Category: General

MANILA: The Philippine delegation will promote the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 15 to 19.

The Philippines would use the global forum as a platform to pitch the country as an investment hub and make known the sovereign wealth fund, which can contribute significantly to economic growth and job creation.

‘We are committed to leveraging this international platform to escalate the effort of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to promote the Philippines as an attractive and secure investment destination, ultimately benefitting the Filipino people with more jobs and business opportunities,’ House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez said in a statement on Monday.

Romualdez said he would highlight crucial legislative reforms and ongoing initiatives under the Marcos administration to improve the business climate and position the Philippines as an attractive destination for foreign investments.

Apar
t from attending the various sessions of the WEF, Romualdez is expected to have bilateral meetings with world and business leaders.

‘We are confident that our engagement with some of the world’s top business leaders and political leaders would generate significant interest and recognition of our Maharlika Investment Fund as a compelling platform for direct foreign investments,” he said.

He said he hopes to learn the best practices of the world’s leading sovereign wealth funds and utilize valuable inputs to ensure the growth and success of the MIF.

The MIF is the country’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund that will optimize national funds by generating returns to support the administration’s economic goals.

It is in line with the Marcos administration’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda for poverty reduction and Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028 for deep economic and social transformation.

The Fund is designed to catalyze economic development and accelerate the country’s growth by optimizing the use of
government financial assets and promoting intergenerational management.

It will be invested in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and high-impact infrastructure projects, and projects that contribute to the attainment of sustainable development.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The police officer who had been charged with firing his handgun during a confrontation with another customer in a bar in Quezon City last November has been dismissed from the service, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda said on Monday.

In a press briefing at Camp Crame, Quezon City, Acorda said he has already signed Lt. Col. Mark Julio Abong’s dismissal order last Dec. 18 in relation to a hit-and-run case in August 2022.

‘It is his right to appeal but based on the provisions of existing policies, the decision is executory, meaning while he may render his appeal or submit his appeal, the decision should stand. He is dismissed from the service. With regard to benefits if you are dismissed, you are not entitled to benefits,’ he said.

Abong was a member of the PNP under the Legal Service department who was arrested in November last year for firing his gun outside a Quezon City bar.

Abong grabbed a waiter by his necktie and argued with a customer outside the establishment in Bar
angay Laging Handa, according to the police report.

The establishment’s manager said Abong fired his handgun twice outside.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) earlier filed charges of illegal discharge of firearms, alarm and scandal, and violating the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act in relation to the Omnibus Election code, as well as physical injury and slander by deed against Abong.

Last November, the Department of the Interior and Local Government junked the appeal of Abong who has been ordered dismissed by the Quezon City People’s Law Enforcement Board for his involvement in the hit-and-run case.

Inventory of erring cops’ cases

In the same press briefing, Acorda ordered all regional directors to conduct an inventory of all case folders of erring police officers, following a report that some case folders at the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) went missing.

‘I am encouraging all other regions to review and check on their system or in their records if there are si
milar incidents. It’s sad to note that there are some other police officers that are involved in drugs, but what I want to emphasize is we are active in pursuing this internal cleansing and we are not letting up in running after them,’ he said.

Since NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez took over as NCRPO chief in July 2023, some 300 erring cops have been dismissed from the service.

Nartatez has ordered an investigation into the matter, focusing on the possibility that the errant cops are in cahoots with some police officers handling administrative matters in the NCRPO.

Following Nartatez’s revelation, Acorda said they are not discounting the possibility that the same modus also happened in other regional offices.

‘We are assuming that there are similar incidents in other regions. Those record holders should be held accountable because documents such as these are important and no document should be missing or even the entire case folders,’ he said.

Acorda also tasked regional directors to come up
with a system that comes with monitoring the transfer of documents from one person or office to another to come up with the best paper trail in worse case scenarios.

Source: Philippines News Agency

TACLOBAN CITY: The city government announced on Monday that flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) would be adding more flights from Manila and Cebu to Borongan starting July 3 this year.

The announcement was made following the signing of the memorandum of agreement last Friday between the city government and PAL.

Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda is hopeful that more airline passengers from and going to the province of Eastern Samar will book flights directly to Borongan City Airport.

