PH eyes tripartite pact with US, Japan

by BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO ManilaTimes.net

THE Philippines is considering a tripartite agreement with its two close allies, the United States and Japan, amid the "dangerous situations" the country faces, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said.

Interviewed by Japan's Kyodo News on Friday, Febryary 10, the President said one of the "many other issues" raised by the Philippine delegation during his visit to Tokyo was creating alliances with its longtime partners. "It is something that we certainly are going to be studying upon my return to the

Philippines. I think just part of the continuing process of strengthening our alliances because in this rather confusing," he said.

Marcos mentioned "dangerous situations" threatening the country.

"I'm not talking only about the South China Sea, I'm not only talking about the Indo-Pacific region but, of course, there is a conflict still ongoing in Ukraine and the rather disturbing effects that it has all around the world," he said.

Forging alliances is "a central element to ... providing some sort of stability in the face of all these problems that we are seeing us," Marcos said.

The President and Japanese Prime

by MAYEN JAYMALIN Philstar.com

MANILA — Despite the huge demand for healthcare workers (HCWs) abroad, the local recruitment industry on Monday, Februaary 12 reported a downtrend in the number of Filipinos opting for a nursing degree. Recruitment leader Lito Soriano observed that fewer Filipino youth are now enrolling in nursing schools because of the prevailing cap in the deployment of HCWs abroad.

Soriano, who owns an agency deploying health workers to Saudi Arabia, said there has been a decline in the number of nurses applying to work since the pandemic as a result of the deployment cap.

“We have been posting on social media job vacancies offering good salaries and numerous benefits for registered nurses, but we have few applicants,” Soriano disclosed.

According to Soriano, there are few applicants because the country is also producing fewer nursing graduates.

Soriano said young Filipinos are discouraged from taking up nursing because of the belief that the deployment cap limits their chances of working abroad.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the government set an

MANILA — More Filipinos — 75% of those surveyed — told pollster SWS in December that they are satisfied with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr's performance as chief executive.

According to a release by SWS, this was up from 71% in an October survey, bringing net satisfaction with the second Marcos administration to +68. In the previous survey, net satisfaction was at +63.

Respondents who were undecided fell to 18% from 21% while those who said they were dissatisfied went to 7% from 8%.

Marcos got the highest net satisfaction in Mindanao at +72 (excellent) but got 'very good' ratings in Metro Manila (+65), Balance Luzon (+60) and the Visayas (+67). Satisfaction with the president's performance was higher in rural areas at an 'excellent' +74 against a 'very good' +62 in the cities.

Ratings were an 'excellent' +73 among respondents aged 2534, followed by +71 among 35-44-year olds. The lowest rating, still a 'very good' +64 was among respondents who were 55 or older.