Jail guards: NBI exec allowed inmate to sneak out

By Rey E. Requejo

JAIL guards have accused an official of the National Bureau of Investigation as having ordered them to "escort" high-profile detainee Jose Adrian Dera on his trips outside of the jail facility.

In an exclusive interview on GMA

News, the guards who spoke on condition of anonymity said NBI Security Management chief Jake Feudo gave orders to allow Dera to leave his cell.

"We just complied with the order as jail guards. We might get fired if we don't follow," one of the guards said during the interview.

The guards appealed to the Public Attorney's Office to help them "fight for the truth" even as Fuedo denied the allegation. He said the only time he allowed Dera to leave his cell was for a trip to the hospital.

Without naming the official, the NBI earlier said it relieved its security

Marcos...

From A1

The President stressed decisions in relation to this fund should not be linked to politics.

"One of the elements that make that happen is that there is very clear independence from the day-to-day government function. Those decisions are not made by political decisions in government, the decisions made for the fund are made by finance professionals," he said.

On Wednesday, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he had signed the enrolled copy of the MIF bill at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, where he is currently conducting an official visit to meet members of the United States Congress and government agencies.

Several interpretations on the use of the state pension funds triggered concerns the President might veto the measure, and amid calls for him to return

Survey:...

From A1 demonstrated the most improved views, Publicus Asia said.

On the other hand, the 18-24-year-old and non-working demographic expressed growing dissatisfaction (61 percent in Q1 to 53 percent in Q2) with the country’s state, direction and economic prospects. Limited educational and employment opportunities contributed to their negative sentiments and fostered a sense of disillusionment, Publicus Asia said.

Other demographics that showed a decline in positivity were non-Catholics (71 percent in Q1 to 63 percent in Q2), and vocational workers (75 percent in Q1 to 69 percent in Q2).

The North-Central Luzon region witnessed a decrease in positive sentiment, falling from 71 percent in the first quarter to 66 percent in the second quarter.

There was a significant increase in positive sentiments among the 25-29-yearold age group and government workers, the research company said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was elated over the results of the latest survey.

Marcos obtained high approval and

‘Don’t...

From A1

It represents the faceless voiceover artists and narrators of commercials, movies, audiobooks and video games who fear that their voices will be replaced by machines, or even cloned by artificial intelligence without their consent.

"The undiscriminating and unregulated use of artificial intelligence is a risk that could lead to the extinction of an artistic heritage of creativity and wonder, an asset that machines cannot generate," according to the group, which says its members include the US National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) and Latin America's Organization of United Voices.

"Our voices are our livelihood," NAVA vice president Carin Gilfry said in a statement last month.

"And if we don't have control over how those voices are used, we can't make a living," she added.

Voice artists were already competing with text-to-speech technology that turns written words into synthetic voice.

Now artificial intelligence has brought a new threat.

Thanks to machine learning, software can compare a voice sample with millions of existing ones, identifying patterns that generate a clone.

"It's fed by voices that we've been providing for years," said Dessiree Hernandez, president of the Mexican Association of Commercial Announcers.

"We're talking about the right to use your voice without your consent,"

No...

From A1 government hospitals and believes this temporary measure will help address the current shortage while the government formulates a comprehensive long-term solution.

But Cueto said if RA 9173's provision is not changed, "the percentage lower than 75 cannot be considered."

Earlier, Herbosa said he wants to hire nursing graduates who flunked the board exam but scored 70 to 74% on the test to help fill the 4,500 vacant plantilla positions for nurses in over 70 government hospitals across the country.

However, Section 21 of RA 9173 states that a special or temporary permit may only be issued to the following persons, subject to the approval of the Commission and upon payment of the prescribed fees:

• Licensed nurses from foreign countries/ states whose services are either for a fee or free if they are internationally well-known specialists or outstanding experts in any branch or specialty of nursing;

• Licensed nurses from foreign the bill to Congress. In particular, the Senate version of the bill, which was eventually adopted by the House of Representatives, included two sections on the prescriptive period for violations of the law. The draft bill passed by the Senate provides a 10-year prescriptive period for crimes punishable under the measure, while another section in the same bill provides for a 20-year prescriptive period.

