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State broadcaster People’s Television Network Inc. has yet to settle the P75.8-million Notices of Disallowance issued by state auditors after the controversial ad placement deal between the Department of Tourism and private media outfit Bitag Media Unlimited Inc. in 2017.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Filipinos are encouraged to use bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation, an official of the Climate Change Commission said.

A total of 1.797 million pairs of license plates worth P808.702 million, paid by registered car owners since 2015, remain undelivered to them by the Land Transportation Office the Commission on Audit has said.

The Department of Health plans to closely coordinate with other government agencies in finding unemployed registered nurses, with the aim of luring them to work in state health facilities.

July 16, 2023 11:12 PM

He is in India on a five-day visit to attend the 3rd G-20 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting. 

Source: Beehive

One man broke his ribs in what is the sixth such attack in the same region this year.

July 16, 2023 8:15 PM

Accounts will now be responsible for ensuring that posts are factual.

CEBU City Police Office (CCPO) Director Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog urged on Sunday, July 16, 2023, police personnel who have personal weapons to renew their License to Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF).

Dalogdog said he will an administrative case against those who fail to do so.

This is in line with the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) strict implementation of the program against loose firearms where unlicensed weapons are confiscated.

Dalogdog said some policemen and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines became the subject of Oplan Katok because they did not renew their LTOPF.

"Those of our PNP personnel who refuse or insist on not renewing their LTOPF or their firearms registration are now facing an administrative case," the police official said.

Apart from this, Dalogdog said it will be most likely that they will be the target of a search warrant if they continue to refuse to renew their LTOPF, especially when the election period starts and the gun ban begins for the October barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Meanwhile, he advised civilians who cannot afford to renew their LTOPF to surrender their firearms at the nearest police station.

The CCPO held an LTOPF caravan in coordination with the Regional Civil Security Unit in Central Visayas on Thursday, July 13, which gave members of the public a chance to renew their firearm’s license in one day. (AYB)

A 19-YEAR-OLD tourism student at the University of San Carlos was declared dead on arrival at the hospital after the motorcycle-for-hire she was riding ran into a garbage truck in Barangay Lorega San Miguel, Cebu City.

The victim was identified as Geraldine Amad Asentitas, a resident of Barangay Labangon.

Joselito Añasco Cenabre, the motorcycle-for-hire driver who resides in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City, was unharmed.

Corporal Rhenniel Jay Docejos of the Parian Police Station said they’ve detained Michael Rivera, the driver of the garbage truck.

Rivera told police he was crossing Imus Avenue and turning left heading for Barangay Carreta when he stepped on the brakes after the vehicle in front of him suddenly stopped.

He said he didn’t see the motorcycle-for-hire to his left.

Based on police investigation, Asentitas was thrown upon impact and suffered severe injuries that caused her death.

Rivera will be charged with reckless imprudence resulting to homicide. (BBT)

July 16, 2023 7:29 PM

Vice-President William Lai reiterated an offer to talk to China on an equal basis.

British climber Kenton Cool, who holds the record for the most ascents of Everest by anyone born outside Nepal, says some operators are putting profits ahead of safety.

In traditional Filipino culture, communication is about transaction, a give and take of messages and responses that are mutually beneficial for and acceptable to all parties.

When the discussion gets tangled in complications that are unanticipated and often undesired, many Filipinos still negotiate to avoid confrontation.

The latest to test the limits of civility is Pura Luka Vega, who dressed up as Jesus Christ and performed in a local bar a rock version of the “Ama Namin,” the Filipino song rendition of the “Lord’s Prayer.”

Based on the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, 85.65 million of the 108.57 million Filipinos who took part identified themselves as Roman Catholics. This represents 78.8 percent of the Philippine population in 2020.

For Roman Catholic Filipinos, the “Lord’s Prayer” is one of the prayers learned in childhood. Even among Catholics living in Visayas and Mindanao, the Filipino translation of “Ama Namin” is committed to memory from eucharistic celebrations where the congregation sings the prayer Jesus Christ taught to his disciples.

The Britannica describes the “Lord’s Prayer” as a “‘canonical prayer’ of Christianity, used in nearly all denominations of the faith,” adding that the prayer “is considered a model of how to pray.”

Taking to social media, where images and posts about Vega’s drag performance first surfaced, many Roman Catholic Filipinos condemned the act as a “blasphemy.” From pulpits, priests urged in their homilies that the faithful must fortify themselves against those who attack the faith.

Given Catholicism’s hold on nearly 79 percent of the nation’s population, the drag performance had a predictable reception, applying Stuart Hall’s theory that media texts contain representations that are far from faithful reproductions of realities.

Pura Luka Vega’s drag performance of Jesus Christ performing the rock version of the “Ama Namin” was rejected and condemned by Filipinos, who, unconscious even of the artist’s statement behind the drag performance, interpreted in the act meanings that could not co-exist with their religiosity.

Hall theorized that an audience decoding a message may agree or disagree with meanings encoded by the sender. Aside from the “dominant” or “oppositional” reading, a third reading may have the audience negotiate with the sender about possible interpretations of the communicative act that create, rather than disrupt, a connection between the sender and receiver.

In a tweet last July 13, Pura Luka Vega said she “understood” the backlash over her performance but disagreed with citizens dictating how she should practice her faith or perform drag.

“It is my experience and my expression, of having been denied my rights,” commented Vega at the close of the July 13 tweet.

