Asean Tribune

ROSALES: The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) reported good yields in the irrigated farmlands of Pangasinan amid the El Niño phenomenon.

Engineer John Molano, NIA-Pangasinan Irrigation Management Office (PIMO) Division Manager, in an interview on Thursday, said they have exceeded their target for water irrigation during the dry cropping season this year from 41,515 hectares (has) to 46,024 has.

He said even the 18,000 vulnerable areas were able to harvest despite the challenge during the dry cropping season, which is from November to March.

“Nakarami ng ani ang mga farmers (the farmers were able to harvest more) with an average of 100 metric tons per hectare or a total of an estimated 6.6 million metric tons harvested during the dry season,” he said.

Molano said they implemented constant monitoring and evaluation of progress of farming in the areas declared as vulnerable.

They also strengthened the implementation of the scheduled rotational water delivery and distribution, he said.

“Tamang progr
am planning. Namigay din ng water pumps sa buong Pangasinan (It was through proper program planning. We also distributed water pumps in the whole province),” Molano said.

He said more than 643 water pumps were distributed, especially in vulnerable areas, so far this year.

He said they have also utilized around half of the PHP1 billion budget allotted for the province for this year under the solar water irrigation systems.

Meanwhile, Molano said the different government agencies will again convene for the preparation for the wet cropping season, which is from June to October.

“We will soon conduct the system management coordination meeting,” he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Hyundai Glovis Co. on Thursday reported its first-quarter net income of 306.2 billion won (US$222.3 million), up 7.9 percent from a year earlier.

The company said in a regulatory filing that operating profit for the January-March period fell 5.4 percent on-year to 384.8 billion won. Revenue increased 4.5 percent to 6.58 trillion won.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 265.7 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

CALAPAN CITY: Oriental Mindoro – The Mimaropa region’s economy grew to PHP411.4 billion in 2023 from PHP393 billion in 2022, surpassing its pre-pandemic levels, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday.

In a press briefing here, Leni Rioflorido, director of PSA 4-B (Mimaropa), said the five-province region exceeded its 2019 economic performance with a margin of about PHP24.7 billion.

She disclosed that the industries posting the fastest growth rates were: accommodation and food service activities with 30.9 percent; other services,16 percent; and compulsory social activities, 13.8 percent.

Among the sectors, services grew by 8.8 percent.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing grew by 6.2 percent in 2023 from a 2.4 percent decline in 2022, Rioflorido added.

The region’s total industry posted a 1.8-percent decline in 2023 due to a reduction in mining and quarrying by 18 percent, and manufacturing by 4.9 percent.

‘Despite this decline, Mimaropa still had the third largest share of the total m
ining and quarrying revenues in the country,’ the PSA official pointed out.

Meanwhile, household spending or Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE), which shared 85.8 percent to the regional economy, slowed down to 1.8 percent in 2023 from 8.2 percent growth in 2022.

The per capita household final consumption expenditure in the region slightly grew by 0.7 percent in 2023.

The recorded per capita HFCE, at constant 2018 prices, in the region was PHP107,607, about 21 percent lower than the national level which amounted to PHP136,247.

“The region’s exports of goods and services to (the) rest of the world accounted for the fastest growth among the expenditure items, with 37.4 percent,” Rioflorio said.

HFCE consists of expenditure incurred by resident households on goods or services that are used for the satisfaction of needs or wants.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Police have nabbed 2,925 people, including over 1,000 teenagers, during a six-month crackdown on online gambling targeting adolescents, officials said Thursday.

The National Office of Investigation said 1,035 teens have been rounded up and 566 of them have been referred to counseling centers, while 75 adults were formally arrested and 61.9 billion won (US$45 million) in criminal proceeds was confiscated during the crackdown from Sept. 25 to March 31.

Of the teenagers, 12 were accused of operating online gambling sites.

By age groups, 798 high school students, 228 middle school students and seven university students were among those caught. Two elementary schoolers were also included, with a nine-year-old who betted 10,000 won found to be the youngest.

Many middle and high school students had dipped their hands in gambling sites through invitations from friends, according to police. They were mostly lured into gambling through smartphone messages, along with online and social media ads.

By type of gamblin
g, 434 teens, or 41.9 percent of the total, said they played baccarat, followed by sports gambling, which recorded 19.8 percent, casino at 17.1 percent and powerball or slot machines accounted for 14.7 percent.

