in Negros Oriental

By Charles Dantes

NINE mayors from Negros Oriental led by the widow of Governor Roel Degamo expressed their support for the postponement of this year's Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in the province, claiming that peace and order concerns there need to be addressed.

"We firmly believe that this necessary action (postponement of BSKE) is crucial to address the peace and order concerns that have plagued our province," the mayors said in a joint statement.

Signatories to the manifesto are Governor Degamo's widow Janice Degamo of Pamplona town, Fritz Diaz of Siaton, Felipe Remollo of Dumaguete City, Galicano Truita of Dauin, Mel Nick Logronio of San Jose, Eniego Jabagat of

From A1 Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who admitted having a daughter taking a nursing course, previously said Herbosa’s plan is worth examining, especially since government hospitals still lack about 4,000 nurses.

"In other countries, nursing students are given the opportunity to serve even without passing the nursing board exam, as they are given a role under their Universal Health Care system," Hontiveros said.

"Even if they are not yet registered nurses. We have read about instances where nursing assistants are used... It's good to study or at least worth a study,” the senator added.

On June 19, Herbosa expressed his plan to take in unlicensed nursing graduates to work for the government, as

From A1 plans belonging to the electricity, gas and water, agriculture, fishery and forestry, and mining and quarrying sub-sectors outweighed the slight decline in the percentage of firms with expansion plans in the manufacturing subsector.

Meanwhile, the percentage of industry firms with expansion plans for the next 12 months declined to 24.8 percent from 26 percent, driven by the decrease in

From A1

Belgorod, and areas along the UkraineRussia border to inform them about their situation.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary

Eduardo de Vega earlier said the embassy was coordinating with the eight Filipinos known to be in Rostov-on-Don.

''Eight household employees. All

From A1

Bindoy, Dennis Amancio of Ayungon, Filomeno Reyes of Guihulngan City, and Susano Ruperto of Tayasan.

The nine mayors also cited securityrelated reasons, including the March assassination of former Governor Degamo which also led to the death of nine others.

The mayors' statement came days before the Commission on Election starts its province-wide public consultations and on the proposed postponement from June 27 to 29.

Comelec's decision to postpone the polls in the province may be disclosed by the end of September or the start of October, poll chairman George Garcia said Sunday, adding they were about 95 percent ready for the nationwide village elections.

"We are about 95% ready. We just have to print ballots for those who registered from December 12 to January 31," Garcia said in a radio dzBB interview.

The Comelec chairman said the public consultation in Negros Oriental will start on Tuesday and will last for three to four days.

"Our intention is actually to comply with our commitment to the hearing in the Senate wherein we said we will not immediately declare a postponement of an election in an area. We must first listen to our constituents in the area who may be affected by a postponement of the election," he said.

During a Senate inquiry into the killing of Gov. Degamo, Senators Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa and Francis Tolentino asked the poll body to examine the possibility of holding off the elections amid the political violence in the province.

Garcia said the Comelec has not yet received a petition to postpone the BSKE, which is set on October 30, but pointed out that the poll body has a motu proprio function to do so.

Should the elections be moved to a later date, the poll chairman said the village elections still need to be conducted not 30 days later.

From A1 warrant (SW) against former vice mayor Pando Mudjasan and his associates. Mudjasan, alerted by the firefight, fled and eluded arrest. long as they pass the board exam after a certain period of time. the percentage of firms with expansion plans in the mining and quarrying and manufacturing subsectors. are safe with their employers,'' De Vega said, citing information from Philippine Ambassador to Russia Igor Bailen.

PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda praised the “valor and dedication” of those who joined the operation.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino, said the armed group was part of the Moro National Liberation Front in the past. He also said it was a joint operation, but it was the SAF that served the warrants.

But the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) said the DOH secretary cannot issue temporary work permits to unlicensed nurses based on the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.

"Maybe it's a legal roadblock but I think we can hurdle it through either an amendment in the legislation for a special purpose, the fact that exigency of the situation where we are implementing the Universal Health Care Act and of course we want to implement health for all. We need a lot of nurses to actually provide care," said Herbosa.