Beyond the perception that drag is a form of entertainment involving men crossdressing to exaggerate femininity, this form of popular culture embeds a history of resistance to oppression.

According to MasterClass.com, men impersonating women in plays to work around the ban imposed on female performers was practiced during ancient Greece until Shakespeare’s time.

In the 1990s, drag culture was embraced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others community as part of the Gay Liberation movement asserting gay pride, rights, and empowerment to resist marginalization.

While men, often gay or queer, dominate drag culture, trends show an openness to include transgender and cisgender women as drag queens, notes MasterClass.com.

From expressing a host of issues from self-acceptance of one’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to living with human immunodeficiency virus and hate crimes, drag artists use art to reach beyond the campy and entertaining: advocacy for voices that are stifled, ignored or erased.

A FEMALE TEACHER was allegedly caught in flagrante delicto with a mechanic inside a lodging house in Barangay Poblacion in the northern town of Compostela, Cebu on Saturday, July 15, 2023.

Patrolman Renan Relampagos of the Compostela Police Station said the incident took place around 4:20 p.m.

He said the teacher’s 45-year-old husband, who is a supervisor at the Department of Education in Central Visayas, had sought their help.

Last Saturday’s operation was led by station chief Captain Roy Mamaradlo and personnel of the Women and Children’s Protection Desk.

During the arrest, the teacher said she decided to have an affair after she found out that her husband was involved with another woman with whom he had two children.

Police brought her and her lover to the station, where she suddenly drank a whole bottle of liniment oil.

Police took her to the hospital but brought her back to the station after she was declared out of danger.

The teacher and her lover will be charged with adultery. (BBT)

LOCAL government units (LGUs) can work with private and public stakeholders to expand the range of options in financing smart city initiatives, according to a research paper published by the think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (Pids).

“The conduct of PPP (public-private partnership) smart city projects should be explored more as an additional option, given the emphasis placed on its potential in the reviewed literature and cases of international cities,” it said in a paper.

The Pids said LGUs can work with the PPP Center to build their capacity to implement PPP projects and conduct feasibility studies.

As smart city development is recognized as a potential solution to urbanization issues, the Pids said engagements with stakeholders also open opportunities in terms of financing relevant projects.

“Ultimately, engagements with stakeholders in smart city initiatives, including those implemented by the private sector, should be supported by ordinances, resolutions, and/or MOAs (memorandums of agreement) to help ensure sustainability,” it added.

The paper said some private sector stakeholders involved in smart city initiatives were interviewed, including four development organizations and seven businesses.

These interviewed development organizations are supporting smart city development’s infrastructure and data phase through networking, financing, and providing service and technical support.

“Those involved in the infrastructure phase help capacitate LGUs and even link them to businesses that can provide infrastructure technology involving focus areas of quality environment. In contrast, those in the data phase provide data-relevant technology involving safety, security, and built infrastructure,” it added.

Also among the recommendations in the Pids study is for the country to consider branding its cities as smart.

“Regardless of the potential pitfalls, branding should still be considered an enabler because of its ability to attract investments,” it said.

“Establishing a brand for technology and innovation-powered Philippine cities can unlock opportunities to gain additional investments for government projects. The brand should be echoed by complementary policies to reflect the commitment to realizing the vision,” it added. (PHILEXPORT)

Yoon had bilateral meetings with leaders from 13 Nato countries and a visit to Zelensky in Ukraine, which were hailed a success, while back home disaster struck when torrential rain killed at least 36 people and caused thousands to evacuate their homes.

More than 25% of employees could be replaced, a report by OECD has claimed 

The artificial intelligence (AI) "revolution" could jeopardize more than a quarter of jobs in the 38-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the group warned in a report this week.

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The vessel tilted after a tire of one of the 16 rolling cargoes on board exploded and broke the lashing. 

The NDRRMC said in its bulletin that the two weather disturbances have affected 1,638 individuals from Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Western Visayas.

CEBU City is one step closer to hosting the nationwide Palarong Pambansa as it awaits the final decision following the fourth and final phase of the bidding process.

The Queen City of the South keeps its fingers crossed for the hosting of next year’s Palarong Pambansa, which would be the third hosting after the 1954 and 1994 Palarong Pambansa.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama together with City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros, Cebu City Sports Commission chief John Pages, and Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd 7) officials led by Director Sal Jimenez with DepEd Cebu City Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Adolf Aguilar and City Schools Division Superintendent Nimfa Bongo.

Three local government units vied for the Palaro hosting including Negros Occidental and Antique Province.

“Vice President Sara Duterte, the DepEd secretary, was not in attendance but all the top Palaro board members, composed of DepEd Undersecretaries and Asst. Secretaries, were present. Representing the PSC, which holds a seat in the Palaro board, was PSC Commissioner Walter Torres,” said Pages.

Cebu City presented first followed by Antique then Negros Occidental.

“We presented first. After, we could not listen or watch the other presentations but ours was comprised of speeches from our Cebu City representatives, led by Mayor Rama, and we showed two video presentations: the Singapore-like Cebu City video and a Palaro-Cebu City video prepared by Anna Conejero,” said Pages.

The winning bidder will be announced on Aug. 5 during the closing ceremony of this year’s Palarong Pambansa, which Marikina City will host.

Pages said the final decision will come from Duterte and the Palarong Pambansa board.

From June 23 to 26, officials from DepEd and Philippine Sports Commission visited the playing venues and billeting quarters in Cebu City as part of the technical inspection. (RSC)