US firms keen on hiring Pinoy workers from Sudan

AMERICAN companies have expressed interest in employing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) recently rescued by the Philippine government from Sudan, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople said on Wednesday.

Ople said that US businesses are willing to look at the profiles of the displaced employees, most of whom are skilled workers.

The official also said some of the workers include international school

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From A1 trade with the US and promote competition.

Aside from strengthening trade relations between the two countries, the President also called on US companies to invest more in the Philippines as the country has stepped up efforts to “create an atmosphere that is attractive to potential investors.”

He told American business executives that the Philippine economy grew 7.6 percent last year.

“This is the effect of our very aggressive efforts really to promote the Philippines as an investment destination,” Marcos said.

“We will never, at any point, say we got it perfected. We will continue to listen to you and to all our other partners as to what else we can do to help transform our economy and, in that way, to be able to play a viable part in the security and defense issues that are the challenges of the day and of the region.”

He noted that the US-Philippines alliance is in the “front and center right now," overcoming "some bumps and scrapes" over the past years.

“But now, security and defense are top of mind… we also have to see that because our economies and our societies have grown more complex, everything... hinges on everything else and… it is very hard for us to separate and say that this is a discreet sector that does not affect any other sec-

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The Marcos family’s trip, following the President’s five-day official visit to Washington, is in response to the invitation sent by the United Kingdom to Mr. Marcos as relayed by UK Ambassador Laure Beaufils.

In a statement, Malacañan Palace confirmed the President had accepted the invitation to attend the coronation of the new British sovereign. It was still unclear at press time who in the presidential entourage to the US would accompany the Marcoses to London as well.

The coronation will be held at Westminster Abbey on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), the Presidential Communications Office said.

The PCO said Mr. Marcos and the First Lady accepted the invitation of the Master of the Household, upon command of His Majesty, to a reception at Buckingham Palace on May 5 ahead of the coronation of King Charles and Her Majesty the

Airlines...

From A1 and closing of the front panel cover and side panel covers.

Apolonio said the next maintenance work at the Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) may affect operations of major airports, particularly the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, because it will be done from midnight until 6 a.m. on May 17.

The ATMC houses the Communications, Navigations, Surveillance / Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system which manages and supervises the air traffic activities within the Philippine Flight Information Region (FIR).

The ATMS power supply upgrade will involve the installation of a bypass panel to provide seamless ATMS operation and the reconfiguration of the existing distribution panel to segregate ATM system A (voice) and ATM system B (data), resulting in the UPS and

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DOH Officer-in-Charge Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire stressed that with this shift, those tested are most likely to be positive for the coronavirus disease.

Vergeire also said the positivity rate is not the sole criterion in monitoring the country’s COVID-19 situation.

She also allayed concerns from legislators on the reported increase in local COVID-19 cases.

During the hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations on the budgetary performance of the DOH, Vergeire told the panel the department is prevented from purchasing bivalent COVID-19 vac- teachers, nurses, construction workers, and engineers.

Ople said among the top US employers interested in employing the rescued OFWs included Patty Jeffrey, executive vice president for International Opera- tor,” he said.

Marcos also highlighted the government's efforts to advance the digital transformation of the Philippines, particularly supporting the “smart industry readiness” of several semiconductor and electronics manufacturing services companies “to help them craft their digital transformation road maps."

He also told the American business leaders that Philippines has succeeded in streamlining the process for permits to ensure ease of doing business as he assured them that his administration is working hard to address red tape and the digitalization of bureaucratic processes.

"They have done a very good job. They have reduced some of the permitting procedures from different industries from several months to a just few days," he said.

"I am really confident that if its continued, if it can continue its work and if it is well supported by legislation, by the bureaucratic procedures, we can cut down many of those unnecessary regulatory documentary requirements," he added.

The President said the country is also optimistic about the future increase in exports of solar and photovoltaic-related products from the Philippines as many countries strive to comply with their decarbonization targets.

He noted that with the trend toward electric vehicles, Philippine exports geared towards electric vehicle use, such as wire harnesses, rubber tires, and automotive electronics have good potential.

The semiconductor industry, on the

Queen Consort, Camilla Parker-Bowles.