‘We have to work hard to encourage passengers to book the Manila-Cebu-Borongan flight since we need to prove that we deserve that kind of additional flight,” Agda said.

The additional flight will operate until Oct. 23, 2024. The period between July and October is considered peak season in Eastern Samar due to local fiesta celebrations and surfing events.

A report from the local government showed that at least 11,399 passengers booked the Manila-Cebu-Borongan flights since the airline’s opening of the route on Dec. 19, 2022. Of th
e number, 7,439 of them had their bookings at the city government’s ticketing office.

PAL is the only airline company that is currently servicing Borongan City Airport. The airline firm has been offering two flights a week, every Monday and Friday, from Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Borongan City Airport via Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Agda also encouraged businessmen, particularly those who are engaged in the seafood industry, to deliver their cargo to Cebu and Metro Manila through PAL.

Earlier, 4Ps Partylist Rep. and House Minority Floor Leader Marcelino Libanan disclosed that the national government has allocated PHP200 million for the upgrading of Borongan Airport.

The improvement would also help encourage more commercial airline companies to offer flights to the province.

Before the operation of PAL in Borongan, airline passengers from the province were using the Tacloban Airport, which is accessible through four- to six-hour land travel.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. is planning to build more cold storage facilities at a food terminal in Taguig City to address overproduction and minimize post-harvest losses of agricultural products, particularly vegetables and other high-value crops.

In a news release on Monday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported that Tiu-Laurel had a briefing with officials of the Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI) in Taguig City.

The FTI is a government firm under the DA which is focused on food processing and distribution.

“Ang immediate problem na nakikita ko ay iyong (The immediate problem that I see is the) oversupply from time to time of tomatoes and cabbage,’ he said. ‘Kaya dapat magtayo tayo agad ng storage sa FTI. Ang direction ko (So, we need to establish a storage at FTI. My direction) is to build a network for chilled cold storage systems.’

Tiu-Laurel also instructed FTI officials to purchase excess produce of farmers and supply them to Kadiwa centers.

Last week, news reports showed
tons of cabbages were thrown off a ravine or left at side streets by farmers in Benguet as they are starting to rot before they could be sold to markets.

‘Kung may overproduction, kaysa itapon, bilhin na lang ng FTI, mailalagay pa natin iyan sa (If there is overproduction, instead of throwing them away, FTI buys them and places them in the) Kadiwa program,’ Tui-Laurel said.

The DA plans to strengthen the Kadiwa Program and to centralize all agriculture logistics management matters, including FTI, to the soon-to-be-formed Logistics Office of the department.

‘Plano kong ibalik sa FTI ang (I plan to bring back to FTI the) Kadiwa after two years,’ he added.

‘Lahat ng cold storage ng DA, ililipat ko lahat sa (I will transfer all DA’s cold storage to the) logistics office, which will conduct research and inventory of all facilities within the Philippines to ensure synchronization.”

Tiu-Laurel also plans to construct a chiller warehouse dedicated to vegetables and other high-value crops at a 1.3-hectare section
of the sprawling government property in Taguig City.

The facility will also be equipped with a processing plant and trading area, and will prioritize farmers’ produce for buffer stocking.

The project will cost PHP500 million and would require 12 months to complete.

He said half of the warehouse should be allocated to the coil system while the other half should be for the evaporator type.

‘The evaporator type is for short-term storage of high-value crops. Iyong (The) coil, because there is no circulating fan, moisture is kept within the storage, it will keep things fresh for a longer period,’ Tiu-Laurel said.

The country will unlikely to worry with post-harvest wastage with the two types of cold storage facilities under the plan — frozen and chilled, he added.

He said private companies construct new frozen storage systems every year due to their profitability.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BACOLOD: The Negros Occidental provincial government is planning to procure PHP10 million worth of anti-rabies shots this year to vaccinate 70 percent of the dog population in the province.

Dr. Placeda Lemana, head of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), said on Monday the amount would be enough to purchase more than 200,000 doses.

In 2023, the province recorded a vaccination rate of only 45.67 percent or over 123,826 dogs out of over 200,000 population caused by the limited vaccine supply.

‘Our vaccination record is low since we have not obtained vaccines from the national government. The vaccines were only those from the province and the local government units (LGUs),’ she told reporters.

