Category: General

MANILA: The government is in the process of acquiring tools to combat crimes on financial technology, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said on Thursday.

‘On the capacity of the Philippine government, we are acquiring tools that will be able to decouple, kasi (because) at the end of the day fintech [financial technology] crimes generally, so for you to go into fintech crimes, there are specific tools,’ CICC deputy executive director Assistant Secretary Mary Rose Magsaysay said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview aired over People’s Television.

She disclosed that by next week the country would have the capacity to decouple or identify where the money went or came from even when data are already mixed up in an exchange.

Nonetheless, she said the CICC is capable to address breaches and hacking incidents.

‘We get it in 30 minutes actually, we’re just unable to update. As I’ve said, we are 24/7, 365, when we get it in the middle of the night, we pass it on to our table analysts and
everybody is usually on top of things,’ Magsaysay said.

She noted that all government websites around the world are being hacked full-time and big time.

‘Because it’s cheaper to do that, than to do an actual crime itself, to go to the agency para nakawan (for robbery) or something,’ she added.

Last month, the Philippine National Police – Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) reported that about 624 online scam cases have been reported.

To safeguard everyone from such cases, the PNP-ACG has established more regional and provincial offices and cybercrime desks in police stations.

Source: Philippines News Agency

New York: Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Dung and Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN attended a ceremony to commemorate Merle Everlyn Ratner – a left-wing activist and a faithful American friend of Vietnam, which was solemnly held in New York on February 28 (local time).

Among about 200 people participating in the ceremony in person and online, there were advocacy groups supporting victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) in Vietnam and a large number of Vietnamese in the US.

Participants recalled memories of Ratner and reviewed the life, career and contributions that she made to the struggle for peace, social equality and the rights of workers in the US and many other countries, especially her love and dedication to the country and people of Vietnam.

Ambassador Dung expressed condolences for the passing of Ratner. He affirmed that the country and people of Vietnam always remember and appreciate her warm sentiments and contributions to the the struggle for na
tional liberation, national unification and the development and integration of Vietnam, as well as the efforts to find justice for AO victims. The ambassador emphasised that the thoughts and activities as well as dedications of Ratner have become a valuable legacy, a source of inspiration and encouragement for her friends and comrades.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Giang said that Ratner’s passing is a great loss to not only Vietnam and the Vietnam-US relations but also to peace lovers and left-wing and progressive people in the US. The greatest legacy that Ratner left behind is the spirit of optimism, belief in the victory of peace and justice as well as the bright future of Vietnam and of working people around the world.

Born in 1956 in New York City, Ratner had a special love for Vietnam. She took to the streets to protest against the Vietnam War when she was 13 years old and became famous for hanging anti-war slogans on the Statue of Liberty.

Ratner actively participated in protests against the US war in Vietn
am since the late 1960s, the anti-imperialism movement in the 1970s and 1980s, and anti-racism campaigns in America today.

She was a co-founder and coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign in the New York area.

Ratner passed away in an accident in New York on February 5 evening./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

CAGAYAN: The Northern Mindanao Region on Thursday led the 5th Philippine Silk Summit that opened new networks in the silk industry with investment potential.

One of the main developments was the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI), the Department of Tourism (DOT), and the local government of Villanueva in Misamis Oriental for the Tourism Development Plan in sericulture.

Dr. Romela Ratilla, director of the Department of Science and Technology-10, said additional filature machines will be opened on March 2 in Villanueva town to encourage farmers to engage in sericulture.

DOT-10 Director Marie Elaine Unchuan said the MOA is an addition to the agency’s tourism circuit in Misamis Oriental.

“It will not only extend PTRI (programs) but also to beneficiary farmers, and we aim to make sericulture farm part of farm tourism site as well,” she said.

Florentino Lamba III, one of the sericulture farmers in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, said he was inspired
by his father to farm mulberries, which were used to feed silkworms.

These silkworms will then create a cocoon used as raw material for silk.

“In 2018, I started with 500 hills of mulberries and now we are growing over 1,000 hills,” he said.

Lamba said that PTRI and DOST programs were essential in honing their skills and knowledge in sericulture.

Legislation

Meanwhile, Misamis Oriental 2nd District Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano said there is still time for Congress to institutionalize the program and technical support for sericulture farmers.

“We need a law to create a roadmap to improve the sericulture industry, there are no doubts that we can achieve it because the market is already here,” he said.

Emano said having a law that will provide support and intervention to the silk industry in the Philippines will keep the mission and objectives of PTRI and DOST in place as a priority.

Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, who attended the Thursday event, noted that last year’s summit was a significant step to
wards capitalizing on the global market of the silk industry.

She said the Philippines can achieve the production of 20.4 million tons of silk by 2031.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has earmarked more than PHP1.4 billion budget this year to fund projects aimed at easing impacts of the El Niño phenomenon in line with the directives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

During the Thursday’s media forum at the DSWD Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City, Special Assistant to the Secretary for Special Projects Maria Isabel Lanada said the allocated budget will be used to fund the DSWD’s initiatives dubbed as Local Adaptation to Water Access (Project Lawa) and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (Project BINHI).

Projects LAWA and BINHI are proactive interventions and sustainable solutions to combat hunger, alleviate poverty and decrease economic vulnerability of the communities by addressing food insecurity and water scarcity that are exacerbated by climate change and disasters.

”Yong project LAWA ay nagkaroon na tayo ng pilot implementation last year. Ito ay ginawa sa Davao de Oro sa
Mindanao, Ifugao sa Luzon, at Antique sa Visayas. Ito ay angkop na pamamaraan o teknolohiya upang magkaroon ng water availability sa mga communities (For project LAWA, we already had pilot implementation last year. This was done in Davao de Oro for Mindanao, Ifugao for Luzon and Antique for Visayas. This is an appropriate technology to have water availability in communities),’ Lanada said.

