Feed aggregator

A year after the start of the crisis, life looks normal in Colombo but is the country out of the woods?

A 12-year-old Sam Kerr was ambivalent about playing football. Now she is one of the greats and bearing the weight of a home World Cup on her shoulders.

Younger generations are losing interest in the profession but the trade is unlikely to disappear as incense is a ‘core element of spiritual life’ in Vietnam.

Gruelling work hours and a dismal job market are forcing young Chinese to make unusual choices.

(Beirut) - Many Middle East and North African countries still prevent women from moving freely in their own country or traveling abroad without the permission of a male guardian, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 119-page report, "Trapped

DOUBLE-CHECKING, cross-checking and verification are the reasons for the lag in providing the national IDs to their rightful owners, according to an official from the Philippine Statistics Authority in Central Visayas (PSA 7).

This is to ensure that the right data are reflected on the national ID based on the filled out information given out by the registrants during the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registration, PSA 7 Director Ariel Florendo told SunStar Cebu Thursday, July 13, 2023.

PhilSys is the government’s central identification platform for all Filipino citizens, and resident aliens or those foreigners living in the Philippines for at least a year.

Florendo pointed out that making no errors when producing the national ID would also mean that they won’t have to remake or produce a new one.

“It really is the checking of the documents—verifying. We don’t want to have mistakes, such as one person having two IDs with different names,” he said.

He also mentioned that this is the first time that the government has done mass registration for the national ID, so delays must be expected.

Over 80 million people have registered for the national ID as of July 11, the PSA reported last week without specifying how many had received their physical ID cards.

But as of June 23, the PSA said 77.04 million had registered, but only 33.84 million cards had been delivered while 37.58 million had been issued the printed ePhilID, which is the digital version of the PhilID printed on a piece of paper that can be used pending receipt of the physical PhilID card.

Complaints

Florendo admitted that they had been getting complaints from registrants who have yet to receive their physical ID cards.

A 23-year-old resident of Barangay Tejero, Cebu City, who registered herself to PhilSys in March 2021, said she is disappointed that she has not yet received her physical national ID card despite having this processed in the early months of the registration.

“I purposely registered myself last March 25, 2021 to make sure that I would be one of the first few batches of people to receive the national ID (physical card). However, two years later, I am still waiting for my ID,” Micaella Fuentes said on Monday, July 17.

She had received the printed digital copy of the ID, though. But she claimed that while everyone else in her family had registered at the same time, she was the only one who had not received the ID in the form of the physical or plastic card.

ID released

According to Florendo, there were roughly five million released IDs in Central Visayas, of which 3.3 million were physical PhilSys ID cards or the plastic cards, and around two million were printed ePhilIDs, as of July 10.

The ePhilID is a proactive strategy of the PSA that will allow more Filipinos to immediately enjoy the benefits of being PhilSys-registered even without receiving the physical card.

Florendo assured the public that the authenticity and functionality of ePhilID are guaranteed to be identical to those of physical national IDs.

“Instead of just [relying] on the physical ID, we had this innovation or strategy that we can also print on paper. In other words, once you have the paper and you have the card, you have two IDs already that you can use,” he said.

Near the target

Florendo said they are already close to meeting the target figure set for Central Visayas, which is to register 6.8 million people by the end of the year.

Currently, the agency has registered 92.6 percent of the target population, or around 6.3 million people.

This means that there are still around 52.3 percent or 3.3 million registered to PhilSys, including those who received the ePhilID, who are still awaiting their physical national ID.

Florendo said additional efforts are being made to persuade more individuals to sign up for PhilSys, including house-to-house visits in local neighborhoods.

To make registration services more accessible to the general public, they are also running a mobile registration program in which they travel to remote areas or challenging geographic locations.

According to Florendo, registration booths in several malls are still processing national IDs entirely while the on-site registration is still going on at the PSA’s regional office on Colon Street, Cebu City.

The PSA started the mass registration for the national ID system in October 2020.

Beneficial

The director acknowledged that many people are reluctant to register for the national ID due to worries about data protection.

He said applying for a national ID is similar to applying for an ID from another government agency. Hence, he urged the public to register because it would be to their advantage.

