Category: General

ANKARA: The 2024 NBA All-Star Game starters have been announced as LeBron James, who makes history with 20th All-Star selection, will captain the West squad while Giannis Antetokounmpo will lead the East squad in February, NBA confirmed.

The NBA will return to the East vs. West format in next month’s All-Star Game.

Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder) are the Western Conference starters as the team will be captained by Los Angeles Lakers forward James.

James, who is an All-Star starter for the 20th straight year, beat former NBA champion and Hall of Fame Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was selected 19 times in history.

Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), and Damian Lillard (Milwaukee Bucks) are the Eastern Conference starters.

The East will be captained by Bucks’ Greek superstar Antetokounmpo.

The All-Star Game reserves for both teams will b
e revealed on Feb. 1 as seven players will be named in each conference.

The 73rd NBA All-Star Game will be played at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Feb. 18.

Source: Philippines News Agency

DUMAGUETE: Government agencies, utility firms, and other stakeholders have been directed to include rehabilitation and post-El Niño interventions in their respective mitigation and response plans as Negros Oriental braces for an escalation of the ongoing dry spell in the province.

‘We will come up with a comprehensive provincial action plan aligned with the national action plan but in a localized setting with some innovations,’ Adrian Sedillo, executive director of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), said in an interview Friday.

‘Hopefully, the agencies have included rehabilitation in their current action plans considering not just the immediate effects but also post-El Niño consequences.’

Sedillo said Governor Manuel Sagarbarria has given the go-signal to convene the PDDRM Council in the first week of February to discuss the contingency plans for smooth and coordinated interventions.

The PDDRMC, chaired by the governor, comprises key government offices and agencies and
other partner stakeholders that formulate a comprehensive and integrated disaster risk reduction plan while the PDRRMO implements the plan.

Sedillo said with the onset of El Niño that has triggered a dry spell in Negros Oriental, the PDRRMC would convene to consolidate the individual contingency plans of each agency, as well as other partners, such as water and power utilities.

Some of the key agencies that have already mapped out their respective mitigation and response action plans are the Department of Agriculture, the National Irrigation Administration, and the National Food Authority.

Sedillo highlighted the need to include in the contingency plan the rehabilitation and other post-El Niño programs to ensure that farmers and those affected by the dry spell could recoup their losses.

The current dry spell is forecast to extend through the second quarter of this year and there is a possibility of a drought owing to the little rainfall in the province, as announced by the weather bureau here.

The govern
or is expected to issue an executive order creating the Provincial Task Force El Niño in response to the executive order of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., Sedillo said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila was formally declared as an important cultural property (ICP) by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) on Saturday.

Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula and NMP director general Jeremy Barns led the unveiling of the ICP marker.

‘Pope Pius XII Catholic Center is now an important cultural property of our country. Let us help one another in preserving and sustaining it,’ Advincula said in a news article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines website.

The ceremony was witnessed by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles Brown and more than 80 bishops who are holding their 127th plenary assembly at the six-decade old venue.

The center, located along United Nations Avenue in Paco District, was inaugurated by Cardinal Rufino Santos on Aug. 26, 1964.

Santos was the 29th Archbishop of Manila from 1953 until his death in 1973 and was the first Filipino elevated to the rank of cardinal.

‘As Pope Pius XII Catholic
Center celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, we would like to pursue its original vision and even intensify its core purpose as an evangelization center,’ Advincula added.

The Archdiocese of Manila intends to fully utilize its facilities and programs in the service of a synodal Church on a mission and for the promotion of the new evangelization, according to Advincula.

‘We would like to invite everyone to join us in our dream to make Pius XII Catholic Center a home and a hub for synodality and solidarity, for walking together and growing in faith together,’ he said.

An ICP is an establishment that holds ‘exceptional cultural, artistic, and historical significance to the Philippines.’

It may receive government funding for its protection, conservation and restoration.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Introducing amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution is crucial in boosting investors’ confidence in the country, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said on Saturday.

Salceda said he agrees with Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan that ‘unnecessary restrictions’ in the constitution should be eliminated to entice more foreign investors.

During the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, Salceda said constitutional reforms will help spur economic growth.

‘I agree with Balisacan that faster Cha-cha (Charter change) is better for investors’ certainty,’ the chairperson of the House Committee on Ways and Means said.

‘The faster the legislators can complete the process of Charter Change, the better it will be for the economy.’

Salceda stressed that under the House proposals, the economic provisions of the constitution will be expanded to attract more foreign investments.

He said there is a ‘zero chance’ that foreign investors will cease their operations in the country
, once the constitutional reforms have been made.

‘One, we commit to expanding, not restricting the scope of the economy that is open to foreign investment. Two, we commit to making investing in the Philippine easier and not harder so we will impose no new regulatory restriction in areas that are already open,’ Salceda said.

Salceda added that House lawmakers would make sure that the proposed economic revisions would not cause uncertainty among investors.

‘Unlike other reforms where there is a rationalization of existing incentives or benefits, this one will not take away any existing investors’ rights or privileges. This will expand them,’ he said.

