facility of the province of Pangasinan situated in Burgos town that will cater to the municipalities and cities that have no reformation centers.

In a phone interview on Thursday, PDEA-Pangasinan Director Retchie Camacho said eight municipalities have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the provincial government of Pangasinan for the use of the reformation facility, which was inaugurated on Dec. 7.

It is the first provincial reformation facility in the Ilocos Region.

‘This will be a huge help to the municipalities that have no Balay Silangan and still drug-affected. They have been waiting for this for so long. Their clients or the street-level pushers will be enrolled at the Balay Silangan as this would pave the way to clear those affected barangays from drugs,’ he said.

The municipalities that have signed the MOA are Bani, Burgos, Binalonan, Dasol, Infanta, San Jacinto, San Nicolas, and Sual towns.

Camacho said the facility could accommodate up to 88 clients at a time in its air-conditioned rooms, with security provided by the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office and staff by the provincial government.

Only street-level pushers will be accommodated in the facility and not the high-value targets, he said, adding that they are awaiting the screened list from the Philippine National Police to finalize the first batch of clients.

Camacho explained that for one month, surenderers would have to stay at the Balay Silangan for the in-house program.

Before they graduate from the program, their progress will be monitored outside the center for two consecutive months.

The program includes a month-long mandatory stay at the center to take part in education, health, psychosocial, and physical activities. The remaining two months will be spent on the livelihood or employment education phase.

Balay Silangan is a requirement for every local government unit (LGU) in the country to attain a drug-cleared status.

The
other Balay Silangan facilities are operating in San Carlos City and the towns of Sison, Basista, Asingan, Umingan, San Fabian, Balungao, Manaoag, San Quintin, and Alaminos City.

Camacho said 1,157 out of 1,272 drug-affected barangays in the province have been drug-cleared.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The National Development Company (NDC), the investment arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is evaluating 18 projects to invest into.

NDC General Manager Anton Mauricio said Thursday that the state-owned enterprise is eyeing to invest around PHP30.72 billion for these projects.

These projects that the NDC is eyeing to venture into include a vaccine manufacturing plant, an animal vaccine production, a medical waste disposal, the Philippine e-Commerce Platform, the Manila HealthTek, Inc., a peak off-grid solution, a solar hybrid, a waste-to-energy facility, a biowaste-to-organic fertilizer, a replication of the Davao Thermo Biotech Corp. (DTBC) to other local government units, a soil conditioner, a refrigerated warehouse, the One DTI building, an equity investment in Kacific, the purchase of broadband capacity, the NDC Industrial Estate (NDCIE), bamboo projects and a gamma irradiation facility.

‘There are over a hundred projects but this is the shortlist. They are in varying stages of e
valuation, approval and release,’ Mauricio said in a Viber message.

Among the projects, the largest investment requirements are for the One DTI building, which the NDC is looking into pouring in PHP18.5 billion; peak off-grid solution at PHP7.5 billion; and the purchase of block broadband bandwidth to provide connectivity to unserved and underserved communities at PHP1.1 billion.

Mauricio said the NDC is planning to conduct a fundraising to meet the required investments for the projects in the pipeline.

When investing, the NDC partners with a co-investor as the state-owned enterprise cannot own a majority stake in a project.

He said that as of September 2023, the state-owned enterprise has PHP8.15 billion. These investments helped in generating 58,402 jobs in the country.

The biggest shares of the NDC’s investment were in renewable energy at 37 percent, followed by meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition (MICE) at 18 percent; infrastructure at 17 percent; and industrial estate development at 16
percent.

The DTI’s investment arm also poured in capital in innovation, mining, and food and agriculture.

‘We are transforming NDC into a niche investment platform that specializes in filling (the) gaps that the Philippines urgently needs to be filled,’ Mauricio said.

He said the NDC is investing in projects that are pioneering, developmental, sustainable, inclusive and innovative.