Several senators, including Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, Senator Francis Escudero, and Senator Risa Hontiveros, asserted that the bill should be sent back to the Senate plenary for lawmakers to fix it. Asked how the Senate addressed the double provisions on the prescriptive period, Zubiri said: “I believe the corrections were thoroughly discussed by the majority bloc in our Viber group, including the correction sent by Senator Mark Villar (the principal author of the bill in the Senate).”

The Senate approved the MIF bill on trust scores, getting 62 percent and 57 percent, respectively, according to the Publicus survey conducted from June 8 to 12. she added.

In an interview after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 85thanniversary celebration at its headquarters in Makati City, the President welcomed the poll results, saying it is an indication that Filipinos stand with him as he strives to give them a comfortable life.

“Perhaps, this is a result of unity and our collaboration. That’s why they are saying our economy, the Philippines, is heading in the right direction. That means we stand together. And that’s what we’re really talking about,” Marcos said in Filipino.

The poll found that the “favorable” national issues for the second quarter are the use of renewable energy (87 percent), the nationwide launch of Kadiwa outlets (81 percent), and the establishment of living wages for workers (81 percent).

The respondents also welcomed the implementation of the suggested retail price on basic commodities (79 percent), tax on the rich (76 percent), and digital food stamp program (72 percent).

Pahayag 2023 is an independent and non-commissioned survey conducted by Publicus Asia Inc. between June 7 and 12.

Platforms offer human sounding textto-speech services for a fraction of what professionals would charge.

One, revoicer.com, says that it does not intend to replace human voiceovers, but to offer a quicker and cheaper alternative.

Although they continued to be hired, voice actors suspect that companies are using their voices to build up their archives.

The artists are seeking tools to track their voices in the face of sophisticated piracy.

They want laws to prevent recordings of their voices being used to develop AI without their consent, and also support setting quotas for human voiceovers, said Colombian voice artist Daniel Soler de la Prada.

In the future, audiences could hear a famous actor's voice in several languages but with the intonation of a dubbing artist, Filio said.

While that could generate employment and benefits for the public, voice artists "need to charge what's fair," he added.

Mexican voice artist Maclovia Gonzalez said that she would only sign a contract with an AI company if it provided enough information about how the content would be used.

"I want to be part of this revolution, but not at any price," she said.

Art Dubbing, a company that has received several requests from clients to use synthetic voices, faces a dilemma: "adapt or disappear," said its Mexican founder, Anuar Lopez de la Pena. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) countries/states on a medical mission whose services shall be free in a particular hospital, center, or clinic; and

• Licensed nurses from foreign countries/states employed by schools/ colleges of nursing as exchange professors in a branch or specialty of nursing.

If the non-board passers are allowed to work in government hospitals, Cueto said they should be under the direct supervision of registered nurses.

“When they are under a registered nurse, they are not covered by the strict provision of the law because they are not into the independent practice of the profession. They will be supervised all the way. There are quality assurance mechanisms wherein they will be watched over and everything that they do must be informed to their supervisor,” he added.

According to Herbosa, temporary licensed nurses will have to render up to four-year return services to a government hospital after they pass their board exam before they are allowed to go abroad as his proposed temporary solution to address the exodus of nurses who are choosing better-paying jobs abroad. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) third and final reading on May 31, with 19 senators voting in favor.

The MIF seeks the creation of a sovereign wealth fund that the government can use to make investments.

Among the significant amendments introduced to the measure was the absolute prohibition of using the funds of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) Corporation, Pag-IBIG, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippines Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) in the capitalization and investments in the Maharlika fund.

Under the MIF measure, an oversight panel composed of seven members each from the two chambers of Congress will be formed to oversee, monitor, and evaluate the implementation of the proposed law.

President Marcos also allayed the concerns against the bill, saying that the safety of pension funds was ensured in the adopted version of the measure.

It is a nationwide purposive survey with 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from a market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos maintained by PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with a multinational presence with respondents, and distributed across five geographical areas: National Capital Region (NCR), North Central Luzo, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Only registered Filipino voters were included in the sample, ensuring that the results accurately represent the sentiments of the voting population.

Marcos thanked the Filipinos for their continued support for him and his administration, assuring them that the government is exhausting all efforts to improve the economy.

At the same time, the President has institutionalized the Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP), a multilateral organization of reformers inside and outside of government.

Under Executive Order (EO) 31 signed by Marcos on June 20, the PH-OGP has been institutionalized as a “multistakeholder partnership responsible for overseeing and implementing the country's commitments to the OGP.”

