‘One step closer’ to improving airport services—PBBM

n By JOEL ZURBANO

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday expressed confidence that his administration is “one step closer” to attaining its goal of providing “safe, efficient, and sustainable” airport services in the country.

Marcos made the remark after his meeting with officials of New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), one of the world’s largest infrastructure investors, in London.

“Our vision for safe, efficient, and sustainable airports in the Philippines is one step closer to reality,” he said in a Facebook post.

Mr. Marcos had the chance to tour London Gatwick Airport, which is comanaged by GIP.

“This learning experience has provided us with valuable insights as to how we can develop the truly world-class airports we aspire to build in the Philippines,” he said.

“We had a productive meeting with Global Infrastructure Partners, the company behind Gatwick Airport’s exceptional infrastructure, airports in the world.

Obstacle racing sparks gold rush for Team PH

n By RIERA U. MALLARI

PHNOM PENH – Team Philippines formally opened its 32nd Southeast Asian Games campaign on Saturday with a world record in obstacle racing, gold medals in karate, jiu-jitsu and aquathlon, and impressive triumphs in boxing and 3x3 men’s basketball to brandish a productive day it hopes to sustain all the way to the finish.

Obstacle course racers set the tone of the rewarding opener as fitness model Princess Cabuya delivered a world record for the second time in three days after she and Mark Julius Rodelas, nephew of the athletic legend Elma Muros, clinched a gold medal each in the OCR finals.

Cabuya conquered the 100-meter women’s individual action in 32.732 seconds, almost three seconds in front of teammate and eventual silver medalist Kaiza de la Cerna.

technology, and operations, and were given a tour to explore some of their best practices firsthand.” dvisories

The GIP, founded in 2006, is a leading global independent infrastructure fund that administers $87 billion in assets on behalf of its investor base.

GIP has expressed its commitment to invest in the Philippines to improve transportation system efficiency, increase renewable energy production, and advance digital transformation.

Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and its power distributor Manila Electric Co. started their electrical audit over the weekend following the 8-hour power outage at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Labor Day. MIAA officer-in-charge Bryan Co said they will come up with the result of the audit after three weeks.

Co said once the audit is concluded, MIAA will be able to determine the necessary equipment needed to upgrade, rehabilitate or purchase to make the power system at the terminal reliable and resilient.

PUBLIC Advisories should still be issued even after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 no longer constitutes a global health emergency, the independent monitoring group OCTA Research on Saturday said.

“We should still be giving advisories to our countrymen,” OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said in an interview on dzBB.

The WHO issued the declaration on Friday, with its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying the pandemic had

OCTA expert: Virus is still here, public advisories must continue ‘NTF-ELCAC won’t be abolished’

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has no intention of abolishing the National Task Force to End Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), an official of the National Security Council said.

In a statement, NSC Assistant DirectorGeneral Jonathan Malayaclarified that Executive Order No. 23, which protects the freedom of association, does not pave the way for NTF-ELCAC’s abolition.

“Nowhere does it state in Executive killed “at least 20 million” people – nearly three times the under seven million deaths officially recorded.

“COVID is still here and it is up to individual countries to manage the pandemic. It’s maybe not a pandemic anymore because there is no more state of emergency, but the management of disease [has to continue],” David said. He said while the COVID situation now is not the same as it was when it started, it does not mean it should no longer be given attention.

Order No. 23 that the NTF ELCAC will be abolished or dismantled,” he said.

“As chairman of the NTF ELCAC, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is firmly committed to the whole of nation approach to finally ending Communist terrorism in the country and he, in fact, has directed the Task Force to intensify its efforts since we have already attained strategic victory over the CPP-NPA-NDF,” Malaya added.