Still, the 17 positive rabies cases in dogs recorded in Negros Occidental, of which one is from Bacolod City, last year are lower than the 19 cases recorded in 2022, based on the data of the Provincial Rabies Laboratory.

Lemana said the PVO conducts massive vaccinations in areas within a five-kilometer radius of t
he location of the reported positive case.

‘We conduct quick response. That’s why the positive cases have not spread,’ Lemana added.

Records of the Provincial Health Office showed suspected rabies in humans resulted in the death of two persons in La Castellana and one each in Isabela, Calatrava and Toboso.

‘We encourage the LGUs to purchase their own vaccines. Our target this year is to reactivate the Provincial Rabies Coordinating Council. In case we are given the budget to purchase, we can maximize the vaccination program. We need to reach 70 percent of the dog population for herd immunity,’ Lemana said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: More than PHP11 billion will be used to establish more specialty centers nationwide this year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Monday.

In a video message posted on social media, the President said that as of December 2023, the government has already established a total of 131 specialty centers and PHP11.12 billion has been allocated to establish more centers for this year.

‘Noong Aug. 24, 2023, pinirmahan ko ang Republic Act No. 11959 known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act. Ito’y mga ating specialty centers, specialty hospitals sa iba’t ibang lugar (On Aug. 24, 2023, I signed Republic Act No. 11959 known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act. These are our specialty centers, specialty hospitals in different areas),’ Marcos said.

Under the law, the Department of Health (DOH) is designated to establish specialty centers in its hospitals in every region and in state-controlled specialty hospitals, prioritizing cancer care, cardiovascular care, lung care, renal care and kidney transplant
, brain and spine care, trauma care and burn care.

The centers specialize in orthopedic care, physical rehabilitation medicine, infectious disease and tropical medicine, toxicology, mental health, geriatric care, neonatal care, dermatology, eye care, and ear, nose and throat care.

For the Doctors to the Barangays program, the President said 91 percent of municipalities already have medical doctors assigned to look after the health of residents.

‘Ang programang ito ay in-expand to 204 out of 218 municipalities naman. Ang katumbas niyan ay 91 percent na ng municipalities ay masasabi nating may nag-aalaga na doctor (This program has been expanded to 204 out of 218 municipalities. This is equivalent to 91 percent of the municipalities that already have doctors),’ Marcos said.

‘Kaya’t napaka importante nito, patuloy pa itong programang ito para naman masabi natin na talaga nating binabantayan ang kalusugan ng ating mga mamamayan (This is very important, this program will continue so that we can say that we are
really looking after the health of our citizens),’ he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is ready to assist commuters who might be affected by the nationwide protest of some transport groups against the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP).

In a Palace press briefing on Monday, MMDA acting chair Romando Artes said while the two groups have not announced a “tigil pasada” (transport strike), the situation will be monitored as early as 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

‘And in case there is a disruption in the public transportation system, we will augment; we are ready,’ Artes said.

Local government units (LGU) in the National Capital Region (NCR), he said, have also been notified to be prepared.

‘The MMDA itself is preparing for any eventuality tomorrow,’ he said.

The MMDA, LGUs, and other government agencies in past transport strikes have deployed “libreng sakay” (free ride) vehicles in affected routes as part of the government’s response.

On Sunday, transport group Manibela announced a protest march towards Mendiola near Ma
lacañang to protest the PUVMP.

The group said around 10,000 to 15,000 jeepney drivers and operators will participate in the protest set for Tuesday.

Another transport group PISTON also announced they will hold a marching rally towards the Supreme Court on the same day with the hope of expediting the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the PUVMP.

The Manila City government also said it is ready to provide free rides to affected commuters.

‘The Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB), together with Manila Police District (MPD), will be monitoring the various routes and provide ‘Libreng Sakay’ for commuters for the duration of the said protest,’ Princess Abante, spokesperson of Mayor Honey Lacuna said in a statement Monday.

Maximum tolerance

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it would enforce maximum tolerance to those joining the protest.

In a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City, PNP chief Gen. Benjamin
Acorda Jr. said protesters are free to express their grievances as long as they are not sowing violence or disrupting regular activities in their respective places.

Acorda said the PNP is also ready to provide free rides to affected commuters.

He added that the PNP has not monitored any security threats to the nationwide transport protest.

Source: Philippines News Agency