“The Philippine Open Government Partnership (PH-OGP) has evolved into a

PBBM...

From A1 many of the SIM cards that have not been registered because they have been used for illegal purposes,” he added.

Mr. Marcos also urged the SEC to help his administration promote the Philippines as a “safe and proactive” investment hub.

In his keynote speech, the President vouched for SEC’s competence, saying it has become “a reliable regulator of corporate and capital markets and a staunch protector of our people and their investments.”

“I know that I can count on each of you to help promote our country as an investment destination—one that is safe, that is orderly and proactive; and one that can uphold the rights and welfare of our investors and consumers to their mutual benefits,” he said.

Marcos also called on SEC to help the business sector and transform it as an “agent of social and economic transformation.”

He expressed optimism that more local businesses will reach even greater heights for a “more robust and equitable” economy.

Everybody, the President said, must be “very, very watchful and careful” and be aware of the new technologies being introduced, to prevent them from being duped by scammers.

Mr. Marcos advised the public that when they get a message and a deal is being presented and it sounds too good to be true, they should proceed with caution.

“There is no such thing as 100 percent

Airline...

From A1 excluded, managed to leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. vital platform for introducing governance reforms through harnessing technology, creating synergy with CSOs (civil society organizations), and mainstreaming these innovations in various levels of government,” the EO read. risk-free. There is no way to guarantee these enormous returns on what they are claiming, on the money that you put, that you give them,” he said.

The foreign national, identified as Tshapa Guimick Basaga, 31, was denied entry into the country on June 18 after arriving from Ethiopia for being likely to become a public charge.

Following immigration law, he was immediately turned over to the airline for boarding on the next available flight back to his port of origin, and was temporarily held at the airport's day room before his return flight.

However, the airline on-duty security guard informed BI Border Control Intelligence Unit (BCIU) officers Monday evening that Basaga was missing from the airline's custody.

Basaga was able to leave the airport premises and was able to proceed to the taxi bay outside.

He was later found inside the airport terminal again, after attempting to go to the immigration area to retrieve his passports.

"I think most of the changes that were proposed and that were eventually adopted really had to do with the safety and the security of people’s pension funds, that's when people's doubt arises," he said.

According to opposition Sen. Pimentel, the President should veto the bill since there is "a high chance" that it is unconstitutional.

“The enrolled bill being sent to him is not the version properly and formally approved by Congress. There is a provision there that was changed without plenary authority. There’s a high chance that Maharlika Law is unconstitutional,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives condemned Zubiri's signing of the MIF bill.

The group of congressmen took issue with the discussions the senators made over the bill in a Viber group.

"How can this be? Last time we checked, the Constitution does not allow legislation by Viber," they said on Wednesday.

“To further strengthen the engagement of government and nongovernment champions, there is a need to institutionalize the PH-OGP as a mechanism for the delivery of more effective and sustainable actions to address current social concerns,” it added.

EO 31 forms a steering committee that will be chaired by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary and serve as policy- and decision-making body for the PH-OGP.

The PH-OGP Steering Committee is mandated to ensure that open government values are embedded in government policies and programs.

Members of the PH-OGP Steering Committee include the Executive, Local Government, and Social Welfare secretaries; the National Economic and Development Authority director general; four government sector representatives identified by the chairperson as nonpermanent members; Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines national president; and 10 CSO representatives.

“If the public is aware and knows and is able to spot (a scam) because of the way that these scams are presented, then that is the best defense that we have.”

Asked by reporters about punishing scammers involved in such schemes, the President said anyone found guilty of promoting such scams will be dealt with using the full force of the law.

But the big challenge, he said, is finding these people who do not usually maintain identifiable offices or establishments while they operate.

“These are people sitting in somebody’s basement with a computer, which they can just shut down, sell away, buy a new one, and keep going. So, that’s the trouble we are finding now,” Mr. Marcos pointed out.

“The best that we can do, there are certain instances, especially when they’re very large-scale that we can find exactly where it’s coming from. But again, it’s very movable --- these are not offices, corporate offices in a big building.”

On the SEC, the President said that through its existence, the agency "has helped create an environment that benefits the business and investment sectors.”

