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July 25, 2023 2:30 PM

Some netizens find the hobby a waste of time, while others are vouching for its therapeutic effects.

July 25, 2023 2:29 PM

Some relatives attending the hearing broke down in tears after the ruling.

July 25, 2023 2:28 PM

Compared to its G-7 peers, Japan’s emissions-cutting trajectory strays the furthest from its net-zero goals.

A LEADER of a progressive national democratic mass organization of teachers lamented the failure of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to mention raising the pay of public school teachers in his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) last Monday, July, 24, 2023, despite it being a promise he made during his election campaign last year.

Antonia Maamo Lim, president of Alliance of Concerned Teachers in Central Visayas (ACT 7), expressed her dissatisfaction with Marcos' silence on the vital issue of improving the working conditions of the public school teachers in the Philippines.

Despite this being a campaign promise made by Marcos during his presidential bid, the president had no plans to address the situations of the overworked and underpaid teachers, according to Lim.

"Sukwahi gyud sa iyahang gisaad sa mga teachers sa panahon pa sa election nga iyaha gyud tagaan og priority ang education. Nisaad pa gani to siya nga i-upgrade gyud niya, patas-an gyud niya ang mga sweldo sa teachers once mahimo siyang president. Pero karon ikaduha na niyang Sona, wala gyud siya maghisgot og increase sa sweldo sa teachers. Nadismaya gyud ang teachers," said Lim, who is also currently a Math high school teacher in Abellana National School in Cebu City.

(It is actually against what he promised to the teachers during the election that he will give priority to the education. He even promised to upgrade, increase the salaries of teachers once he becomes president. But now on his second Sona, he never mentioned an increase in teachers' salaries. The teachers are very disappointed).

Marcos said in a statement on March 18, 2022, that he would increase the salaries of teachers should he win in the presidential race.

He also said that he would create programs and reforms for teachers that would improve their standard of living and motivate them to provide their students the best possible care and instruction.(KJF, TPT)

IT WAS a busy week for President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Obviously celebrating the signing into law of the Maharlika investment fund last July 18, BBM gathered Cabinet, Palace and other high officials of the administration in full ceremony for the signing, which was

In 2020, a man in Kerala found a "red thread" floating in his bucket. Now, DiCaprio is talking about it.

(Berlin) - Russia's lower house of parliament has adopted a bill prohibiting collaboration with unregistered foreign nongovernmental organizations, and severely limiting civic space, Human Rights Watch said today. If approved by the parliament's upper house and signed by the president, the legislation will severely limit the right to freedom of association protected under international human rights law.

Under the

Japan is asking companies to reduce imports from the sanctioned country, the outlet has said 

Russian shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia declined by 15% to their lowest level in almost two years last month as importers sought to diversify supplies, Bloomberg reported last week, citing shipping data.

Soh Choon Wee last reported for national service duty in 1992. He returned to Singapore in 2021 on the advice of his mother because of Covid – and now faces six-and-a-half years in prison.

The Chinese-owned app says the new function gives users "another way to express themselves".

The results of the World Weather Attribution study paint a grim picture for the planet’s future unless more is done to phase out fossil fuels. ‘Tens of thousands of people will keep dying’, one scientist warned.

The annual Han Kuang exercise aims to test the island's defences in case of an attack from Beijing.

July 25, 2023 12:10 PM

A human head was found in the suspects' home.

Significant to severe threats to life and property are expected in areas under Wind Signal No. 4.

Hong Kong, July 25 (ANI): Large wargames between the USA, Australia and eleven partner nations kicked off on July 21, the largest ever in the history of Exercise Talisman Sabre. It was little surprise that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was not invited to participate, but China nonetheless played a central role in the exercise. Colonel Ben McLennan, Commander of the Australian Army's Combat Training Centre based in To

July 25, 2023 11:47 AM

Heavy rain expected across mountainous northern provinces in coming days, with landslides highly likely.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. assured Filipinos that the country is on track to attaining economic growth on Monday but remained tightlipped on ordinary Filipinos’ concerns about the quality of available jobs and low wages in his second State of the Nation Address, minority lawmakers said.

Several classes and government work have been suspended on Tuesday due to the inclement weather brought by Super Typhoon Egay.

THE Mandaue City Government’s plan to construct housing projects using its declared city-owned lots, including the Tipolo Residences, may be put on hold as questions have been raised about whether the City or the National Government owns the lots.