The DOH is also meeting with the PRC and the Department of Labor and Employment to discuss the nursing shortage due to migration.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said Herbosa’s plan is only a “short-term” solution.

The major business risks for Q2 2023 identified by the respondents were stiff domestic competition (55.7 percent of respondents), insufficient demand (33.1 percent), and high interest rates (27.8 percent).

The number of firms that cited COVID-19 as a limiting factor to their business activity significantly declined to 16 in the current quarter from 394 in Q3 2020.

''Most of the 10,000 Filipinos in Russia are in Moscow, where things are normal, though all are advised to stay indoors. No one is asking for repatriation so far,'' he added.

On Saturday, Prigozhin announced that he had taken control of the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don as part of an them long and happy marriages.

In their statement, the Negros mayors claimed that the "lingering atmosphere of terror" has instilled deep-rooted fear among the voters in the region, making them hesitant to oppose political machinery and the accompanying harassment tactics.

The mayors said that despite extensive media coverage and Senate panel hearings related to their governor's death, deeprooted fear still persists in the province.

"The fear, though not only expressed, lingers within the hearts and minds of our constituents, making it challenging for them to exercise their democratic rights freely and without coercion," the statement said.

"Postponing the elections will allow us to address this profound fear and hesitation that continues to undermine the electoral process in Negros Oriental. It provides an opportunity for concerted efforts to dismantle the culture of fear, instill confidence in the voters, and ensure a truly free and fair electoral environment," the statement added.

Meanwhile, Garcia said the ballot printing for the latest batch of BSKE registrants was delayed due to the 491,000 double or multiple registrants identified by the Election Registration Board.

The Comelec had started filing cases against 7,000 individuals with double or multiple registrations, but Garcia explained that those with double registrations could still vote but would have to face criminal charges.

These double or multiple registrations would be removed by the Election Registration Board, which would convene before the October 2023 BSKE.

“The clean and orderly national voters list will be available by the first week of August,” Garcia added, noting around 1.5 million new voters had registered by January 31.

There are 91 million voters in the country, of which 25 million are Sangguniang Kabataan voters and 66 million are regular voters, according to Garcia. With this, the Comelec estimated that the total number of voters had increased to 92.5 million.

Centino said that continuous efforts to coordinate between government troops will be the key to tracking Mudhasan's location.

The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that 6,284 residents or 1,244 families from Maimbung have evacuated due to the firefight last Saturday.

MDRRMO Maimbung said that the evacuated residents are temporarily staying in three evacuation centers around Maimbung.

Assistance such as food, water, and others were distributed to the residents with the help of the local government unit of Maimbung.

The wife of Speaker Martin Romualdez cited the importance of always ensuring respect, caring for each other, and keeping the flames

“The root causes of the shortage lie in the significant number of nurses leaving the country to seek higher-paying jobs abroad. We should take a look at nurses' salaries and provide more incentives for them to stay and practice in our nation,” Pimentel said.

The opposition lawmaker also believes that barring nursing board exam takers who flunked the test from fully practicing the profession is also one way of protecting not just the importance of the board exam but also the public.

“If they passed, then the examinees are ready and competent. If they flunked, then clearly and surely they are not ready to become nurses. We have to protect the integrity of our testing system. Study and prepare more for the next exam. 75 means 75, not 74.5,” he said.

"Improve the exam, and make sure the questions asked do test the competence and readiness of the nursing examinee. Make the exam direct to the important

Early this month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s unemployment rate dropped to a four-month low of 4.5 percent in April 2023 from 5.7 percent a year ago and 4.7 percent in March 2023 as more jobs were created during the period.

The PSA said the number of unemployed persons in April 2023 was estimated at 2.26 million, a decline of 506,000 from the 2.76 million unemployed persons in April 2022. In terms of magnitude, the number of employed persons rose to 48.06 attempt to oust the military leadership amid what the authorities said was an armed mutiny.

Prigozhin sought the ouster of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, whom he accused of committing disastrous leadership of the war against Ukraine.

The mercenary group leader, once a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had earlier said that he

From A1 in an SUV leaving Rostov-on-Don, where his fighters had seized a military headquarters, to the cheers of a group of young civilian bystanders, who came to shake his hand through the car window.

