Lawmakers to study emergency powers

Cristito Villamor Palana, the alleged middleman in the slaying of the journalist.

They have neither surrendered nor been arrested since the arrest orders were issued by the Las Pinas City RTC and the Muntinlupa City RTC.

The DOJ said the new criminal charges against Bantag and Zulueta were the results of the preliminary investigation conducted on complaints filed by NBP PDLs Ronald

By Macon Ramos-Araneta for the tourism industry for the duration of the Marcos administration,” she said.

The Tourism chief said the plan focuses on giving the Philippines a chance to become a “tourism powerhouse.”

“These objectives involve not simply the promotion of the Philippines, which we will continue domestically and internationally but also, more importantly, addressing the essential issues of tourism development, including the development of infrastructure, connectivity, as well as digitalization, the equalization of tourism product development and promotion, the enhancement of the overall tourism experience as well as the strengthening of tourism governance,” Frasco said.

Frasco said the plan would also serve as a guide for regions across the Philippines “to spread countrywide development through tourism,” adding that this will also provide jobs to Filipinos.

Frasco said the tourism industry earned P1.74 trillion in 2022 as a composite of domestic visitor seats as well as foreign visitor receipts and also generated at least 5.2 million local jobs.

By 2028, the DOT expects to have accumulated a total of 51.9 million tourist arrivals and 34.7 million tourism-related jobs.

Department Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy promised that the agency would extend support to DOT on this tourism plan, specifically on connection issues.

“The DICT’s role here is to really support the Department of Tourism in its effort in establishing the Philippines as one of the primary tourist destinations around the world. And one of the challenges really in promoting and establishing that position for the Philippines is its issues on digitalization and connectivity,” Uy said.

“Secretary Frasco provided us initially with the list of about 94 tourist destinations that have connectivity challenges,” Uy said. He said in a few months, 46 of these representing major tourist sites would enjoy free internet connectivity.

From

The team left Monday for the Middle Eastern country.

Among its members are DFA Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Mardomel Melicor and Ariel Javier; Department of Migrant Workers Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Welfare Services Felicitas Bay and Assistant Secretary for Public Policy and International Cooperation Mario Zinampan; and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Arnell Ignacio.

“We can always resolve things through diplomacy but not at the expense of national pride and honor. After all, the safety and welfare of our kababayans are at stake,” De Vega said.

In a House hearing Monday, De Vega and Department of Migrant Workers Undersecretary Hans Cacdac said keeping shelters for runaway and abused Filipino workers in Kuwait is a “non-negotiable” for the Philippines.

“Our shelters have to remain as it is in the law passed by Congress. Let’s make other compromises but not close down the shelter,” De Vega said.

Cacdac said no OFW should be hurt, raped, physically assaulted, or killed at the hands of their employers in Kuwait.

S. Usman and Jonathan C. Escopete, both of whom are serving life imprisonment for the sale of dangerous drugs.

“In a resolution dated 02 May 2023, the DOJ State Prosecutors found probable cause to indict respondent Bantag for two (2) counts of physical torture and mental/psychological torture under Section 4(a) and Section 4(b)(2) and/or (12) of Republic Act No. 9745, while respondent Zulueta is charged as an accessory thereof,” the DOJ said.

“Also, DOJ State Prosecutors found probable cause to indict respondent Bantag for two counts of serious physical injuries under Article 263 of the Revised Penal Code,” it added.

It also said the prosecutors recommended to the DOJ’s Technical Division to administratively charge the two former BuCor officials for grave misconduct.

“The cases stemmed from the stabbing incident on 01 February 2022 when respondent Bantag summoned the complainants and other PDL kumanders inside the NBP to go to his office. Escopete alleged that respondent Bantag stabed him in his left thigh. On the other hand, Usman stated that he was stabbed in his right hand which caused his middle finger to be paralyzed,” the DOJ said.

It said that “Usman and Escopete presented PDL kumanders who witnessed the stabbing incidents: Nicanor M. Dimaiwat, Jr., Richard B. Gabriel, Fromencio T. Enacmal, Conrado S. Ramos, Jr., and Ferlito V. Ayok.”

THE House of Representatives committee on energy will study the proposal to grant the President the power to implement temporary measures during an electric power crisis or when prices are surging.

This was disclosed yesterday during the hearing of the committee chaired by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

The proposal is among the proposed amendments being pushed by the Department of Energy (DOE) to Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).

The DOE proposal submitted to the committee includes a provision allowing the government to issue “temporary measures” to protect consumers against surcharges in electricity or when power supply is critically low.

DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian

vowed to strengthen the government’s interventions to break the cycle of poverty as he got the nod of the powerful Commission on Appointments yesterday.