He said the poor, majority of whom lack government-issued IDs, will benefit most from acquiring the national ID.

He called the government’s national ID plan a “good project” since it would speed up the delivery of services from other government agencies in addition to registering people in the government’s database.

The national IDs can be used to access government services like the issuance of birth, marriage and death certificates.

He disclosed that there are also plans to work with other organizations, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, to use the national ID as a means of assisting the needy.

“I urge everyone to register. There’s nothing to lose if you apply for the PhilSys ID,” said the director.

Florendo said the registration is open to those who are aged five years old and above, adding that “for the four years old and below, we are not yet [registering them] because some drastic changes are still going to happen in their [physical] profile.”

During his first State of the Nation Address last July 25, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said one of his targets was to accomplish the issuance of about 92 million national IDs by the middle of 2023. (KJF, with CTL)

THE Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged several issues in the Municipality of Barili’s 2022 financial statements, such as the “doubtful” accounting for the town’s Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE), which make up the bulk of the town’s assets; “unreliable” records on its road networks; and the “inaccurate” computation of its real property tax (RPT) and special education tax (SET) receivables, causing loss of income to the government.

Inventory

In its 2022 audit, COA said the municipality in southwestern Cebu failed to conduct an inventory of its infrastructure assets, raising doubts on the existence, accuracy and completeness of items recorded in its PPE account.

PPE refers to government assets including land, land improvements; buildings and other structures; machinery and equipment; transportation equipment; furniture, fixtures and books; leasehold improvements; and other PPE including specialist military equipment, infrastructure assets, and heritage assets.

Barili indicated that it had P343.52 million in PPE, which represents 70 percent of its total declared assets of P489.01 million for the year 2022.

But the state auditor found deficiencies in the inventory process, including the non-updating of property and PPE ledger cards, and the non-issuance/renewal of acknowledgement receipts for equipment.

COA Circular 2020-006 mandates every local government unit (LGU) to properly account for all PPE items by conducting a physical count, as the PPE usually comprises the largest bulk of the municipality’s assets.

In its response, the municipality claimed that it conducted a physical count of infrastructure; however, the team was not able to complete the inventory.

COA recommended, and the municipality agreed, to comply with the COA Circular 2020-006 guidelines in cleaning up its PPE accounts.

The municipal mayor was also urged to form a new inventory committee to finish the physical inventory in less than three months.

Road networks

The COA added that the municipality’s road network account, totaling P148.24 million, was unreliable for several reasons. These include the failure to separate the cost components of the road network, the non-computation of separate depreciation for each road component, and the error in providing a residual value since no residual value should have been provided.

Road assets’ components with identified costs, such as the road lot, road pavement, drainage system and slope protection measures, are supposed to be segregated and recognized.

Additionally, the road lot component was not recognized and no inventory report was prepared, the local road network (LRN) property card was not maintained, and the LRN system was not disclosed in the Notes to Financial Statements.

The state auditor said COA Circular 2015-008 and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) 1 were violated, affecting the accuracy of the financial statements.

The circular states that road networks are part of public infrastructure and should have a separate ledger, with each component depreciated separately using the straight-line method. The circular also specifies the roles and duties of local officials and requires the preparation of a physical count report and disclosure in the Notes to Financial Statements.

COA found that town personnel did not follow these requirements due to the lack of awareness and training on the Local Road Asset Management Manual, developed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government ((DILG) to comply with the circular.

The agency advised, and the municipality agreed, on establishing a system to coordinate the recording of the road network and to contact DILG 7 for training schedules on the Local Road Asset Management System.

Receivables

In addition, the COA discovered that the recorded real property tax (RPT) and special education tax (SET) receivables in 2022, totaling P7.608 million each, did not match the treasurer’s certified list of taxpayers, violating Section 20 of the New Government Accounting System manual for LGUs.

This cast doubt on the reliability and accuracy of the balances, as the municipality treasurer failed to provide the certified list of taxpayers to the municipal accountant at the start of the year.

The agency recommended, and the municipality agreed, to have the municipal treasurer provide the duly certified list of all taxpayers to the municipal accountant with the amount due and collectible for the year in order to present reliable and accurate balances in the statements.

