2-month dry run of contactless tollways in Sept.

THE Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) on Friday confirmed it was set to conduct a two-month dry run for contactless toll collections in expressways beginning Sept. 1.

It also renewed its calls to motorists who still do not have RFID stickers to get one, as the Philippines seeks to fulfill its goal of establishing "digital highways."

TRB Spokesperson Julius Corpuz said the dry run, however, that motorists can no longer pay cash at toll plazas.

In a public briefing, Corpuz said they would continue to address the problems on RFIDs, but he noted that this is important as this would make transactions in toll plazas faster and more convenient.

San Miguel Corp, which operates several tollways, earlier said that motorists without an active RFID sticker will still be allowed to pass.

Toll personnel, however, will install an RFID sticker on their vehicle so they can exit at the electronic toll collection (ETC) lane toward their destination.

"Toll personnel will only take a photo of the vehicle license plate and secure the motorist’s mobile phone number. Motorists will then need to complete the registration process by supplying other essential information at the Autosweep RFID website," San Miguel said in a statement.

Report: China building runway on Triton Island

state authority in so far as they cover the Philippines’ maritime zones,” Daza said.

According to a report on "24 Oras," local officials in Kalayaan, Palawan said Chinese fishers didn't honor the fishing ban.

“Based on what we've seen, it's contradictory. Their boats have always been there to fish,” Kalayaan Municipal Councilor MP Albayda said.

Filipino fishermen from Kalayaan and mainland Palawan opt to avoid fishing in areas where Chinese vessels are sighted, the TV report added, quoting a local fisherman.

"Our fellow fishers here are afraid to go there. Instead of being able to fish where there is plenty to catch and within our territory, we're being kept from doing so by another country," said the fisherman.

that are now uncoordinated. We need to obtain the cooperation of each individual and harness all economic resources to attract private sector investment in bamboo,” Savellano said.

Bamboo bills filed in Congress, primarily Senate Bill 605 and House Bill 7941, have provided for a P100 million budget for the institutionalization of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Program.

While P100 million yearly may be a heavy yearly budget for the government, Senator Nancy Binay said the legislature should review the huge economic potential offered by bamboo as against costs.

With bamboo’s “strong like steel, tough like concrete, beautiful as hardwood,” bamboo should be included as a certified material in the Building Code, Savellano said.

He noted that bamboo has become a raw material for a wide range of products including lumber as an alternative to hardwood for beams, engineered wood and tiles, textiles, carbon composites for windmill turbine blades, large-diameter water pipes and sewage mains, and bamboo pellets to replace coal in power generation.

A local miner said bamboo can generate $3.5 billion in revenue per year, equivalent to the revenue from the Philippine mining sector “The Philippines has 3.75 million hectares of idle land waiting to be developed. If only 400,000 hectares are developed for bamboo which is equivalent to 10 percent of China’s 4.2 million hectares, the Philippines can earn $3.5 billion yearly,” he said. With Rio N. Araja (See full story online at manilastandard.net) of Lahaina last Tuesday, turning block after block into ash.

While the cause of the fire has not been determined, many survivors said they went unwarned before the inferno rapidly swept through town.

Some people were forced to dive into the Pacific Ocean to escape the flames.

With more than 100 fatalities, the fire is one of the deadliest US wildfires in more than a century. As officials work to identify the deceased, stories about those who perished have emerged from loved ones.

CHINA appears to be constructing a runway on a disputed island in the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, the South China Morning Post reported Friday, citing satellite images.

The Hong Kong newspaper reported what appears to be a 630-meter-long airstrip was seen last month on Triton Island, part of the disputed Paracel Islands, in images taken by the European Space Agency.

Triton Island, the southernmost and westernmost of the Paracel Islands, has been under Chinese control since 1974 following a naval conflict, in the communist country's latest move to claim sovereignty in the contested waters.

Vietnamese and Chinese authorities have yet to respond to requests for comment, according to the Morning Post. China and Vietnam have ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

In April, Beijing opened a hotpot restaurant on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracel Islands, triggering criticism from Hanoi.

China has also built runways on the Spratly Islands, another group of disputed isles in the South China Sea which the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam also claims.

Wage...

From A1 is crucial for maintaining equity, boosting employee morale, and fostering a productive and harmonious workplace,” the Labor Department said.

“By rectifying such, enterprises demonstrate their commitment to fair compensation and employee wellbeing,” it added.

Wage distortion occurs when the variations in wage structures or rates among employee groups within an enterprise are significantly eliminated or substantially diminished due to mandated wage increases, DOLE said.

Restoring the substantial distinction or gap is permissible under the Labor Code.

For his part, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said a wage hike will attract skilled workers to stay in the country instead of going abroad as he renewed his call for a P150 legislated increase in the minimum wage.

He called the attention of the administration's economic managers who are opposed to a legislated wage hike.

“What is bad is that the P40 wage hike is only in Metro Manila. In our place in Mindanao, it has not moved," Zubiri said.

"Do you know what the daily wage earner in her [Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman] province earns? P340. What can you buy with P340 for a family of five?" Zubiri said.

While Zubiri acknowledged Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s concern that raising minimum wages will have an adverse effect on inflation, he said this can be addressed by focusing efforts on reducing energy and food costs. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

In Brief

Chiz underscores use of police body cams

SENATOR Francis Escudero has said the Supreme Court order mandating law enforcers to wear bodycams when serving arrest warrants is not only a measure against abuse, but also a recognition that technology is available to ensure that the process will follow rules.

“If a video of Chinese soldier peeing on the beach on one of its armed garrisons in the West Philippine Sea can be captured by a satellite circling in space, then how can a police operation not be recorded up close and personal?” Escudero asked.

“Such technology is not alien to the Philippine National Police (PNP), which is a heavy social media user, and which formed a division out of its active TikTokers,” Escudero noted.

“If tricycles have dashcam, and riders have bodycams, why can’t a big agency with big funds doesn’t have this equipment?” he added. Macon Ramos-Araneta

LRT-2 past, present execs sued for graft

THE Office of the Ombudsman is asking the Commission on Audit (COA) to look into the graft complaint filed against a Light Rail Transit Authority administrator and other former and incumbent officials of the facility for alleged anomalous contract for the upgrade of LRT Line 2.

Assistant Ombudsman-Proper Pilarita Lapitan, in an endorsement letter, told COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba to take appropriate action” on the complaint of lawyer Gerry Francisco against former LRTA administrator Jeremy Regino, current LRTA chief Hernando Cabrera, Paul Chua, Jose Jobel Belarmino, Federico Canar Jr., Cesar Legaspi, Hilfred Tusing and Aylwinston Pillos for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act and RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Also cited as private respondents were representatives of LRTA contractors Multiscan, Brownsteel and Worldleaders — Yollee Ong-Ramos, Joseph Ramos, Ma. Grazia Lee, and two other Koreans of Woo Jin Corp. Rio N. Araja

QC gov’t, DMW hold first overseas job fair

THE Quezon City government and the Department of Migrant Workers have partnered to offer over 3,000 land-based and sea-based employment opportunities from various licensed recruitment agencies in the first overseas job fair.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said “the goal of this first-ever overseas job fair is to provide numerous opportunities abroad for aspiring migrant workers while ensuring their well-being through safe, orderly and fair migration. The DMW provides legitimate recruitment agencies to protect our people.”

The city government through the Migrants Resource Center of the Public Employment Service Office on Friday held the job fair at the city hall’s Risen Garden from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rio N. Araja