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July 24, 2023 7:02 PM

Meeting headed by President Xi Jinping sought to expand domestic consumption and recalibrate property policies.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday said that the efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties through his foreign trips had generated P3.9 trillion in investment pledges. 

The state weather bureau on Monday afternoon reported that Typhoon Egay (international name: Doksuri) steadily intensified as it moves north northwestward at 10 kilometers per hour.

July 24, 2023 6:25 PM

There has been an increase in the number of hotspots, mostly in Kalimantan on Borneo island.

July 24, 2023 6:20 PM

Mr John Lee arrived here on Sunday for a three-day visit, the first stop of his week-long Asean trip.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday called on Congress to work on an updated “government procurement law” and “government auditing code”.

Some critics called out the authorities’ heavy handed move of calling off the festival, even as the Malaysian government doubled down on its ‘unwavering’ stance.

One year ago today, I stood here before you, setting forth the plans that we have to improve our economy, bring jobs to our people, improve the ease of doing business, recalibrate our educational system to adapt to the new economy, lower and rationalize energy costs, boost agricultural production, enhance healthcare, and continue social programs for the poor and the vulnerable. 

THE Cebu Provincial Government is now preparing for the different activities that will be lined up during its 454th founding anniversary in August.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the celebration will kick off on the first day of August with a joint flag-raising ceremony that will be attended by the different mayors and board members of the province.

On that occasion, the "Tabo sa Kapitolyo (Agro-Fair)" will also be opened, where farmers from the different localities will be given the chance to sell their produce at the Capitol compound.

The governor is scheduled to deliver her State of the Province Address (Sopa) on August 11, 2023 at the Capitol Social Hall.

The celebration will culminate with a Pasigarbo sa Sugbo Festival in Carcar City, southern Cebu on August 27.

In order to avoid vehicular traffic along the national highway, Garcia stated that they will use other routes other during the procession of contingents.(ANV, TPT)

By: Senator Francis N. Tolentino

OUR modern society advances based on state-of-the-art equipment, services, medicine, food, innovation, industry, agriculture and such other technologies that speed up and improve human life. This is the reason why most countries of the world, like privately owned businesses and companies earmark a great deal of resources – financial, human, material – for research and development. Human life and the progress of communities rely heavily on the discoveries that result from research, and how these discoveries are put to best use to sustain development.

Scientific discoveries are primarily born from research and development. Our modern world was able to thrive and sustain its development course, thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of researchers and scientists who make our lives easier, faster, safer. Human civilization has been able to evolve and adapt to change because our curiosity of the world around us, our natural inclination to explore, moved inquisitive minds to delve into previously unknown realms and derive new ways to improve human life and processes.

Research and development play an indispensable part in almost every field of human endeavor. China, the world’s leading producer of rice, invests heavily on research and development to yield 6.5 metric tons per one hectare of rice field. More than allocating funds, China also pools scientists, agriculturists, and chemists, among others to maximize knowledge, skill, talent, time and energy for discovering breakthroughs on boosting crop production, developing resilient variants, and improving nutritional value.

In medicine, we owe much to the discoveries of Alexander Fleming, Marie Curie, Frederick Banting, and other scientists for discovering medicines and processes that avert disease. The discovery of penicillin, antibiotics, tissue culture, vaccines, and such other medical discoveries have been exceptional medical strides that have not only saved human lives, but more importantly, improved human resilience to illness and reduced vulnerability to death.

We give credit to research and development for the emergence of computer chips and artificial intelligence which have radically changed and revolutionized education, transportation, communication and governments all over the globe. In the Philippines, our lead agency in research and development is the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Our scientists from the DOST devote time, talent and energy in helping improve our economy through the development of more sophisticated tools and highly efficient processes. For example, home grown bamboo is now being developed to be a source of fabric for various types of clothing, even including bullet-proof vests.

Research and development ensures that the world continues to adapt and evolve. Agencies, which are focused on science and technology, ought to be given the much needed support to keep abreast with world trends and discoveries. Filipino scientists, I would like to believe, are especially gifted with intelligence, skill, and passion to use and harness the power and potential of research and development in the Philippines – if only we can begin to recognize and appreciate the power of research and development in steering progress and success. (Sponsored Content)

The Quezon City government has reported the public’s concerns about the police force having a videoke session while protesters conduct a rally in Commonwealth Avenue to the Philippine National Police, hours before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

July 24, 2023 4:37 PM

A man in his early 20s was bitten while enjoying a morning surf near a beach south of Perth.

July 24, 2023 4:34 PM

Buyers paid 200 million rupiah (S$17,700) for a kidney.

Montreal, 24 July 2023 - To further assist air transport regulators and operators in their mitigation of security threats associated with air cargo activities, ICAO and the World Customs Organization (WCO) have released a revised supply chain and secure mail publication today. 

Sergeant Uvaraja Gopal, 35, died in hospital on Friday evening after he was found lying motionless at the foot of a public housing flat block in Yishun.

July 24, 2023 4:00 PM

Prof Yunus has fallen out with PM Sheikh Hasina, who has said he is “sucking blood” from the poor.

July 24, 2023 3:35 PM

The embassy will serve as a focal point to expand bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, tourism, defence and others.