This came up during the City Council’s regular session on Monday, July 24, 2023, while it was discussing on the second reading the draft Ordinance 227-2023, “An ordinance declaring some identified city-owned lots as socialized housing sites intended for the underprivileged and homeless constituents of Mandaue City,” which is authored by Councilor Ernie Manatad, president of the Association of Barangay Councils.

The lots in question are located in Barangays Looc, Tipolo, Paknaan, Subangdaku, and Guizo, totaling 9.2 hectares, where there are more than 1,200 households, including those of informal settlers. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources declared these lots as timberlands (foreshore lands) in 1980, according to Councilor Joel Seno.

If the issue is not resolved, the ongoing construction of Tipolo Residences would be in jeopardy. It is the City’s housing project for the families displaced by fires that hit Sitios Basubas and Maharlika in Tipolo in 2019, and in Guizo in 2016.

Low-cost condos

The project, as planned, will comprise five low-cost condominiums jointly funded by the Mandaue City Government and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. The groundbreaking was held on May 7, 2022, for the first two buildings, while the groundbreaking for the other three was held on Nov. 25.

In January this year, Johnbee Biton, head of Mandaue’s Housing and Urban Development Office, said the first two buildings of the housing project are ready to be occupied by October.

Biton said the City is looking to house at least 700 informal settler families in the Tipolo Residences’ first two buildings.

Suggestion

Lawyer Benjamin Cabrido, the City’s consultant on the environment, suggested to the City to file a declaratory relief in court to determine the rightful owner of the lots before passing the ordinance. A declaratory relief is a type of legal relief that allows a court to declare the rights of the parties involved in a dispute without actually ordering any specific action. This type of relief is often sought when there is uncertainty about the legal rights of the parties, and it can be helpful in resolving disputes before they escalate.

Councilor Joel Seno agreed with Cabrido’s suggestion.

“I believe we should put the horse before the cart because we cannot move forward if the cart is before the horse. That’s just very basic because we are trying to weigh everything so as to avoid any legal intricacies later on in the future,” said Seno.

“What is several months to be wasted, not wasted but several months to determine whether or not who has the better right to these areas rather than risking everybody’s neck,” he added.

Under Section 2, Article 12 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the state owns all lands and natural resources of the public domain.

City’s authority

Manatad said the authority over the lots was already transferred to the Mandaue City Government pursuant to Republic Act 5519, an Act Creating the City of Mandaue, in 1969.

“That is why Mandaue City is always insistent that the classification in 1980 will no longer apply to those lands [that had] already [been] ceded to our City as instituted in our City Charter, and reclassified as alienable and disposable lands, subject, however, to other laws and regulations pertaining to existing mangrove forest areas,” he said.

Manatad said he is open to the suggestion of securing a declaratory relief judgment to finally affirm Mandaue’s authority over the lots, but he admitted that this might stall the ordinance’s implementation.

He said the City Council will discuss the ordinance with the executive department before making any move.

THE plan of the Mandaue City Government to implement housing projects in city-owned lots may be put on hold as questions are raised regarding who has jurisdiction over the parcels in question: the city or the national government.

Tensions arose when the Mandaue City Council discussed during its regular session on Monday, July 24, 2023, the draft ordinance no. 227-2023, entitled "An Ordinance declaring some identified city-owned lots as socialized housing sites intended for the underprivileged and homeless constituents of Mandaue City," which is due for second reading.

The lots in question measuring 9.2 hectares, which are located in Barangays Looc, Tipolo (including the Tipolo Residences), Paknaan, Subangdaku, and Guizo and are occupied by over 1,200 households, have been declared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as timberlands (foreshorelands).

Under Section 2 Article 12 of the Regalian Doctrine of the Philippine Constitution, the state is declared the rightful owner of all lands and natural resources of the public domain, which might hinder the implementation of the city ordinance.

Lawyer Benjamin Cabrido, the consultant on environment, suggested during the session that the city should proceed in filing a declaratory relief to court to determine the rightful owner of the lots before implementing the ordinance, which was seconded by City Councilor Joel Seno.

"I believe we should put the horse before the cart because we cannot move forward if the cart is before the horse. That's just very basic because we are trying to weigh everything so as to avoid any legal intricacies later on in the future," said Seno. (HIC)