In a Palace press briefing on Friday, Balisacan expressed support for Cha-cha to give the country a better chance of attracting foreign investments.

Balisacan said constitutional restrictions on foreign investments are seen as ‘impediments’ to the country’s economic progress.

He also hoped that the Senate and the House of Representatives would have a ‘common
position’ on Cha-cha.

Steady growth

Meanwhile, Salceda said the country has good prospects in attaining 6.5 to 7.5 percent full-year gross domestic product growth rate this year because of its strong agriculture, industry and services sectors which fuel growth.

‘Mukhang services pa rin po kasi mayroon pa tayong comparative advantage lalung-lalo na sa mga BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), call centers… ay hindi pa po talaga nalalampasan tayo ng mga kalaban natin, kakumpetensiya natin (The services sector is still our comparative advantage, especially in BPO, call centers. We’re unbeatable there),’ Salceda said.

In terms of agriculture, Salceda said prospects are also looking up because of Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who has a strong grasp of the industry.

‘Lalung-lalo na ‘pag sa agriculture galing ang growth, may ginhawa po iyan pagdating sa poverty dahil nga po ang poverty natin, karamihan ay dahil po mataas ang presyo ng kinakain at ang lowest 30 percent ng ating ekonomiya. Ang kanila pong kin
akain ay 60 percent ay galing po sa agriculture (When growth is rooted in agriculture, progress will follow because poverty usually starts when the prices of food are high. Sixty percent of food consumption comes from agriculture),’ Salceda pointed out.

Source: Philippines News Agency

ANKARA: Australian Open men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1, was eliminated in the semifinals on Friday after a loss to Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

Fourth seed Sinner, 22, won over Serbian superstar and 10-time Australian Open champion Djokovic with sets of 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena to reach his first Grand Slam final.

Sinner also became the first Italian player to reach an Australian Open singles final.

In the 2024 Australian Open men’s final on Sunday, Sinner will face either Russia’s Daniil Medvedev or Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is rolling out PHP500 million in cash aid, livelihood packages, scholarships, and several other government programs to about 80,000 people in the province of Zambales on Saturday and Sunday.

House of Representatives Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, who represented the President during the event, said the Marcos administration is committed to the unhampered delivery of public services to the people through the two-day BPSF event at the People’s Plaza in Botolan, Zambales.

‘Ipapaabot natin ang pagmamahal ng ating Pangulong Bongbong Marcos sa mga Zambaleños sa pamamagitan ng Serbisyo Caravan na ito. Dadalhin namin ang serbisyo ng pamahalaan sa inyo, tulad ng pangako ng ating mahal na Pangulo (We will bring the love of President Marcos to the Zambaleños through this Service Caravan. We will bring the government services to you, as our beloved president has promised),’ Romualdez said in his keynote speech.

‘When we started the Se
rbisyo Fair last year, we never imagined that it would be a resounding success like what we’ve seen in the provinces we’ve visited. Kaya patuloy natin itong gagawin sa mga susunod na buwan dahil nakikita natin ang direktang benepisyo nito sa mga mamamayan (That’s why we will continue the program in the coming months because we see its direct benefits to the people).’

The Zambales BPSF is the 10th installment of the Serbisyo Caravan, aimed at covering all 82 provinces nationwide, and the first one in Central Luzon.

With 46 participating national government agencies, more than 170 services are being offered to an estimated 80,000 beneficiaries during the two-day festival of services.

A total of PHP500 million worth of programs and services have been brought to the province, including PHP154 million in cash assistance.

Among the services being offered is a province-wide payout of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) in all 13 municipal
ities, which is expected to provide 26,000 beneficiaries with PHP52 million in cash aid.

Other province-wide activities are various scholarship programs of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and livelihood assistance for various sectors in pre-identified eligible clients across Zambales under the programs of the Department of Labor and Employment.

On the first night of the Serbisyo Fair, a Pasasalamat Concert will also be held at the Zambales Sports Complex in Iba, Zambales with free admission.

The Pasasalamat Concert on Saturday night is expected to draw at least 35,000 people.

Source: Philippines News Agency

DUMAGUETE: The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) released Saturday PHP4.7 million in financial assistance to 960 beneficiaries from this Negros Oriental provincial capital under the agency’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay Sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.

The payout, the first for Negros Oriental this year, was held at the Dumaguete City National High School gymnasium.

The allocation came from the office of with Sen. Bong Revilla Jr., who attended the event, was downloaded to the DOLE-Central Visayas and forwarded to the local DOLE.

Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo promised to bring in as much government aid as possible for qualified city residents.

Rubie Cempron, focal person of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program here, said in an interview that the payout was for beneficiaries who worked for 10 days in December last year, doing menial jobs such as cleaning the streets and canals.

Cempron said the beneficiaries were evaluated by village officials, who forwa
rded the final list to the local government unit requesting financial assistance.

Even senior citizens can apply for TUPAD enrollment provided they are given a doctor’s certificate that they are fit to work, she added.

TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers for a minimum period of 10 days and a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work.

Source: Philippines News Agency