Non-reconciliation of assessed values

COA also found a discrepancy of P550.20 million in the assessed values on which the RPT and SET receivables were based after the assessed values did not reconcile with the Assessment Roll, a violation of Section 6 of the Manual on Real Property Appraisal and Assessment Operations which resulted in the “inaccurate and unreliable computation” of RPT and SET receivables.

As per the Assessment Roll, the total assessed value was P997.44 million, but the amount of assessed value based on the computed/paid RPT/SET was only P447.24 million.

The municipal assessor and treasurer offices had a huge difference in values despite using the same RPT system software.

The audit team found that the Treasury Office used only properties with unpaid balances to calculate the total assessed value, resulting in a shortfall compared to the Municipal Assessor’s records.

The computed RPT and SET receivables were found to be inaccurate and unreliable due to an incorrect system report that only included assessed value tax of real properties with delinquent balances.

To reconcile the assessed values, the agency suggested reconciling the total assessed value used as the basis for RPT and SET receivables with the assessment roll of the municipal assessor. It also recommended the training of Treasury Office staff members responsible for real property tax collection. The management agreed to COA suggestions. (AML, with CTL)

THE e-shopaholics in the Philippines comprise only about 19 percent of Filipinos but they are responsible for the 47 percent of total e-commerce purchases in the country.

A study by logistics companies Ninja Van Philippines and Geopost said online shopping is second nature to these e-shopaholics as they buy often and across multiple product categories, shopping twice as much as the average e-shoppers.

“Well-versed in the intricacies of online shopping, e-shopaholics have much higher standards than your average e-shoppers – from the initial browsing to receiving the parcel after the clicks and taps – each stage is essential to ensuring an e-shopaholic’s loyalty,” said Sabina Lopez-Vergara, chief commercial officer at Ninja Van Philippines, in a statement.

E-shopaholics are expert navigators of the e-commerce ecosystem and they buy across multiple online channels like Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok shop and marketplaces.

In the Philippines, 86 percent of e-shopaholics buy directly from social media. Of these, 54 percent buy directly from brands they already follow, while 44 percent buy from influencer recommendations.

The top categories that Filipino e-shopaholics buy are beauty and healthcare, fashion, and small furniture and home decor.

Across the region, e-shopaholics make up 15 percent of the Southeast Asia (SEA) e-shopper population, and they are responsible for 45 percent of the total e-commerce purchases.

The study titled: “What’s next for the future of e-commerce in Southeast Asia,” was conducted across six countries—Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam—with over 9,000 participants.

In a separate interview, YOU brand manager Mike Cabbo said social media platforms particularly Tiktok and e-commerce sites Lazada and Shopee have been instrumental in the brand’s growth in the Philippines.

Launched in the Philippines at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in August 2021, YOU, a beauty and skincare brand, has now become one of the sought-after brands catering to all market segments.

Declining to disclose figures, Cabbo said the brand has been “growing well” amid intense competition and high inflation.

“We had a tricky launching in 2021 because back then, everyone was working at home and events were paused. We thought that the demand for beauty products will go down but we were wrong because even during the lockdown and uncertainty people still want to fell good about themselves,” he said. “They still put on makeup for video calls and they continue to pamper themselves even if they are just at home.”

Cabbo said Tiktok has become a platform for product awareness and a tool for them to reach out to consumers especially those in some parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, who are not yet served by retail firms that carry the brand.

The social media and these online shopping sites translated to product awareness and market reach, allowing us to move products and generate sales, he said.

According to Statista, in 2021, every Filipino spent nearly US$5 on skincare items, with forecast expenditure reaching more than $6 in 2026.

According to a survey on social commerce in the Philippines between the first quarter and second quarter of 2021, around 79 percent of respondents bought clothes, apparel and accessories on social media, making it the most popular shopping category on such platforms.

Similarly, around 56 percent of the respondents bought health and beauty products on social media.

Digital strategies

Moreover, as more customers turn online to shop for products, entrepreneurs are advised to implement digital strategies for e-commerce sites to reach more loyal customers and generate sales.

These strategies include boosting product visualization and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).

Gilmar Padua, chief executive officer of digital marketing agency at Infinity Hub, said entrepreneurs need to create a roadmap or plan for doing digital marketing that will lead to purchasing.