She said that during the pilot testing, it was noted that people do not only need water but also nutritious food to ensure their survival and productivity.

With the mandate of DSWD being on poverty alleviation and hunger mitigation, the agency is also focused on food security, she said, adding this is how the project BINHI came about.

Lanada said both projects will provide Learning and Development Sessions (LDS) on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR), and cash-for-work (CFW) and cash-for-training (CFT) to beneficiaries in priority areas exposed to the effects of El Niño.

The p
rojects are also science and data-driven and are based on the Climate Outlook of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA) with the most number of poor families based on Listahanan 3, she said.

‘The target beneficiaries include families of farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples and other climate and disaster-vulnerable families,’ she added.

Each beneficiary will be given the opportunity to participate in cash-for-training and cash-for-work (CFTW) activities for 10 to 25 days with the corresponding daily wage based on the prevailing Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rate (RDMWR) range of the project area.

Among the projects that the beneficiaries will partake in are related to water efficiency such as construction of small farm reservoirs (SFRs), repairs and rehabilitation of water harvesting facilities, repairs of multipurpose water infrastructures, diversification of water supplies, aqua or hydroponics, and aquaculture, a
mong others.

For food security, the beneficiaries will be participating in activities such as communal vegetable gardening; urban gardening; school-based and community-based vegetable gardening; community-based diversified integrated farming; planting of disaster resilient crops, fruit-bearing trees and mangroves; and vermicomposting.

For 2024, projects LAWA and BINHI will be implemented in 294 cities/municipalities in 58 provinces in 16 regions. Ten SFRs will be constructed in every participating city/municipality.

‘Sa ngayon ay may 290 nang nagagawang lawa (To date, we already have 290 SFRs) out of the more than 2,000 that will be constructed this year,’ Lanada said.

She recognized that people’s participation is one factor in the success of projects LAWA and BINHI.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Philippine low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) bested four other international carrier finalists in this year’s Routes Asia airline category.

The Routes Asia Awards honors the excellence in airport and destination marketing, and its airline category highlights collaborative efforts in successful routes.

“We are honored to receive this award. This reflects CEB’s unwavering commitment to providing our passengers with exceptional service, expanding our network connectivity, and making air travel more accessible and affordable,” CEB president Alexander Lao said in a statement Thursday.

The Gokongwei-led airline said they were recognized for their collaborative efforts with airports, local and international destination partners, and their initiatives to incorporate sustainable practices in operations.

Among these efforts are the resumption of CEB’s Clark hub and the launch of 15 destinations in 2023.

The carrier also adopted electric vehicles for ground operations and has incorporated sustainable avia
tion fuel (SAF) in some of its flights. It will also incorporate SAF into its commercial network by 2030.

Other finalists in the airline category were Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Air India.

Winners were revealed in Malaysia on Wednesday.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has expressed its support to the government’s 2032 nuclear power target by installing 1,200 megawatts capacity using small modular reactor technologies.

Meralco executive vice president and chief operating officer Ronnie Aperocho said in an interview early this week that the company aims to usher this target of the Department of Energy (DOE).

‘We’ll support the target, definitely, and hopefully we can help the Department of Energy to achieve that target,’ Aperocho told reporters.

In November 2023, Meralco and United States-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) signed a cooperative agreement to conduct a feasibility study for the potential deployment of micro-modular reactors (MMRs) in the country to provide affordable, reliable, and clean energy, especially to the underserved and off-grid areas.

This, as the Philippines and the US signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal, or the 123 Agreement, that allows the transfer of US-origin nuclear technologies to the Ph
ilippines.

‘Our partner USNC, they have already submitted the results of our feasibility study. We are reviewing it now, and they will be sending their delegations here few weeks from now to present to the big boss the results,’ Aperocho added.

This coming March 11 to 12, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo will be leading a Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to Manila, with a delegation that includes US companies.

The US Embassy here said their government is still finalizing the members of the delegation.

Aperocho also mentioned that the feasibility study includes the sites being considered for the MMR deployment.

For his part, Meralco chairman and chief executive officer Manuel Pangilinan said this kind of nuclear technology, which is smaller than the conventional ones, is ‘good for island provinces’ like Cebu and Bohol.

‘You don’t have to build a big plant, modular naman ito (this is modular),’ Pangilinan said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Quang Ninh: Participating in Clipper Race activities is among the key tourism promotion and investment attraction endeavours of the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh in 2024 and beyond, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Cao Tuong Huy has affirmed.

At a tourism promotion conference and Clipper Race award ceremony held in the province on February 28, Huy said that this year, Quang Ninh aims to welcome 17 million visitors, including approximately 3 million foreigners, an ambitious goal amidst domestic and international difficulties and challenges.

During the conference, local officials and businesses introduced participants to investment opportunities in the province’s industrial parks and myriad tourism projects.

In his speech, British Ambassador to Vietnam Iain Grant Frew held that the conference lays the groundwork for spurring future cooperation between Quang Ninh and the UK, positively contributing to the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership.

The province is increasingly asserting its lead
ing role nationwide in sustainable development orientation, especially regarding clean energy, offshore wind power, education, and digital transformation, he said, pledging readiness to facilitate UK enterprises in exploring investment collaboration chances in these fields.

Following the conference was the Clipper Race awards ceremony for outstanding teams in Race 7, Leg 5, with the Qingdao team standing at the top and followed by the Zhuhai and UNICEF squads./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency