Philippines News

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. urged the public to conserve water in preparation for the impact of the El Niño phenomenon as he bared the government's preparedness during his second State of the Nation Address.

I remember years ago when I jogged at the oval of the Cebu City Sports Center. One time, the late Cebu Daily News (CDN) fotog Tonee Despojo approached me while I was doing the rounds. I was surprised by his presence and he told me his friends and he would be using the football field for a bit of an exercise. He said he did not want to grow old with any physical disability, so he had to do some exercises to improve his physical health. Yet, Tonee died relatively young nevertheless, succumbing to a cardiovascular ailment.

When you get old, you have to take good care of the organs of your body, like the heart. Another CDN fotog, Junjie Mendoza, suffered from a heart attack recently, but he is on the road to recovery. Former SunStar Cebu reporter Elias Baquero suffered from heart problems also -- before he retired a few years ago. He told me about how his friend Augusto Go of the Chong Hua Hospital, saved him from expensive heart bypass surgery, which was recommended by his doctor, by advising him to get a second opinion on the matter. He got well without surgery, but when he went back to normal living, a heart attack soon felled him. He died.

And who would have thought that another friend, Art Barrit of the Associated Labor Unions, and a seemingly healthy Cebu City Sports Center top gun Ricky Ballesteros, would succumb to cardiovascular ailments? This is the reason heart attacks and strokes are considered “traitor diseases.” You feel healthy enough not to watch what you are eating -- and then when the body already has enough, the attack comes. Often, it is already too late.

I used to joke about how people who grew up in poverty are malnourished because of the lack of resources while growing up. They strive and get rich -- and just when they already have the money to buy food, the doctor tells them to slow down on the food and go on a diet. That’s what life is sometimes: ironic.

I was hospitalized recently when my blood pressure shot up and refused to go down despite medication. I had to act before another stroke would hit me after the mild stroke I suffered a couple of years ago. At the hospital, I was fed with food that had less salt while a dietitian had to lecture me about the benefits of going on a diet. What we eat makes us what we are. My blood pressure shot up because I loosened up on what I ate. And I didn’t exercise much.

Disciplining oneself is among the difficult parts of living. There are even some religions that spend a good deal of time discussing the virtues of eating the right food and at the right amount. But practicing what is preached is difficult. So some people hold on to the opposite. We Cebuanos have a word for that: “pamahala.” We close our eyes, live the life that we want to and forge ahead. If we die in the process, at least we enjoyed life. And if we survive, well and good.

By the way, I would dedicate this column to Landring, a friend when I was growing up spending vacation time in the hometown of my father, Tudela. Landring succumbed to a heart attack recently. May his soul rest in peace.

Every year, over a thousand highly skilled Filipino workers and professionals leave the country for better opportunities abroad. The emigration of highly trained individuals and professionals from the country to the United States, Western Europe, and other Asian countries is disturbing.

It is because most of them are medical and non-medical professionals like nurses, medical technologists, engineers, teachers and skilled workers highly needed in the country. Usually, the high salaries and lucrative benefits are the motivating forces behind the exodus, unmindful of the pain and nostalgia away from home. Because of its temporary benefits like foreign remittance, many disregard the devastating impact of brain drain. Ironically, they are called modern heroes because of their sacrifices and economic contribution.

But what is the actual economic impact of brain drain? Brain drain harms the developing country that is sending the individuals away. Such a country will experience unemployment and a decline in human resources. Highly skilled and talented professionals will be scarce in the locality. It can affect economic development as industries suffer from a lack of labor force. It can also lead to a lack of expertise in major sectors such as health and education, leading to a decrease in the quality of living standards for citizens.

In addition, the country will lose out on tax revenue generated by these individuals, which could weaken the economy. The remittances sent back by professionals can help to boost the economy in the short term, but in the long run, it can lead to an outflow of foreign exchange. Further, it can reduce the country’s ability to invest in newly acquired technology or other economic developments.

Another adverse effect of working abroad is the infidelity issue and family breakdown. Extramarital affairs are high among overseas contract workers in this age of social media. The disintegration of families resulted in abandoned and neglected children in society. No amount of financial success can compensate for the failure at home.

Brain drain is a serious issue that our socioeconomic managers and planners should look into. Its long-term impact could destroy the future and moral fiber of our nation. We cannot allow short-term benefits over long-term damage and drawbacks. The preservation of Filipino families should be our top priority in nation-building.

The first year of Marcos Jr.’s presidency in the Philippines was primarily focused on building his public image, as he attempted to rebrand his regime as “Bagong Pilipinas,” reminiscent of his father’s corrupt and violent “Bagong Lipunan” regime.

However, no amount of rebranding can conceal the inherent corruption and decay at the core of his administration. Marcos Jr. has proven to be incapable of addressing the pressing demands of the people, offering nothing more than an illusion of productivity. This administration is merely an echo of his father’s tyrannical rule.

One of the glaring examples of this is the Maharlika Investment Fund, which was railroaded into law, despite widespread clamor from economists and the broad masses against it.

Under this scheme, public funds, including those of pensioners through SSS and GSIS, are jeopardized by false promises of foreign investment. Instead of focusing on strengthening and industrializing the nation, the so-called economic growth is being placed in the hands of foreign companies and private corporations.

This is clear evidence that Marcos Jr., like his father, continues to be a puppet of imperialist countries. The investment fund also serves as a means for him to institutionalize cronyism, a notorious characteristic of his father’s regime that allowed the Marcos family to amass wealth at the expense of the Filipino people.

No amount of rebranding can hide the ongoing violence perpetrated by Marcos Jr.’s administration against peasants in rural areas.

In Negros, for instance, 21 civilians lost their lives during intensified military operations, with most of them being peasants falsely labeled as “rebels” in staged encounters, which were nothing more than cold-blooded murders.

Through propaganda tactics, the administration attempts to shift blame onto the revolutionary forces for the massacres that state forces themselves have orchestrated. A heartbreaking example is the Fausto family, where two minors were among the victims. They recycle the old narrative of “purging” to justify their lies and atrocities.

Civilians and peasants are still being duped into surrendering as “rebels” in the guise of livelihood projects. Negros, thus, remains a lab rat for human rights violations in the government’s US-led counterinsurgency program through the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

More rights violations are expected in the coming years, as the administration has declared another “deadline” to crush the revolutionary movement. But we assert that a militaristic approach to the armed conflict can only lead to more civilian deaths, and it is only through the resumption of peace talks that meaningful steps toward genuine peace could be attained.

Instead of providing mere band-aid solutions like food stamps or establishing Kadiwa stores, Marcos Jr.’s response to the worsening hunger crisis in the country should prioritize comprehensive, scientific, and people-centered policies and programs toward food sovereignty. Instead of boosting local production, this administration only plans to import from other countries, as is the case in the sugar industry, where the government announced another plan to import 150,000 metric tons of refined sugar on July 6.

It is a shame that, as the Department of Agriculture Secretary, he has nothing to show for addressing the historical problem of landlessness for our farmers. As much as we welcome his move to cancel the loans of farmers, it will not uplift them from the current slave-like conditions they are experiencing now. Farm workers continue to suffer from the piece-meal rate and they still remain without land, despite the bogus land reform program, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Thus, Bayan Negros, and all the progressive groups under it, calls on all Negrosanons to remain vigilant, as the first year of Marcos Jr. will only spell out worse things to come.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday kept his lips sealed on the Philippines’ claim over the West Philippine Sea. 

“In order to repay the sacrifices made by our health workers in private and public hospitals during the pandemic, their COVID-19 health emergency allowances and other pending benefits will be distributed to them,” Marcos said in his second State of the Nation Address. 

A WEEK after Rhea Mae Tocmo was murdered, police in Cebu City already have persons of interest (POIs) in the case.

A native of Jasaan town in Misamis Oriental, the 19-year-old Tocmo was found dead and wrapped inside a cardboard box left on the roadside in Sitio Mohon, Barangay Tisa, Cebu City on Monday, July 17, 2023.

She arrived in Cebu last June 11 to find a job.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, deputy city director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), however, refused to divulge the names of POIs pending an ongoing investigation, but promised to get statements from anyone who had contact with the victim.

Rafter claimed that they have expanded the scope of their investigation into the incident by adding police personnel.

"We are on the right track in our investigation because of the leads we acquired as we go along the way,” the lady police official said.

Rafter admitted that all of Rhea Mae's colleagues that they interviewed have so far cooperated in their investigation.

The CCTV footage from Mandaue City, where Tocmo was picked up by a man on a motorbike, and along the path leading to Sitio Mohon, where her body was discovered, was one of the leads gathered by the police.

The CCPO informed the victim's family that they would not give up until the girl's murder was brought to justice.

"We assured that it wouldn't be abandoned and we really do see to it that justice is done,” Rafter said.

There were already results of the autopsy on Rhea Mae's body, but Rafter did not disclose the findings while their investigation is still ongoing.(AYB, TPT)

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. touted the upskilling of Filipino seafarers in his second State of the Nation Address to keep up with the global shipping industry’s green transition—this while the need to train on handling alternative fuels remains a challenge.

A MOTORCYCLE driver fell into a cliff and died, while his backride survived.

The incident occurred at 7:40 p.m. on Sunday, July 2, 2023 in Sitio Acacia, Barangay Manipis in Talisay City, Cebu.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Randy Caballes, chief of the Talisay City Police Station, identified the victim as Alvin Villamor, 30, a construction worker from the northwest town of Tuburan.

His female backride, Maricel Abranilla, 35, from Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City, sustained injuries but was declared in safe condition.

According to the police investigation, Villamor lost control of the motorcycle after it skidded and went off the road as they were traveling to Toledo City.(BBT, TPT)

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.

A POLICE officer who was dismissed from service was shot dead in Sitio Lupa, Purok Lower 3, Back Harolds, Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City, around 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 23, 2023.

The victim was identified as Aaron Estarte, 41, a resident of Sitio Care, Purok 8 of the said barangay.

According to Police Staff Sergeant Joel Lamela of the Abellana Police Station 2, Estarte was shot at the back of his head and the bullet exited in his forehead.

Estarte died instantly.

The gunman and his two other companions, who wore black t-shirts, fled after the incident.

The victim’s live-in partner, Roxanne Labra, said in a media interview that Estarte asked her permission to leave for a while to park his motorcycle but did not say that he was going to Purok Lower 3.

Labra and Estarte were living together for two years and had one child.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Janette Rafter, current Deputy City Director for Operation of the Cebu City Police Office, said that Estarte became a policeman in 2010.

His last assignment was in the Regional Mobile Force Battalion in Central Visayas (RMFB 7) in 2017.

However, he was dismissed from service in the same year after being arrested in an anti-illegal drug operation.

In March 2021, he was released from prison and worked as a security guard since then.(BBT, TPT)