“As we are now deep in our efforts to fully transform our economy, it is my hope that your role in our collective growth remains clear so that businesses will not only thrive but will also become agents of our economic and social transformation,” he said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

"This is a major security breach as the subject has been denied entry, yet was able to exit airport premises undetected. By law, it is the airline's responsibility to secure him and ensure that he boards his flight back," he added.

Tansingco confirmed that Basaga was able to board his flight back to Ethiopia without informing the bureau.

The BI chief said that their legal team will study sanctions to be imposed against the airline.

Meanwhile, Senator Francis Escudero expressed openness to the proposal to pass laws that would institutionalize the air passenger’s bill of rights and impose stiffer penalties on violators amid the growing number of complaints by travelers of poor airline service.

The senator said it is about time Congress look into legislating the air passenger bill of rights, a proposal that was backed up by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) at the hearing conducted jointly by the committee on tourism and the committee on public services chaired by Senators Nancy Binay and Grace Poe, respectively. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

Jail...

From A1 management head for allowing Dera to leave the facility late Tuesday evening, allegedly to go to the hospital.

“The NBI assures the public that our organization will not condone acts of betrayal of public trust. The Chief of the Security Management Section was already relieved from his post pending the investigation of the case,” the bureau said in a statement on Wednesday.

The NBI yesterday filed criminal charges against Dera and six NBI security personnel a day after they were arrested upon returning to the NBI compound in Taft, Manila.

Dera is accused of corrupting public officials under Article 212 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), for allegedly bribing the security personnel to allow him to get out of NBI detention facility from 8 p.m. Tuesday until midnight of Wednesday.

The six NBI security personnel, meanwhile, are facing complaints for infidelity in the custody of prisoners/ detained persons under Art. 223 of the RPC, bribery under Art. 210 of the RPC, and for violating Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Dera is also among the co-accused in the illegal drug case involving former Sen. Leila de Lima.

He is also accused of acting as a bagman of Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who is suspected of being the mastermind in the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.

Teves' camp has denied allegations linking the lawmaker to Dera.

As this developed, Teves' lawyer has asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to inhibit itself from investigating the murder charges against his client because of the partiality exhibited by Justice Secretary Jesus Cripin C. Remulla.

In a motion for inhibition filed on Thursday, Teves’ lawyer Ferdinand S. Topacio said the investigation should be turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Teves and several other respondents have been charged with 10 murder, 14 frustrated murder, and four attempted murder charges in the deaths of 10 persons and injuries sustained by 18 others.

The DOJ’s panel of prosecutors has started its preliminary investigation.

Teves, who has been out of the country, has been tagged by Remulla as “one of the masterminds” in the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo. Teves has consistently denied the allegations, but has refused to return to the country to face the charges.

Teves did not attend the preliminary investigation conducted on June 13 and the panel of prosecutors set another investigation on June 27.

“Unfortunately, in this case, no prosecutor under the Department of Justice can confidently and honestly say that they can resolve this preliminary investigation with fairness, impartiality, independence, and integrity as demanded by law and jurisprudence,” Topacio said, in seeking for the inhibition of the DOJ. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

PhilHealth...

From A1 under PhilHealth Circular 2023-0009 entitled “Institutionalization of 156 hemodialysis sessions,” which takes effect on June 22. Ledesma emphasized that the expansion of hemodialysis coverage, as well as its institutionalization, were made possible with the help of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

A total of P21 billion from these partner agencies have already been approved for transfer to PhilHealth under the 2023 General Appropriations Act. PhilHealth members and their qualified dependents diagnosed with chronic kidney disease stage 5 (CKD5) needing hemodialysis as prescribed by their nephrologists may avail themselves of this benefit package.

The patient should also be registered in the PhilHealth Dialysis Database prior to availing.

The state-run health insurer explained that the new total of 156 sessions is in accordance with the current standards for adequate hemodialysis of three sessions per week for 52 weeks, which is equivalent to one year.

With this benefit expansion, CKD5 patients on hemodialysis can avail of as much as P405,600 per year in savings at P2,600 per session.

However, PhilHealth strongly advocates for peritoneal dialysis (PD) first, as it encourages accredited healthcare providers to recommend PD as the initial line of treatment for CKD5 patients.

On the other hand, kidney transplantation remains the gold standard treatment for patients with kidney failure.

The agency also said it is set to increase financial coverage for its peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation packages in the next two years.