“One of the marketing approaches is you need to have an omnichannel so you need to manage it well. That is why, it is very important that you have a roadmap or masterplan in terms of doing your marketing,” he said.

Padua said it is also imperative to leverage artificial intelligence, particularly chatbot ChatGPT which provides good content.

“You need to automate your chatbots or you need to create a way that whatever the time that the customers inquire, there is a certain what we call knowledge-based that the user can somehow go into so that they can satisfy their concerns or whatever their inquiries so chatbot is very important,” he said.

CEBU City Police Office (CCPO) Director 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 file 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 / PJB)

A 19-YEAR-OLD tourism student of the University of San Carlos was declared dead on arrival at the hospital after the motorcycle-for-hire (locally known as habal-habal) 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 in homicide. (BBT / PJB)

ABOUT 660 classrooms in Mandaue City will be used by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as voting precincts in the coming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) set on Oct. 30, 2023.

Mandaue City Election Officer Anna Fleur Gujilde said on Monday, July 17, 2023, that each of the city’s 27 barangays should have classrooms to accommodate the increasing number of voters in Mandaue.

“We have continued with the registration, so we have a lot of voters. But unfortunately, the number of classrooms decreased, so we really need those shift classrooms or additional classrooms,” Gujilde said in Cebuano.

Gujilde said Comelec-Mandaue will use makeshift classrooms as polling places for the BSKE since there are barangays that will need around three to six classrooms to accommodate all registered voters.

Nine of the city’s barangays will have makeshift classrooms, she said.

The barangays that will have makeshift classrooms as voting areas are Bakilid, Banilad, Cubacub, Guizo, Ibabao-Estancia, Labogon, Pagsabungan, Maguikay and Tabok.

Gujilde said a total of 42 classrooms will be needed to meet the 660-classroom requirement. The Mandaue City Government will take charge of providing the classrooms.

Gujilde explained that more classrooms are needed for the BSKE since the elections will be done manually.

During the manual election, around 800 voters will be assigned to each of Mandaue’s 660 precincts; much more than the 300 precincts that were used in the automated national elections of 2022.

Meanwhile, about 1,980 teachers in Mandaue City will be serving the BSKE. Gujilde said they are still verifying the list of teachers as some of them may have relatives running in the barangay polls.

In such case, the teacher will be assigned to serve in a different barangay.

Due to the rise in the number of voters, Comelec-Mandaue will also request for an additional 30 to 40 yellow ballot boxes.

Under the BSKE, voters who are 13-17 years old will be given one ballot to vote for SK, while those who are 18-30 years old will be given two ballots to vote for both the SK and barangay elections.

Voters who are 31 and above can vote only in the barangay elections.

On Monday, Comelec and officials of the Department of Education-Mandaue met to discuss preparations in the upcoming polls.

The Government is taking further steps to strengthen the youth justice system, with two new high needs units to be built and legislation to make residences safer and more secure.

"When a young person is sent to a youth justice facility by the Court the public have an expectation that they will not only be held accountable for crimes such

Malabon, Philippines - Jomarie Oliva, 33, led an afternoon workshop with 10 teenagers on topics that many in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines consider taboo. The conversation included the reasons that some teens have sex.

"Out of curiosity?" Oliva asked the group? "For pleasure," responded one of the teens, while the rest of the group laughed.

Later, Oliva talked about the responsibilities of pa

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

Xi said that while being

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros doubted the effort of President Marcos to take control of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., a move which she described as questionable and surprising and will expose the national health insurance system to political patronage.

The awarding ceremony for the 30th Mabini Awards will be held today at Malacañang’s Heroes Hall at 2 p.m.

The Office of Transportation Security began implementing yesterday the mandatory removal of footwear at the final security checkpoint in all airports in the country.

Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers will be set up in local government units nationwide as part of President Marcos’ long-term plan to bring local agricultural products closer to consumers.

The low-pressure area in Mindanao has entered the Philippine area of responsibility and may develop into a typhoon in the next 24 hours, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Saying that no Filipino should be deprived of quality health care, President Marcos committed to strengthen medical services at the barangay level and put up more specialty hospitals with the help of the private sector.