He said the department will particularly strengthen the 4Ps program as well as livelihood interventions under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and KALAHI-CIDSS.

These will ensure that beneficiaries who were assisted by the DSWD will no longer go back to being poor, Gatchalian said.

“Once they graduate from 4Ps, they’re

DOJ:... From now called non-poor. They will be in the near-poor line, or families making P15,000 to P18,000 (monthly) supposedly.

“We have no comment as of this time. We will just (wait for) events to show whether or not the information of the good Secretary is reliable or not,” Topacio told Manila Standard in a message.

Because of Teves’ anticipated return, Remulla said law enforcement agencies have already been placed on alert in order to avoid any untoward incident upon his arrival.

However, he clarified that Teves will not be arrested as there is still no standing warrant of arrest against the lawmaker yet.

“Law enforcement agencies have been placed on alert so he can be secured properly, so we would not be surprised by the arrival,” Remulla said.

The notice issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) could have prompted Teves to consider returning to the country, Remulla said.

(But) we saw during the COVID pandemic that one shock – a death in the family, a lockdown, or a natural disaster – will slip them back to poverty,” he said.

He said there are multiple studies from the Asian Development Bank that say that near-poor Filipinos should already be considered poor.

“So now we’re about to share P16 billion – if I’m not mistaken – for our 4Ps graduates as well as our near-poor,” he said. Gatchalian vowed to continue the DSWD’s social protection programs.

The social welfare chief was scruti-

Teves flew to the United States days before the attack on Degamo’s property. He has since transferred to TimorLeste, which last week denied his application for political asylum. He was also rumored to have gone to Cambodia and South Korea.

“He’s already on Interpol notice and things are becoming more difficult for Mr. Teves to go around. That’s what was told to me by my reliable sources,” Remulla said.

“He will likely return, most probably because it’s difficult to go around the world now when you’re already on Interpol notice and it’s already known in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) that he’s a subject of designation as a terrorist. So, things have become more difficult, I suppose,” the DOJ chief added.

Remulla said Teves’ return would give the latter an opportunity to formally answer the cases against him.

“It means he can answer the process nized by some CA members on the policy programs and reforms of the department and the status of his case before the Ombudsman regarding housing cooperatives when he was still the mayor of Valenzuela City, among others. of law. If a case is filed against him (today) then it can be immediately served to him. That can run accordingly and the cases be resolved by the panel of prosecutors based on his counter-affidavit,” Remulla said.

COVID-19 cases increased by 31 percent from May 8 to 14.

Sen. JV Ejercito, for his part, recalled working with Gatchalian, saying he was “amazed” with how the latter turned Valenzuela City into a “yardstick” of local governance.

“I recommend Sec. Rex [for DSWD] not only because of his governance but also because of his innovative programs,” Ejercito said.

Sen. Bong Go also expressed his support for Gatchalian’s confirmation.

Meanwhile, Degamo’s widow said she already expected the possible recantations of suspect-witnesses in the assassination of her husband.

“Even from the start, I was also already informed by my lawyers that that is something we should also expect. It (recantation) didn’t come unexpected,” said Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo in an interview on dzBB.

Remulla on Monday said the filing of murder complaints against Teves has been pushed back because six to seven suspects-turned-witnesses have been advised by their lawyers not to cooperate.

“We are expecting the worst scenario. But we are still very confident that we will make it,” Mayor Degamo said. With Rio N. Araja to be wearing their face masks.”

“The President may, upon the recommendation of the DOE, issue a declaration of electric power crisis in times of critically low electricity supply or unusually high electricity prices,” the proposed amendment reads. Maricel V. Cruz

CAAP: Airspace shutdown finalized

THE scheduled shutdown of Philippine airspace early Wednesday for replacement and repairs has been finalized, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

The CAAP is set to replace the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units at its air traffic management center from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Wednesday, May 17, to avoid a repeat of the New Year’s Day aviation meltdown last January, ABS-CBN News reported.

The CAAP said it has been practicing how to replace the UPS units over the past three days to make sure it would be done within the 2-hour window.

“Starting midnight tonight, everybody will be here,” CAAP Deputy Director General for Operations Captain Edgardo Diaz, quoted by ABS-CBN News, said.

CAAP said shutting down the Philippine airspace was necessary to ensure the safety of all aircraft and passengers flying to and from the country.

OFW falls to death from window in HK

THE Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong confirmed that a Filipino domestic worker died on Monday after falling off a window she was cleaning.

Reports from Hong Kong media said that the 38-year-old Filipina allegedly fell from the 18th floor of an apartment building in Kowloon.

we continue to open up the country to travel and tourism as is the direction set by our President,” Frasco said.