The President is also expected to meet with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday.

"There will be more than 29,000 police officer deployments over the coming week in the lead up to Coronation Day and over the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend," the force said in a statement.

Saturday will see the largest one-day mobilization of officers in decades, with just over 11,500 police on duty, including 2,500 specialist officers. They will line the processional route, manage crowds and road closures, protect high-profile guests, and carry out searches.

Anti-monarchy group Republic has announced its plans to protest what it calls the "vanity parade." It is hoping around 1,000 people will turn out to boo the king as he passes Trafalgar Square.

The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan told reporters Wednesday the planned demonstration would be "legal" but vowed "very swift action" if the protests became "criminal."

AVR serving as each other’s backup in case the other power supply encounters a problem.

To ensure the continued safety of all its passengers, Air Asia Philippines is taking precautionary measures and sought the support of industry stakeholders for the proposed flight adjustmentsIn a meeting with Transportation department Undersecretary for Aviation

Roberto Lim, CAAP Director General

Capt. Manuel Antonio Tamayo, Manila International Airport Authority senior assistant general manager Bryan Co, and other industry leaders, the airlinediscussed the proposed rescheduling of 21 flights on May 16 and re-timing of 13, and the cancellation of six others on May 17.

Included in the rescheduling are flights to and from Taipei, Incheon, Bangkok (Don Mueang), Kota Kinabalu, and Incheon for international and Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Cagayan, Iloilo, and Tacloban for domestic. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) cines, which targets Omicron COVID-19 and its subvariants, due to an absence of a law authorizing such.

On the rising COVID cases, Vergeire said over 90 percent of the new infections being recorded daily are "mild and asymptomatic cases."

"We're averaging around 822 cases per day. This is about 79 percent higher than the previous two weeks of cases,"

Vergeire told the House appropriations panel chaired by Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co.

"Most of these cases are mild and asymptomatic cases. We will have about 8 to 9 percent of those with COVID that are classified as severe and critical," she said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) tions of MedPro International, Magsaysay People Resources/Magsaysay Maritime Corporation under Doris Magsaysay-Ho and John Padget, president and chief experience and innovation officer of Carnival Corporation, Princess Cruises.

Ople said the DMW is already preparing the OFWs’ profiles, which will be provided to employers in the US and Saudi Arabia, which also expressed interest in hiring Filipinos.

“There are employers in the US and also in the cruise ship industry and Saudi Arabia that are very much interested and other hand, can gain more from increasing skills in research and development, he said.

The President also assured American business leaders that the Philippines will "transform" and not just recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I do not use the word recovery, I use the word transformation. Because we are not trying to recover to where we used to be. We are trying to transform ourselves to be part of the modern world,” Mr. Marcos said.

“Now, that transformation I think will occur and is a grand opportunity that we have been given. Now we do not start from a blank sheet of paper but it’s close [to that]. There are many new sectors that did not exist before. There are businesses that did not exist before that will be very dominant in the very near future,” the President added.

President Marcos said he does not want the Philippines to be back where it was in mid-2019, right before the pandemic hit.

“I want to be somewhere else. I want to be in the middle of the new economy, number one. I think that is important,” he said.

Present at the forum were top American businessmen and Filipino tycoons, among them Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Enrique Razon, Tessie Sy-Coson, and Kevin Tan.

Also on Wednesday, the President met with members of the US Senate to discuss a wide range of issues that include security, defense, agriculture, and climate change mitigation, economic cooperation and cybersecurity.

In his remarks, President Marcos

"We have an extremely low threshold for anybody or anything that will disrupt this event," he said.

Holding up an anti-monarchy sign is not a criminal act, Adelekan noted, while adding "our priority is around safety and security for everyone."

Contentious new laws handing police increased powers to curb disruptive protests by climate campaigners and others came into force just this week, leading to accusations they were rushed through ahead of the coronation.

Under the new Public Order Act, protesters who block roads could face up to 12 months in prison.

The Met have also disclosed that they "intend to use facial recognition technology in central London."

"The watch list will be focused on those whose attendance on Coronation Day would raise public protection concerns," the force said. That includes those wanted for offenses or with outstanding arrest warrants, the statement added.

