UP scientists craft AI-powered

FILIPINO mathematicians have just invented a computerized method for converting entire paragraphs and even full documents written in the ancient Filipino Baybayin writing system into text that even non-native readers can easily understand. And they’re now hard at work developing a full twoway translator. By combining mathematics and technology, scientists from the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Science Institute of Mathematics (UPD-CS IM) have made what is likely

From A1 advised village leaders and residents of Metro Manila to reduce activities such as watering lawns and washing cars to avert massive water interruptions in the coming months.

The DENR’s Water Resources Management Office, through a bulletin, also said its team will conduct spot inspections of government office buildings for unwarranted use of water, leaks, and faulty bathroom fixtures.

The team will ensure that WRMO Bulletin Nos. 1 and 2 are posted in offices accordingly.

In a briefing Monday, Maynilad said efforts, from all corners, are underway to preserve water in Angat Dam in preparation for the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which may be felt in the coming months.

The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) has further cut water allocation to the MWSS to 48 cubic meters per second (CMS) starting July 8, after it reduced supply twice from 52 CMS on April 16 to June 30, and 50 CMS on July 1 to 7.

At 48 CMS, Maynilad will get less supply than it needs to sustain normal service operations. Spreading out the limited supply will necessitate daily

Gov’t...

From A1 est” and work to realize their dreams and aspirations for their families with the signing of RA 11953 into law.

PRDP Scale-Up, a major Department of Agriculture (DA) initiative, is an expanded response to the persistent challenges confronting the agriculture and fisheries sector and rural communities.

In particular, the project will boost farmer and fisher access to markets, increase income from selected agrifishery value chains, and improve efficiency in the food supply chain.

Japan,...

From A1

Philippines is also cooperating to ensure a rules-based order in the volatile region.

Meanwhile, France expressed concern over the recent swarming of Chinese vessels in the Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

In a press statement issued on Monday, the French Embassy in Manila called for respect for international law and the resolution of disputes through dialogue.

“We are resolutely opposed to any use of force or threat to do so. We recall, in this regard, the Arbitration award rendered under UNCLOS on the 12th of July 2016,” the embassy said.

In another development, Filipino and American combat aircraft engaged in and through that role, there is so much we can do in trade, in culture, in science,” the ambassador said in reply.

Since 2020, the country’s total trade with Mexico has been steadily growing, reaching a total of $1.1 billion last year.

Mexico ranked as the 23rd trading partner of the Philippines, with ongoing applications for market access for bovine and pork meat, grapes, avocados, and citrus.

President Marcos also expressed gratitude to Mexico for taking care of Filipinos residing there.

As of February 2023, there are about 1,206 Filipinos in Mexico who are mainly craft and trade-related workers, technicians and associate professionals, and other industry professionals.

Baybayin translator

the world’s first paragraph-level optical character recognition (OCR) system that can distinguish between entire blocks of Baybayin and Latin characters in a text image.

In their paper entitled “Block-level Optical Character Recognition System for Automatic Transliterations of Baybayin Texts Using Support Vector Machine,” masters student Rodney Pino and associate professors Dr. Renier Mendoza and Dr. Rachelle Sambayan developed an algorithm to convert a photograph of a set of text into service interruptions in some portions of the West Zone, which includes the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Manila, Navotas, Quezon City, and Valenzuela.

The company’s supply augmentation projects, as well as local rains at the Ipo watershed, are expected to help mitigate the impact of lower releases from Angat Dam.

Affected customers are advised to keep in mind the interruption schedule, and to store water once it becomes available during the daytime. Mobile water tankers will be deployed as needed.

The water company warned users to expect some water discoloration once supply resumes during the day as this is a normal consequence of service interruptions. Maynilad explained that the returning supply scours the naturally occurring mineral deposits inside the pipelines. Maynilad advises users to allow the water to flow out briefly until it clears but use the initial flow of water for nondrinking purposes, such as for flushing toilets, to avoid wastage.

The company said it continues to coordinate closely with all Angat Dam stakeholders in balancing the need between preserving the limited supply and managing the impact of lower allocations on water consumers. It is also facilitating other supply augmentation projects so that more supply can be generated.

Meanwhile, water usage of Metro Manila establishments may be regulated at

The project will cover 16 regions composed of 82 provinces. It will entail direct investments in rural infrastructure and enterprise subprojects, which will directly benefit about 450,000 farmers and fishers and generate about 42,000 new jobs.

Amounting to $818 million (P45.01 billion) in total, the remaining $218 million will be funded by the national government and will involve local government units.

The World Bank has been supporting the project since 2014 and has provided two additional loans in 2018 and 2021. Upon the completion of the project, the DA aims to facilitate its transition into a regular locally-funded program a “defensive counter-air” (DCA) exercise over the military training area east of Luzon as part of efforts to enhance interoperability and cohesiveness between the two air forces.

Philippine Air Force spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said the DCA took place last July 8 and is part of the second iteration of the ongoing Cope Thunder exercises between the PAF and the US Pacific Air Forces. The Cope Thunder exercises started on July 2 and will run until July 21.

Koshikawa said that Tokyo has reinforced its commitments to regional peace and stability to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific.

A statement released by the Japanese embassy said the ambassador reaffirmed the shared commitments of Japan, the Philippines, and the US to bolster their maritime cooperation as demonstrated by