Police said the simple registration process that allows teens to charge gambling funds with only their bank account under their name is one of the reasons online gambling is catching on among teenagers, along with the wrong perception that views gambling as a game.

Police plan to resume the six-month crackdown starting in May, and will clamp down on illegal harmful content online and expand training to prevent gambling-related crimes.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

SOCORRO: The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking to set up a voting precinct at the Sitio Kapihan in Barangay Sering here for the May 2025 midterm elections.

‘Pinag-aaralan ng Comelec na bakit hindi mag create ng presinto sa Sitio Kapihan. Kung may higit 2,000 na botante, bakit kakailanganin pa pumunta sa bayan kung pwede naman dalhin ang pagboto dito? (The Comelec is studying, ‘why not create a precinct here in Sitio Kapihan?’ If we have more than 2,000 voters, why do they need to go the town proper when we can bring the voting process here),’ Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in a presser on Thursday on the sidelines of the poll body’s satellite voter registration activity at the community of the members of the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI).

Garcia said this move would ensure that the community members would be able to vote without going through the hassle of travelling far.

Asked if their plan contradicts the order of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR
) for the community’s residents to relocate, Garcia said this is not among their concerns.

‘Sa atin, ang kapangyarihan ng Comelec siguraduhin lahat makaboto.Walang iiwanan. Isang boses na di nadinig, isang boses na di nadidinig sa isang demokrasya (As for us, the Comelec’s mandate is for to ensure that all will be able to vote. No one would be left behind. You make one voice unheard, you make the whole democracy unheard),” he said.

On April 8, the DENR canceled its agreement with the SBSI for violating the provisions of the tenurial instrument awarded in June 2004, covering 353 hectares in the Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (SIPLAS) in Surigao del Norte.

Once implemented, the DENR’s order is expected to result in the relocation and resettlement of around 1,425 households based in Sitio Kapihan.

For his part, SBIS president Johann Lasala acknowledged the efforts of the poll body for bringing the registration activity to their areas.

‘Maganda ang ginawa ng Comelec at dinala dito sa amin pa
ra makapag-register (It’s good that the Comelec brought the registration activity here for us to be able to sign up as voters),’ he said.

The area has more than 5,000 residents, almost half of whom are eligible to vote.

On the other hand, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) have assured that the area will be safe and secure come the May 2025 polls.

Source: Philippines News Agency

South Korea’s largest K-pop company, Hybe, said Thursday it will file a complaint against executives of its sublabel ADOR, including CEO Min Hee-jin, on charges of breach of trust.

The move comes amid a widening conflict between the two sides over an alleged attempt by Min and others to take over control of the company that manages popular girl group NewJeans. Min has denied the allegations and countered by accusing Hybe of copying NewJeans’ main concept and choreography for a rookie girl group.

Hybe said it has secured evidence supporting its claim that the management plotted to seize control under Min’s initiative since it began conducting an audit of the label Monday.

The targets of the audit were found to have discussed ways to break away from the parent company taking NewJeans with them after making the sublabel “an empty shell” or to terminate contracts with NewJeans, Hybe said.

It added one of them submitted a computer file containing a plan for the control takeover and records of contacts with out
side investors while admitting to having written a document outlining a plan to pressure Hybe.

Min was also found in in-person interviews with officials and a transcript of her conversations with other members of the management to have instructed them to come up with measures to press the parent company to sell its stakes in her company, Hybe said.

Following the instruction, various ways such as terminating contracts with artists before their expirations and nullifying a contract between Min and Hybe were discussed, it said.

Also allegedly included in the transcript were action plans such as “preparing for a war of public opinion in May” and “making ADOR an empty shell and taking out” its artists.

Hybe secured a statement from the officials audited that the expression in the transcript that “we’ll ultimately leave Hybe” was based on what Min said.

“Based on these materials, we’re going to lodge a complaint against those involved on breach-of-trust and other charges,” the company said.

It also released t
o the media an image file of a messenger conversation allegedly discussing the action plans, exchanged early this month between Min and her deputy whose identity was not disclosed.

Addressing concerns among NewJeans’ fans that the ongoing conflict may disrupt the group’s plans for new releases, the company pledged its full support for the psychological and emotional well-being of the group members and their successful return.

It also plans to soon meet the members’ legal representative and discuss ways to protect them.

Source: Yonhap News Agency