Civil liberties organisation Big Brother

PBBM:...

From A1 under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 with the National Police Commission (Napolcom) at the helm of NCPP implementation.

The 2023 NCPP was developed by Napolcom through its Technical Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, an inter-disciplinary body composed of acknowledged experts from government agencies and non-government organizations involved in the criminal justice system.

Napolcom is an agency attached to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) responsible for the administration and control of the Philippine National Police.

On Thursday, a ranking police official said the country’s crime rate dropped by 11.36 percent in the first three months of the year.

In a Laging Handa briefing, Philippine National Police (PNP) PublicInformation

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From A1 countries within the region allowed the situation in the South China Sea to maintain "overall stability."

"The US-Philippines defense guidelines is a bilateral arrangement," Mao said. "China firmly opposes any country’s move to meddle in the South China Sea issue to harm China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests by citing the guidelines." Mao said the SCS is a "shared home for countries in the region, not a hunting ground for forces outside the region."

"When regional countries are committed to mutual trust, solidarity, cooperation and properly handling differences, they would like to see profiles of our workers from Sudan, she said.

“For Saudi Arabia, we are working closely with PEACEME, a recruitment industry association geared towards employment in KSA as well as with the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development,” she added.

Ople pointed out that livelihood support and assistance are also in place for the displaced OFWs.

"All OFWs have received $200 care of the DMW while they are in Egypt and then livelihood package, financial thanked Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee and other members of the panel for welcoming his delegation to Capitol Hill for the frank and productive discussions on the state of Philippines-US relations.

Having been a member of the Philippine House of Representatives andthe Senate, Marcos said engagements between Manila and Washington should not only take place at the executive but also with members of the legislature.

Marcos noted that defense and security engagement remains the key pillar of Philippines-US bilateral relations. He hailed the US’ willingness to work with the Philippine government “as an equal, sovereign partner."

The President also expressed the Philippines’ intention to deepen cooperation with the US in the areas of supply chain, health and health security, environment, energy security, and interconnectivity.

The meeting was part of the President’s official visit to Washington, and follows a series of high-level dialogues with US President Joseph Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Joining the President in the Wednesday Capitol Hill meeting were Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.

Watch hit out at the proposed use of what it branded an "authoritarian mass surveillance tool that turns the public into walking ID cards."

"This Orwellian technology may be used in China and Russia but has no place on the streets of Britain...," still less during the Coronation, its legal and policy officer Madeleine Stone said.

In addition, snipers will be stationed on some rooftops in central London, while the skies above the British capital will also be closely watched.

No drones or planes are permitted to fly over central London on Saturday, except for police helicopters and authorized media.

According to Philippine Ambassador to the UK Teodoro Locsin Jr., President Marcos personally knew King Charles during his early adulthood, and they even had a chance to play polo together. Charles became king when his mother Queen Elizabeth II died last September 8. He also took over as head of state of 14 Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Office chief Col. Redrico Maranan said a total of 12,226 crime incidents were recorded from Jan. 1 to May 2, compared to 13,763 crimes in the same period last year.

“We were able to reduce 1,500 plus crimes of the so-called eight focus crimes. That's why we see, our different anti-criminality strategies, we see that it is effective,” he added.

The eight focus crimes are murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft, vehicle theft, motorcycle theft and rape.

Index crimes are serious crimes such as murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, rape, theft, and carjacking, while non-index crimes are violations of local ordinances and laws and vehicular accidents.

Maranan said that under PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr.'s leadership, the PNP will deploy policemen in barangays identified by the local police forces as crime-prone areas as part of preemptive efforts against criminality. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) have in their hand the key to peace and stability in the South China Sea," Mao said. assistance of initially P50,000 and then through OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) regional offices. The initial P50,000 will be coming from the DMW’s direct aid to the worker, another P50,000 will be given by OWWA to the families of the workers,” she said.

Defense OIC Carlito Galvez and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington established the new guidelines to modernize bilateral alliance cooperation "for a free and open Indo-Pacific region."

Under the guidelines, the Philippines and the US will expand cooperation on maritime security through but not limited to joint patrols. The guidelines also "reaffirmed that an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either of their aircraft or armed forces – which includes their Coast Guards – would invoke mutual defense commitments under the 1951 PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty."