‘Looking ahead at 2024, the NDC will continue to identify gaps where it can make its modest contributions to national development,’ he added.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The traslacion or grand procession of the iconic image of the Black Nazarene is likely to make a return early next year.

In an advisory Thursday, the Quiapo Church said a walk-through of the route of the “Traslacion” would be held on Saturday.

“We are inviting you on December 16, at 5 am, at the Quirino Grandstand for the walk through of the route of the procession of the traslacion, which is part of our preparations for the celebration of Nazareno 2024,” it said.

The activity will include officials of the church, government agencies, and other stakeholders in the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 9, 2024.

The procession is held annually, where hundreds of thousands of devotees join the activity starting at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park and ending at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church in Quezon Blvd.

In 2021, the grand procession was shelved due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.

For this year, the Quiapo Church introduced the “Walk of Faith” procession

The las
t traslacion (transfer or moving) was held in January 2020, two months before the Duterte administration declared a nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is being considered in the inclusion in the health packages of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

In an interview on Thursday, Merlyn Ybañez, PhilHealth Northern Mindanao information officer, said the matter is being discussed thoroughly by PhilHealth and Department of Health (DOH) officials.

“This is going to be part of the ‘enhanced Konsulta program,’ there is no (order for implementation) yet but it’s already in the discussion (between PhilHealth and DOH),” she said.

PhilHealth’s current Konsulta program allows members to avail of laboratory testing and doctor consultation for free which are provided by accredited hospitals and clinics.

The enhanced Konsulta program will include HIV testing and a referral system for treatment options managed by the DOH.

A report by DOH ranked the Northern Mindanao region as ninth in the country with people living with HIV (PLHIVs) with an estimated population of 5,100 last year.

Region 10’s
PLHIV population comprised around 3 percent of the estimated nationwide figures of 164,400.

Dr. Roland Sardan, DOH HIV Disease Prevention and Control Bureau program expert, said an additional 26,700 PLHIVs were recorded in 2023.

He said the majority of newly recorded PLHIVs were males who have sex with males, comprising 89 percent, while females accounted for around 8 percent.

He also noted that PLHIVs aged 15 to 24 years old make up 47 percent of the newly recorded HIV infections.
Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The television program “Dayaw” being hosted by Senate Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and co-produced by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) will discuss the wealth of epics, a series of long narrative verses that are sung and chanted and are social practices that are intricately woven into the everyday life of Filipino indigenous peoples.

Legarda announced that the first episode that premiered on Thursday over ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) and ANC Facebook page, will have replays on Saturdays at 11 a.m.; Sundays at 6:30 a.m.; Mondays at 2:30 a.m.; Tuesdays at 1 a.m.; Wednesdays at 3:30 a.m.; and Thursdays at 4:30 a.m.

‘By focusing on the epics, we can illustrate the vibrant lifeworld of our indigenous communities from different parts of the archipelago. We will be able to see how oral literature is an embodiment of the values and virtues that shape the indigenous knowledge systems and practices,’ she said in a news release.

The lawmaker urged that these episodes be harnessed as resource
materials for basic education, specifically for junior and senior high school students.

Museum visitors, Legarda said, may also also watch so they can have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the ways of life of Filipino ancestors.

For the 13th season, ‘Dayaw’ will tackle the Hudhud of the Ifugao, the Ulahingan of the Erumanen ne Menuvu, the Hinilawod of the Panay Bukidnon, the Guinamanan of the Subanen, and the Tudbulol of the Tboli.

‘The discussion of these particular epics shall make us realize that even before the archipelago was colonized, our ancestors were remarkable storytellers,’ Legarda said.

‘Until today, they still rely on these narratives to guide their communities in times of crisis, to celebrate their victories as a people, and to teach the younger generation about pakikipagkapwa (camaraderie), about putting the welfare of the community above anything else,’ she added.

Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Culture and the Arts, has been pushing for the creation of a Depa
rtment of Culture which would institutionalize programs and activities that promote cultural heritage and national identity.
Source: Philippines News Agency