Trucks carrying armored vehicles with fighters on them followed his car. His troops had left the Rostov military headquarters, and authorities in the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions northwards to Moscow said more forward Wagner units had also turned back.

There were reports that Wagner fighters had come as close as 400 kilometers from Moscow, while Prigozhin himself claimed that "in 24 hours we got 200 kilometers from Moscow."

His long-standing feud with military top brass over the conduct of the Russian operation in Ukraine boiled over on Saturday, when Wagner forces seized the Rostov base and advanced towards the capital.

Putin denounced the action as treason and vowed to punish the perpetrators, accusing them of pushing Russia to the brink of civil war – only to then accept a rapidly cobbled-together agreement to avert Moscow's most serious security crisis in decades.

Within hours of Prigozhin's surprise announcement that his forces would return to base to avoid "spilling Russian blood," the Kremlin said Putin's former ally would leave for Belarus.

Russia would drop the "armed rebellion" charges against Prigozhin and not prosecute Wagner troops, it said.

Ukraine revelled in the chaos, stepping up its own counteroffensive against Russian forces in the country and mocking Putin's apparent humiliation.

Analysts also said the deal had exposed weakness in the Russian president's grip on power.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said he had negotiated the truce with Prigozhin. Moscow thanked him, but observers noted that an intervention by Lukashenko, usually seen as Putin's junior partner, was itself an embarrassment.

Little is known about the deal, with Minsk saying simply that "negotiations continued throughout the day."

Asked if Prigozhin had been given a guarantee that he would be able to leave to Belarus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told domestic media: "It is the word of the president of Russia."

In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky's senior aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: "Prigozhin humiliated Putin/the state and showed that there is no longer a monopoly on violence."

Russia insisted the rebellion had no impact on its faltering Ukraine campaign and the day after the mutiny said it had repelled new offensive attacks by of love burning as the "formula to forever." She said she was honored to be part of "this important milestone in the lives of 48 lovely couples." knowledge and skill set for nurses,” Pimentel said.

Hontiveros said Herbosa should be given the opportunity to fully explain his plan when he faces the Commission on Appointments.

For Sen. Nancy Binay, hearing the concerns of medical frontliners must be the first priority before anything else.

“Before the DOH taps unlicensed or board-eligible nurses as a temporary solution to address the shortage, we should listen first to their sector. We should have a deep and thorough consultation. We should see the DOH lay out a clear and concrete program for the hospitals as far as alleviating the plight of healthcare workers is concerned,” Binay said.

Sen. JV Ejercito is hoping the problem of the supply of nurses and other healthcare workers in the country will be fully addressed “five to ten years from now.” million in April 2023, from 45.63 million in the same period of 2022. The number of employed persons in April 2023 was also higher than the reported 47.35 million employed persons in January 2023. had 25,000 fighters moving towards Moscow to "restore justice" and had alleged, without providing evidence, that the military had killed a huge number of fighters from his Wagner private militia in an air strike, something the defense ministry denied. This angered Putin and vowed to punish Prigozhin's group.

National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the government aims to sustain the recent improvements in the country's labor market conditions by implementing crucial economic reforms and leveraging digital technology to enhance workers' employability.

"This is a stab in the back to our country, to our nation," Putin said in his address to the nation.

Ukrainian forces.

Kyiv, however, said the unrest offered a "window of opportunity" for its longawaited counter-offensive.

Ukraine also said Sunday that the death toll on this weekend's strike on Kyiv rose to five, with two more bodies recovered from rubble in the capital's Solomyanski district.

Wagner fighters were often thrown into the front of Russia's advance in Ukraine, made up of volunteers, ex-security officers as well as thousands of convicts Prigozhin had recruited.

The outfit also conducts several mercenary operations in the Middle East and West Africa.

These missions are seen to have the Kremlin's backing and amount to Russian influence operations to curry favor with African governments and win access to mineral resources.

Independent political analyst Konstantin Kalachev told AFP: "The crisis of institutions and trust was not obvious to many in Russia and the West yesterday. Today, it is clear. Yesterday's call for unity made by representatives of the elites only confirmed this. Behind these is a crisis of institutions and fears for themselves," he said.