“Of course, all the minimum health and safety standards are in place,” she said, noting that Department of Tourism-accredited establishments comply with these standards.

Early this month, the World Health Organization said COVID-19 no longer represents a global health emergency.

Despite this, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire has called on the public not to be complacent as the pandemic is still not over.

Earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the COVID-19 Health Emergency has lapsed following its expiration in December 2022.

The DOH reported on Monday that the country’s daily average of new

In its latest case bulletin, the agency recorded 1,773 daily infections, which is 421 higher than the 1,352 recorded between May 1 to 7.

Additionally, there were 12,414 new cases in the past week.

To date, the country has logged more than 4.1 million coronavirus cases and 66,453 deaths since January 2020.

Despite the tourism push, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said his city would reimpose the mandatory use of face masks to curb an increase in infections.

The city is logging an average of 13 to 14 COVID cases a day, Magalong said.

“We need to observe again the minimum health standards, especially the wearing of masks. So we are reimposing their use here at city hall and other government offices, especially indoors,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English in a video post on Facebook. “We’re now requiring our constituents and visitors the July 26 deadline to put an end to scammers defrauding people through text messages. massive

Church leaders have also been asked to reimpose the mask mandate, he said. Meanwhile, the Quezon City government urged residents to report if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or if they have come in close contact with individuals who have tested positive.

“We highly encourage our people to continue reporting cases so we can effectively reach out to them and provide necessary assistance. This collaborative effort will help us mitigate the spread of the virus and further reduce the number of cases,” City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit head Dr. Rolly Cruz said.

Amid an increase in the number of infections in the city, he reminded residents to adhere to health protocols and advised people who are feeling unwell or experiencing symptoms such as fever, a cough or runny nose, to immediately isolate themselves for a period of five days and refrain from leaving their homes or going to work.

Philippine consul general Raly Tejada, quoted by ABS-CBN News, said Hong Kong police were investigating the incident, as the city’s laws ban employers from asking their household helpers to clean windows without adequate safety precautions.

“This is such a deplorable tragedy because the Hong Kong government itself has banned window cleaning since 2017, as they are aware that this is unsafe and very dangerous,” Tejada said.

cover-up in a case involving 900

kilos of shabu worth P6.7 billion.

In the Olongapo case, the Supreme Court’s Second Division dismissed the petition filed by Rudy Chua and Cai Changcheng, two of the accused in the drug complaint, seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals’ decision dated July 17, 2012 and resolution dated Nov. 14, 2012.

In that ruling, the appellate court found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the secretary of Justice in reversing the city prosecutor’s dismissal of the complaint and ordering the filing of charges against Chua, Changcheng, and several others.

Court records showed that on May 25, 2008, a security guard of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) flagged down a Mitsubishi Outlander with Plate No. RAE 615 driven by Anthony “Anton” Ang, part-owner of import-export firm Hualong International, Inc. (Hualong)

During the inspection, the driver failed to show documents authorizing them to bring out the cargoes, which were earlier seen being unloaded from a docked Chinese-registered cargo ship FIB Shun Fa Xing. Ang was then brought to the office of Internal Affairs General Assignment Service for investigation.

When questioned, Ang refused to open the boxes and claimed that they merely contained sensitive computer parts.

Ang was later allowed to leave the office after committing to produce the necessary documents, but he failed to return.

When the boxes were opened, they were found to contain 40 transport plastic packs containing a white crystalline substance and weighing 81.95 kilos, which later tested positive for shabu, a dangerous drug.

On May 28, 2008, two bags containing 10 vacuum-sealed packs of the same substances were recovered by divers of the Subic Dry Dock, which later yielded positive results for shabu with a weight of 20.49 kilos.

On the same day, the operatives of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling GroupTask Force Subic (Task Force) received information that a dark blue Toyota Hi-Ace with plate number UKU-699 parked inside a warehouse owned by Anglo Asia Commodity Corporation (Anglo Asia) contained similar boxes as those earlier seized.

The operatives proceeded to the warehouse and confiscated 60 boxes containing five packs of shabu weighing 612.22 kilograms.

Enrique L. Ong, manager of Anglo Asia, admitted that he was instructed by Ang and Ang’s wife Estrella Ang (Estrella), operations manager of Hualong, to allow Rolando Labandelo, the driver of the vehicle, to park inside the warehouse.

It was also revealed during the investigation that Estrella notified the Seaport Department of SBMA of the arrival of the cargo vessel F/B Shun Fa Xing, which contained the dangerous drugs later seized.