Solon: Scrap eTravel requirement

By Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta

ALAWMAKER Sunday urged the government to drop its eTravel registration requirement for incoming international travelers, now that the World Health Organization (WHO) no longer considers COVID-19 a global public health emergency.

Camarines Sur Rep. Lray Villafuerte said scrapping the requirement would further entice tourists and prospective investors to come to the Philippines as the country transitions fully to the postpandemic “new normal.”

“Junking the tedious, time-consuming eTravel registration process would further convince the international investor community that the domestic economy has completely reopened for

Mr. Marcos...

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Foreign Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Angelito Nayan said President Marcos will discuss long-term food and energy security, economic recovery, transnational crimes, and the need to upgrade technical and vocational education and training during the summit.

Nayan said Marcos would also raise the issues regarding the adoption of climate and disaster resilient technologies, transitioning to renewable and alternative energy technologies, and the protection of migrant workers.

President Marcos is also expected to assert the importance of demonstrating ASEAN’s centrality in the region amid geopolitical issues, the DFA official said.

DFA spokesperson Ambassador Ma.

Terersita Daza said the opening ceremony of the 42nd ASEAN Summit will be held in the morning of May 10.

Talks with other leaders from both ASEAN and non-ASEAN guest countries are possible at the sidelines of the summit.

This will be the President’s 12th trip in his first year and the second time he will visit Indonesia.

During the last ASEAN summit, the President pushed for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea based on international law, which he said should be an example of how states manage their differences.

Since then, aggressive Chinese intrusions into the West Philippine Sea—and a stronger US presence in the region—have raised tensions in the South China Sea.

Hollywood ...

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Under the proposals, nothing written by AI can be considered “literary” or “source” material -- industry terms that decide who gets royalties -- and scripts written by WGA members cannot “be used to train AI.”

But according to the WGA, studios “rejected our proposal,” and countered with an offer merely to meet once a year to “discuss advancements in technology.”

“It’s nice for them to offer to have a meeting about how they’re exploiting it against us!” joked WGA negotiating committee member Eric Heisserer, who wrote Netflix hit film “Bird Box.”

“Art cannot be created by a machine. You lose the heart and soul of the story... I mean, the first word is ‘artificial,’” he told AFP on the picket line outside the streaming giant’s Hollywood HQ Friday.

While writers already know this, the danger is that “we have to watch tech companies destroy the business in an attempt to find out for themselves,” he said.

While few television and film writers who spoke to AFP on the picket lines believe their work could be done by computers, the apparent conviction of studios and streamers that it can has been an extra slap in the face.

They fear that belt-tightening executives in Hollywood, where Silicon Valley companies have upended many traditional practices such as long-term contracts for writers, may seek to cut costs further by getting computers to write their next hit shows.

Comments by top Hollywood executives at this week’s Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills will have done nothing to quell writers’ concerns.

“In the next three years, you’re going to see a movie that was written by AI made... a good one,” said movie producer Todd Lieberman. AFP business and entice more international tourists to come see the Philippines,” Villafuerte said.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Sunday welcomed the WHO decision to lift its COVID-19 global health emergency declaration.

“The decision shows that countries around the globe, including the Philippines, have succeeded through collaborative effort in fighting the highly

MIF...

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“It will be on a best-effort basis. We will try to pass the remaining eight bills from the original priority list. If we could do that, we would have approved all the urgent measures identified by President Marcos in less than a year,” he said.

A total of 31 proposed laws had

Retired...

From A1 am confident that our superiors will ensure that existing rights will be protected.” said Ret. Gen Wilben Mayor, former spokesperson of the Philippine National Police and currently presidential assistant at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.

AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar declined to give a comment, saying they will issue a statement after the meeting.

“We will be ready for the consultation,” Aguilar said.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said there is a need for a separate retirement and pension fund for MUP, saying the current pension system was a “big drain to the national budget.”

Diokno said the government will likely spend P848.39 billion annually for the next 20 years to finance the current pension system.

He said the accumulating pension liabilities will likely increase public debt by as much as 25 percent by 2030.

The Bureau of the Treasury estimates

Mixed...

From A1 obstacle course racers, and the lows of back-to-back defeats in the 3x3 basketball finals of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games here.

For the second straight day, OCR remained perfect for the Filipinos as the men’s and women’s relay teams proved too much for the opposition, taking the last two golds to complete a four-event sweep, while further boosting their status as the best in the region.

A certified crowd drawer at the Chroy Chavrang Convention Center Car Park, the men’s quartet of Ahgie Radan, Elias Tabac, Mervin Guarte, and Jay-ar de Castro hurdled all the obstacles in a new global standard of 24.47 seconds to beat Malaysia’s Ghalib Mohamad Azimi, Mohd Redha Rozlan, Nuur Hafis Said Alwi and Yoong Wei Theng, who clocked 25.15.

Earlier, Sandi Menchi Abahan, Mecca Cortizano, Milky Mae Tejares and Maritess Nocyao reigned supreme in the women’s category with a world mark of 33.73 at the expense of Indonesia’s Anggun Yolanda, Ayu Pupita,

Coast...

From A1 infectious novel coronavirus and its variants, though they remain a threat to public health,” he said.

Mariveles at around 5:21 a.m. on Saturday, after colliding with the MT Petite Soeur, a a Marshall Island-flagged chemical and oil product tanker in the waters off Corregidor Island.

PCG Station Bataan and the Marine Environmental Protection Unit helped install oil spill booms and absorbent bags.

The PCG reported the collision of the two vessels on April 29. Three people died, two were still missing, while 15 others were rescued.

He reminded the public “to wear a face mask when needed, wash your hands, isolate when sick, observe physical distancing, and get vaccinated” to avoid infection from COVID-19.

He urged the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to prescribe minimum health protocols consistent with the WHO decision.

“I think our people have learned to live with the virus. Though there is nomask mandate, many of them continue to wear masks and observe physical distancing. They are aware of the resid- been originally listed by the President in his first State of the Nation Address in July last year and later adopted by the LEDAC.

Zubiri, for his part, said the Senate is committed to pursue the passage of the Maharlika Fund bill despite the initial lukewarm response of the Upper Chamber to the measure.

“We hope to end the debates on the MIF bill by the end of the month. Hopefully, we can ratify (the bill) by the first that the level of total unfunded pension liabilities is P9.6 trillion. This is around half of GDP in 2022.

“We can no longer afford to keep this around,” said Diokno.

“They (soldiers) don’t have any contributions, and they enjoy large payouts. I think this really has to be discussed openly,” he said.

Diokno said a retired general would receive a monthly pension of P131,000, tax-free.

“We are determined to come up with a reasonable proposal in consultation with the concerned agencies and stakeholders. (Defense) Secretary (Carlito) Galvez, (Interior) Secretary (Benhur) Abalos, representatives from the Office of the President, the Department of Budget and Management, and I will meet to finetune the proposal and address the current issues of all involved,” he said in a briefing late Friday afternoon.

“Open dialog will be key to coming up with a reasonable solution to this monumental problem and providing a level of predictability for c urrent and future MUP pensioners,” Diokno added.

Mudji Mulyani and Rahmayuna Fadillah (35.06).

The other gold medals were delivered by reigning duathlon queen Kim Mangrobang, the women’s soft tennis squad of Bien Zoleta-Mañalac and Princess Catindig, jiu jitsu fighter Marc Lim, who finally triumphed in his third SEA Games, and karateka Jamie Lim, who bounced back from her bronze-medal finish in Vietnam last year.

Mangrobang kept her crown in the 5k run, 20km bike and 2.5k run finale at the Kep Beach Resort; ZoletaMañalac and Catindig completed a championship sweep capped by a 5-2 victory over Chatmanee and Napawee Jankiaw of Thailand in the women’s doubles finals; Marc Lim beat Vietnam’s Dang Dinh Tung for the men’s ne-waza nogi 69kg gold; and Jamie

Lim returned to her rightful place on top of the SEA Games karate world by ruling the women’s -61kg women’s individual kumite at the Chroy Changvar Center Hall A.

Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, the Philippines fell to fourth place with 13 golds, but ual threat and they are not letting their guard down,” he said. week of June, before we go on sine die break,” he said in a radio interview.

The MV Hong Hai 189 came from Botolan, Zambales and had 20 crew members on board. The MT Petite Soeur left the port of Mariveles, Bataan before the incident, the PCG said.

Earlier, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said they are mapping out plans to help local government units affected by the massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro last February.

DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. has recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that fishing areas be shared after meeting with local leaders and affected fishermen in the area.

He said the lifting of the global health emergency should pave the way for the country to sustain economic growth.

“It should translate to increased mobility, more economic activities and therefore additional job and income opportunities for our workers and their families,” he added.

Nine new COVID-19 deaths were recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) in its published report issued Saturday.

With the new fatalities, the total number of deaths was 66,453.

The report also showed 735 new recoveries, which brought to 4,024,220 the total number of those who recovered from the coronavirus infection.

Zubiri said the Senate’s final version of the bill will have more safeguards.

“We can assure the public that we have sufficient safeguards to ensure that the MIF would not be used for corruption, personal gain, nor for money laundering. It will be managed by professionals, not by political appointees. The fund would also be subjected to audit by top financial institutions,” he said.

MUP covers personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Public Safety College, the Bureau of Corrections, and the Philippine National Police.

Earlier, Diokno said the pension reform includes a new policy that will cover all active personnel and new entrants, meaning mandatory contributions begin with those currently or about to enter service.

The reform seeks the removal of automatic indexation of pension to the salary of active personnel of similar ranks. This means pensions will no longer increase according to the salary increases of active personnel.

Also, military uniformed personnel will receive their pensions at the age of 57. The current policy allows them to receive their pensions at 56, the mandatory retirement age.

The percentage of the mandatory contribution will be staggered over a uniformed personnel’s years of service – from 5 percent in their first three years, to eventually 9 percent of their salary was just a gold shy of third-running Indonesia and two behind secondplaced Thailand.

Host Cambodia continued to lead the way with 28 gold, 21 silver and 23 bronze medals, mainly through its domination of indigenous sports like kun-bokator, an ancient form of martial art; kun khmer; and vovinam.

The Filipinos also had 18 silver medals, two one of them coming from the Gilas Women, which lost to Vietnam in the finals, 16-21, and the men’s squad that succumbed to a Cambodian team backstopped by three naturalized players in Brandon Peterson, Sayeed Pridgett, and Darrin Dorsey.

Karate also contributed four silver medals for the day, courtesy of kumite fighters Matthew Manantan (men’s -67 kg), Ivan Agustin (-84 kg), Remon Misu (-68 kg women) and Ariane Brito (+68kg women).

Cambodia’s bid for a Cinderella finish will be severely tested when the region’s big guns, among them the Filipinos, Thais, Indonesians, and Malaysians, press their bids in several martial arts disciplines and athletics, which get going Monday at the Morodok Techo Stadium.