He noted that Russian leaders would be concerned by the sight of civilian onlookers applauding Wagner units in Rostov.

"Putin's position is weakened," he said. "Putin underestimated Prigozhin, just as he underestimated Zelensky before that. He could have stopped this with a phone call to Prigozhin but he did not."

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said: "The Kremlin now faces a deeply unstable equilibrium.

"The Lukashenko-negotiated deal is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution, and Prigozhin's rebellion exposed severe weaknesses in the Kremlin and Russian MoD." The United States and its Western allies, who back Ukraine, were tight-lipped about the revolt amid concerns that Putin's control over the nuclear-armed country could be slipping.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the daily Il Messaggero: "The myth of the unity of Putin's Russia is over. This internal escalation divides the Russian military alliance.

"It's the inevitable outcome when you support and finance a legion of mercenaries,” he said.

China's foreign minister Qin Gang met Russia's deputy foreign minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing on Sunday, China's foreign ministry said, but released few details about what was discussed beyond "international and regional issues of common concern".

Russia's foreign ministry said China had "expressed support for the efforts of the leadership of the Russian Federation to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24."

AFP

GOVERNMENTS

S hould stop cracking down on porn websites and instead take pride in sexual expression and help to make porn normal and "boring", the new owner of Pornhub told AFP.

Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners bought Pornhub's parent MindGeek three months ago, bringing under its control a stable of other sites including YouPorn.

The acquisition has also brought a sea of legal troubles.

Its websites were pulled from the US state of Utah in May after they were ordered to verify the ages of users.

In France, website owners and regulators have been locked in talks for months on how to make a 2020 age verification law work in practice.

Two of MindGeek's sites have not put in place any age verification and face a court ruling on July 7 that could ban them.

"We do not want any underage users on our websites whatsoever," said ECP founder Solomon Friedman in an interview with AFP.

But he pushed back on the idea that the onus should fall on the websites, instead calling for the operating systems to find a solution.

"We are strongly in support of age verification solutions that do two things: protect children effectively and do not expose personal data," he said.

"The only solution that accomplishes both of these goals is device or browser-based verification," he said, adding that it would be "a very simple step for Google and Apple."

MindGeek got into hot water in 2020 when the New York Times published allegations that its sites were hosting material depicting rapes and sex involving minors.

The article sparked heavy pressure from regulators in several countries and Visa and MasterCard stopped processing payments.

The owners spent two years trying to sell the firm, which is largely based in Canada but has a complex corporate structure spanning many of the globe's tax havens, with its official headquarters in Luxembourg.

The new owners – who include two lawyers, an ex-police officer and an Italian investor who made his fortune in the legal sale of cannabis – are keen to distance themselves from the New York Times allegations.

Friedman said the company had completely changed in the past few years.

He boasted that eight million pieces of content had been taken down in 2021 – a claim AFP cannot verify.

"A content removal request automatically results in the content being removed," he said.

"We review it after it's removed."

In addition, uploaders had to provide identification, all content was scanned by algorithms to filter out copyright-protected material, and it is then viewed by company staff before it hits the web.

Solomon said his firm was brought in initially only to check that MindGeek was working within the law.

"And what we found is not only does it comply with the law but it was an extraordinary investing opportunity, but it's an opportunity that required specialized skills," he said.

ECP decided that they had those skills and bought the company – though it has been a stiff test since then.

The Utah exit followed an early battle in Louisiana, which has a similar age verification law.

Solomon said their sites were still online in Louisiana as the rules are slightly different – they are not required to collect personal information.

He said he did not want to prejudge any outcomes in France, but could not rule out the possibility his sites would have to pull out.

The issue has risen up the political agenda since President Emmanuel Macron promised to make protecting children from porn a priority during his bid for re-election last year.

Digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who has labelled children accessing porn websites a "scandal", has directly challenged ECP to explain how they will comply with the law.

Solomon said he had reached out to Barrot's office and promised to produce a report soon, insisting his firm was committed to "talk openly and proudly about the porn industry."

"I think society has moved in the direction where we are proud of sexual expression," he said.

"The fact that it's adult is going to be boring, just like the fact that (legalized) cannabis in Canada has become boring." AFP