In a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Padget said his group of companies is set to hire some 75,000 Filipino seafarers in the next three to four years. Padget also represents Carnival Cruise Line, Holland American Airlines and Seaborn.

DICT to launch SIM Check to fight scammers

By Orlan Mauricio

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is set to launch “Project: SIM Check Mo” next week as part of the government’s efforts to combat cybercrime.

The project involves a text messaging service thru the DICT’s Hotline“1326” that provides every citizen the capability to validate in 10 seconds the partial identity and status of a SIM number of a suspected scammer.

All one needs to do is text SIM CHECK, space, plus the 11-digit number and send it to 1326.

The sender will then receive the status of the SIM, which will indicate whether it is already registered or not, the initials of the SIM owner, and a remark on whether it has a good or
derogatory record.

“The project needs to be launched ASAP and immediately while we await the expiration of the 90-day extension period for the mandatory sim registration under Republic Act 11934,” DICT Executive Director Alexander Ramos of the agency’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said.

The official said the three-month extension is a “very long and dangerous time that can be taken advantage of by scammers to continue all sorts of scheming to swindle unsuspecting individuals.”

“Cybercrime prevention is a threeway shared responsibility between the telcos and the consumers-subscribers. The government acts as the supervisingcyber security to ensure that the public enjoys a safe cyberspace,” Norman Ancheta, OIC of the Inter Agency Response Center that handles the 24/7 operations of DICT’s Hotline 1326, said.

PNP to implement cigarette and vape ban among minors

By Charles Dantes

THE Philippine National Police on Thursday announced stricter monitoring of minors using cigarettes and vape devices as the force intensified its Oplan Bisita Eskwela.

PNP Spokesperson Col. Redrico Maranan explained that new Police Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda decided to give out the directive after parents and teachers appealed to watch over them.

"Our Chief PNP has received reports that some have been accosted, warned, and had vape items and products confiscated which they are bringing into and around schools," said Maranan in a public briefing.

The spokesman also shared that the PNP will partner with the Department of Social Welfare and Development in enforcing the smoking ban among minors.

PNP's Oplan Balik Eskwela required police officers to visit local communities and patrol schools in their respective areas of responsibility to prevent students from being victimized by criminal elements.

P1k...

From A1 such as design and use of colors, as well as high-quality security features.

The obverse side of the 1,000-Piso polymer banknote showcases the Philippine Eagle, which symbolizes the Filipino people’s uniqueness, strength, power, love for freedom, and sharp vision. It also features the national flower, Sampaguita, which represents purity, simplicity, humility, and strength. The bill’s reverse side showcases the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site; the T'nalak weave design of the T’boli people; and the South Sea Pearl.

The BSP began circulating the awardwinning banknote in April 2022. It was printed by Note Printing Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia’s central bank.

In Brief

Kadiwa stores post over P6.4m sales nationwide

THE government-run Kadiwa stores have generated sales of over P6.4 million nationwide, with the National Capital Region and Central Luzon recording sales of over P1 million each, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The Kadiwa in NCR, which recorded sales amounting to P1,009,903.24, was set up at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on April 30, with its opening attended by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. no less.

Meanwhile, the Kadiwa outlets in Central Luzon established in San Jose Del Monte City in Bulacan; Angeles City in Pampanga; and Mariveles, Bataan, also reported sales surpassing the P1-million mark apiece.

Other Kadiwa ng Pangulo para sa Manggagawa sites in Luzon chalked up the following sales: Cordillera Administrative Region – P193,583.00; Ilocos Region – P464,769.00; Cagayan Valley Region– P302,418.00; CALABARZON – P137,654.00; and Bicol Region – P673,056.87.

Exigency plans readied for Mindoro fishermen

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) are mapping out plans to help fishermen affected by the massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro.

DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. has recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the sharing of fishing areas following a meeting with local leaders and affected fishermen in the island.

“The DILG and BFAR will adopt a cluster approach to ensure that all affected fisherfolk will have a place to go and congestion in one fishing area will be avoided,” Abalos said.

Joel E. Zurbano