A female supporter of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was seen delaying the jeepney strike of transport group Manibela on Monday by blocking the path of several jeepneys conducting a noise barrage along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

DAMAGE REDUCTION. Following publication of the Commission on Audit (COA) report on Cebu City's financial transactions in 2022, city officials these last few days have been scrambling to lessen damage from these disclosures that affect Mayor Mike Rama's "Gubat Batok Baha":

[1] P10 million cash advance given to the contractor of a major drainage project identified -- in a document released by Cebu City News & Information of the city's P.I.O. -- as A.M. Oreta & Co. Inc., a cash-out that COA said was "excessive."

[2] The project -- involving the construction of drainage mains at Cabreros St., Natalio Bacalso Ave., V.H. Garces St. and Leon Kilat-Escano Sts. -- carried a contract price of P1.328 billion-plus with A.M. Oreta as the winning bidder.

COA said the project had zero result as of December 30, 2022.

MONEY POURED ON FLOOD CONTROL. The P1.328 billion set aside for the COA-flagged project was taken from a P4.5 billion lump sum appropriation in 2015, during the second full term of Mayor Rama (2013-2016).

Mayorship changed in June 2016, with Tomas Osmeña as Rama's successor until 2019. In the second half of mayor Edgardo Labella's term, which started in 2019, Rama took over as interim mayor during his illnesses, then as "ascended" mayor when Labella died in November 2021.

Other than the P1.328 billion, which had caught COA's eyes, additional funds had gone for flood control: P10 million in 2010, P35 million in 2012, and P48 million in 2014.

CREDIT, BLAME. Mayor Rama can take credit for the attention he has given to the problem: the "war" on floods on top of the pouring of cash into the project.

Should the mayor be blamed for the downsides: the numerous delays and the "excessive" cash advance? After 2015, when he secured P4.5 billion lump outlay, Rama had not been mayor for five years or so. He was evicted in 2016 by Tomas and returned to City Hall in 2019 but as vice mayor.

He was the temp mayor a number of times when Labella had serial illnesses, should that count?

He became full mayor again, his third, only in 2022.

Whoever was the mayor in whose watch the faults occurred, it's Mayor Mike's job now to reduce if not eliminate the problem. Rama needs to win the "war" he chose to declare and wage. His "Singapore-like Cebu City" mantra has highlighted the job, in full glare and up close.

RETURN FIRE. The response to reduce damage on Cebu City Hall's public image has been part defense and part offense.

The defense is that the Rama administration has been doing "its utmost" to decrease adverse effects of flooding. The offense is the "swift investigation" into delays of the P1.328 billion contractor and the "excessive" cash advance -- with the identification of a possible villain. Initially, City Administrator Collin Rosell and City Attorney/special projects assistant Jerone Castillo, whom a radio broadcaster called in apparent half-jest as the mayor's "attack dogs" -- appeared to be targeting former city administrator Floro Casas Jr.

THE CASAS ELEMENT. The ex-top city official has been drawn into the COA-City Hall drama because (a) Casas signed the drainage contract with A.M. Oreta allegedly without the express approval of the City Council and (b) Cebu Updates, a Facebook page of which Casas is an administrator, has been allegedly sniping at Mayor Rama's administration, most recently on COA findings that cast ugly light on the mayor's performance.

To be sure, the Casas factor is merely collateral to the problem's source, although he was more involved in the Labella decisions on flood control than then vice mayor Mike was. Wherever the investigation the mayor's key persons had announced would lead to, that would have little to do on the flood control problem itself.

UPDATE ON FLOOD CONTROL. Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the City Council committee on infrastructures and Mayor Rama's lead person on the ground for drainage and similar projects, told me Sunday, July 23, 2023, the contractor already paid the mobilization fund but had "not started construction yet."

Earlier, on July 21, Atty. Castillo told City Hall reporters they have been looking for the design.

Guardo said the mayor's lieutenant was "currently reviewing technicalities" as legal basis for cancellation or revocation of the contract. Castillo had talked about looking for the "missing design." Apparently, the hunt was still on when two days later Guardo, whom I asked to rate the city's flood control project, said "four" in a scale of one to 10.

Meantime, the City Government has been "implementing dredging works" on major rivers and creeks, particularly in frequently-flooded barangays. Guardo said they were "done dredging Tejero creek and moving upstream towards T. Padilla creek." Another team will dredge Pier 2 and Pier 3, moving towards Pari-an creek.

TITLED 3-M-EASEMENT LOTS. Guardo said he was surprised that some lots covered by the three-meter easement are already titled. "So we have to deal with private lot owners. They have to be paid "just compensation' for the lot and the structure built on it," he said, one of the reasons for the delay of the project to clear waterways and the banks of obstructions.

Guardo didn't comment on my question that City Hall has been limited to the "dredge, dredge, dredge" solution, even as rivers and creeks continue to be dumped with garbage that doesn't rot.

Rosell and Castillo deplored at their press-con the cause of the perennial clogging. Guardo scored the annoying problem, pointing to the creek at the back of T. Padilla market, which has been so "constricted," he said, that only a third of the waterway's width is "passable" during heavy rains.

He also was mum on the observation that the problem of flood control is not solely a question of funding, there's also the management of the project once money is released for it.

Twenty-seven bodies were found while 57 people are still missing after the landslide in Maharashtra state.